5 aspects to understand about short video operations!

Where there are users, there is a market; where there is traffic, there is money. The popularity of short videos has led more and more companies and individuals to turn to the short video field to make money. However, for most traditional companies and individuals, they do not have a comprehensive understanding and familiarity with the entire operation of new media, self-media, and short videos. They often do not know how to start, or fail to achieve the expected results after a period of time.

Next, let’s talk about the five aspects of Taoism, magic, techniques, and power that you must master when making short videos.

First level, Tao is logic

Grasp the laws of development and understand the platform rules.

As short videos are currently a popular method in the entire new media field, we must first understand the development laws and stages of the entire new media platform. There are three iconic platforms in the history of new media: Weibo, WeChat, and TikTok. Weibo was launched in 2009 as an information exchange platform. In the early days, it provided a lot of traffic support to many celebrities and artists, and gradually attracted people who were originally in various online forums to settle in, and gradually formed various Internet celebrities, grassroots experts, and KOLs. Throughout the development process, Weibo has been adding things, adding social networking, marketing, and services. Two key things began to appear here: information flow advertising and mobile marketing.

We are talking about Xiaolongxin. Xiaolongxin was launched in 2011 and appeared in front of us as an instant messaging service platform. Relying on its own advantages and the communication environment at that time, it quickly accumulated more than 100 million users in just one year. This is a dream that other platforms cannot reach. In 2012, it launched the public account service, and batches of gold diggers began to settle in. Xiaolongxin has not been outdone along the way and has been constantly adding new things, such as games, payments, e-commerce, interfaces, mini-programs, etc. Two very key things also emerged here: self-media entrepreneurship and micro-business.

In 2016, when Guo Wei Bo and Xiao Long Xin were still very popular, Yiming Douyin came out of nowhere. This short video creative social platform brought me a greater visual and auditory impact. It can instantly ignite the dopamine in our brain. We can always see the content we want to see and can't stop at all. It completely subverted our understanding of the original picture and text era. In the early days, Yiming Douyin’s content consisted mostly of jokes, talent shows, and inspirational stories. Later, it began to purify its content, and a large number of more valuable and energetic works appeared. Along the way, Yiming Douyin has added various things, including props, live broadcasts, DOU+, display windows, small shops, and mini programs. Two key events also emerged here, short video entrepreneurship and content e-commerce.

The information behind this content is quite big. Have you recovered from it? Do you understand what it means?

Different short video platforms have different attributes, positioning and user groups, as well as different regulatory requirements for creators. In the early stages of making short videos, you must first understand the basic attributes of the major short video platforms and analyze the user situation of the platforms. Only in this way can you choose the right platform for your field and achieve twice the result with half the effort. The article I shared before, Analysis of the Top Ten Short Video Platforms, provides a relatively detailed introduction to the current mainstream and commonly used short video platforms.

The second level: law is methodology

What you know, what users want to know, and what users can remember

When making short videos, you need to have a set of creation and operation methodologies that suit you. This can greatly improve your creation efficiency and enhance the experience and viewing experience of your fans and users. Form a connection between what you know, what users want to obtain, and what users can remember.

What you know is your own content system. Most short video platforms now have functions such as collections and playlists. In fact, what lies behind this is that short video content represents fragmented time and fragmented learning, and the collection and playlist functions are available systematic content and information. Users can enter the relevant collection and playlist pages through a single fragmented short video, and can view the series content they are interested in in a systematic and continuous manner. Creators can use mind maps or links between points, lines and surfaces to organize what they know into a content framework, add branches and leaves based on the framework, and finally form a content system of their own.

What users want to know is user needs, pain points and other user psychological needs. Some short video creators in professional fields often encounter a problem: they feel that their content is very valuable but there is still not enough volume in terms of dissemination. In fact, we often fall into a misunderstanding. Let me tell you some data that will definitely refresh your three views. In China, there are 1 billion people who have never been on a plane, 1.2 billion people have never been abroad, 500 million people have never used a toilet, and people with a bachelor's degree or above account for only 4.5% of the total population. You think you are an ordinary person among ordinary people, but in fact you are just an ordinary person in your circle. Among the adult population, you are still among the top 20% of outstanding people. When we create short videos and produce content, we don't produce from our own perspective. We need to consider the target fan users and potential fan users, how much they know, and what their inner world is like. We always think that we have delivered the best and most valuable things, but many fan users simply cannot absorb and digest them. Therefore, we need to think clearly about what kind of people we are talking to and what kind of way we need to use to talk to them. We should not just talk to others for our own benefit.

What users can remember is the value of content creation. Don’t fantasize that a short video can convey many content points, value points or knowledge points. Short videos are fragmented absorption. It is already a very difficult thing to fully present a content value point in a certain period of time. There are generally two types of memory patterns for valuable content among fan users. The first is what is directly related to themselves, what they care about and need, which they will definitely remember; the second is what is deeply reinforced by the creators, which are constantly repeated points and highly refined and summarized points. Therefore, when we create content value, we need to capture the direct memory points of fan users, and we also need to design golden sentences and good advice for each content to facilitate users to absorb and remember the points.

The third level is strategy

Topic design, copywriting design, script design

The short video creation strategy can transform the complex and fragmented early processes into specific and implementable plans and process forms, so that in the process of short video content production, it can be clear who should do what, how much content material needs to be produced, and from what angle and aspect to start, ultimately making the content presentation more complete and impressive.

There are four directions for short video topic selection and design. First, it should be relevant to oneself. We have introduced the content system at the legal level before, and you can do point-to-point design based on your own content system. Second, it should appear frequently. You should choose things and problems that your target fan users often encounter in life, work, and society. Third, precise output: find a certain type of fan users we want to attract, make their user portraits, and tailor topics for them; fourth, familiarity: find the field that you are most familiar with, best at, and most professional in, and choose topics based on your abilities and growth expectations; fourth, action cost: human nature is greedy, so reduce the cost for users to make choices and satisfy their desire to exchange small for big, or less for more.

How to design and write copy for short videos? Let’s first talk about the following video copy that is likely to become popular. The first is the fun and entertainment type, which makes users want to laugh. The second is the fresh and cool type, which makes users find it fun. The third is the emotional resonance type, which touches users’ hearts. The fourth is the type that attracts users with good looks, which makes users want to follow it. The fifth category is practical knowledge, which users can learn easily. The sixth skill display category makes users want to worship it when they see it. The seventh category is current affairs, which users can brag about after reading it. The eighth is the magical music and dance category, which can make users addicted. There are three aspects to the design of hot-selling copywriting. The first is to put the hot point in front, clearly state the value it brings to users, point out the pain points that users care about, and add topics that users find interesting. The second statement of facts uses numerical summaries and experience distillation to increase the authenticity and resonance of the copy. The third is to create complaints, deliberately make up some topics, texts, and pictures to trigger users' complaints and comments. The fourth is unique labels, set unique concepts, images, language, and actions for yourself to form a super symbol to make users remember you better.

The biggest benefits of short video script design are that it can improve the efficiency of content production and increase the quality of content. Simply put, it means that all personnel involved in content production will have a basis and standard to refer to, so as to avoid problems in later content processing.

Script design is divided into two parts. The first part is the preliminary preparation of the script, which requires considering the shooting positioning and the form of expression of the content; the shooting theme and the defined value given by the content; the shooting time to avoid wasting time and content; the shooting location, whether indoors or outdoors, and the layout of the scene; the shooting reference, using some similar finished products as a reference; BGM, choose appropriate background music to match the scene and content.

The second part is the production of script content. We need to carefully design each shot and presentation, including the shot number, scene size, camera movement, duration, picture content, commentary, subtitles, music, sound effects, and notes.

The fourth level: tools are

Filming equipment, radio equipment, lighting equipment, props equipment, editing software

If you want to do your work well, you must first sharpen your tools. However, the equipment needed for short video creation is quite complicated, and good equipment does not necessarily produce good results. The more professional the equipment, the more professional skills it requires to cooperate with it in order to maximize the effect of the equipment. When creating short videos, you should choose equipment that you can use based on your actual situation.

Short video shooting equipment can be basically divided into four categories: mobile phones, cameras, camcorders, and drones. Now most mobile phones basically support 1080P and 4K, which can meet the general needs of short video content production. Mobile phone shooting is more convenient to carry, and is more suitable for most novices and creators who do not require too high image quality. There are two types of cameras: mirrorless cameras and SLR cameras. Nowadays, many creators who shoot VLOGs generally choose to use mirrorless cameras for shooting. When choosing a mirrorless camera, you need to consider whether it can be connected to an external microphone, because many mirrorless cameras do not support external microphones. As for full-frame cameras, video cameras and drones, if you are not a professional micro-drama and short video producer, you should not consider buying them, because they are relatively expensive and require more professional knowledge to operate. There is also the issue of shooting accessories, such as the commonly used mobile phone camera tripod. It is recommended to purchase a multi-functional tripod, which can fully ensure the stability of the picture and basically meet most of our shooting needs. For handheld stabilizers, you can choose according to the content of the short video.

Short video recording equipment can basically be divided into three categories: built-in radio, little bee, and recorder. Whether it is a mobile phone or a camera, the built-in radio function is still relatively poor, and popping noise is easy to occur. The Little Bee is a good radio equipment, and the sound quality will be greatly improved. You don’t have to worry about the battery problem with the wired Little Bee, but it is not so convenient. The wireless Little Bee is more convenient to use, but the general battery life is 2-3 hours. If you use it for a long time, prepare spare batteries in advance to prevent recording interruptions. If you have higher requirements for sound quality when making short videos, such as music, you can choose to use it. However, the recorder is also a professional equipment. If you don’t know how to adjust and use it, the effect will be greatly reduced.

Lighting equipment is also a very key element in short video production. People who understand photography should know that lighting has an important impact on image quality. Beginners in short video creation can consider beauty lights or box lights, which are relatively cheap, usually only one or two hundred yuan. Try to choose lights with adjustable temperature and brightness. If you need to do a lot of off-site or professional video production, you can buy some adjustable LED lighting equipment, which are small in size and easier to arrange and carry. Generally, the price of a lamp is around 800 yuan.

If you want to make a good short video, post-processing software is also essential. Simple and easy-to-use software for cover picture design, such as Chuangketie, Tuguai Shou, etc., and professional software such as PS. Simple and easy-to-use video processing software, such as Jianying and Quick Clip, and professional software such as PR, AE, and VideoStudio.

The fifth level: trend is the hot spot

Platform hot spots, event hot spots, industry hot spots, festival hot spots

Anyone who makes short videos will find a very obvious situation, that is, short videos that take advantage of hot topics are more likely to become popular than short videos that do not. Hot topics are a good thing for every short video creator. However, hot spots can be good or bad. If you can use the viewpoints correctly, you can not only get a lot of exposure, but also attract a group of fans and users. If you can't use the hot spots correctly, it will not only fail to bring dissemination and reputation, but also cause some negative effects to yourself.

There are some things to pay attention to when jumping on hot topics. First, don't blindly follow hot topics. Not all hot topics are for you to jump on. The hot topics must be consistent with your own account, personality, and content tone, and you don't just jump on a hot topic. The second is to keep up with the popularity period. Every hot spot has a cycle, and it is most appropriate to follow it during the rising period of the hot spot. Third, avoid exaggeration. When riding on hot topics, you must pay attention to standardized content and positive viewpoints. Do not exaggerate or use titles or descriptions that are irrelevant to the content.

Hotspots are divided into two types: predictable and sudden. Predictive hot spots, such as festivals, activities, official platform activities, etc., can be planned and content produced in advance before the hot spots are formed. Sudden hot spots, such as some types of video hot spots that suddenly appear on the platform and some sudden event information, are more topical and have a higher degree of spread, and are more likely to attract the attention of fan users and increase the amount of sharing.