Every business encounters roadblocks to conquer when it comes to producing effective and engagement driven social video. No matter what type of videos you make, every new creator typically commits the same common though easy-to-fix mistakes. Follow these video do’s and don’ts to streamline production and attract new viewers.
1. Do create a game plan.
To avoid confusion and inefficiency, create a game plan for your video. Set up a schedule for shooting and editing to avoid overshooting and overediting.
Then, organize an outline for where, how, and when you will market your video online. Keeping your marketing plans in a concise map format will also make it easier to revise your marketing strategy to find new viewers.
2. Do collaborate.
Collaborations are not just for famous YouTubers. Research your competitors and pitch an idea or two for a collab video. This is a great way to maximize exposure and improve your SEO. Collabs typically have the potential to receive more views than other videos because the promotional efforts are doubled.
3. Do stay focused.
When producing videos for a marketing campaign, remember to focus your energies on your audience and your purpose. If you stray from your focus, you may lose your audience and your video marketing efforts will be in vain. Videos without focus appear unprofessional and will not attract new viewers.
4. Don’t neglect visuals.
Among the top video do’s and don’ts, neglecting visuals is one of the greatest mistakes. The entire purpose of using video in a marketing strategy is to exploit a variety of audio and visual effects that cannot be achieved with any other medium.
Take advantage of visuals by varying your shots, incorporating B-roll footage, and moving your subject.
5. Do follow video marketing trends.
Whether or not you want to create videos about trendy topics is up to you, but adhering to video marketing trends is a must to attract new viewers. Pay attention to what video styles are getting the most views in the current year or season to boost your leads.
Don’t expect outdated strategies and styles to make your video marketing campaign flourish. You can keep up with the latest video marketing trends here.
6. Don’t overproduce.
One of the most important video do’s and don’ts for social media is quality over quantity. Most search algorithms are starting to give more relevance to the quality of a video as opposed to quantitative factors.
Producing one exceptional video every month is better than producing one mediocre video every week. This is because new viewers will not be impressed with mediocre content. Remember, the purpose of your content is to attract new viewers and convert, not to reach a content quota.
7. Don’t say everything.
Audio and visual effects are intended to work together in a video. In a video, don’t just read what is on the screen. If your viewer wanted to listen to you narrate, they would use a podcast. Use audio to elaborate, not reiterate.
8. Do coordinate wardrobe.
What your subject wears on camera can affect the aesthetics of your video. Boston University recommends avoiding clothes with “intricate patterns, small stripes, and logos.” BU also suggests that cameras don’t pick up well on black and white clothes. Furthermore, make sure your wardrobe is visually appealing to your viewers.
9. Don’t overlook video SEO.
If you want a solid way to gain more views, then use video SEO. SEO is as important with videos as it is for other digital mediums. If you optimize keywords in your video title and description, etc., new viewers will be more likely to find your video in search engines.
10. Don’t forget about older videos.
Unless you create videos about trending topics, you can always re-market your older videos. Many YouTubers admit a lot of their revenue comes from people visiting their existing videos from months and years ago, and not from viewers visiting their latest upload.
If you create valuable videos on lasting topics, continuously promote them to attract new viewers and engage them. You can even promote your older, top-performing videos within your new videos by including annotations at the end of the video.
11. Don’t be generic.
If your content is trite and totally uncreative, how will you move up in the ranks? The internet has an endless library of videos. Don’t produce generic content that has already been done before unless you want to be overshadowed and overlooked. Be colorful and creative, and new viewers will be interested in what you have to offer.
12. Don’t be a perfectionist.
Creative projects like video production can open us to a sense of overwhelming perfectionism. Although it is smart to revise your videos and make changes as necessary, perfectionism is simply inefficient and unnecessary.
Don’t fret over every little aspect of your video. None of your viewers will care if you choose X transition over Y transition. Nobody will mind if there’s a car in the background of your shot at the park.
You will only notice small imperfections because you are involved in the video production. Instead, be efficient and look at the big picture before going correction-crazy.
13. Don’t add filler to your videos.
Filler includes the parts of your video that don’t contain essential information. For example, many new creators make 5-minute-long tutorial videos that could only be a minute long without all the filler.
Replacing voice audio with visuals can help cut down your filler. Instead of reading off a bullet list of ingredients your viewers will need for a recipe, show them the list and ask them to pause the video to collect the ingredients.
If you have more success with longer videos, make sure your videos are saturated with content, not filler, to attract new viewers. Unless you have already established this kind of viewer loyalty, nobody wants to sit through several minutes of emotional filler and have to pick out all the pieces of valuable content themselves.
14. Do experiment with video length.
We all know shorter videos typically lead to more views. However, many channels and niches find more success with longer videos. Similar to blog articles, longer videos can perform better because viewers want in-depth content, not quick tips.
It all depends on your niche, though. So, experiment with video length and measure which type of video your audience prefers. Depending on your niche, either long or short videos may do a better job of drawing new viewers to your business.
15. Don’t expect views to magically appear.
You may spend hours, days, even weeks producing a single video. Once you finally release it to the world, you expect the views to roll in after all your hard work. Unfortunately, producing a great video doesn’t always draw hundreds and thousands of views. Instead, you have to expose and promote your video to receive views.
Posting it on all your social networks isn’t enough, either. You’ll need to take advantage of top, well-researched marketing strategies to secure a substantial view count. Some ideas for drawing views include:
- Incorporating calls-to-action throughout your videos.
- Exposing your video on a variety of platforms.
- Pitching your video to niche authorities for promotion.
- Collaborating with similar creators on YouTube.
16. Do use intros wisely.
Logo intros are great for branding your videos, but they can ward off new viewers. You want to hook all potential viewers within the first seconds of your video. A logo intro may disinterest or even annoy them, whereas jumpstarting a video with a quick tip will catch their attention.
If you do make a video intro, keep it under three seconds (if not two). Watermarking your videos may be a better option for branding.
17. Do maximize video and audio quality.
Poor audio and video quality will repel new viewers. It will make your business seem unprofessional. Professional lighting and microphones are a must. Audio quality is just as important as (if not more than) video quality.
18. Don’t mess up the thumbnail.
Thumbnails can be an influential factor on whether or not potential viewers click on your videos instead of your competitors’ videos. No one style of thumbnail is the most effective at attracting clicks, but there are some don’ts you want to avoid. Thumbnails should:
- Accurately foreshadow the video content.
- Use colors and enticing visuals.
- Rely more on visuals than on text.
- Brand your business with colors, fonts, and logos.
- Motivate the viewer to watch the video.
19. Do vary your content.
In today’s competitive market of online video, YouTube channels should aspire to create a community, not just content. Although your content should stay focused and niche-specific, you don’t have to create the same type of videos and content every time.
By diversifying your channel with tutorials, news updates, and event live streams, you will diversify your marketing scope and thus attract new viewers.
20. Don’t be disorganized.
Viewers appreciate videos that aren’t all over the place. Practicing organization within your videos is easy when you create an outline of the content. Even if you do not use organizational tactics such as lists or steps in your video, always map out the topics you intend on covering and decide how best to smoothly flow from one idea to the next.
21. Do revise.
Even the biggest brands are always changing. Instead of expecting different, better results with the same strategy, critique and improve your technique after seeing the results of each video. You can certainly receive more views as you take note of what generates views in your business’s specific marketing strategy.
22. Do practice consistency.
Keep your videos well-structured and adhere to a video production schedule. Channel consistency is key to maintaining a loyal following. YouTube’s revised algorithm prioritizes channels that produce quality content. Benefit from YouTube’s SEO rankings by uploading regularly. Remember, consistency is not the same as redundancy!
23. Do focus your camera.
Even professional YouTubers sometimes have to reshoot videos after forgetting to properly focus the camera. Remember to double-check that your camera is in focus with the focus adjustment settings. If you hire a freelance videographer, you won’t have to worry about this part of production.
24. Do humanize your videos.
The key to making your videos stand out is to sprinkle in some personality. Brand your videos with your team’s own creative touch. Videos are meant to be humanizing, as the audience can see and hear you. Take advantage of this and show the audience who your business truly is. Connect with them on a face-to-face level.
25. Don’t ignore your audience.
Reaching out to the audience is essential to attract new viewers. Interact with viewers both within and outside of the video. Read the comments on your videos and reply to them. See what your followers are saying about your content on social media. Address the audience within your videos and thank them.
26. Do edit your videos.
Video editing is unavoidable. If your business does not edit its videos, you simply cannot achieve the same level of professionalism to attract new viewers. Viewers want clean, cut, quality videos from their favorite brands, and they expect nothing less from you.
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