7 Quick Ways To Make Your Videos Better
If you've ever felt like you're doing everything you possibly can to make your videos better but your audience retention just isn't showing that, I totally get it. In fact, I've been there. Which is why this week I'm sharing with you 7 Quick Ways to Make Your Videos Better.
I'm sharing my top tips to keeping your audience interested and engaged so that you can see more subscribers, more views and more traction with your video content!
#1. Content
Now this feels a little repetitive, right? Of course you know that content is king; everyone says so! But YouTube is a different beast altogether. There's this myth floating around out there that in order to create content that YouTube shows, you have to hit this magical minute mark. Most people say 10 minutes. Fortunately, that's not how YouTube works at all!
In fact, YouTube values longer watch time percentages over longer videos. Let me explain. You may have a 10-minute video but if a viewer only watches 3 minutes, YouTube is going to think that video isn't valuable. However, if a viewer watches 3 minutes of a 5-minute video, YouTube will see that they watched over 50% of that video and will see it as valuable content.
So create content with the intent of giving value and without focusing on hitting a specific minute mark.
#2. Get to the Point
This is an easy mistake to make and one that I've made in the past. We have a tendency to ramble, chat and generally add fluff to videos. Maybe we do it because we're trying to be engaging or maybe we're trying to hit that minute mark. Whatever the reason, your audience isn't tuning in for fluff. They're tuning in to get information!
To combat this issue, I work hard on condensing my hook so that I'm getting to the point as soon as possible. This means you'll know what my video is going to be about within the first 30 seconds.
#3. Choose Something You're Passionate About
Guess what? The camera will suck the energy right out of you. So if you're talking about something you're not totally passionate about, it's going to show on camera and your audience is going to be bored.
And bored means they're going to click away. Not cool.
However, if you choose a topic that you're passionate about, one that you don't get tired of talking about, that will show up on camera! People will see that energy and be engaged by it. One thing that is absolutely certain is that energy and excitement are contagious. And those two factors can mean big things for retention.
#4. Use Good Lighting
It can feel like you need to go out and buy all the professional equipment known to man in order to uplevel your videos but this simply isn't the case! In fact, all you really need to worry about is good lighting.
For some, sitting in front of a well-lit window is all you need. Natural lighting is the best lighting for video content so if you can make this option work for you, do it!
One of the most important things about natural lighting to remember, though, is that you always want that light in front of you. If you film with a window behind you, it's going to wash you out and reduce the quality of your footage.
If natural lighting isn't an option, you can purchase lighting specifically for filming. Ring lights are popular choices as are softboxes.
Want my recommendations? Click here to access my equipment list!
#5. Use Good Audio
This doesn't mean you need to go out and buy a new microphone. While new microphones are great, there are some things you can do right now to improve your audio quality without spending a dime!
One of the best things you can do is film in a smaller space. This means there will be less echo than if you were in the largest room in your house. This means the audio your mic picks up or camera picks up will be better.
Another great tip is to use blankets in rooms with no carpeting. Hard flooring lets noise bounce around, which causes an echo. By placing blankets and pillows around your recording area, you reduce that problem significantly.
#6. Add Some "BAM!"
This means exactly what you think it means. Adding some extra oomph to your video. You can do this in editing pretty easily by adding jump cuts, or call out text or even b roll.
I know what you're thinking. This sounds like a lot. But truthfully, this is all super simple to add. You can purchase plugins that make things like call out text so simple. Jump cuts take just a moment and you can even purchase stock b roll.
However, since we're talking about b roll, let me give you a pro tip. Take a day to batch film b roll. Record videos of you working or doing the things you normally do during the course of your workday or life. And then create a B-Roll library!
Add all of those b roll videos to a folder and you can use them again and again as needed.
#7 Study Audience Retention Graphs
I know this one feels boring and maybe even a little scary. But your audience retention graphs tell a story. They show what resonates with your audience. It'll tell you what your audience didn't like. You can even figure out what bored your audience!
All of this knowledge means you can create content that will be more in alignment with what your audience needs.
So once a month, jump into your audience graphs and take some notes!
Now that you have 7 tips to make your videos better, which one are you most anxious to try?
