It probably won’t surprise you that a majority of the usage on today’s popular social platforms is via a mobile device. In fact, of the big six (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Tumblr, Instagram and Pinterest), only Tumblr (54%) and LinkedIn (74%) have more desktop usage than mobile (source: Wall Street Journal).
A statistic that may surprise you, however, is the fact that now, 40% of all YouTube watch time comes from mobile devices. Considering the fact that social networks are major drivers of video consumption, this number will continue to skyrocket over the next few years.
Because human beings are visual learners (65% of us claim to be), video is a great way to connect to customers or prospects. However, given the fact that more and more users are consuming content on their phone, there are some best practices that should be applied.
To that end, who better to provide best practices on creating mobile video (and how to share them) than three video experts who have experience across all platforms?
Below, you will find “pro tips” from Steve Garfield (one of the internet’s first video bloggers), Jeben Berg (of YouTube/Google and a video content pro), and Scott Kramer (formerly of Hershey’s and now at my company, WCG).
Steve Garfield
Steve Garfield is a video blogger and the author of Get Seen, a guide for brands and business owners on how to effectively utilize online video. His tips for creating mobile video are as follows:
1. Know Your Device: When doing mobile video, you are probably going to use the camera you have on you. That usually means using a smartphone. The most important thing that you need to know is how to record a video that’s usable on the web.
What’s usable? A video where the audio is clear, and the video is in focus. To get that, you need to know how, at a moment’s notice, to record video — and that means you need to know how to use the video function on your device. It sounds simple, but the best way to be ready to shoot at a moment’s notice is to practice beforehand. Practice, practice, practice.
2. Capture A Moment: You’re a marketer. You probably didn’t go to film school. You’re not expected to produce an Oscar-winning production. So instead, capture a moment.
Think about the end result you want before you shoot. If you’re at a conference and want to share the best tips from a speaker, don’t record the whole speech. Go up to the speaker, sometime before or after their talk, and ask him/her to share with you their main points of the talk. Tell them that you only want a minute or two, then have them either talk directly to you, or into the camera — whichever they are more comfortable with. When they are done, you’ve got your sharable moment.
Bonus Tip: On an iPhone? Get the YouTube Capture app. It’ll let you record multiple clips, trim them, and upload to YouTube. It’s great!
3. Share Fast: Once you’ve got your moment, share it — sooner than later. If you’re following the conference example above, share with the conference hashtag. Your device most likely has a connection to the web, so the easiest way to share is to upload to YouTube. Once your video is there, you can share elsewhere, like Twitter, Facebook, or your blog.
4. Want To Go Faster? Record a very short video with Vine or Instagram Video and share directly. Multiple short moments will tell a story.
Jeben Berg
Jeben Berg is a Creative Director at Google and former Creative Lead for Google’s BrandLab at YouTube. Following are his thoughts on mobile video marketing:
Capturing all this new mobile opportunity means exploring rich media — and now is the time to do it.
Sophisticated browsers, faster mobile processors, better touch screens, accelerometers which enable better animated media, and targeting that lets you reach the right users on their most personal devices are turning mobile into a branding wonderland.
Today, creative authoring tools for HTML5 and modular rich media formats make it easier for brands to build compelling experiences in mobile. Some brands are investing even more in mobile creativity and building deep and custom HTML5 implementations to create memorable and immersive brand experiences.
Google recently launched its Art, Copy & Code project as a series of experiments to re-imagine advertising for a connected world. As part of the project, Google worked with innovative brands and their agencies to create compelling campaigns that enabled new forms of brand expression and engagement.
Here are two examples of Art, Copy & Code projects that have pushed boundaries of interactive creativity and brand building in mobile:
Scott Kramer
Scott Kramer is Director of Content Engagement at WCG (and formerly of Hershey’s & NBC.com). Here are seven straightforward mobile video tips from Scott:
1. This is basic, but tons of people still make this mistake. If using a smartphone to film, hold the phone horizontally versus vertically.
2. Close-ups always work best for smaller screens. The wider the shot is, the less detail the viewer will be able to catch.
3. Keep it short. Mobile video is usually watched on the go — someone has a couple minutes to spare, they’ll check something out on their phone. While people who use public transit to commute may have more time to watch, that time is usually spent on long-form programming like shows and movies on Netflix.
4. If you have to use text, make sure it’s big and bold enough for viewers to read. Don’t overwhelm them, but customers shouldn’t have to squint to read the text.
5. Always watch your video on mobile before you publish it. Test the user experience for yourself.
6. Good sound, like any video, is important. Make sure you mix your audio at around –3db, so as not to blow out the speakers/headphones.
7. Cut out the fluff. Get right to the point. Make it clear from the start what your video will be about and get right into it to keep your viewers’ attention.
What tips do you have for doing great mobile video? Feel free to tweet them to me at @aaronstrout or leave them in the comments below.
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