6 Tips For Editing Video To Make Better Content 🎥

Nov 26, 2019

6 Tips For Editing Video To Make Better Content 🎥

Transcript:

Filming a video is sometimes so easy, you could do it with your eyes closed.

But obviously that’s not the end of the video-making process. Oh I wish it was.

Yep, you’re soon left with an hour worth of footage that needs cutting down to a five-minute masterpiece… and you’re on a deadline.

It’s time to share some editing superpowers, so get your timelines ready, because Wednesdays are about to get GIANT.

Hi! my name is Alex and welcome to Giant Wednesday, the only place to be to discover the wonderful world of digital marketing. Don’t forget to subscribe to our channel and post your comments below.

Let’s start with an obvious one – video should play a key part in your marketing strategy.

If it’s missing from your business, chances are that you’re missing a trick, with video marketers growing revenue 49% faster than non-video users.

As video is everywhere online, consumers are becoming more and more aware of the difference between video that has been produced well, and… not so well

And this means that poor quality video for your brand could end up costing you business. Can we get one of those dun Dun DUUN sounds? ah, perfect.

But whether you’re an expert videographer, or you’re just starting out, here’s some advice for blowing people’s minds with AWESOME editing skills.

Number 1 – Choose the right editing software

They say a good craftsman never blames his tools, but having the right software is crucial for video editing.

There are a variety of free and paid-for options available and all of them have their different pros and cons.

The program I use for editing is Adobe Premiere Pro. But that might not be your cup of tea, so take the time to have a play.

You also need to bear in mind that video editing software puts a huge strain on most computers, so don’t think that Dell you’ve been sitting behind the past 3 years is going to produce the next Hollywood blockbuster.

Consider buying some hardware that can handle the work.

Number 2 – Shoot to Edit

You want to start off on the right foot, so don’t make a rod for your own back by thinking you can create stunning video with sub-par footage.

Of course, sometimes you’ll be given footage from someone else to edit together, but trust me, you’ll feel much more confident editing video if you’re the one behind the camera.

Shooting to edit means you’ll also be aware of any curveballs that often pop up in the filming process, and that will drastically speed up your workflow.

Number 3 – Learn your shortcuts

Earlier I mentioned about choosing the right software, and if you’ve found one that works for you, that’s great!

Now it’s important that you learn all the little hacks and shortcuts that are going to make your life a lot easier.

After all, we are on a deadline, remember?

For example, on Premiere, when you’re trying to pick which part of the footage to put into your timeline, you can use ‘L’ to speed up, and ‘J’ to slow down.

You can then press ‘I’ to set the ‘in’ point of your footage, and ‘O’ to set the ‘out point’

And that’s just the basics. Getting to know simple tricks like this will drastically speed up the editing process.

Number 4 – Keep it simple

If you’re just starting out, don’t worry about producing some top end video loaded with special effects.

Instead, it’s better to focus on creating a clean and professional looking video, with information that is clear and easy to understand.

As you continue to learn and feel more comfortable with editing video, you can begin to experiment with various effects, angle changes, text overlays, titles, animations, transitions, zooms… all of that other stuff.

But baby steps, focus on nailing the foundations first.

Number 5 – Fine tune your audio

This is one that we see far too often.

Have you ever been jumping from one YouTube video to the next, and the sound doesn’t match for some videos?

Some videos are super quiet, so you turn the volume right up, and then the next video is super loud and explodes your eardrums?

Well that’s because those people didn’t correctly balance their audio, which is so important.

In fact, several articles have shown that viewers will abandon your video if voices aren’t clear, if the volume is too loud, or too quiet, if there’s distortion, buzz, or other noise that makes the audio difficult to follow.

The issue is that people take good audio for granted. When it’s good, they won’t even notice. But when you mess it up… prepare for bad feedback.

You can tackle this by investing in some quality microphones.

The microphone we use for Giant Wednesday is a Sennheiser ew-100 G3 lavalier mic, but do some research on the best fit for your audio needs. Drop us a comment if you want any more information about our filming setup.

And Number 6 – Don’t stop learning

If you want to continue to evolve the quality of your video to delight your audience, then make sure you’re always learning new editing tips and tricks.

YouTube has an abundance of videos that can teach you pretty much anything you need to know, so if you’re wondering how to… add subtitles, make better transitions, or balance your audio, the perfect lesson for you is only a search away.

And those were my six editing tips.

I hope you’ve learnt something new, and I wish you well on your video editing journey.

If you’re just starting up and making video for your business, send us a link in the comments below and we’ll check it out!

If you’re an experienced video editor, is there a crucial tip you think I’ve missed, or something that you’ve discovered recently? Make sure you let us know.

So that’s it for today, go forth and comment your views, give us a like and subscribe to see more great digital and marketing content every week.

Thanks for watching, and we’ll see you next week for another GIANT Wednesday.

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How To Get Your Content Seen Online & On Social Media 🖥

Nov 19, 2019

How To Get Your Content Seen Online & On Social Media 🖥

Home > Social Media > Page 4

Transcript:

If you spend time labouring over something, you want people to see it, right?

Creating great online content can be time-consuming, no matter how much of a content wizard you are. So it better be seen by the people you intended to see it!

Today we’re going to look at how you can make sure your good stuff is seen and not left in the corner of the internet to rot.

Get ready for the internet to enjoy your work, because Wednesdays are about to get GIANT.

Hello, my name is Adam and welcome to Giant Wednesday, the only place to be to discover the wonderful world of digital marketing. Don’t forget to subscribe to our channel and post your comments below.

We’re here today to look into making sure your content is seen online and give the attention it deserves!

We’re going to look at the different ways to promote your content and increase visibility through owned, earned and paid channels.

It’s hardly a secret that there’s A LOT of people out there on the world wide web, so making sure to stand out and be seen is imperative to your success.

So, your content promotion strategy.

First things first, well… after you’ve made that killer piece of content, is understanding where your audience spends their time online.

Are they more Pinterest than Instagram? Are they more into consuming their content through blog formats or videos? Do some research.

You can find this kind of information out by looking into demographics for your channels, looking at analytics and asking people. Yep, it’s that easy.

And you might find it’s a mix of many different types of content and a variety of platforms – that’s where you’ve got to get strategic.

Now let’s break down the three-channel types; owned, earned and paid.

So first, let’s look at ‘Owned’

This refers to the marketing channels that you manage. For example, your website, your blog and your social media channels.

Owned channels are the best place to start when promoting content because they’re easy for you to manage and low cost.

Now let’s check out ‘Earned’

This refers to anything that is picked up by a third party. For example, another blogger, another company or an influencer.

Earned channels are great to boost the reach of your content, meaning you’re not relying on just your own. They also add a sense of credibility to your work.

And finally, let’s consider ‘Paid’

This refers to promotion you pay for… clues in the name really.

For example, advertising on social media, paying to be promoted by an external party and boosting your posts.

Paid channels are great for targeting campaigns to a specific audience based on goals and budgets, reaching more audiences and potentially growing new audiences.

So now you know you’ve got to work out where your audience is, how they want to consume content and the best ways to reach them through different channels.

That’s the why and the how, but now we need to ask when?

This is where having a content calendar comes in handy.

You all know what a calendar is, I’m sure. But having one for your content promotion means you can construct a detailed timeline to manage our activity.

You’ll want to outline what to publish and when, and you don’t want to do this willy nilly. You need to have some strategy behind it.

There’s little point posting on a Sunday if your audience isn’t up for consuming your theme of content on that day, or at 2am in the morning unless you’re targeting insomniacs or night workers.

Use the tools available on social media platforms, as well as the research methods I mentioned earlier, to see when your audience are online.

Factors these times into your content calendar and look into things like interests. Things like public holidays and funny trending days can be a great time to distribute content.

Websites like daysoftheyear.com have a pretty giant list of these kinds of dates.

Own a pet grooming business? Well go through your content calendar and mark out the days like “National Cat Day” or “Walk Your Dog Day”.

Distribute your content on the days relevant to your sector and see a greater reach. But don’t forget to ride on these trends using things like hashtags, or by entering conversations online.

And don’t forget the owned, earned and paid channels for maximum content boosting.

There you go. You’ve made some killer content and now you know how to distribute it and promote it online through a variety of different channels to achieve maximum reach and hit those objectives!

Work on that content calendar and let us know if you’ve got any questions. Post a piece of content you’re most proud of in the comments so we can check it out.

So, that’s it for today, go forth and comment your views – give us a like and subscribe to see more great digital and marketing content every week.

Thanks for watching, and we’ll see you next week for another GIANT Wednesday.

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Video Making & Filming Advice For Beginners

Oct 9, 2019

Video Making & Filming Advice For Beginners

Home > Social Media > Page 4

Transcript:

I don’t mean to shock you, BUT, video drives up to 10 times more engagement, is shared 12 times more than images and text on social and can give you a 157% increase in organic traffic…

Wow. Who are you to argue with those numbers? It’s no wonder marketers are falling over each other trying to create the best videos possible.

It’s also no wonder people get confused on where to start!

Well, let me enlighten you. Get your camera equipment at the ready, because Wednesdays and your videos are about to get GIANT.

Hi! my name is Alex and welcome to Giant Wednesday, the only place to be to discover the wonderful world of digital marketing. Don’t forget to subscribe to our channel and post your comments below.

So I think we’ve already established that video is pretty impressive.

And I once heard a wise man say “Video is like pizza, even when it’s bad, it’s still pretty good.”

So don’t worry if you’re no Spielberg or a bit of a deer in the headlights when it comes to filming because I’m here to share five bits of advice to help you create some amazing video.

Lights, camera… action.

Number 1: Choose your camera wisely

Obviously, you don’t want to shoot video on something that has poor quality and resembles a potato.

Nowadays your camera of choice could well be your smartphone with so many of them now shooting in 4k quality, though you are sometimes limited in camera settings like shutter speed and aperture.

But let’s not get ahead of ourselves here. They are a great inexpensive-ish option.

Whether you’ve got the money or not to spend out on a more solid piece of kit, just ensure you can at least shoot in 1080p at 24 frames per second, and don’t forget to mount it on a tripod for a steady shot!

The camera you choose to use and the budgets associated with this will very much depend on the type of video you intend to make and its potential return. So keep that in mind unless you’re a real Mr Money Bags.

Tip 2: What’s Your Story?

I appreciate your enthusiasm – you’ve got your camera, and you just want to hit record and see what happens. But before you go ahead, bear in mind the reason you’re doing this whole thing at all.

A study found that those who watched video content cared more about the story and content of the video rather than the quality of the recording so let that be a warning!

Of course that doesn’t mean you can blow the dust off your Motorola Razr and use that, but it does mean that you have to carefully plan your video in advance.

Consider storyboarding your video and writing a script for anyone with a speaking part.

Planning in advance will massively improve your videos, and most importantly, boost engagement with your audience.

Number 3: Use a Gimbal

Ever seen one of these? No no, don’t be afraid! It doesn’t bite.

Whether you’re using a mobile phone or a DSLR, if you’re not using a tripod, you’ll really benefit from using a Gimbal.

This awesome piece of tech uses gyroscopes to make sure that your phone is always level – pretty clever huh?

Even if you think you have the steadiest hands in the world, trust me, your footage is going to come out shaky, which can make your final video look unprofessional.

As I said, you can buy Gimbals for use with a mobile, like this one, but you can also get ones that work with larger cameras.

Using one of these will dramatically improve the quality of your moving or panning shots and make you stand out from others making video.

Number 4: Direct your Subject

So chances are, at some point, you’ll be filming a person.

Some people have never been on camera, so it’s important that you make them feel at ease.

If multiple takes are needed, make sure you just say! Don’t settle for something that’s not perfect. Keep shooting till you’re happy because the likelihood is the presenter will prefer it too.

No one wants to look like an idiot, immortalised forever by film, they want to look as fabulous as a movie star.

If your subject trips over their words (which they will), make sure they take a short pause and compose themselves before starting again.

Trust me on this one, editing a subject that makes a mistake, tuts and tries again in the same breath is difficult, and the delivery in the final edit will seem a bit disjointed.

Number 5: Shoot in 24fps

If you’re a beginner then this probably means nothing to you.

Well, the frame rate is the speed at which the single frames are shown in a video. Kind of like how fast you flip through a flip book.

Most things in our lives, up until this point, have been shot in 24 frames per second so we’ve all been conditioned to think of it as the ideal way of watching video. This includes pretty much all TV shows and movies.

So of course, in today’s modern world as soon as we see a slightly improved number we jump at the chance. Because 60 frames per second is an option available on your camera and most smartphones nowadays, we seem to think its the better, more advanced choice.

But in this case, less is more. Unless it’s less than 24.

Of course there’s nothing wrong with shooting video above 24fps, such as 60, or even 120fps, but it’s best that you save those settings for when you want something to be in slow motion.

But if slow-mo isn’t your jam, keep to the old school ways.

And that’s just a small snippet of the advice I could give you to get you on track to making great video.

So remember, 24 frames per second, don’t shoot on a potato, make sure you tell a compelling story and make sure your shot is steady eddy.

You’ll be the next Spielberg in no time.

Share links to your creations in the comments so we can check them out!

And that’s it for today, go forth and comment your views, give us a like and subscribe to see more great digital and marketing content every week.

Thanks for watching, and we’ll see you next week for another GIANT Wednesday.

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