For any brand that wants to make inroads on Social Media platforms – videos are essential. The potential of videos to attract attention, generate interest and ultimately increase engagement levels is unrivaled by any other type of content.

As much as that is true, however, it should be noted that not all videos are able to utilize that potential. In fact, for Social Media Videos to be effective, it is important that they are carefully created so that they are able to maximize the advantages that they bring to the table.Define Goals

Define Goals

Before you begin to think about the videos you intend to create – take a moment to ask yourself: What do you intend to achieve by publishing these videos on social media?

Before you begin to think about the videos you intend to create – take a moment to ask yourself: What do you intend to achieve by publishing these videos on social media?

There are a number of different goals that most brands have for social Media Videos, such as to:

• Build brand awareness by increasing exposure
• Generate traffic for a website
• Increase engagement levels and build a community
• Directly promote products or services
• Provide support or act as a knowledge base

Right from the get-go, you should define the goals that you intend to achieve. The reason why this is important is that they will frame what you expect from your social media videos and allow you to ensure they are effective at achieving your specific goals.

Plan the Video

The first step in any successful endeavor is planning, and creating social media videos is no exception. In order for your social media videos to be effective, you need to fully plan out the videos – including the topic, type, content, and logistics that will be required.

Considering there are many areas that need to be covered, it is best to approach it methodically:

• Research your target market

Depending on your brand and products, you should identify your target market based on their demographics – including age, gender, location, common interests, and any other relevant factors.

After that you should begin to research that target market, to find out what type of content they generally respond to, what they might be interested in, and what they may find useful. That information is critical to help you plan out your videos.

• Choose topics

Based on your research, you should be able to start choosing topics for your videos. Keep in mind that the topics you choose should help you to achieve your goals, while also appealing to your target market.

Try to choose topics that are tightly focused, and that you feel you can cover in a minute or two of the video. If you want you can start with a broad set of general topics, and then narrow them down.

• Select video types

For each topic that you come up with you should consider what type of video will frame it best. Is it going to be a video guide, demonstration, brand culture video, interview, or something else?

Once again your goals and target market will have a part to play in this decision as well – and you should evaluate the topic and type of video based on them.

• Write the script

At this point you should know the topic and type of video that you intend to create – so the next thing to do is to write a script for the video itself.

Start by outlining the structure of the video, and possibly breaking it down into scenes if required. Then begin to flesh it out with details, including both what is going to be shown in-frame as well as the voiceover narration that may be accompanying it.

At this point, you should also be to better estimate the duration of the video, which you should try to keep within the 1 to 2-minute range. If it exceeds that, you may want to consider structuring the script differently or possibly narrowing down the topic further.

When you’re writing a script, don’t worry about getting it perfect on the first draft. Instead, you should just roughly write down the script, and then begin to fine-tune it over multiple drafts.

One area that is extremely important for social media videos is the Call To Action (CTA) at the end of the video. It should point the viewer to a specific action or in a specific direction that is in line with your goals.

• Map out the logistics

Once you’ve written a script that you’re happy with – think about the logistics that will be required to film it.

Some social media videos have a very simple scope and can be filmed with a basic camera and from the comfort of your own room. On the other hand, some may require you to find the right setting, acquire specific equipment, prepare props, and so on.

As you map out the logistics your script requires, you should be able to identify how feasible it is both in terms of resources and budget. If you are on a tight budget you may want to consider video topics and types that require less of a budget and could even create one by learning how to make a slideshow on a Mac.

Record High-Quality Videos

Having a thorough plan in advance should make the recording process relatively straightforward as you will know precisely what needs to be done. While the exact steps required to record the video will vary quite a bit, there are a few general factors you should keep in mind to ensure its quality is good:

• Make sure the scene is brightly lit but the light source is not in-frame.
• Experiment with the frame and composition and try using the rule of thirds to improve it.
• Keep the camera steady to avoid focus issues, and use a tripod stand or camera holder if necessary.
• Filming in short clips is easier, and you can compile the footage later on.
• Pan the camera slowly if necessary so that the image remains clear.
• Use a good microphone to ensure the audio doesn’t crackle or sound muffled.
• Minimize background noise as far as possible, or consider recording the audio and video separately and compiling it later.
• Edit ruthlessly and possibly re-record footage if necessary in order to ensure the video looks great.

Track and Analyze Performance

Once you’ve created videos and published them on the social media platforms that you use – be sure to track how they perform. The reason why this is important is that by tracking the performance of your existing videos you can analyze the data and improve the next videos that you create.

Generally, it is best to collect as much data as possible from each of your videos. Pay attention not only to views, but also other metrics such as likes, comments, shares, and conversion rates.

From this data, you will be able to identify topics and video types that your target market responds to best. That information can then be used the next time you create a video, to improve its effectiveness.

That sort of iterative improvement is crucial when you want to create better and more effective social media videos. In a nutshell, you stand to learn from every video that you create and publish.

Conclusion

Knowing that there are so many steps involved in creating effective social media videos may seem daunting at first – so it is best to start small. Tackle the process one step at a time, and slowly work your way through it.

Once you get started and create your first video, you’ll find that the next one is far easier. That is due to the fact that a lot of the steps really only need to be performed once, and in future videos, you will be able to practically skim through the process and still end up with more effective videos at the end of the day.

100% Working Method to Create Highly Effective Social Media Videos is a post from Blog Mean.