8 Tips for Video Production Beginners
You have to evolve like Bowie to stay relevant in digital marketing. Video production is essential to your evolution.
There is no denying it: content is visual. People don’t want to read the great works of literature, and they sure as hell don’t want to read this blog. They want to watch compelling video content that piques their interest and leads to a purchase decision. In fact, landing pages that contain video content experience 80% higher conversion rates than those without it.
Therefore, any digital marketers looking to stay relevant in the visual era must go beyond their initial skillset, learning the fine art that is video production. Well, it doesn’t even have to be the fine art, as a quality smartphone and access to a couple of apps will take you to where you want to go.
Here are eight essential tips on video production for beginners:
1. Know your goals
Video content - like most other marketing endeavours - begins with a goal. What do you want to achieve with your content? Do you want to build brand awareness? Do you want to educate yourself about video production? Or, are you looking to create quick sales for a pre-existing brand? Knowing exactly what your goals are is the very first step to knowing what kind of video content you want to create.
2. Know your audience
Marketers experience a 66% engagement increase with video content. Therefore, it’s imperative that you know your audience to create video content that catches their attention. You have to engage with analytics to know where your customers will likely see your video content. Do you have an awesome Instagram following?
Or, are your fans more likely to find you on TikTok, where they can catch you in short and compelling videos? Knowing where your audience will find you is the next essential to knowing what type of video content to produce.
3. Select your content type
Next, it’s time to choose the video type or types that will work best for your brand. This is where you combine your goals with your audience to decide which type of content they will most want to see, and that will help you achieve your goals.
For example, if you are trying to build brand awareness amongst a young crowd, you might like to make a product demo that fits perfectly into TikTok’s video dimensions.
The types of video content you can choose from include:
How-to tutorials
Live action
Interviews
Animation
Teasers
Onboarding
Customer reviews
Behind-the-scenes
And much more. You will likely already have a pretty good idea of the type of content you want to produce but considering your goals and your audience will help you define a video production method that is perfect for your brand.
4. Write a simple script
Look, you’re not adapting Ulysses into film, so you don’t have to go all out on the script. But, like all digital content, you have to plan your video content to ensure it will resonate with your audience. Therefore, take some time to write a short plan or script, being sure to highlight two or three key messages that your video will convey.
Next, write a shot list, considering what you’ll record and from what angles. This simple, two-step process of writing a short script alongside a shot list will make all the difference when it comes to creating fun and engaging video content that your audience will love.
5. Get your equipment
This is a beginners blog for basic video production - not a high-end course to set you up at an advertising firm. Therefore, you don’t need to go running out to buy the fanciest video camera, editing software, microphone etc. on the market.
Any good smartphone complete with a ring light and tripod is the perfect setup for beginner video producers. Next, equip your phone with an editing app like Canva or CapCut, as they make essential features like inserting text and trimming easy for beginners.
6. Make your videos SEO-friendly
I know that I said people don’t want to read anything online anymore and that is true. However, they still need to read your titles and captions to ensure that they have navigated to the right video content. Therefore, you have to write compelling titles and captions that make your videos easy to find when people search them in Google and on social media platforms etc.
What’s more, if you are making long-form videos, be sure to include timestamps so that viewers can easily navigate to the part of the video they might actually want to see. Ensuring your videos are SEO-friendly is essential to ensuring your customers actually see them.
7. Analyse your results
Don’t just make the videos and forget about them - you’ll never understand what works and what doesn’t! Thankfully, online platforms like Google Analytics and social media analytical tools exist to tell you exactly how many clicks and views your video gets as well as how long they keep watching your videos.
All of this analytical data can be utilised to refine your video content strategy. For example, you might notice that people start to exit your video content once it surpasses a minute (thus leaving before seeing the call-to-action (CTA)). You can easily resolve this problem by shortening your scripts and your video edits to ensure that the CTA falls within the minute mark and therefore has a higher chance of conversion.
8. Spread & repurpose your videos
Your videos can be cut, spread and repurposed to ensure they receive maximum exposure from the same piece of content. For example, you might create a longer how-to video for your product that can easily be cut down into an Insta-friendly product demo to grab your audience’s attention. Think of ways that you can spread your content across different digital platforms to ensure they enjoy the most reach and engagement.
Video production can seem like an overwhelming endeavour. Believe me, for years I was a highly-complacent writer, convinced that the craft of punishing a keyboard with one’s fingertips is a noble craft. And, sure, it might be, but you have to evolve like Bowie if you want to stay relevant in the unrelenting world of digital marketing.
