As social media continues to change and evolve, so should our strategies and tactics. Video content is everywhere, and social media platforms are all adapting to include short, medium and longer formats of video content. From Snapchat to Instagram and Facebook Stories to Reels to YouTube Shorts and the all-star TikTok garnering more than 1 million video views in 1 day.

Knowing the power and success video content is having right now, we have put together some steps to help you create amazing video content to skyrocket your engagement and increase your impressions.

Determine your video style

When we talk about videos, we underestimate the many types of videos that are available to us. Based on your video goals and objectives, choose a video style that works for you and your budget.

• Live Action: with real people on a reallocation
• Animation: many still images that are played one after the other to give the illusion of movement. These could be 2D, 3D and stop-motion
• Motion Graphics: a style of animation that uses images and text but doesn’t usually tell a story
• Typography: moving or animated text that uses movement and words to express ideas
• Others include: Photomontage, live streaming, screencast videos, and others

Research all the video tools

After you and your team have chosen the type of video that best suits your content, it’s time to decide on a tool or platform to put it all together.

• Camera: for the more elaborate shooting of products or people, consider using a professional camera. Depending on the type of content and your phone model make, feel free to use your smartphone as well.
• Canva Video Suite or iMovie: we recommend Canva Video Suite or iMovie for simple editing and putting together video content that has already been shot (e.g live action, live streaming or screencast videos). You can add simple text, music and overlap a picture on top of the video at any point in time.
• Animation tools: If you decide to make an animation, motion graphics or even typography video, you’ll find many animation tools online with video templates, stock images/videos, and fonts available to use. Some of these platforms include Biteable, Offeo, Animaker, Moovly.
• After Effects: for more advanced videos like motion graphics or typography, you can use Adobes After Effects. This platform is very sophisticated, and it might take you a while to get the hang of it.

Establish Parameters

Video content can look and feel quite different depending on length, type, and even orientation. Make sure that you are aligning these characteristics to the platform, goal, and purpose of your video.

• Length: make sure you adapt the length of the video to the type of information you are sharing and where you’ll be sharing it. If you are planning to share your video on YouTube for example, take into consideration this platform uses a longer video format (2-50 minutes) and is more frequently used for product demos, how-to tutorials, Vlogs, FAQs, etc. For other social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram, consider shorter video formats (15 seconds to 5 minutes) for more interactive content like product launches, testimonials and customer reviews.
• Dimensions: keeping in mind the platform you will be using; consider the video dimensions you need to abide by to make your video looks the best it can.
• Orientation: the orientation of your video is also critical. For YouTube and Twitter plan for horizontal orientation and for Instagram, Snapchat and Pinterest use a vertical orientation.

Edit for Engagement

Now that you have your video set up, make sure the editing is impeccable. A well-edited video can and will make all the difference. Make sure to use music that is on-trend and aligns with the messaging and energy of the video. Keep in mind you can also speed up your video to make it feel more energetic and upbeat, or slow it down for videos that have more text and requires concentration. Additionally, keep things moving and flowing so it’s easy and enjoyable to watch, use transitions and movements cleanly and use CTAs to encourage engagement

Phew. That’s a lot! Feeling overwhelmed? We get it – producing video content might be harder than it seems but fear no more, FAULHABER’s content production team and our #FSTOPstudios can help. We have a multitude of resources to make sure your next video is a success. FAULHABER works in-house and with external talent to help bring your visions to life. Interested in working with FAULHABER on your next video? Contact us here!