So, you want to create a few videos for your brand? That’s awesome. With the runaway success of YouTube, video content is now bigger than ever – and few things are more memorable than an awesome video ad.
There’s just one tiny problem. Video isn’t easy. You (usually) can’t just start rolling a camera and hope for the best.
In order to make your video content compelling, valuable, and – most importantly – relevant to your brand, there are a number of factors you first need to consider. For simplicity’s sake, we’ll focus on the elements that are unique to video content – stuff like takeaways, editing, and brand identity are part and parcel of all content.
Pay Attention To Lighting
According to the Pro Communicator Blog, the most important element in making a professional-looking video is an understanding of lighting technique.
“If you take the time to light yourself or your interviewee carefully, a $100 flip camera can look like a $10,000 professional rig, especially if the video is going to end up somewhere like YouTube or Facebook,” she writes, linking to a video by Eve Hazelton on different DSLR lighting techniques.
“Pay attention to the techniques,” she advises; “not so much the exact lights she uses.”
Decide What TYPE Of Video You Want To Make Beforehand – And Why
Like any other type of content, a video is only useful if it has a purpose. So ask yourself: what are you trying to accomplish with this video? Is it a simple promotional piece, or something that’s going to leave your audience in stitches?
Is it an instructional video, or commentary on a recent news piece? Is it an informational post, or coverage of a live event?
You need to determine both what type of video you want to create and what you want it to accomplish before you start filming. Otherwise, it’ll be just like you started writing a blog post without a goal in mind – you’ll lack focus.
Keep It Clear And Stick To The Script
With video content, clarity of voice is imperative. Edutopia’s Ainissa Ramirez advises you keep a glass of water on hand to keep your vocal cords hydrated. She also recommends that you put together a script, and follow it as much as possible. This will allow you to make your recording sessions significantly more efficient, and ensure that if you must do multiple takes, they’ll still fit into the overall narrative of your video.
Energy Is Always Important
With video, energy and passion is every bit as important as personality and voice in written content. Keep your voice lively and your body language vigorous. Energy is infectious; someone watching a video of someone who clearly loves what they’re doing is going to feel a lot better than someone watching a video of a guy slogging through a performance that clearly means nothing to him.
Know That You Can’t Treat Video Like Written Content
Videos aren’t like blog posts, nor are they anything like podcasts. They’re complex multimedia experiences, and if you set out without understanding that, the quality of your videos is going to suffer. With that in mind, never ‘convert’ anything into video format; you need to develop your videos to be multimedia content from the beginning.
“The most common mistake made by companies creating video is thinking of video content as identical to blog posts or infographics,” writes Adria Saracino of The Content Marketing Institute. “Where blog posts and infographics may consist of text and image content, video utilizes text, moving images, and sound simultaneously. It is not an appropriate medium for all content goals.”
Don’t Forget About SEO
Last but certainly not least, make sure you’re taking the necessary steps to optimizing your videos for search. That includes adding keywords and descriptions, creating transcripts, promoting on multiple platforms, and planning out an effective title. It also includes analyzing your video’s success and figuring out what you can do differently next time – how can you improve?
Closing Thoughts
Video is a fantastic medium for marketing a brand, but only if you know what you’re doing. If you don’t understand the intricacies of creating video content, you’re wasting your time. There’s a lot that goes into making an effective video – but the end result is usually more than worth it if you’re willing to put in the work.
