Content Creation 101

Connecting with your target audience can be quite the challenge. Sometimes you will immediately connect with your audience and score a hole-in-one; the next day, you might be hitting a double bogey

No matter your business, creating content to connect with your audience can be made easier by following some simple steps.

Perhaps you’ve set up your social media channels (Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, LinkedIn and the rest), and want to kick off your online content with a couple of good videos. Maybe you want to grow your online network and tell more people about the great things that your business does.

The problem is: how do you create content that people want to watch, like, and share?

The best way is to develop a content development strategy. This will act as a set of guidelines for what you’re going to create, how often you’ll share it, and who will get the job done. By sticking to a content creation strategy, you will ensure that you are making the most of your online presence, communicating your message, and improving returns for your business.

nucleo are experts in communication. We can perform the week-to-week management and distribution of your content, and take the weight of marketing strategies off your shoulders.

Let’s suppose you are a small business, and have decided that you want to make a video each week to share on YouTube and social media. How do you do it? Where do you start? Will you have the time and budget? These are some important questions to ask before you get started.

Is creating content easy?

Creating content can be as easy or as challenging as your circumstances dictate. nucleo would be excited to help you produce amazing video content, but we can also give you some advice if you’d like to try it for yourself.

You might not have professional videography equipment, and that’s okay! Sometimes, the best way to create content on a budget is to use the tools that you already have.

Let’s use fishing as an example. You go on a fishing trip and want to capture the experience. The easiest camera to use is the one in your pocket — your phone! It can shoot great video and is able to capture some audio as well. With a little bit of practice, you can create some amazing shots.

And what about editing the video? Well, you can also edit right on your phone, and then upload and share it straight away. Sounds too good to be true? It isn’t! Creating content with your phone can actually be fun, engaging, and organic (because people are used to seeing it). Plus, you could consider using platforms like Facebook Live and Ustream to broadcast your video to your audience in real time. You can share what you see as you see it, improve your online engagement, and create an authentic, intimate connection with your followers.

Getting the shot

Back to the fishing trip: how do we get our shots to look good? The first thing is to make sure you keep your camera as steady as possible. You don’t want your viewers getting seasick and missing the moment you hook the big one.  Let the action in the shot be the movement. Keep the camera still — find something to balance it on, or use a tripod.

The action in the shot should be interesting enough to draw the viewer’s eye. If you do need movement to capture the whole scene, be sure to keep your phone as steady as possible, and slowly ‘pan’ to the left or right. Never hold your phone vertically (like, never EVER); always shoot sideways in landscape. This makes the shot wider, allows you to place more in the scene, and creates a much more cinematic effect.

Do your best to take interesting shots: waves crashing, close-ups of a reel winding, the look on people’s faces. All of these things can help you connect with your audience and make them feel like they are part of the action.

Some tips for better shots

Here are some more quick notes that will help produce amazing results:

• Use the ‘rule of thirds’ — Frame people to the right or left of the centre of the shot. Imagine one-third grid lines across the screen and fit the main subject into one of these sections. This gives your footage a frame of reference and is more visually appealing than a tight centred shot. (Of course, this is true in most circumstances, but not all! Sometimes rules need to be broken…)
• Stick to one theme — Keep your videos on topic. Don’t overload your strategy with different themes. If you post about fishing, continue to post about fishing; if you want to start branching out, make sure your new themes are relevant and interesting.
• Be concise — Keep your video brief and to the point. People will lose interest in your videos if they are too long. Shorter videos can show more action in a consumable format, and are more engaging for your audience.
• Use quality sound — Find interesting music to go with your video. Be careful about using copyrighted audio; the YouTube audio library is a good place to search for royalty-free files.
• Use speech when appropriate — If a person is speaking, keep the camera still and get the person to speak clearly and concisely. If you want to include a lot of dialogue, consider investing in a microphone to improve the quality of your audio.
• Keep it steady — Use tripods and other available accessories with your phone to help create a stable and professional video.
• Identify yourself — Add your business logo to the start and end of your video. This is known as a ‘top and tail’, and will help to introduce your brand and reinforce who the message is from.

Creating content for your business can be enjoyable, but nonetheless time-consuming and challenging. Do you have the right equipment? Do you have content ideas? Do you know how best to promote your videos and photographs, and turn them into an actionable marketing strategy?

nucleo’s team of designers, photographers, videographers, and strategists have the know-how to produce better results for your business. Get in touch with us to start creating amazing content!