4 Tips for Creating Video Content for Social Media

Hoa Vu, Media Volery’s multimedia content producer, shares just a few best practices for video content creation. Video continues to become more dominant in the content consumption patterns of our audiences. Therefore, both B2B and B2C brands must strengthen their video capabilities and be thoughtful about using video content throughout their content marketing efforts.

Social media feeds are updating daily and are constantly adapting for the consumer. So how can we create effective video content that will reach our target? Here are four things to keep in mind when creating videos for social media:

Make sure you have your audience’s attention sooner rather than later.

There is an influx on content and not enough time to consume it. On YouTube alone there are more than 500 hours of content uploaded every minute. As more videos get uploaded our attention gets pulled in more directions.

An example that I love to reference is: when I watch part two of a TikTok, sometimes my attention wanders, while I listen to them explain how shocked they were to see the first part to blow up like it did. Other times I simply swipe up and move on.

We can swipe to the next video whenever we lose interest. So as soon as your video shows up on their feed, give them a reason to stick around.

Give your videos a clear purpose or call-to-action (CTA).

Have you ever watched a video and went right to the comments to see if someone timestamped when the main point of the video actually starts? Moments like this can be avoided if you are straightforward and give the viewers what they came for. This goes beyond saving time: every creative you produce will have a story to tell. Knowing what that story is will help you outline and plan accordingly. It will help you cut out the parts that don’t add to that overall story. That story can be something as simple as having a CTA at the end of the product video.

Regardless of what you want your audience to takeaway from your video, make sure it’s there for them to take it.

Turn lengthier content into short videos.

Have you recorded podcasts or livestreams? Give those recordings new life in by editing them down to short compilations, excerpts, or clips that are social media-friendly. Since content is uploaded every minute, your content can easily be pushed further and further down the feed to the point of no return. Make sure your content has an opportunity to appear on your viewer’s feed again by repurposing videos for social.

And finally, EXPERIMENT with your videos.

When I was in school, I had a professor who would always emphasize the importance of experimenting. He told us to try different versions, look at our projects from a different perspective, and think about how we can tell the same story differently.

When creating videos for social media, it does not have to have a talking head or a person in it at all. We can and have hired animators and motion designers instead of videographers to create videos. Think of new ways to tell the same story. Experiment!

The next time you watch a video think about what you love most about it and see if you can bring some of its techniques to your next project.