Do not let your need for perfectionism and professionalism hold you back from creating authentic content for your social media.
Professional content doesn’t work anymore. Consumers are burned out with ads. People want real content that comes across informal, genuine, and authentic. Even if you’re in B2B. When you make your content, you will have higher engagement off of your mobile phone than a fancy camera. Because content filmed by a fancy camera looks like a commercial. They look like an ad. What do we do when we see an ad? We block them. We swipe by. Or we change the channel. We do whatever we can do to get away from commercials. “There will be 500-800% more engagement from a mobile phone than a fancy camera.” - Dan Fleyshman Video from a mobile phone feels real. We don’t feel like we’re getting pitched. You do not need a fancy videographer, photographer, or scripts. Sometimes you should. Sometimes it edifies you. So it’s nice to do it sometimes. But the other 99% of the time, you should be using a mobile phone. FIlming with a mobile phone is inexpensive, easier to access, compact and easy to take with you, and has a small learning curve. Compared to a professional camera, your mobile device is tiny. It can fit in your pocket. This allows you a lot of shooting flexibility. Mount it on a selfie stick? No problem. Mount it to a skateboard? Easy! Don’t have a tripod? Big deal; you’ll just lean it up against a pile of books. Most phone cameras aren’t rocket science. For the most part, they’re a variation of point-and-shoot. You don’t have to worry about white-balancing, iris control, and other features that professional cameras have. Not only will mobile video perform better than professional video content on social media, the actual quality differences from a new iPhone vs a $7,500 DSLR professional camera are getting slimmer each year. Matti Haapoja is a famous filmographer and YouTuber. He made a video comparing video and picture quality with an iPhone 11 vs a $7,500 professional camera. Watch the video yourself. You’ll notice how it’s actually becoming harder to tell the differences from a new iPhone vs an expensive professional camera. Entrepreneur and serial social media poster Gary Vaynerchuck cranks out video content at a staggering pace, and just about every clip is shot on a phone. He is a huge proponent of the fire hose approach to social marketing. For his particular brand, it works well. Cell phone videos or webcam videos have become more widely accepted for professional use in the age of COVID-19 and remote working. Reflect on your content. Which videos have performed the best? In your own content analysis and content creation, you should find your own happy medium of professional video and unpolished video. Professional camera equipment has many pros. There are many great uses that can be helpful for a business. But do not let your need for perfectionism and professionalism hold you back from creating authentic content for your social media. Use professional video very sparingly. Create videos with your smartphone as often as you can.
PS. Always have captions in your videos. "A survey of U.S. consumers found that 92% view videos with the sound off on mobile"
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