As a content format, videos make learning fun and effortless. Social media videos help businesses engage with their target customers on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and TikTok. According to studies, watching videos is the fourth most popular reason people use the internet.
But the success of social media video content depends on the quality of such content. In this article, let’s learn about what goes into creating fantastic video content for social media platforms.
1. Define Your Target Audience
Documenting the audience personas is the first critical step in creating video content. It helps you understand prospects’ challenges and preferences, so you can tailor the content according to their needs. You can start by writing down their profession, age, marital status, and location. Next, work on listing down their fundamental problems, hobbies, interests, likes, and dislikes. Don’t forget to mention the social platforms your prospects prefer to use.
2. Decide the Length of Your Video
The ideal length of social media videos ranges between 7 seconds and 2 minutes. The exact length varies from platform to platform. For instance, the perfect length of TikTok videos is 7 to 15 seconds. If you’re posting on either Facebook or Instagram, try to make it less than 1 minute. If you’re posting on LinkedIn, limit your video to 30 seconds.
3. Write a Killer Script
A script is the very fabric of your video. To start with, you should work on defining your writing style so you can create the right impact with your script. A short video script has three essential elements: the hook, the problem, and the solution. When you know these three, you can create an effective script quickly. Don’t forget that the tone of a video script should always be conversational—you don’t need to add too much hype to it.
4. Work on Your Screen Presence
Look your best. It’s the least you can do to make your video stand out. Remember, what you feel while creating the video is what the audience feels while watching it.
The best way is for you to feel comfortable and have a smile on your face while recording yourself in a video. Furthermore, you should work on your posture and be as relaxed as possible. Dress up to the mood of the video. For instance, formal clothing works well for authoritative style B2B videos. And if you’re creating a recipe video, something colorful and quirky should align well with the theme.
5. Play with Camera Angles
Imagine yourself as one of the viewers, and you’ll know that a video needs variety at every step of the way. That’s where camera angles come into play. Shifting the camera angle creates visual diversity. Hence, it helps maintain user interest. Do it a few times in each video, and you’ll find that this tactic works to improve video content engagement.
6. Go for a Classy Background
Believe it or not, the background is the life and soul of a video. You can choose to go for a plain colored background or use your office space. You can even shoot the video in a garden and benefit from the abundant natural light there. And don’t worry if you end up with the wrong backdrop—you can always remove the video background later and replace it with something exquisite.
7. Use Light Effectively
A key difference between professional social media videos and amateur ones is the use of light. Before choosing your light, you should know the outcome of different natural and artificial lights. For instance, soft and natural light gives your videos a casual, light-hearted feel. On the other hand, artificial indoor lights can make your video upbeat and powerful. Similarly, videographers often use shadows to make a video look dramatic and soul-stirring.
8. Check Audio Quality
Does audio quality matter in a short-form social media video? Yes, definitely. If you wish to get the audience to understand, like, and share your video, make sure the audio is crystal clear. That’s why you should use a high-quality microphone to record the audio. Also, don’t forget to record in a noise-free environment lest the mic may pick up the extra sounds and relay them and distract the viewers.
9. Consider Including Subtitles
There are times when people watch videos without switching on the sound—that’s when subtitles become useful. Moreover, subtitles help get viewers from different parts of the world to watch and appreciate your videos. Subtitles add value to all such videos that have a voice-over or somebody speaking in the video.
10. Choose the Relevant Music
When you’re looking for music for your social video, make sure you align it with the theme of your video. Also, make sure you give credit to the music creator. The other option, of course, is to use rights-free music only.
Final Thoughts
Creating a short social media video may seem simple, but it’s not. You need to put all your energy into making your social videos stand out from the thousands of competing videos out there. The idea is to focus on all aspects of the video creation strategy and orient everything towards solving your prospects’ problems and making them enjoy your content.
