Video is continuing to gain traction on all platforms, including Facebook. As we stated in a recent article, 64% of people watch videos to make a purchasing decision, while 84% revealed they bought a company’s product after seeing one of their videos. As you are planning your video strategy for 2021, consider these tips to help maximize video performance.

Lights, camera, sound:

A good video begins with the trifecta of quality: lighting, camera, and sound.

• Lights: invest in lighting such as a selfie ring or make use of natural light. If you are filming yourself, you want your audience to be able to see your face clearly, so make sure the light is behind you.
• Camera: In general, your smartphone is sufficient, unless its more than a few years old. Technology moves at lightning speed, and if you are shooting videos, be sure to have an updated phone. Not only do you want a decent camera, but you want to get steady shots. You can use anything to prop up your phone, and a selfie-stick or a phone holder will help with shaky hands.
• Sound: speak up and speak clearly, and consider adding a microphone to your video toolkit as quality sound is just as if not more important than quality lighting. Microphone recommendations: Rhode Wireless Go

Include relevant videos. You want to produce videos that your audience is most likely to watch that build meaningful interactions and drive engagement. Stick with videos consistent with your brand. If you sell pet care products, ensure your videos are about pets, their care and the products you offer.

Upload original content. Videos posted to Facebook from elsewhere typically get lower reach, and that will only increase now that Facebook and Instagram are restricting reach for videos uploaded from places like Tiktok

Add captions. Around 85% of videos are viewed without sound. More often than not, people cannot listen to sound due to their location or surroundings, so your best bet is to include captions with your videos whenever possible.

While these tips are useful, don’t let your inability to implement all of them stop you from creating video content. Maybe you can’t add captions or maybe you don’t have an external microphone, that’s okay. Do the best you can with what you have, and when you need expert help to maximize video performance, turn to your friends here at Red Mango.