How to make scroll-stopping video content - Emma King and Charlotte White

How to make scroll-stopping video content - Emma King and Charlotte White | E12 transcript

(Upbeat introduction music)

Emma King
Hello and welcome to another episode of the Scaramanga podcast "Talk too much". My name is Emma King and I'm the Social Media Manager at Scaramanga.

Charlotte White
And I'm Charlotte White, I'm the Social Media Assistant. Today we're talking about how to make scroll-stopping video content. We have a very nice, very carefully prepared piece of paper with notes for the benefit of the video viewers, not of the listeners, but it's literally a piece of paper with my scrawl-y handwriting all over it, as Social Media Managers often operate I feel like- and assistants!

Emma King
Yeah,

Charlotte White
Yeah, got to get those ideas down fast! Anyway, yeah, we'll be talking through a few steps and we're actually going to number them for ease of listening. If you need to reference this again, you can hop to step number one or step number five... actually, I don't even know if there is five steps!

Emma King
There is!

Charlotte White
Oh OK! step number one or step number five so, I'm going to let Emma kick off with number one!

Emma King
Number one is general tips. So my general tips for filming and how to get good content is one: buy a ring light. You will not be sorry for buying a ring light. You don't have to buy an expensive one, you can go on Amazon. Literally, there's probably one for about £15 I think. I would also get microphones, we bought mics for the office, little ones.

Charlotte White
We did. We have these little clip on ones. Maybe we can put some links in the podcast description.

Emma King
Yeah, that'd be helpful. If you want, you know, a cheap little mic, you can get the ones that we got. They're really good. The feedback is amazing on them. If you want to go really, really expensive. I've used RØDE mics before. RØDE mics are very good for filming outdoors, interviews and stuff like that. So I would highly recommend.

And my biggest tip always is clean your camera. Even if you don't think it looks dirty, clean it before filming. I can only say that one more time: clean your camera.

Charlotte White
(Laughter)

Emma King
And make sure you're somewhere quiet and you're well lit. And just be yourself.

Charlotte White
Can I just add as well on the ring light thing? Well, actually, I have two things to add. With the ring light. You can... either will work you can get a big one; we're using a big one right now to film this.

Emma King
Yes.

Charlotte White
And it's on a tripod and it's all very fancy. But Emma actually also turned me on to these really cute little ones that clip on your phone.

They're the best thing ever.

And they're brilliant! But they cost like £7 on Amazon. I think mine is like a brand called Juice? I'm not sure, but it's a little white one. It's got clip on it. It's so cute. So even one of those I feel like does the job.

Emma King
Yeah.

Charlotte White
The other thing I was gonna add, which is totally gone on my head now that I started talking about ring lights.

Emma King
Haha!

Charlotte White
Maybe we need to park that one in if I think of it.

Yeah.

If I think of it I'll butt in. Oh, no I won't butt in though because it's my turn to talk. Maybe I'll just add it to what what I'm talking about.

Okay. Number two, before you even start filming, I think it's really beneficial to research what other people are doing in your field. I guess the best example being, say you want to be a UGC content creator, User Generated Content creator, and you have a beauty product that was gifted to you that you want to obviously try and sell for them, then go and see what other UGC creators are making with similar products. And essentially see what works.

By doing that, you are far more likely to make something that is going to work and it's going to make people stop and watch and like and bookmark and comment and XYZ. So, I think that step is often forgotten about, but actually, is quite important. I always do it. I'm nosy too, so I love to know what everybody else is doing, all the time. (Laughter) But aside from that, I think it's really good to keep tabs on your competition. On the flip side, don't do it too much because it will hinder your creativity.

Emma King
Yeah, you don't want to copy.

Charlotte White
No, you don't want to copy. But, just I would say just take a quick glance, just to get an idea and be like, right, okay, this is what's working, this is what isn't, and then you kind of need to then stop looking. So there's definitely a fine line in doing it. But get that fine line and it's definitely going to help you just to know what everybody else is doing.

Emma King
I agree.

Number three, filming and sort of breaking that barrier of embarrassment. I think everybody, even me, when I've done stuff, like, I've done voiceover stuff, or I've, you know, done my own TikTok and I'm doing the voiceover, I hate hearing it back, it makes me cringe! But I think it's getting over the embarrassment of what other people then say, so many creators are like, "oh, my family are going to watch or my friends and then what are they going to say? Are they going to think I'm silly?". Especially, like, people who may have a small business and you are your social media. Just film, go for it...

I think the best thing to come out of, like, the UGC and influencer content is being authentic.

Charlotte White
Yeah.

Emma King
It just helps so much, like, everybody, I, the people I follow, I like because they just like, show their true selves. Like, even if it's something to do with cleaning, you see their house, it's not picture perfect. And then they just talk how they would normally talk. They take you along for their journey, and I think that's a big, big thing. So just be natural. Just be personable, and just film. Pick up a camera and start filming! And you'll be surprised at what people find interesting, and what trends and what doesn't.

Charlotte White
Yeah, that's so true as well.

Emma King
It doesn't have to be squeaky clean content.

No.

I mean, I always say like, edit it as much as possible so that you're happy with it and you know, it has a purpose, but it doesn't have to be, you know, you don't have to have a filter on, it doesn't have to be squeaky clean.

Charlotte White
You know, when you were speaking about filming, I just remembered what I was gonna say about five minutes ago.

Emma King
Okay.

Charlotte White
Following on from ring lights when you're filming, where you can, it's good to get natural light.

Emma King
Yes,

Charlotte White
Yeah, that's what I was gonna say. And I guess it sort of ties in because you were talking about filming but not really. I just wanted to add that in there. Because I think, I think it can actually make or break a video. And I think, I do agree with you saying about, you'd be surprised what people watch. But I think with all the, with all the resources we have now. I think people are far less likely to watch a video that isn't filmed very well, or is a bit grainy, or...

Emma King
Yeah, if the quality is poor, absolutely. But what I mean is if someone does like a little blunder in a video.

Charlotte White
Oh yeah!

Emma King
Don't feel like you've got to take it out, like people, if it's relatable people relate.

Charlotte White
Yeah, exactly. And actually, a good example of this is, I mean, I don't think this podcast is going out for a few weeks. But we're in the week of that woman who just released that 52 part TikTok series.

Emma King
Oh, "who the **** did I marry?"

Charlotte White
About the pathologically lying husband that she had? And that totals to almost 7 hours I read, that whole series?

Emma King
Yeah. I've sat and listened to it for over a week.

Charlotte White
Haha!

Emma King
I mean, some of her videos, you know, they've got 2, 3, 4 million, and she's literally sitting there.

Charlotte White
Yep.

Emma King
No makeup on, just sitting even in her pajamas driving her car telling a story. But it's the way she tells a story and she's just baring it all and she is who she is. And yeah, it's heartbreaking to watch but at the same time, it is pure entertainment, because you cannot believe it and fathom in your head!

Charlotte White
Well she's being real as well. Isn't she?

Emma King
Yeah.

Charlotte White
In the vein of, they're also good enough quality videos.

Emma King
Yeah.

Charlotte White
In relation to what we were just talking about. Like, they don't look like they were filmed on a... on a I don't know, a potato I was gonna say!

Emma King
Hahaha!

Charlotte White
But you get my point!

Emma King
Yes, yes. But then that follows on nicely to number four, like editing and formatting.

Charlotte White
Oh, yeah, it does, perfect!

Number four: editing and formatting. Um, there's a load of apps that you can download to help with this. I love CapCut.

Emma King
CapCut's my favourite.

Charlotte White
It's really intuitive I find and they have features that not all of the apps do. My favourite feature on CapCut is noise reducer. It's just such a good little tool that I find that... actually I don't know if InShot has it or not, but the other apps I've played with in the past don't have a noise reducer that you can at least use for free.

Emma King
I was just gonna say like, because I like Final Cut.

Charlotte White
Yeah.

Emma King
And Final Cut's very good but obviously it's extremely expensive.

Charlotte White
Yeah. So yeah, to be honest, I mean, when we were talking about editing and formatting, I was going to stick solely to the free stuff because we all love free stuff. But Final Cut is a good recommendation. If you do want to, if you do want to spend a bit of cash on your, on your videos and, and really set them above the rest. But if you don't want to do that CapCut's really great. Um, and, you know, it's it's really well integrated with TikTok. So it's good to have for that benefit in terms of optimising content, which I'll get onto in a minute. You use InShot, don't you?

Emma King
Every now and then yeah, my main one is CapCut.

Charlotte White
How, how is InShot? Because I don't know much about it.

Emma King
I like InShot for music choices sometimes. There's just- and you can use different sounds and yeah, there's sometimes a bit more variety than CapCut. Sometimes it's a bit samey. But I like CapCut, because it's so easy to use, the functionality of it. It's just really simple. And like you said it links up with TikTok.

Charlotte White
Yeah, it's a no brainer, really. But as much as the apps are great, I think also a big piece of, of advice I'd give, from more of a social media marketer point of view, is there's a lot of value in actually editing in-app. And they might not be as functional, and they might not have so many options for you, but I do think editing in-app is actually picked up on, on the apps, like, algorithms and stuff-

Emma King
Definitely.

Charlotte White
-whether you're actively using their, their tools. So I think where you can, it's good to try and edit in-app. What I normally do is, well, I run an account in my spare time and in those videos, the lady films outside, so it needs a noise reducer. So I put it in CapCut, put the noise reducer on it, export it, then do the rest of the editing in TikTok. So I add the captions on TikTok and any like SEO and stuff, and then that way, I'm kind of getting a bit... a bit of the best of both worlds.

Emma King
Yeah, for Instagram I was gonna say, I do mine, if I find a trending sound, I know the format in which I'd want to edit it. I'll get all the footage I need, drop it in Instagram, then obviously play the song and then tweak the shots to where I want it to move on a certain beat. And then it's edited in Instagram. But I normally only do those if they're between 30 seconds, 40 seconds, max.

Charlotte White
Yeah, because I think Instagram is not quite as functional.

Emma King
No, hasn't got as much in it.

Charlotte White
Reels is not quite as... yeah.

Emma King
Yeah.

Charlotte White
Yeah. (inaudible) But we love you Instagram!

I guess that kind of brings me on to optimising content as well because editing in-app is a perfect example of optimising content. You basically want to show these apps that you're engaging with them, because they will obviously like if you are. So editing in-app is, is one good way to do that. An example of not optimising your content is, for example, editing in TikTok, downloading your edited TikTok once it's posted, and then posting that on Instagram. Instagram will not enjoy that, from an algorithm point of view. I won't lie, I have been guilty of that in the past, I have definitely done that in the past, but you live and learn.

Emma King
Yep!

Charlotte White
You live and learn. So optimising content is really just playing to the apps' different features. And...

Emma King
Remix in Instagram is very good as well.

Charlotte White
Oh, I've not used that much!

Emma King
So you can take an old video, so I scrolled down not long ago, and I was like, "oh I really liked..." it was Pancake Day. And I was like "aww I like that pancake video!" and I was thinking, it wouldn't let me download the video and I was like, "how am I gonna"... and I was like, "Remix!". And you just click on it and obviously you can style it differently. You can add bits on to it. So I just added a different writing on-screen and...

Charlotte White
Love that!

Emma King
There you go, repurposing content within the app.

Charlotte White
Repurposing and optimising content, you just can't go w rong. That's the perfect example! I guess really, that leads us on to number five, Emma?

Emma King
Hooks, SEO and hashtags. Now, hashtags are really important. People think that they are literally just to put at the end and that's it. Hashtag strategy is really crucial to targeting your audience and the niche of the content that you're posting, basically. And we do that by- actually you did a really good example the other day when we was pitching, with your hashtag strategy.

Charlotte White
Oh, yeah. I can say it if you like.

Emma King
Yeah, I really liked the way you, yeah.

Charlotte White
I can't lie, I read it on LinkedIn. But it really stuck with me because I thought it was such a foolproof method. So this girl was saying how she... for her hashtag strategy, um, she'll try and choose between 10 and 15 and within those 10 and 15, she'll have three categories. So maybe the first three to five hashtags will be high popularity hashtags. Millions of people have also posted with these hashtags. Such as, you know, TikTok would be like, #FYP.

Emma King
Yeah.

Charlotte White
#Explore, #MemeCut or something like that. And then the next three to five hashtags would be mid tier. So, perhaps they've been posted in the hundreds of thousands. So they're not widely exposed. But they're, they have been used a fair amount. And then the last few hashtags, you want to try and hit them... the ones that are in maybe the 1000s, the 10s of 1000s, maybe even the hundreds. I just thought that was so...

Emma King
Yeah, no the way you described it was perfect. I was like, that makes so much sense instead of me just trying to babble through that.

Charlotte White
Yeah, because I think it also... obviously it has a good strategy behind it, in that you're reaching different sizes of audience. But aside from that, I think it also forces you to put some real thought behind your hashtags, because I think it's very tempting to just hashtag carelessly and needlessly like, I've definitely done it. When I was first starting out on TikTok, I'd be like, #FYP, #FYPViral, #FYP with a smiley face, #Viral, hashtag, blah, blah, blah. It's just, it's not needed. And I think in terms of SEO as well, it's much more SEO friendly-

Emma King
Yeah.

Charlotte White
-when you can hone down your hashtags to, so- to the point that they are really specific and onpoint with what your content is talking about.

Emma King
And also, it's really important to remember each platform is different. So therefore don't... for instance, Instagram, I wouldn't go and spam 40 hashtags. They don't like it. They don't like it at all, it won't help you in the algorithm. So please don't do it.

LinkedIn, is, you can use as many hashtags as you want in LinkedIn, but they do say, a maximum of 30. I wouldn't use 30 personally. I normally use between, it depends on the client, if I know that it's a wide subject that they're going to be talking about, I normally do about 10. Instagram, I normally probably say... 10 to 12, if not less. Sometimes if it's about me, and it's something I'm really talking about honing in on, it will be five to eight. So, my top tip for just hashtags is not spamming. Just don't spam and just tag absolutely anything. It's just not going to help you in any way, shape, or form.

And the other thing is hooks when creating videos. So for TikTok and your Reels on Instagram, the best way I can describe it is you want to solve someone's problem. So give them the, the question in the beginning, and you're going to tell them the answer. So, like, some of the ones that we've done is "why isn't your..." I think it's sort of like this, "why isn't your..." the SEO one, the last one that we done?

Charlotte White
Oh, the carousels? Sorry,

Emma King
Sorry!

Charlotte White
I thought you were talking about the videos. We did... I think it was called "Steal our top tips-

Emma King
Yeah.

Charlotte White
-to improve SEO", or something like that.

Emma King
And then I've done one that's going to be coming out, which is about LinkedIn, which is "how to optimise your LinkedIn page". And yeah, I give you the top tips on how to do that. So instantly, if someone's like, "Oh, my, you know, my LinkedIn page isn't great", within that first five seconds, you've learned exactly what I'm about to talk about. And that's really important. And then sticking to what you're talking about also, as you go along, so you don't like drift off like we sometimes do in these conversations.

Charlotte White
Haha! Yeah.

Emma King
But having a hook is really important. And also when you're starting your video off, jump straight in, I find that the content on TikTok, when they go "hi, I'm so and so, I'm from here", and then they chat a lot about not what they're going to be talking about. Just jump straight in and be like, "this is why Instagram isn't growing, these are the top tips I advise you, here we go". Bam, bam, bam, bam.

Charlotte White
Yeah. Because the truth is like, if you're not an influencer with a decent following, no-one... really is invested in you. But they will be a lot more invested in what you give them.

Emma King
Yeah.

Charlotte White
Yeah. So it's definitely worth, you know... for us doing a typical video, say I'm doing a video about social media. I'll say, "here's why social media isn't growing". And and I'd say, "I'm Charlotte. I work as a Social Media Assistant in an marketing agency". So it gives some kind of background and it gives some validity to what I'm saying. But yeah, no one no one massively cares about the inner workings of your life when you're when you're starting out.

Emma King
Everyone's scrolling very quickly, everybody wants to hear what you want to say. But they want to hear it in 3.5 seconds. So you've got to be really quick and catch someone's attention within that span for them to keep watching right up until the end.

One thing that I do find that's really helpful if you're wanting to create video content for Instagram, but you're not necessarily doing a video that is you talking to the video, one thing is to do a video loop. And the video can be all of the four seconds of filming. But obviously on Instagram, it'll be on a loop while someone's watching it. And you put the information on over the top of the video. And it's not a two second read, it's more than that. So they're watching the video on a loop. And you've got to read all that information. So then obviously, you're on the page for longer, you're absorbing the information that you're sharing, and then people like and follow you.

Yeah, that's a good little hack almost, isn't it?

Yeah and you can add a song over the top of it. So people can find you by searching by song and obviously by your hashtags, your copy. And don't give away your answers in your copy. I know a lot of people do that. And I'm like, I don't need to watch the video. I'll just read the caption instead.

Charlotte White
Yeah, I think what I was going to add as well, because we did only have five steps, as it turns out, but but more in a general... in a general term. We've been talking a lot about filming yourself.

Emma King
Yeah.

Charlotte White
But if that was something that you really were not comfortable with, there is definitely a place on the internet for faceless content.

Emma King
100%.

Charlotte White
And I was... when you were talking about those five second videos that's what made me think, because I've seen a lot of those where the background's just like, someone's desk and all the text is on their and stuff.

Emma King
Yeah.

Charlotte White
That's what got me to this point. But great websites to use for that are like, Pexels.

Emma King
Yeah.

Charlotte White
With a... with an E, P-E-X-E-L-S, and Pixabay as well, because they have royalty free images that you can just choose. I just wanted to add that because I know some people, some people really don't want to be on camera, which is totally fair.

Emma King
Yeah.

Charlotte White
I think that's how most people start out to be honest. Yeah, I definitely started out like that, and then forced myself to get in front of the camera. And now here we are!

But yeah, that is all our steps. Basically, the last thing I wrote down that I thought was worth saying and made us sound smart, was "if you put in minimal effort, why would you expect maximum results?", Like, you're not going to get the results you want by... am I... I was going to say half-arsing, am allowed to say that?

Emma King
(Laughter)

Charlotte White
I'm just gonna say it, you're not gonna get the results you want by half-arsing it like, you're not. You need to consider what what you're doing with the amount of consideration that you would expect from the videos that you watch. And ultimately, I would also just say like, look at the effort that your competitors are putting in. And if you're not putting in that same amount of effort, you're not then also going to see the results that you want.

Emma King
Yeah, that's a good way to end it.

Charlotte White
I hope our bosses don't tell me off.

Emma King
We can put a beep over the top!

Charlotte White
But I feel like that's not...

Emma King
No it's not, no it's not.

Charlotte White
That's not a bad word is it?

Emma King
No, no, no it's not. I'm joking.

Charlotte White
Oh, OK, OK, well we'll find out anyway. Thanks for joining us! We'll be back in the future.

Emma King
And hopefully you learned something from today's podcast.

Charlotte White
Yes, hopefully. That's the aim after all. We will see you in the next episode!