Video content is make or break in today’s content-driven world. According to the Aberdeen Group, video marketers achieve a 54% increase in brand awareness and generate 66% more qualified leads each year. By creating video content, your business is much more likely to meet sales, marketing, and lead goals.
But in a world where 300 hours of video are uploaded to YouTube every minute, just making a video is hardly enough. The content you create needs to be engaging and unique. It has to be crafted in a way to stand out amongst the tens of thousands of other videos.
So how can you create video content for social media that consumers actually want to watch? We’ve got just the answers you’re searching for. Here are must-know tips and tricks for creating fun and engaging social media video content.
Take Time to Brainstorm
Creating a video without taking time to think through the concept, purpose, and audience can result in wasted time and minimal results. The first step in creating videos that your social media followers want to watch is brainstorming.
Look at your existing content. Which topics are most widely talked about? Is there a certain blog that was a hit amongst readers? Search and find exactly the topics that resonate with your audience. Pinpoint the most widely read blog posts by using Google Analytics.
You can also find hot topics by looking at content that is the most shared. See and analyze your most shared content by using an app such as Buzzsumo. This tool will analyze your content and determine which best performs for a given topic.
By brainstorming and researching your existing content, you can better please your Facebook friends and Instagram followers once it’s time to post your first video.
Look at Popular Content in Your Industry
Maybe you don’t have a lot of website content (ie. blogs), or maybe most of your content hasn’t received the views or interest that you had hoped. Another way to get ideas for video content is to look at what your competitors are doing.
Researching your competition is crucial in creating solid video content. Take some time to browse YouTube and other video content sites and see what which competitor videos are the most popular. Videos on YouTube that are liked a lot are a good sign of popularity and interest. While you don’t want to make a video that says exactly what a competitor’s video is saying, you at least have a general idea of which topics pique the most interest.
Take Time to Plan
After brainstorming and researching, the next step is to plan. Once you have a few ideas selected, it’s time to create a storyboard or a script. This way you aren’t rambling during your video and instead have a thoroughly-mapped-out flow for what you plan to talk about.
When planning, be sure that the first few seconds of your video are catchy. We all have short attention spans, so if you want to keep a viewer interested, you have to captivate your audience upfront.
? During the planning phase, you’ll also want to focus on other important details such as:
? Delivering an important message, but keep it simple
? Adding text or captions (most viewers watch video content without audio)
? Ensuring your video fits a desktop computer screen and a mobile phone (square videos are better than landscape videos)
With a solid video plan, you can get to the fun stuff – recording!
Find the Ideal Recording Environment
Engaging content not only involves an interesting or buzzworthy topic; it’s also content that’s created in the right environment. No viewer wants to watch or listen to a video that’s filled with grainy images or distorted audio.
Before recording, you’ll need to find a place with plenty of natural light. A nice background is also a great way to captivate the viewer. Avoid busy backgrounds as they can be a distraction, which takes away from the message you’re delivering.
Once you’re done recording, spend plenty of time editing your video. Adjust any lighting or audio issues. You’ll also want to pay close attention to the video’s length.
Short and sweet is best. Viewers don’t want to waste their time watching an overly long and drawn out video. According to 2060 Digital, the best performing videos on Facebook and YouTube are no more than two minutes long. Twitter videos should be no longer than 30 seconds, and Instagram clips should hover around the 60 second or less mark.
Tag & Post
So your video is finally edited, and you’re ready to share it with all of your social media followers. Before uploading it to any network, be sure that your video has a catchy title. You’ll also want to video search engine optimize your content so that it appears in search results. This means you’ll want to use key hashtags and write a video description so that your video is most likely to be picked up by search engines.
Conclusion
Video content rules the world, but if you want your video content to bring you need leads, followers, and business, engagement is key. Use these tips and tricks to ensure that each video you record is designed to captivate, engage, and teach.
