Your YouTube channel’s videos should make you look professional, experienced, and at the forefront of your industry. It won’t do that if the production values in your videos are too low.
You need to do everything you can to improve the look and feel of your videos so that they communicate those values that are key to your brand’s success.
The production quality of your videos is vital for two principal reasons. First, high production values help you win subscribers at a much quicker rate. They also ensure you don’t lose them. Modern internet users won’t tolerate poor-quality videos and are quick to navigate away from content that doesn’t live up to their expectations.
Second, high production values inspire confidence in your business and make sure viewers begin to associate positive qualities with your brand. This is key, as YouTube videos play a big role in modern brand-building and significantly impact lead generation and conversions.
Now we’ve established why production values are so important, let’s look at what you can do to improve the quality of your YouTube content.
Record with Multiple Cameras
Adding extra camera angles is the most effective step you can take if you want to achieve a more professional look and feel in your videos.
The easiest way of achieving this is by recording your videos with multiple cameras. This allows you to quickly jump between angles without having to stop, move the camera, and then restart your filming.
Changing camera angle is pretty important when it comes to keeping viewers engaged. Using just one camera angle is more likely to make viewers zone out and lose interest.
Ultimately, this means they will turn away from your content and won’t listen to what you have to say. Regular changes in camera angle make for a more dynamic approach that keeps your content visually engaging.
Though you can always use more if you feel it would benefit the production quality, try using at least two cameras to film your video. Think carefully about how often you change angle and try to make it feel natural by cutting when there’s a change of pace, a brief pause in the narrative, or you need to move the video on.
Use Animated Intros and Outros
If you’re looking to give your videos a professional feel, you need to think about ways you can incorporate your branding and make your content feel more official.
One of the simplest ways of achieving this is by utilizing animated intros and outros. Intros and outros serve two purposes. They give your brand more exposure and improve the production quality of your videos.
Historically, adding animations to videos was not cheap. Consequently, animations were associated with considerable investment and commercial success.
They instantly raised your profile and communicated to the viewer that your business was capable of spending serious amounts of money on its image. While the cost of animations may have dropped, viewers still associate animations with business success.
To create budget-friendly animated intros and outros you have a few options:
- Adobe After Effects – for people confident of creating their own motion graphics
- Viddyoze – for non-technical people looking to quickly use templates
- Upwork – for people looking to hire someone to make it for them
Animated intros and outros help cement your visual identity and establish your brand. As a content creator, you want your videos to generate positive sentiment and for viewers to attach positive qualities and characteristics to your brand. They cannot do so easily if you do not include your logo at the start and end, and they can’t identify the brand.
Add Branded Scene Transitions
Having looked at the importance of the start and end of the video, let’s examine what comes in between. When moving between scenes, branded transitions can make a big difference in how viewers perceive your business.
They also enable you to incorporate more diverse content and build more exciting narrative structures.
For instance, you can use a quick stinger transition that features your logo animation to introduce regular segments (e.g., Highlight of the Week or Today’s Top Tips).
This allows for natural breaks in the content, which benefits you, as shorter clips are more likely to go viral. Similarly, you can use branded scene transitions to make the content itself more visually appealing.
Overall, branded scene transitions are an excellent way of improving the production quality of your videos. However, just like camera angle changes, you need to think carefully about how you use them. Too many branded scene transitions will frustrate viewers. Use them sparingly and intelligently for maximum impact.
Use Professional Background Music
In many videos, background music is an afterthought. It’s something the producer adds in after the video has been edited and is almost ready for publication. This can result in music that doesn’t complement the video. Even worse, waiting until the end of the editing process can mean you forget to add music entirely!
Silence, bad audio, or poorly chosen music lowers the production quality considerably and is sure to lose you viewers and subscribers.
You don’t want potential customers thinking you recorded your content on an iPhone. Instead, select your music early and plan how you’re going to use it. Think about how it fits with the visuals and can be used to complement your branded transitions and camera cuts.
If you’re looking for royalty-free audio to use in your videos, check out the following websites:
- https://www.youtube.com/audiolibrary/music
- https://www.freemusicarchive.org/search
- http://www.bensound.com/
Remember, if you’re looking for free music, always check that it’s in the public domain or under a Creative Commons license. You should always credit the original artist in your video description, too.
Summary
There are several ways to improve the production quality of your videos and make your brand look and feel more professional. In this article, we highlighted the four main methods at your disposal.
First, record with multiple cameras for a more engaging edit. Second, use animated intros and outros to give your brand more exposure. Third, utilize branded scene transitions to add a touch of professionalism. Finally, ensure your background music suits the video and is of sufficient quality.
Guest author, John Butterworth is an experienced digital marketer who believes the fastest way to grow any business is by automating its lead acquisition. He’s helped many companies to scale rapidly through a tried-and-tested combination of SEO, CRO, and email automation. John’s career has taken him across specialist roles in China, Vietnam, and The UK. Currently, he works in-house for the global video creation platform Viddyoze.
