The prevalence of social media videos on Instagram Stories, TikTok and Snapchat has significantly reduced the average audience’s attention span. 

Today, if you want to make your point you need to do it fast and with a punch. However, that doesn’t necessarily mean you need something fancy. In fact, the focus of your video needs to be on creating an emotional connection between the viewer and your brand. 

Combine great visuals, customer testimonials, man on the street interviews, built-in captions, smooth transitions and excellent graphics to create a powerful brand video. Your marketing video will mostly be used for a social media ad, so keep in mind that you need to hook in the audience in the first 3 seconds or less. 

Every social media network varies based on the audience’s age and profession. But if you focus on serving the lowest common denominator, you’ll hone in on the right approach. On average, most of the audience will stop watching sponsored ad content after 3-5 seconds. And those who are not in your direct target audience will simply scroll by without even glancing at your efforts.

So how do you make the audience stop and take notice?

Here are 5 tips on making a great marketing video:

• Keep the story focused: Your brand shines through the most when your customer is happy. Showcase customer testimonials or conduct man on street videos to make your point.

• Inverted pyramid: In journalism, the most important news starts at the top. Your video needs to hook the audience almost immediately through questions, intriguing headlines or the promise of a big reward at the end of the clip.

• Be funny: It pays to be funny. Customers buy more when they’re laughing with you. If humor is not part of your brand identity, then you can always go with a heartfelt approach. Being genuine immediately showcases your trustworthiness to the customer. 

• Be informative: Do customers usually use your product in the wrong way? Are there secret ways or multiple uses for your goods? Is there something that would benefit the consumer that they don’t know yet? Inform them through your video!

• Be SEO savvy – A good story won’t get heard on the Internet unless it is tagged with the right keywords. If you want your video to go viral on YouTube then optimize every piece of your content. 

Follow the above tips to create a perfect marketing video and if you need help Snippies is always standing by waiting to jump in!

There’s nothing that a lot of duct tape, a towel and baking soda can’t fix. And when it comes to marketing videos, stock footage is that magic supplement that can fix everything. 

Stock footage is the answer to all your budgetary prayers. It will make your CEO smile with glee it will add a spring in your sales department’s footsteps. Stock footage can be like a Christmas gift every time you use it smartly.

However, before you begin this exercise, here are a few questions that will usher you into the right direction: 

1. What kind of clips will be relevant to my brand? 

2. What video footage can I use to make my point? 

3. Do the videos selected deliver a powerful message?

4. What is my call to action?

There are plenty of websites that offer free stock footage and others that charge for it. In making a stock footage video, you will need a master of post-production on your team. If you live in a place like New York City or Los Angeles, a quick search will yield several video production companies that specialize in editing. 

An editor is a great storyteller and with the right one on your team, you can create a memorable marketing video using only stock footage.

Free Stock Video Footage Websites

Visit a website like pexels.com, pixabay.com, dareful.com and coverr.com to obtain stock videos of your liking. Read the fine print and download options properly to ensure that the video you selected allows you to use the content for commercial use. 

Some videos will have a small caveat which allow you to use the footage as long as you give credit to the owner. 

You may also consult with your video production company if they own the licenses to any footage you may require. 

Making Stock Video Footage Relevant

After you’ve made your selection of videos, you should consider how to weave them together. This is where you’ll need the help of a professional video editor. Adding text, music, voice-over and blending together footage so that it makes sense is of utmost importance. 

Enjoy the video making process!

Video footage is visual gold. 

Access to well-maintained archive footage can benefit you and has actually resulted in major real world success stories. In fact, an organization that once captured human rights abuses on camera and archived the footage was able to it as proof in a court case. 

While your life (and the lives of others) may not depend on backing up your videos but it does come in handy to put out fires and save you time. 

Basic Benefits of Backing Up Your Videos

• Access to valuable information – Every video you shoot is valuable in one way or another. It may be the topic discussed, the locations, or a combination of all. You created a video with one goal in mind, but usually well-produced videos serve multiple purposes in the long run. Having permanent access to this footage is extremely useful.

• Video Tags for Easier Access – By adding tags to your video files, you can gain access to the right footage when you need it most. If you are regularly producing videos, your shoots go on for hours, days and weeks. All of this content, if categorized at the time of storage, yields ease of access later on. The better your tagging system, the easier it becomes later on.

• New Content – Documentary video and films are usually a series of interviews backed up with rich visual data. Archiving your footage means you can create brand new content by piecing together all your old videos. 

• Savior in Times of Emergencies – If you edit your raw videos with a constant backup system, you’ll have no issue recovering lost data. If you are saving files onto the cloud or locally, either can help you in the case of a crash. Even a short video consists of several well thought out post-production edits. Each one takes time to execute and render. Software crash, power failure and any number of emergencies can delete hours and days of work if not backed up properly.   

There are two types of storage available today, cloud or local. Examine the pros and cons of each and decide how you will back up your video files. You will thank yourself in the long run for your carefully backed up footage.

Often, when approached with requests from clients for videos, we get a lot of requests for 4K videos and HD videos alike. 

But is there really a difference between 4K and standard HD? Well, of course! Otherwise, they’d both be called the same thing. However, due to many TV manufacturers in the marketplace, what is actually UHD (or ultra high definition) often gets mislabeled as 4K. 

What is 4K video?

A 4K resolution consists approximately 4,000 horizontal pixels on the screen. This resolution also got its name because it is four times the pixel count as its predecessors. 

To be precise, a 4K resolution gives you a resolution of 4,096 by 3,112 pixels. 

What is Ultra HD?

Ultra HD is slightly fewer pixels than 4K and gives you a 3,840 by 2,160 resolution.

But many websites, stores and manufacturers will still label an Ultra HD resolution TV as a 4K TV. 

Can you tell the difference between an Ultra HD TV and a 4K resolution TV?

To your eyes, there will not be much of a difference between Ultra HD resolution and 4K. The primary difference comes in with high dynamic range or HDR. This feature on 4K monitors gives a boost to the contrasting colors on screen – resulting in significantly brighter videos, leading to lifelike images on your screen.

The difference to your eye, however, on a regular 4K and Ultra HD will not be so easily visible unless you are watching the screen from a close range. And if your monitor happens to be smaller than 40 inches, these differences will be negligible.

4K for Video Production

There are a lot of different features available in the marketplace today in terms of television sets. From a video production standpoint, shooting at 4K helps you dial down the resolution. A 4K video is preferable to any other because it’s the highest resolution. It is always possible to shoot at a high rate and then deliver a great visual experience at a lower resolution. For that reason, it is recommended that your next video shoot should be on a 4K camera.

Testimonials yield more sales than any other form of marketing since the beginning of time. But what questions yield the greatest testimonials? We’ve come up with a list just for you! 

According to an industry report of B2B buyers, 97% agreed that user-generated content such as a customer testimonial was more credible than anything else. 

Customer testimonials are effective because they are genuine. They come from real people who have actually used your products or services. An internal observation at Snippies shows that marketing videos are more effective with man-on-the-street videos.

There is something viscerally powerful about having an interview video where you see customers using your product, in their own way, on their own terms. The marketing team sits in an office building, much more removed from where the product or service is actually being used on a daily basis. For this reason, interview videos in the home and office are also equally powerful when it comes to acquiring new customers. 

But what kinds of questions yield the best customer testimonials? 

How can you grab valuable information from a man-on-the-street video? 

We have extracted thousands of insights through testimonial videos over the years. Here are a few tips to help you get started on acquiring the perfect customer testimonial:

• What did you find out as a result of using the product or service? The answer to this question lets you find out if the value you intended to deliver was in fact realized at the customer’s end. You can also get a glimpse into the customer’s mindset through this question.

• Was there a reason you chose us vs. anything else? This lets you get deeper into the psyche of the customer. If pricing was the reason, then you know that they may not value the features of your product. The answer to this question can lead to more innovation. 

• How has using our product benefited you? This is a great question because it has the power to extract a lot of valuable data that you may not currently have. This is especially useful if you are just starting to release a new product or service. 

• If your family or friends were unsure about this product, what would you tell them? Don’t simply ask if they’d recommend you. This question is phrased in such a way that they have to reveal their innermost feelings about your product or service. 

• What is your biggest concern with our product? The direct survey question. If you genuinely want feedback, this is the perfect way of getting it.

Avoid the Yes/No Question

Finally, if you start your testimonial with simple yes or no questons, it has no value. There is nothing amazing about people saying “yes” or “no”. Opinions matter most. Beware that some of these questions may yield negative answers. But that’s fine because in addition to testimonials, you will also gain some valuable insights for your R&D team. 

So you’re looking for a video production company to create your next project. That’s great! But did you know there are different types of production companies to choose from? Choosing the right one is of utmost importance because the wrong one can turn your great idea into a dud. And the right one can exceed your expectations. 

Feature Film Production Companies

There’s a lot of money to be made in feature films. Along with making a film comes the need of hiring on-screen and off-screen talent, writers, musicians, location scouts, a team for pre-production, post-production, legal and a lot more. A lot of film production companies are located in either Los Angeles or New York. If you are a first time investor, director, or even screenwriter, then teaming up with a film production company who has previously released feature films is your ideal partner. 

Commercial Production Companies

A video production company focused on commercial work is usually equipped to create a wide variety of videos. They can produce stock footage, short corporate videos, training videos, and even creative projects like music videos and short films. To identify the right commercial production company, have a look at their past work and see if your existing project matches with their portfolio. 

Post Production Companies

For the most part, video editing, special effects, color correction, sound mixing and editing are the most magical parts of post production filmmaking. All editing happens in tiny rooms where masterful post-production wizards piece together raw footage to create a beautiful final video. If you have a lot of video footage but no clue how to turn it into a great video, you should approach post-production companies that are specialized in editing.

Animation and SFX Companies

Green screen, animation, and special effects are all unique ways to present your ideas. A well-made animation can elevate your brand to the next level. Several animation companies use only computer software and music to create compelling videos. 

Niche Production Companies

A niche production company usually has one thing that it’s really good at. It may be that they make excellent music videos or are amazing at TV commercials. Snippies is a niche production company based in New York City. Our specialty is the ability to reach a wide range of demographics from around the world. We also specialize in getting these insights via man-on-the-street interviews and in-home interviews. Niche production companies can combine the best of animation, commercial and post-production companies. 

Video editing apps are widely varied. You have simple social media apps designed to do a few things masterfully and a couple that let you edit with tons of features. 

Adobe Premiere and Final Cut Pro are two software programs that have captured the marketplace in a big way.

Professional video editors usually choose Adobe Premiere whereas DIY producers like the user friendliness of Final Cut. A video production company will usually have both allowing them the freedom to use the software based on the type of video.

But let’s examine both a little bit closer.

Color Correction

Final Cut is good for beginners. It has all the features needed to complete your video. But it does lack what Adobe offers in premium features. For example, the color correction possibilities on Adobe Premiere are far more robust than any other video editing software in the entire market today. This feature allows you to make detailed visual edits that have a major impact on the final outcome of your video. 

Speed

Each edit you make in the raw video file requires time to be converted. This is known as the rendering time. Final Cut is much faster than Adobe Premiere is, in terms of rendering speed. 

Mac or PC

The Final Cut Pro works only on Apple computers and devices whereas Adobe Premiere works on both Mac and PC. So, if you’re already a PC user, you have no choice but to use Adobe Premiere. 

Collaboration

If you want multiple people to edit a video, then Adobe has a great feature allowing you to do so within its network. Final Cut Pro can only be installed in one space at a time and does not allow for remote collaboration on videos. Of course, there are third-party software programs that you may install to overcome this drawback, but it is just one additional task to complete when Adobe offers collaboration directly in its program. 

Pricing

Adobe Premiere comes with a monthly fee attached to it. The final price depends on the features you get. Final Cut Pro is a one-time only purchase. 

Verdict

If you are trying to produce a corporate video, marketing video, short film or music video, then Final Cut Pro is an ideal choice for you. But if you want to collaborate and really delve deep into some rich editing features, you may want to consider installing Adobe Premiere. 

Sound – the other important half of your video. 

There are several ways to capture sound for your video, each microphone with its own advantages and disadvantages. 

Lavalier or Lav Microphone

A lavalier mic is one that attaches to your on-screen personalities providing a loud and clear sound. 

The omni lav is a type of lavalier mic that captures the voice of the person it’s attached to along with natural ambient sound. 

The cardioid lav is meant to block out background noise and give you just the words of the on screen talent. 

Boom Microphones or Shotgun Mics

A boom microphone picks up a higher tonal quality than a lavalier and does not attach to a person. This microphone is attached to an extendable arm called the boom and requires an operator. 

Which is better? Boom or Lav?

Many professional television and film sound mixers prefer the rich tonal quality of boom microphones. A boom mic also has several accessories, which prevent wind from interfering with your sound. 

A lav mic is preferred for a quaint interior shoot, where your talent is also free to move around if you have affixed the microphone wirelessly. But you definitely have to ensure that your lav is pointing properly at the mouth of the speaker. One of the biggest advantages of lavalier mics is that they may also be conspicuously placed in house plants, paperweights or other clever set pieces. 

A boom mic requires one additional person on your set. It gives you the freedom to move around at a shorter distance and great to use for mid-range shots. A boom may also be used on interviews where more than one person is talking and you don’t necessarily want to wire up each individual with a microphone. 

Both boom and lav mics have their own pros and cons. Referring to the information above for all of your shoots can ensure clear and crisp audio quality every time.

If you have the iPhone 11, you’ve already discovered how to take a small space and make it look big. Photos and videos taken with the extra depth and width lenses allow you to capture subjects in a way that can fit your screen. 

Shooting video in small spaces can be tricky – especially when you have equipment, crew, and on-camera talent present for the shoots. 

Use these tips to shoot video in small spaces to give your videos incredible depth.

Deep Space

A trick used by artists, videographers and photographers called Deep Space takes advantage of the fact there is no depth in a video. Whatever is being viewed is done so two dimensionally – or on a flat surface. By using a wide-angle lens, you can give the audience an illusion of greater depth. 

F Stops

F-stops are not a reference to the New York City subway line. A video production professional will know that using a higher F stop setting on the camera creates a depth of field leading the viewer to believe that a room is bigger than it really is.  

Shadows

Video production is, after all, a game of light. Creating shadows using your lighting will add shapes and images that lend themselves to give greater depth.

Illusions of Colors  

The way you use color can also help make a small space look larger. Use dark backgrounds and dress your on screen talent in light clothing to increase depth of field. 

Mirrors

If the room you’re shooting in is super tiny, not even large enough to hold a camera with a tripod, you may consider setting up a mirror effect. Shoot the scene you want, through the mirror, increasing distance and giving the appearance of a large space.

Equipment

Carry the bare minimum of equipment when shooting in tiny spaces. If possible, grab a smaller camera and tiny tripod.  Consider using lapel microphones instead of boom microphones for small room shoots – this will prevent the boom from entering your shot while capturing the audio required. 

Whether you’re recording in an office setting or a home, using the above tips will guarantee you the best output from your small space shoot. 

Being a video production company in New York City, we often get asked to film on street videos. When that happens, our video crews do their best to avoid recreating the infamous “I’m walkin’ here” scene from Midnight Cowboy. 

The visual payoff of a crowded New York City street – bustling with people, cars, and intrigue – is obvious. But so are the perils and pitfalls of shooting on street videos. Here are a few tips to remember when shooting your next on-street montage or recording an interview:

• Get Permission – While most street videography and photography is permitted, there are areas around your town where you may not be able to film. Because of this, you should always ensure that you have a permit to shoot. If you are planning on capturing a scripted film or video with heavy equipment and a large crew, you will need to obtain the required permits. 

• Pre-Production – If you’re grabbing video footage on a crowded street, you should know the amount of traffic you will face. Try to scout the location the day before to get an idea of the space. Look out for any obstructions to your shots and any areas that may be hazardous to you personally. Plan your shots carefully so that when you arrive with equipment on the street, you know exactly where to go and how to get there. 

• Man-on-the-Street Interviews – There are entire television shows now that are based strictly with man-on-the-street interviews. There is something quite exhilarating and honest about grabbing an insight from a stranger on the side of the street. Make sure you have the proper release forms and waivers with you during the shoot. If you don’t, all that great footage will be for nothing. Also, be confident when you are approaching a stranger. If needed, prepare how you’ll approach the people during the pre-production stage.

• Safety, Equipment and Crew – If you are shooting on the street, try to keep a skeleton crew; only bringing along the bare minimum amount of people required. If you plan it right, you could carry a tripod, camera and a boom mic on your own to grab great video. If you do need another assistant, have them also help you navigate the street and watch your back for safety as you get your footage. 

Go out there and shoot amazing video on the street! Be safe, plan ahead and bring a friend to help!