All brands are competing for attention on social media platforms. With approximately 3 seconds to grab the attention of a user before those thumbs continue scrolling, what brands are posting is becoming more and more important. Poor quality social media content simply doesn’t cut the mustard (what a weird phrase…). So what can be done to get the edge? Let’s take a look at what’s hot and what’s not in social media videos right now with some real-world examples picked out from a scroll down the Instagram lane.
Clean – Hot
Clean and simple is definitely hot. That doesn’t mean that you have to go quite as stark as this Calvin Klein video ad so that you can’t have multiple points of interest in your frame. Clean and simple means being deliberate with what is in your frame, and what isn’t! It means making it very plain what the subject of your ad is, and where you want the viewer’s attention to be. Avoid visual clutter and keep your video sleek.
No Product Placement – Not
Making your audience work to figure out what your ad is for is a massive no, definitely not hot. Take this example (sorry to the brand!) where other than the slightly out-of-focus brand name in the background, we have no clear product or promotion on offer. It’s just a nice picture of some chicken kebabs. I love a chicken kebab, don’t get me wrong. But if you’re going to commit ad spend, make sure it’s very clear to your viewers what you are promoting, without them having to read the description.
Text Overlays – Hot
Text overlays are hot. This isn’t so much driven by aesthetics, but more the fact that you can’t bet on your viewer having their audio turned up! This means that voiceovers alone are a risk, and make text overlays of at least the salient information quite useful. Full subtitles are probably overkill on a 15-20 second video advert, but well-designed text can definitely enhance the performance of your ad.
Poor Sizing – Not
Cut-off text or imagery is a massive turn-off, definitely not hot. I haven’t cropped the top or bottom of this example at all, this is what it looked like in my feed. Apart from obscuring the actual message of the ad, it looks unprofessional and reflects badly on the brand. There are clear guidelines on sizing for different platforms all over the internet, so do a quick search to figure out what aspect ratio your video should be.
High Energy – Hot
High energy is hot right now. Edits that incorporate a lot of imagery in a short space of time while maintaining the kind of clean look that we talked about already. This is really about engagement. We want the user scrolling through the timeline to stop and watch our video, and a key factor in making that happen is how visually stimulating your social media video is. And to be fair, it’s not always about the pacing of the video. You could get away with a very slow pace if you concentrate on having an attention-grabbing scene or animation, something out of the ordinary or aesthetically pleasing that might stop those scrolling thumbs.
So there you go, a quick stroll down the Instagram lane has taught us a few lessons about what is hot and what is not right now in the world of social media video trends. Of course, we are on hand to assist you in the production of your own social media video content, taking all the stress and research off your hands. We’ve made our product video service extremely easy for our clients. They simply send us sample products, speak to us about their brand values and the core messaging, and we handle the rest! So do get in contact to discuss your social media video needs.