Making your Video Content Count

Video is now a huge part of everyday life. From a simple vlog on YouTube to big budget blockbusters at the cinema, the moving image has never been a more accessible tool to promote what your business has to offer. But what should you consider when planning and making video content?

Probably one of the most important things to consider before someone starts creating a video are knowing the audience that you are aiming for, and what message you want to convey to that audience. Getting either of those wrong will completely undermine all your creative efforts, and ultimately, limit the effectiveness of your video. Taking time to learn how your audience engage with content and what really spikes their interest prior to pressing record will go a very long way.

We’ve found that creating quality content doesn’t always have to be done using hugely expensive, high-spec equipment. Yes, it’s important that your content looks good, but the message you’re trying to deliver should be clear enough to avoid breaking the bank. Smartphone cameras are readily available, easily transportable and can capture quality footage – why not incorporate those in your content making arsenal?

Our team have also started to utilise lightweight pieces of software that help automate some of our workflow. Instead of animating movement using keyframes or frame-by-frame techniques, there are a number of online tools available to help with HTML5 animations that allow us to quickly generate content for use on social media and online. These stripped-down features help save time whilst creating quality content and provide a smaller learning curve to generate usable assets.

Effective video content doesn’t have to be costly in terms of kit or time. Strip it back, research your audience and ensure your message is the focus.

Video placement is also vital. There is no point in having great video content if people don’t know where it is or how to find it. There’s plenty of places on our sites where you can incorporate video at no extra cost. Why not make sure you attach videos to your course listings and embed them in your Institution Profiles and Featured Listings. Alternatively, hosting your video on our homepage starts at £400 per month. If you’d like to know more about this or some of the tools we use then please drop me a message via [email protected].