How To Make A YouTube Video Online?
Videos are everywhere, and almost any metric or stats overwhelmingly favor using videos as a marketing medium. As marketers, this is the perfect time to include videos in the marketing strategy for a brand. However, simply integrating videos as another promotional channel may not give the best results. Instead, it is imperative to have a full-fledged video marketing plan as videos become the next mainstream marketing machinery.
That said, a video marketing plan for any brand–legacy or new–must keep several platforms in consideration. Nevertheless, there is one platform with unparalleled reach and impact, and, unsurprisingly, that is YouTube.
The platform dedicated to videos has grown significantly over the years. Today, it not only commands over 1 billion watch hours every day; has almost ⅓ of the world’s internet users every month, but it is also the second-largest search engine after Google!
It is a legit question: are YouTube videos the same as those on any other platform? If not, then how to make a YouTube video?
The answer to the first question is–no; YouTube videos are not the same as videos for any other platform such as TikTok or Instagram. Some reasons behind this include:
- YouTube is dedicated to videos (and TikTok-like Shorts) only, and hence no bar on the length of the videos, unlike some other platforms such as TikTok and Instagram.
- YouTube viewers come to find specific information rather than a casual scroll down the feed, unlike Instagram, for instance. Hence, the primary requirement of a YouTube video is to provide that information.
- You cannot fully realize the advantage of YouTube as a search engine without ensuring they are embedded with and optimized for relevant keywords.
And the answer to the second question is as follows:
How to Make a YouTube Video Online
Creating YouTube videos with a solid strategy in place could be challenging. Nevertheless, online video editors these days are making the job easier.
Here are some basic pointers to help you create YouTube videos online without investing in expensive video editing software:
Define a theme/concept
Once you have decided to make a video for marketing, YouTube is the first choice for a platform. So it may be tempting to start looking up how to make a YouTube video and jump right into it.
However, to have a better, long-lasting effect, experts recommend developing the theme for your strategy. Apart from helping define your brand’s identity, the theme helps in the following two ways:
- Your messaging across platforms remains consistent.
- You can ideate to create relevant videos for a longer duration, rather than wondering every time what should be next.
Prepare a storyboard
Do not directly shoot the video after coming up with the theme and different concepts. Instead, take time to prepare storyboards for all the concepts.
What are storyboards? It is a visual representation of a video sequence that divides the content into individual panels. For instance, it may consist of a series of drawings with camera movement, dialogue, or other relevant details in order. Storyboards illustrate shot by shot how a video will play out and is a pre-production process.
As you develop these storyboards, some concepts will stand out, and others will need some more work before they manifest in the end product. Thus, having clarity on the sequence and structure of the video helps in well-planning the shoot. Moreover, your hard work on the storyboard will also bear fruit as convenient reference material when editing the video before final publication.
Shoot the video
The fun part of the entire process is when you go out and shoot the video. This is where your video starts becoming a reality, and you can start seeing the potential outcome.
With a storyboard appropriately done, you will have a clear idea of the scenes to shoot to make the best YouTube video for your concept. Experts recommend shooting as much footage in as many different ways as your budget and timeline allow. This step is crucial as you can repurpose the footage on other platforms, depending on specific needs.
Edit the video
This can be the step that either makes or breaks your entire video. Editing, ladies and gentlemen…
While you may have come up with an excellent concept and shot some great sequences, if the sequences are not put together in a way that captures your viewer’s attention, all the effort can go to waste.
This is why experts stress masterfully editing the videos. Traditionally, editing was carried out by expensive video editing software. However, not all brands, especially startups, can afford these pricey editing platforms.
However, with some great online video editors like InVideo, editing videos online has now come within reach of all enterprises. They’re high-tech without the price eye-watering tag.
Some essential features you must look out for when choosing an online video editor include the following:
- Storyline – This is similar to the storyboard you saw earlier in this blog. The difference here is that the storyboard has the concept, whereas this storyline (in-app) contains the actual video clips shot by you. When placed together and rearranged, this is where your final video takes shape. Most online video editors come with the playback feature that helps you view the entire video as it comes together.
- Elements – A complete video has multiple features apart from the video clips that cohesively make it work. These include voice-over, transitions, music, text, and interactive elements like buttons and embedded links. These elements help take the story forward and are extremely useful for SEO. For example, embedding keywords in the text, adding buttons to allow engagement, and including a call-to-action make a video perform well on YouTube. Your online video editor must have this feature.
- Templates – If you are new to the field and trying to figure out how to make a YouTube video, all the steps may appear daunting. However, most good online video editors come with a library of templates to choose from. Having templates to choose from is extremely helpful if you work on a tight deadline. You can use one of the standard templates for your specific industry and customize it with your own video/audio clips or brand elements such as your logo, etc. Customizing templates is a highly efficient way to create a video in a short timeframe.
These were the essential prerequisites for making a stunning YouTube video. Once finalized and thoroughly reviewed, all you need to do is simply publish your edited and completed video online.
Remember, be consistent in posting videos on your YouTube channel and track user engagement via its analytics tools. As a marketer, you can carry out A/B testing on your videos by quickly editing them using an online video editor.
YouTube is a great platform to get direct feedback from your potential audience. In addition, the convenience of online editing further enables brands to tweak their YouTube videos and understand customer preferences.