Video is now the biggest driver of traffic and engagement for businesses and influencers globally. Whilst images do still have their place in your social media campaign, it’s essential to have professional looking social media videos that reflect your business. Here’s 5 tips to make your social media videos pop!
Keeping a steady frame
There’s nothing worse in a video than someone walking around with an unsteady hand, wobbling their camera or phone.
Whilst the answer isn’t always to get a tripod if you intend to walk around and have a dynamic look to your videos, it’s important to invest in some hardware that can help to create smooth and shake-free videos.
Our favourite piece of kit on a budget is the DJI Osmo Mobile 6, which is the latest in a long line of successful mobile gimbals.
Gimbals are designed to stabilise your smartphone. The DJI Osmo Mobile 6 is compact and folds away so you can pop it in your pocket. The great thing about the Mobile 6 is that it has a built-in extension rod, meaning you can get a wider angle in your videos (great when you’re interviewing someone) and better selfies.
It’s also got ‘ActiveTrack’ which means that the smartphone will keep you in the centre of the frame when filming.
In Follow mode, the camera view follows the gimbal’s pan and tilt movements and stays stable during rolls. This mode is great for shooting up, down, and diagonally.
In Tilt Locked mode, the camera view only follows the gimbal’s pan movements and stays stable during tilts and rolls—ideal for shooting horizontally or moving around a subject.
In FPV mode, all three axes of the gimbal follow the movement of the main body. This is wonderful for dynamic filming of still subjects like landmarks, buildings, or statues.
In SpinShot mode, push the joystick to the left or right to control the rotation of the camera view and create dynamic footage. Perfect for shooting push, pull, and high-angle movements.
Capturing Unusual Angles
Whether you’re a local business, an influencer or a multi-national corporation, you have to capture the interest of your consumer in a unique way.
Your average video shots have been seen time and time again so it’s important to change things up.
Luckily, drones are no longer a professional-only mode of video capture. The latest DJI Mavic Mini 3 is less than 250g, meaning anyone can fly this without a drone license.
You can get 4K video with this compact drone without breaking the bank. Once you’ve gotten the hang of how to fly it, the sky is your limit.
You can shoot vertically, and the 5.5 inch HD screen is built directly into the controller, meaning you don’t have to worry about whether your smartphone has enough battery to act as the display as was the case in previous Minis.
It has a built-in gimbal, and can transmit up to 10km away so you can travel long distances securely.
It’s got a 38 minute flight time, so you can enjoy being in the air without the worry of low-battery.
Recording Professional Sound
Wind noise, background noise and tinny voices are all aspects of audio recording that you have to avoid if you want to look professional.
The built-in audio equipment in smartphones, even on the latest iPhones and cameras are designed to be upgraded. It’s not hard or expensive to do, and makes a massive difference to the quality of your videos.
Lavalier microphones are where it’s at; they’re compact, easy to use and effective at capturing quality audio regardless of your settings.
Our personal favourite is the Hollyland Lark M1 lavalier microphones as they’re a mid-range budget option that still means you get great audio. They’re less than 1cm thick, which is great for disguising them whilst filming videos, and they come with a handy charging case for on-the-go charging. They also come with the windscreens for outdoor situations and can connect to iPhones, Android and DSLRs.
One of the best features about this lavalier microphone is the long-range capabilities; it can reach up to 200m from the receiver which means you don’t have to worry about capturing audio when you’re far away from your smartphone / DSLR.
Lighting Your Subject
It’s not always possible to film in perfect lighting conditions with natural lighting on a cloudy day. Sometimes you need to film indoors, sometimes at night. Lighting is such an important aspect of your video as it allows the viewer to see what you want them to see.
Do you want to focus on the person at the front? Create a brighter light and have a darker background to give focus. You can even add light filters if you want to jazz things up.
Anthony Gugliotta shows exactly how you can change lighting and create interest in your backgrounds.
If you’d like to buy his Nanlite Pavotubes, you can buy them on Amazon here.
As a cheaper option, ring lights are a great way to create a warm natural glow on your subject (usually a face). You can get them in a variety of sizes, but the bigger ones help to create a softer light.
There are two that we have in our arsenal of equipment; a mobile ring light and a tripod version.
The mobile ring light helps you on the go, whether that’s vlogging from the beach, the bar or your car on your phone. You can pop it in your pocket and clip it on when needed.
It’s got 5 brightness levels and 3 colour temperature adjustments so you can find the right setting for each scene.
The battery lasts between 1 – 4 hours and is rechargable too.
You can buy this mobile selfie ring on Amazon here.
For bigger projects that need a bigger light, you can get this 12″ selfie ring light that has it’s own tripod. It’s versatile enough to work on a worktop and on the floor for whatever kind of video you’re capturing.
It extends to 63″ high and holds your smartphone in place, simplifying your setup. It’s got a USB plug, meaning you can have it plugged in while using.
You can buy this 12″ Selfie Ring Light with 63″ Extendable Tripod Stand from Amazon here.
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