In the age of social media, videos and reels are a powerful marketing tool and have helped countless unknown artists launch into the public eye – let’s look at some of the best practices to make engaging content and maximise success!
Film in portrait (aspect ratio 9:16)
Shooting in portait creates a personal touch and makes the digital audience feel involved. Landscape (16:9) has its merits for full songs, but usually with great quality audio and video too – but most people see videos on their device in portrait!
How to shoot your video
Poor Example
- No clear line/sentiment
- starts mid way through
- Ends abruptly with no conclusion
Catch the climax
We have a short attention span nowadays, so you may as well flex the best part of the set!
Try to get the final chorus, or guitar solo back into the song, where there’s a build up to keep your audience engaged.
Perfect Example
- Under 45 seconds
- Caught the crescendo/top notes
- Dynamic panning to see audience and band members
Pan around and zoom
Dynamic videos are more interesting and engaging to the audience. Most professionally shot videos use this technique and it keeps the user engaged.
Include the crowd
Often acts play in small venues when they’re up and coming, which don’t share the same gravity as footage of your favourite artists, playing in the stadiums. A busy room connotes the energy of the performance and acts testimony to the artist!
Impactful endings
- Keep the artist in view for last note
- Pan around the crowd and make room look as busy as possible
- Cut at before the applause dies or at its height for greater impact
Break the applause
If you catch the applause of the audience, it can greatly increase views – catch the full applause and cut at climax and the video loops back to the start.
This is key for social media algorithms, which push for greater reach with higher view-through-rates (VTR).
These are just some examples of how to make a great video – it can take a little editing, but the videos are so much more engaging and will show off the best of the performance!
We’ll go into further detail about marketing techniques in future newsletters. We’d love to hear any other techniques in the comment section below!
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