Kelli S. Burns, Ph.D.

I virtually attended the Stukent Digital Summit 2018 and watched many excellent presentations by digital media professionals. The talk by Brian Peters of Buffer was extremely interesting and inspiring to me, mainly because I have not delved into video yet, but really want to. His tips were helpful, and I definitely plan to explore some of the video tools he recommended. I was already a fan of Brian’s because he is a co-host of Buffer’s podcast, the Science of Social Media, and I have been listening to this podcast for a while.

Video Content

Brian’s first tip is to take what is already working for you and amplify it through video. So if you have a great blog post or social media post, make that into a video. You want to do your best work on content that is high in both importance and longevity.

In addition to your own social media content, you can also make a video focused on industry news. Use sites like Google Trends or Buzzsumo to identify news topics. You might also look for inspiration online by checking out popular content. He talked about a video they created called Top Moments in Social Media History. Other ideas might be hacks, tips, or tricks. He created one video by capturing his screen to show his trick, and then he sped up the video through iMovie and added captions to explain.

Types of Videos

Brian presented 12 types of videos and categorized them based on the purpose, either to raise awareness or to convert customers. For awareness, consider videos focused on thought leadership, how-to’s, interview/Q&A, blog teasers, announcements, or event promotion. To convert customers, use videos to provide a company overview, product onboarding, personal messages, FAQs, testimonials, or product demonstrations.

Tools

Tools recommended for video creation include Animoto, Adobe, and iMovie. For graphics, he suggested Piktochart, Cloud App, and Canva. For footage, check out Pixabay, Pexels, and VideoBlocks. His favorites of each category are Animoto, Canva, and Pexels.

He also mentioned Adobe Spark, CutStory (to cut a video into 15-second chunks for Instagram stories), VideoShop, YouTube Studio, and Adobe Premiere and AfterEffects.

Best Practices

Brian’s first tip was to create video for mobile since that is where most people are viewing video. Use a square or vertical format. Do not use an opener and get right to the content. For best quality sound when a person is in the video, use a lavalier mic. The best lighting is natural lighting from a window, and for stability, use a tripod or handheld phone stabilizer.

Promoting Videos

Brian suggested users look at their Facebook Insights to see how videos are performing. Other tips for advertising included using Facebook Ads Manager instead of boosting posts for more options, not spending a ton on advertising and making sure to promote worthy videos, and testing a lot. He believes that you can make great videos with little resources.

Summary

Ok, I’m not afraid any longer to try out video. I may do this assignment Brian suggested and see how it goes. His assignment idea was to have students record short clips of their life throughout a day and edit it together for a one-minute video. They should present the clips in a way that makes their day look exciting–I guess maybe by using music and captions. I will let you know how it goes.