Smartphone Video Tips For Your Social Media

Video has become the centerpiece and one of the top drivers, if not the primary driver, of social media activity. Selfies are still popular with the everyday user, but more and more, users are turning to video posts or live video streaming to communicate with others and get their message out. From a brand perspective, video has also become a top performer when it comes to mobile advertising, increasing engagement and gaining more reach through likes and shares than standard text posts or even still images.

This trend isn’t luck of the draw or just the latest thing, there’s science behind it. Video allows for more absorption by our brains than other forms of media. It can include text, audio, still images, and motion, and the human mind remembers and accepts information better when a variety of these mediums are combined. There’s also the fact that everyone learns and absorbs information differently, so a presentation that combines different elements makes it more likely that a wider audience will be receptive.

These facts should solidify your business’ resolve to include video in your social media campaigns on a regular basis, but you don’t have to own, rent, or even use expensive or fancy equipment to create, edit, and publish your videos. The capabilities of smartphones today give virtually everyone access to sharing video right in their pockets.

That doesn’t mean, however, that just turning on the video camera in your phone and shooting something on the spot is going to be well-received. People still want to see decent quality videos, so here are some tips that will make your smartphone videos better and more engaging.

1. Use Landscape Mode, Always. You’ve seen them. We’ve all seen them. Videos posted by someone who holds their phone vertically instead of horizontally when filming something. There are few thing more annoying to the social crowd. You get large black spaces on either side of the video and the action is much harder to see or make out. Just turn the phone sideways, it’s not that difficult. Social channels are optimized to show video in landscape mode, so they’ll always look better and get more attention that way – always. Frankly, the phone makers should make it so that videos can only be shot in landscape mode.

2. Use Natural Lighting. Unless you’re a pro at film production, you probably don’t know how to use direct lighting well. You also more-than-likely don’t have the proper lighting equipment to make it happen. The typical result is having too much or too little light, making the shot too bright or dark and hard to see. Making use of indirect sunlight will get the best results.

3. Reduce Background Noise. If you’re trying to explain something or share information in a video and all that can be heard is crowd noise, traffic, or a television or stereo blaring from the next room, people will tune out quickly. Using a microphone is helpful if you have one, but the primary thing is to try and film in the quietest environment possible.

4. Upload in HD. Do this whenever you can, based on the size limitations of uploads to the site. It just looks better and people will receive your message clearly.

5. Don’t Forget the Text. Give your video a good title and a good description that will draw attention. This also helps with its ranking in search results and attracts an audience for your video.

Bonus: As you’ve probably noticed, video ads are everywhere on Facebook now. That’s because they work. Consider using video advertising in your Facebook campaigns and see if you don’t get more exposure, followers, and reach.

Use these video tips for your social media to help you enhance the quality of your social media content, attracting more followers, increasing engagement and more. Need help with professional video production? Contact us today. We’ve got the professional and experienced team, high-quality equipment, and the means to get your business in front of your target audience.