Film Making Basics For iPhone

You know the importance of a great social media video strategy, but is your brand doing everything possible to see positive results?
While that might seem like a heavy question, it’s always smart to dissect your video content and see what you can do better. There are so many elements that go into social media videos including subtitles, length, details and sound.
Essentially, you’re trying to explain a lot of detailed information in a few seconds. But when you do it well, you see higher engagement and build a better rapport with your audience.

Social video
generates 1200%
more shares than
text & images
combined

By 2021
85% of all content
consumed online
will be video

Planning

Why – are we shooting this video (purpose – sales, followers, utility, education, entertainment)?
Always please your current followers

What – type of video are we going to make?
Product – for each product, show styles, benefits, reviews.
Tutorial – services, tips, what to look out for.
Testimonial – ask everyone for a video testimony, send me testimony videos
Explainer – explain event, products etc
Personality – just YOU – not business. The people behind the brand. What do we do in day to day life.
Lives – plan first. Engage with audience live. Info is relevant ‘right now’.

How – will this help our business? How will this make us money? What’s the end game for this video?

Where – can this be used on multiple platforms or just one?
Consider length of video eg. 1 min for insta
Vertical or horizontal – Vertical for IG stories or lives only

Professional shooting techniques
Framing Part 1
Get high – hold camera up for a different angle
Get low – squat down for a different angle
Get Close
Move around – so people feel like they’re engaged

Framing Part 2
Foreground eg: plants
Midground eg: building
Background eg: beach/water

Coverage
1-3 seconds per frame (10 – 20 different shots for a 30 second video)

Story Telling
1) Establish – set the scene (intro & sign offs)
2) Interaction – action, what is happening in the scene?
3) Reaction – how you or someone else feels about the action you just captured
4) Repeat – mix it up
5) Back & forth – show ‘me’ then show ‘you’
** Use time lapse & slow motion

Tools
You don’t necessarily need a lot of high tech hardware to start creating videos for social media. Remember, if the content is great, people will watch it.

The tools we use are:
iPhone
Lapel mic x 2
Mic splitter
Tripod
Luvo Light ring / LED light

TIP Film in horizontal for EVERYTHING, except stories and lives

Finishing
We recommend the use of captions on ALL videos and we also like to use headlines.
To edit we use iMovie as it’s simple, user friendly and free
Then we run our videos through Zubtitle for captions and headlines. This is also very user friendly but does have a small annual fee

85% of Facebook videos are watched without sound

2 Principles of Video for Social Media

1) Attention
You’ve got to get attention and then you’ve got to do something with it. Attention is key. You’ve got to get attention within the first 2-3 sec of your content or it’s dead. Spend a lot of time and energy making sure you get attention with the first 2-3 sec because otherwise no one will watch it (they will scroll)

2) Simplicity
Keep the message simple. A single minded proposition (if you can explain your message to a 7 yr old and they can explain it back to you you have a simple message). Complexity is the death of action.

Why is attention and simple so important;

Facebook Ads
For a FB ads to be considered a view (successful) it only needs 2 secs of viewing.
Completed reach (anyone that watches over half and ad).
Less than 10% of people you can reach on facebook, will watch 50% of an ad.
A minuscule amount of people will watch a full ad online.
This is because so many big brands are running TV ads on platforms people don’t want to watch TV ads on. To not watch an ad on TV you have to change the channel (make an effort to take
an action) Facebook you just keep scrolling.

Did you know: 16-24 year olds have the shortest attention span of anyone

Ways to influence behaviour

Let’s take a look at 3 strategies you can use to influence your audience’s behaviour.

Trusted Advisor Strategy
This is the super power of SME’s right now, go hard with this strategy.
This is a spokesperson for your brand (not a celebrity).
This taps in to the Social brain (mammalian brain – emotion centre)
You can create a sense of safety and connection with the spokesperson, oxytocin is released and an emotional connection is formed with the trusted advisor. Once you have the connection you start thinking how he/she thinks and that’s where you have influence
and they will want to follow your lead. Influence is leadership

We must make our audience feel safe with the presenter or we avoid the messaging. We only create memory structures when safety is present.
Think about the following examples

youi – actor, makes people feel safe / people trust him
MyBudget – owner, when she stopped featuring on her ads response rates plummeted dramatically.
Trivago – actor. people trust and like her and want to follow

Expert in your field – this is how you do it. You have expertise, share it, so people can start
knowing liking and trusting you.

Specialist – you have specialist knowledge, people want to know more about a product or service when they’re interested in it. Share it with them. Big brands aren’t doing this, this is
your edge.

Who’s dominating this strategy on social right now?
Gary Vee, Kerwin Rae & Grant Cardone.

Did you know: The female brainlights up with the right trusted advisor

Social Validation Strategy
Testimonial advertising
Tap in to herd animal for cues on how to act (mammalian brain) mammals want to follow, they are looking for leaders – ‘Wow they used that service and got a great outcome, maybe we should take a look’.

Create Validation/ Testimonial style content.
Be specific about who you choose to do your testimonial style content i.e. your Ideal Client Avatar – customers you want to attract!

FRAMEWORK
There is a 3 step system to creating a great Testimony video

STEP 1 – Before/Problem
Before I was with XYA Brand, this was the problem I was facing (pain)

STEP 2 – After/Solution
After I was working with this brand this was the amazing result (solution)

STEP 3 – Experience/Recommendation
Overarching this was my experience it was wonderful and I recommend it to everyone else

Did you know: People want to see how others are acting and they will follow. Invest in this, interview your customers. Get people to tell their stories.

Promise Proof Strategy

To get your audience’s attention you can use an Opener / Grabber (Question / Engaging Statement / fact / data set)

Example: 1 in 2 people die from eating cheesecake!
Response: Ooo that’s new info, that could serve me, I want to find out more

FRAMEWORK
STEP 1 – Promise
What is your consumer promise?
This speaks to the reptilian brain, which is looking for 2 things – is this a threat or an opportunity

STEP 2 – Proof
Consumers are thinking “Why should we believe you?” (mammalian brain)

STEP 3 – CTA (Call To Action)
Don’t us a CTA if you are delivering value, a CTA is better used for sales and offers
Command Action by tell your audience exactly what they should do.
This works well because we are wired to follow more than we are to lead.

Branding Mnemonics like jingles, animated logos, your trusted advisor, should all be cycled through your content consistently to build awareness and trust

TIP: Branding Mnemonics like jingles, animated logos, your trusted advisor, should all be cycled through your content consistently to build awareness and trust