The first rule of making a video for social media in 2018 is that, well, there just aren’t any rules when it comes to your media creation.  I mean, sure, interesting is always a good start, because grabbing your audience’s attention, regardless of subject matter, is always a good thing, right?  And in a world connected by the internet and whipped into a frenzy by social media, it seems like the right place to start.

Talking babies, talking dogs, talking dogs dressed up as babies, it seems like in the quest for buzz and clicks, videos of every stripe are pushing boundaries and taking risks in the hopes of reaching a wider audience.  And given the bang for your buck that social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and similar sites are offering, you can get creative and put your concept out there without breaking the bank.

Of course there are a few simple ways to think about your creating your video that could affect it’s overall success:

  1. Sound. Or really, a lack of it. It turns out that the majority of videos on Facebook are watched with the sound turned off.  Maybe it’s because they’re playing automatically.  Maybe it’s because people aren’t ready to fully commit.  Regardless, whether we like it or not, a study in 2016 found that 85% of videos watched on Facebook have the sound off.  So if you can make get your point across in your video without having to rely on sound, you’re better off.

But if sound is something that you can’t live without, a great solution is to use subtitles. If dialogue is intrinsic to your production, actually placing the words on the screen gives people a chance to read along with your video while the sound is off.  Subtitles allows the viewer to engage with your production without making the effort to turn their volume up.  And who knows, maybe by sparking their interest they’ll go that extra mile.

This isn’t to say that your production shouldn’t have any sound — it’s just an important reminder that your audience may not hear it.  And by Facebook’s own analytics, 80%of viewers prefer to be able to opt-into sound, and will actually react in a negative manner to videos that were surprisingly loud from the first frame.  So keep that audio going, just don’t overdo it.  

  1. Size matters. Or really in this case, length.  The fact is many of your viewers are going to be watching your video on their mobile devices, often on a train, at work, or in the back of an Lyft.  And given how and where they are watching, the shorter, the better.

Jeffery Katzenberg, one of the founders of Dreamworks, is betting the farm that in the future television shows are going to be watched primarily on mobile devices and run between 8-10 minutes per episode.  They’ll be broken up just enough so that you can catch an episode at the gym, or on a lunch break.  And with video on track to be nearly 80% of mobile data traffic by 2022, catching that wave and getting your video online is more important than ever.

So when planning out your video, try to keep it on the shorter-side. Twenty to thirty seconds, a minute maybe, something just long enough to grab your audience, engage them, and then drop them off at the end of the ride feeling satisfied and ready to click, share, or subscribe. 

Now, this doesn’t mean you can’t produce longer form videos to tell your story.  But if that’s the case, then you want to use a variety of social media platforms to create a series of videos that complement each other. 

  1. Use the whole internet. Don’t just focus on one social media platform, use them all. Maybe you want to put your shorter material on Facebook or Twitter to grab people’s attention, and then send them to something longer and more in-depth on YouTube.  

If you have the content, don’t be afraid to make videos of varying length and for a variety of audiences to get your message. And remember:  Your first video is just the beginning.  Don’t think of your videos as one-time event, but more engaging with your audience that you can continue to build on over time.

But most importantly, don’t be afraid to be creative.  As they used to say, there are many ways to skin a cat.  (Why anyone would want to skin a cat is an entire different question!) But the fact is there are certainly many different ways to think about the video and the best way to tell your story.  

You know, maybe you should drop us a line.  Because we have some ideas.