For many of us, recording a video of ourselves is the distant cousin of public speaking. It can be a terrifying prospect. But it doesn’t have to be. In a world where we’re all trying to stay more connected and stand out amongst the noise on social media, it’s time to make friends with your front-facing camera. Here are our tips for creating social media videos that drive results, without the fear.
What’s the ‘why’?
So, you’re sat in front of your webcam or smartphone, ready to record. Why? The first step of creating your video is deciding on your objectives. What do you want people to do once they’ve watched it? Is the purpose of the video to drive traffic to a piece of content on your website, such as a blog? Or do you want the video to create engagement on social media?
Once you know what action you want people to take after they’ve watched your video, what you’re going to say will become so much clearer.
Practice makes perfect… but not too much
Once you’ve decided on your objectives, write down the key points you’ll be making in your video. We’d advise against writing a full script for a quick social media video. A script becomes your comfort blanket, and it’ll be obvious you’re reading from it. You want to come across as natural and relaxed, rather than robotic. You’ll also be striving for perfection if you’re trying to stick to a script, meaning it’ll probably take you a lot longer to record a video you’re happy with.
Instead, stick to a quick intro, three key points, and a sign-off with a call-to-action. Practice a few variations and watch them back to make sure you’ve achieved what you set out to. Don’t worry if you stumble over a couple of words; it’s human, and the likelihood is that no one else will notice. If you find it too excruciating to watch yourself, send a couple of variations to a colleague or friend that you trust to give you honest feedback. Someone else may pick up on something obvious that you might have missed.
The right environment
It may seem obvious, but recording your video in the right environment makes a big difference. Of course, recording a video at home throws up a number of challenges. Unless you live alone, there’ll be other people, maybe even little ones, getting in your way. Try and find a quiet space where you won’t be disturbed or distracted, and let others in the house know that you’ll be recording. If you have less cooperative infant co-inhabitants, wait until they’re in bed!
Make sure the space around you isn’t distracting and is comfortable, so you come across relaxed. And finally, double check there’s nothing around you that you wouldn’t want others seeing. You, quite literally, don’t want to air your dirty laundry.
Brand
Your audience should instantly recognise your brand when they see your videos. After all, video is all over our social media feeds at the moment, so you need to make sure your brand stands out. It can be as simple as overlaying your logo onto videos in post-production. You should also consider the creation of graphics for YouTube thumbnails, so at a glance, people can see what your video is about.
We’ve probably all seen the hilarious and genius use of Zoom backgrounds, and there’s no reason why you can’t take advantage of this to showcase your brand. Make like Yorkshire Tea and brand up your background for instant recognition. Just make sure it doesn’t distract too much from what you’re actually talking about!
Of course, brand isn’t just visual. If various people in your organisation are making videos, it’s really important you strike the balance between maintaining their individuality, while also ensuring your brand is being accurately represented by everyone in the business. For example, you could ask everyone to use the same greeting or sign-off in their videos. This creates something familiar and instantly recognisable for your viewers, but also allows your team to keep their individual voice.
Your toolkit
There are a number of ways to record quality videos at home. You could use your smartphone either propped up against something or on a tripod, or record from your webcam using a tool such as Zoom.
Editing doesn’t have to be complicated. There are loads of free tools out there to help you add any graphics and closed captions, such as iMovie. Remember, this is a quick social media video, and doesn’t need to be over-produced.
If your organisation wants to create social media videos that drive results, the team at Digital Glue can help you with everything from video branding to promotion campaigns to help you achieve your objectives. Get in touch with the team today here.
