How To Make The Best Videos For The Top Social Media Platforms

There’s no doubt that videos are everywhere these days. Even the most seemingly uninteresting subject has a video. As digital marketers, it makes perfect sense to produce one too, right? It depends. One, videos are like double-edged swords. They can be good or bad depending on how they are used. Second, blindly posting them for the sake of jumping into the bandwagon will do you no good. You need a purpose, a theme, and a target.

Otherwise, you risk wasting time and effort into something that could have been a successful online venture.

So you want to make videos for social media? Follow these tips for a smooth production.

Choose Your Social Media Platform

The saying ‘you can’t serve two masters at the same time’ never rang with much truth than in social media. Even the savviest online marketers usually make the mistake of posting the same content again and again – ignoring how different platforms work. Before whipping out your camera, choose one or two social media platforms that will suit your campaign best.

It can be somewhere your brand or company has a lot of followers. Or perhaps a target platform you plan on penetrating for a new project. Here’s a short list of the most popular video platforms on the Web:

• Youtube
• Vimeo
• Facebook
• Twitter
• Instagram
• Vine

Learn From the Noise

Next, it’s time to do a little investigating. Remember: thousands of videos are uploaded everyday – and that’s only on Youtube. You want to stand out above the noise. So the first thing you need is to LISTEN. What videos are your followers interested in? What have they watched recently? What are your competitors making? Spend a bit of time to get inspiration from what’s already famous.

During this process, you and your team may already have formed a concept. Play around ideas. Get a pen and paper to quickly jot down important notes.

Brainstorm

This is the fun part. Gather everyone’s insights and start creating a draft. You may want to remember the following points:

• Keep it short to tease; but long enough to include the brand’s message
• Make it entertaining, witty, emotional, informative, or insightful
• Don’t be afraid to use unconventional techniques
• Have a focal point
• Go ahead and jump into pop culture
• Ride on popular events, dates, and events

Now back to the original question: what videos work best for which platform?

Youtube/Vimeo

For these channels, longer videos are okay as people visit these sites specifically for that type of content. Feel free to create short films, documentaries, or tutorials. Compilations and reviews are also widely accepted. On average, videos spanning 3 to 10 minutes are best because they can be comfortably viewed on mobile or desktop devices.

Twitter/Facebook/Instagram

These social networks require shorter videos because most of their users consume content on mobile. And we’re all familiar with how impatient and busy this type of audience is. Keep videos somewhere between 6 seconds to 2 minutes for maximum effectiveness (do take note of the different time limits for these social media platforms).

Making shorter videos are in fact, more challenging thanks to time constraints. This is where creativity and resourcefulness play a huge role. As a general rule: pick a central theme and work around that . Learn from film-maker and YouTube personality Zach King. His videos are entertaining because they are short, simple and feature his skills as a video editor.

Last Words

Making videos doesn’t have to be expensive. Just grab a video camera or use the one on your phone and you’re good to go. Make sure there’s plenty of light so your subjects can be viewed with ease. There’s no need to worry when it comes to editing: there are plenty of free resources online.

Whether videos are the future of digital marketing is yet to be seen. But right now, it’s certainly one of the best forms of content to digest. As it’s a mixture of visuals and sounds, it’s definitely a more effective form of communication than mere text or images. In addition, videos are supported by almost any platform on the Web. You can even ‘Pin’ them on Pinterest!

Most videos that make it big contain real elements taken from everyday life. Tiny struggles, funny moments, valuable glimpses – these make content easy to relate to. The most effective way to make videos go viral is to add that human touch. So keep it simple, and keep it real.