We know that video content is becoming king, but how can you improve yours to find your way atop the throne? There are several things you can do when planning and creating your videos for your website or business. While creation and posting are certainly important components of your video marketing strategy, you have to know how you’re going to implement your video down the road as well. Here are some techniques and tips you can use to crown yourself the king or queen of video content. 

If you aren’t convinced of video’s staying and playing power, consider this. 79 percent of consumers now agree that video is the easiest way to get to know a brand online. The same research shows that 74 percent of consumers can draw a direct connection between watching a video on a company’s social media and making a purchase with them. 

Planning and Pre-Video Techniques

Knowing Your Audience

You don’t want to start creating and editing videos without knowing if your audience will actually enjoy them. Conduct some market research or some polling within your industry or community to find out what those people are looking for in their content. It’s a waste of your time and your community’s if a video is made that no one cares to watch. Do those people like more informative videos? Do they like more humorous videos? Maybe they like more serious videos. 

All of those questions also lead into…

Knowing Your Platform

Are you going to use Instagram? Twitter? Facebook? YouTube? Something else? Knowing that bit of information can help you greatly decide on the length, content, and tone of your videos. 

YouTube videos tend to be longer and more informative for your audience but can take on any tone you like. Instagram is generally shorter, but it’s versatile for your storytelling and content needs. You can be funny, informative, or serious as long as it doesn’t run too far over a minute in length. There is the opportunity to create stories on both of these platforms as well. 

TikTok is perfect for short and creative video content. There’s a ton of potential on this platform as well with how many Gen Z’ers are flocking to it, especially a younger audience. TikTok has even shorter videos than Instagram so you have to make sure you are capable of quick-hitting videos that capture your audiences’ attention.

Twitter is not generally thought of like a video platform, but it shouldn’t be overlooked. It’s possible to post longer videos on there and do it throughout the day without running amok of the algorithms thanks to the fast-moving nature of the platform. There is also a heavy millennial and “Boomer” presence on the site. 

During Your Shoot

Get As Much Footage As Possible

It may be time-consuming and you may not think you’ll need it, but having extra footage will come in handy. Bonus “B-Roll” footage can always be used as filler in your video in the post-production process. It gives you more variety in your footage and if you don’t use it for the video you originally shot for it can be used later for another project you may produce. 

Having excess shots now can lead to major success later. And with computer or thumb drive memory being a concern of the past, there’s no reason not to keep extra footage for future projects.

Add a Call-to-Action (CTA)

If you are selling a product or service, you should ultimately lead your potential customers to it. You can do that by adding a link in your description or even a button in your video. You should always mention it in your video as well. Whether that is at the beginning or the end of your video is up to you, but people need to know where they can get more of your brand. 

Post Production

Brand Your Videos

Make sure that you watermark or brand your videos so that people can’t rip them without giving you proper credit or attribution. This also tells people exactly what they’re getting before they even start watching your content. This also distinguishes you from your competitors and will stop people from scrolling right past your video.

Review and Analyze Video Performance

While it’s key to continue creating content, it’s equally important to review what you’ve already made and see how it’s performed. This informs you of what works for your different platforms and audiences and what doesn’t. If you have an idea of what works, you can duplicate that type of content or tone in your content and continue to have success with it. If some of your content struggles to take off, you still get a win as you find out what doesn’t work and you can make adjustments as needed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Before embarking on a video content adventure, keep those steps in mind for capturing and producing good video content. If you stick to these principles, you should get off and running quickly with top-notch content. They can help you stay disciplined and ahead of the curve when it comes to videos across all of your social media channels.