Social channels are changing. Have you noticed just how much video appears in our feeds? This is not just restricted to the more frivolous platforms – it’s the same story on LinkedIn as it is on Facebook.

The result: more people are having a crack at videos because they don’t want the social police to blacklist their content.

The problem here is that people who don’t know one end of a camera from another are suddenly turning Scorsese with not so much as a text book in sight. The result is a load of video that no-one really wants to watch.

So what’s the answer? How do you make your videos stand out from all the others?

You definitely don’t always need to call in the pros to make a simple social video, but by the same token it’s good to have at least a bit of video know-how before you start making screen shapes with your fingers.

Have a look at our video cheat sheet (available when you sign up to our Free Resources) to find out how to start making videos with your mobile device. Here, we’re going to share some tips on how to make those videos attention-grabbing.

Tip 1: Make the first 10 seconds count.

If a video isn’t immediately appealing, viewer drop-off is inevitable. Get straight to the point, make it relevant to your target audience, add a title on screen, and use some intriguing or impactful footage. You can also try some other tactics like asking a question, saying something controversial or giving a spoiler to a compelling story.

Tip 2: Add subtitles

Videos play muted in news feeds, so if your video just shows someone talking and there’s nothing particularly intriguing about the way it looks, there’s a good chance your viewer will scroll on. Adding subtitles immediately tells the viewer what the video is about so they can decide whether it’s worth turning on the sound.

Tip 3: Make it square

Square videos use more space in a news feed than widescreen videos, which makes them more eye-catching. Crop your videos using a cropping app and use up as much real estate as you can.

Tip 4: Go native

Social platforms want to keep you on their sites for as long as possible so they can expose you as much advertising and boosted posts as they can. They don’t want you going off to another platform to watch a video. This is why videos shared from other platforms never look particularly appealing. The thumbnails are small and they don’t autoplay as you’re scrolling through. Uploading your video directly – or natively – to the chosen channel is the way to go.

Tip 5: Keep it short

There’s a lot of choice on social media so users are more discerning than ever about how they spend their precious time. Keep your videos brief and to the point. The advantage of video over other forms of content is you can say a lot in a short space of time through images and text as well as spoken word.

Two final bonus tips: know your audience and make the content relevant. Try to appeal to everyone and you’ll appeal to no-one!

If you’d like to learn more about how to make high quality videos for web and social media using a mobile device, do your viewers a favour and grab a copy of our handbook.