A Beginner's guide on how to make a video

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When it comes to hooking in the audience, video formats are one of the best ways to go.  You must have seen; there are thousands of channels on YouTube; everyone wants to create content. Watching videos may be the best way to pass your time, but creating it takes a bit more.

People create videos for two reasons:

• To engage an audience
• To showcase their products and services

Freelancers, Influencers, and marketeers, everyone wants to reach a larger audience to boost their growth. That is only possible if they focus on incorporating video content into their marketing strategy. Did you know that according to CISCO’s Annual Internet Report – the total bandwidth of videos shared is predicted to grow to more than 80% of all consumer traffic by the end of 2020? That means that videos will be the most popular content format of this decade.

If you haven’t already included videos into your marketing strategy, then it is high time you do so.  

Why must you include video into your marketing strategy?

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Multipurpose: Videos are fast becoming universal. You can add videos on almost every social media platform like Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Snapchat, Twitter, and Tumblr. The same video can be added to multiple platforms, that makes your job even more comfortable. You don’t have to create new content for every platform, but record video and share it on all the platforms.

Attracts Audience: Compared to other content formats like a blog, or an image, videos attract more audience. If you have an eye-catching title for your video, then the audience will surely want to have a glimpse of it. Video lures in more viewers than any other content form. So, you must add it to your marketing campaign to reach a broader audience.

Repurpose: Videos, once made, can be repurposed. You can edit it, clip it, convert it to  GIFs or expand it. Moreover, you can also take your existing content and turn it into videos like- infographics, blogs, photos, etc. Repurposing is a smart marketing strategy that reuses the content. It is an excellent way to juice out the most out of your content.

Now that we know the goodness of video content, it is time we focused on how to make videos. Not everyone has the budget of a Hollywood movie to produce a video.  But you don’t always need professional or fancy equipment to create a video. There are many ways to create videos.

How do I create a video?

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When you ask this question, you are spoilt with options. There are many ways of making a video. You just need your smartphone or your laptop to get started.

• The old tired way of creating a video is using a web-camera. Most of the YouTubers are creating content with the help of an overhead webcam. It is easy and does not require much effort. If you are shooting with your webcam, then you need to pay attention to lighting and the frame and make sure you record the video in a compatible format.
• Another way of creating videos in Powerpoint. Remember, when you were in high school, and your teacher asked you to learn how to create a presentation? Anyone with a computer knows how to create a presentation. However, videos created with Powerpoint are mostly suitable for office presentations rather than marketing advertisements.  
• Livestream is another option if you are ready to shoot the video in one go. However, it is only suitable for influencers and bloggers.
• If you want to create impressive videos, then there is another option that will make you giddy with excitement.  Video makers are the answers to our prayers. There are plenty of online video makers available that record and edit video easily.

How do I make a short video?

There are tons of statistics online about the length of videos. Some say viewers will stick around for 15 seconds to watch a video; some say 5 seconds ,and some say 3. But there is no magic length. If the content is good, viewers will stick around to watch it.

However, if you want to create a short video- for your Instagram story, advertisement, or a Facebook post, then you can create a short video with the help of many tools. Here are a bunch of tools that will help you-

Offeo

Offeo has unique design templates to create amazing intro videos, ads, and social videos. You can choose from a plethora of professionally designed video templates. The great thing about Offeo is you can make short videos in minutes. You don’t need to waste a lot of time editing; this smart create AI video design tool does the job for you in minutes.

Animoto

Animoto is an easy to use tool for amateur creators. If you are not sure about your animation or design skills, the Animoto has got templates to help you through the process. You can use the templates according to your needs, and customize it with your photos, videos, and text.

Canva Pro

Canva has been one of the most used video makers around the world. The fact that it is cheap and can be used on a smartphone makes it all the more popular among people. The pro version of Canva can make animated GIFs and videos.

Promo.com

Promo.com is another tool that provides readymade video templates. One can produce professional-looking videos for websites or social media with the help of Promo.com. However, the tool is not free, and thus may be unavailable to newbies who are looking for free video to maker tools.

There are tons of tools out there that let you make short videos. Above mentioned tools are only a few out of hundreds, you can choose anything that suits your needs.

How to make a video with Offeo?

Unlike other video makers that are hard to use and complicated, Offeo is easy to use and simple. Even if you have never created a video before, you can easily get the hang of Offeo and produce an impressive video with Offeo. Here is how you can get started with Offeo:

• Offeo had a free trial for 30 days, so you just need to sign up.
• Once you are logged in, it depends on what kind of video you want to design.
• To match the context, we will share with you how to make a short product video in a few minutes
• Go to My Projects and choose “Create New Project,” then click on “Smart Create.”
• Then, you choose to upload the image of your product by selecting to highlight the image and clicking “Use this image.”
• The next step is to remove the background of the image; then, the AI will automatically generate designs for you.
• There are hundreds of professional designs to choose from. (Roll over the designs to witness the animation effect)
• Choose a design of your liking, and click “Edit.”
• Offeo will make a project, and you will be guided to “Storyboard.” Here you can add scenes and designs. Click on the first scene to get started.
• Now, you can Tweak the “Heading,” “Subheading,” and “Body text.”
• Once the editing is complete, press the spacebar to preview the animation.
• Then click on “Download “and save the video in the desired format.
• You can upload the video to any social media platform or website.

Photo by Offeo

This is how you create a video from a still image. But if you want to make an artsy social media content in a few minutes, then this is how you can do it.

• Start with “Drag and drop,” the desired image into the canvas.
• Then click on “Remove BG,” to remove the background
• Resize the image, and drop it in the center.
• Go to “Graphics” and select the “Modern Abstract Watercolor pack.”
• Select a few graphics, and place it over the image.
• Add the image to the top.
• Then spread the graphics around to make an aesthetically pleasing background.
• Choose a “Background Color” that coordinates with the graphic objects.
• Then add “Text” to the canvas, choose a fitting text template.
• Once you are happy with the design, click on the “Geniemate” button.  Geniemate is an awesome function of Offeo that helps you animate all your objects with one click.
• Choose an animation style with Geniemate.
• Preview the video by pressing the spacebar. If  you are happy with the video, click “Download.”

Offeo has amazing animation functions that will help you design eye catching videos. On top of funky animation styles, it has got a lovely color palette. You can choose from a wide range of templates, and produce one of a kind videos for your audience. Videos made with Offeo, look professional, posh, and perfect.

Here are some templates if you do not want to start from scratch, save more time by starting on a template and customizing from there.starting on a template and customizing from there.

Photo by NordWood Themes on Unsplash

How to make videos for Youtube?

YouTube is the Library of videos. A fun fact- almost 114,000 years’ worth of video is consumed every day on YouTube. It is the go-to place for anyone who wants to learn something, may it be a makeup tutorial or a gaming tutorial. Now, every second person has a YouTube channel, so if you want to produce a compelling video on the platform, you need to keep a few things in mind.

Choose an interesting topic for your audience: If you want your content to be seen, then you need to make sure that your video provides a solution to the audience. Take, for example, your niche is fitness, share videos that are highly searched, like “How to get abs in two weeks.” Always share a video that is highly sought on YouTube. Take ideas from the viewer’s comments, Youtube search, and, most importantly, ask your audience.

Optimize your video: The key to a successful YouTube is to make sure the content in the video is useful for the viewers and make sure the content is optimized for the search engines. Use simple but effective topics. Some creators use broad topics and terms that bring tough competition. In that case, your video won’t show up in the search engine.

Here are a few steps to guide you to start making YouTube Videos:

• Choose a niche that is in high demand and something you are confident in.
• Make a content strategy – topics, titles on types of video to put up in your channel.
• Collect recording gear. It is better to start as soon as possible, even though you do not have high-end equipment.
• Use basic recording tools like- smartphones, mic, laptop, video editing tools.
• Prepare a script for your video. ( some videos need no prep time like reaction videos, while some videos need time and planning like tutorials)
• Set up your camera and mic in a well-lighted place and start recording.
• You can keep using the inbuilt camera app on your phone or laptop, or use editing apps that record the screen. It is better to use video making tools because it makes editing easy.
• Edit the video with the tool of your choice. Make an attractive intro, and influential outro to capture the audience’s attention.  Trim, cut, add music to it as required
• Once the video file is ready, you can upload it to Youtube and share it with your audience.

There is a lot of content on YouTube, so to stand out, you need to produce unique and out of the box video. So, it is essential to use one video maker/ editor that is easy to use and doesn’t cost a fortune.

How to make videos that people will watch?

It doesn’t matter if you share a video every day; if your audience doesn’t want to watch it, there is no use posting content. So, here are a few tips to start making the audience fall in love with your channel.

Hook & Bait – The age-old trick of luring customers in. Make an offer in your video Title; your viewers can’t refuse. Also, keep using customized thumbnails, so viewers will want to see the video.

Share Share Share – Your video can be repurposed.  Share it on Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, and even Tumblr. The more eyeballs on you, the better.

Use editing tool – An untouched or unedited video will not appeal to the audience. It will seem unprofessional and mediocre. Use tools like Offeo, to get high quality, well-edited output.

Conclusion

Video has become the holy grail of the industry. Everything revolves around video; may it be an ad, a story, a guide, or a GIF. If you want to survive in the digital world, then you can’t do so without video. Making videos is slowly becoming a necessity for marketers, freelancers, and influencers. So, if you need help in video making, you may try out Offeo Online Video Maker. It is a simple, intuitive, and popular video making tool among marketers, and rightfully so.

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