It’s Time for Great Video Production
Video has expanded to a quarter of US digital ad spending. Of that, Facebook controls 25% of the total making Facebook the top social video ad platform. There are new platforms on the horizon that will make video even more important to marketers.
While in-feed video is becoming hugely successful, with all the video in-stream and on websites, it is time to think about quality. Here is a start of some simple digital video rules.
- Sound is often taken for granted. It makes or breaks most videos.
- Poor lighting. It is the first clue of an amateur product.
- Avoid jump cuts. “But they do them in music videos.” Are you making a music video?
- Obey the rule of thirds
- Audio-video linkage
- B-Roll needs to help tell the story
- Watch your video without sound. If you don’t know what is going on, then 85% of your social media audience will not know what is going on.
- The opening of your video is critical. The first impression either keeps people watching or scrolling on for more.
- Right now, the optimum length for a digital video is 2 minutes.
- Tell a good story
Mark Mathis
Mark wrote his first direct-mail fundraising letter in 1981 for the University of Iowa Center for Advancement. The effort raised a few million dollars in undiscovered wills and legacy gifts. From that day forward Mark discovered a love of the big idea that moves the needle.
After 12 years at KWWL, Mark became a business owner as a co-founder of ME&V — rebranded as AMPERAGE in 2015. After 25 years of leading creative teams in video production, graphic design, PR, writing and web development, Mark transitioned out of ownership in 2021. Today he serves in an employee role as special projects consultant.
He is creatively ambidextrous — son of an artist and engineer — and famous for distilling complex ideas down to a few words and a few visuals. Mark is a writer. When he found that many nonprofits struggled with complex branding puzzles, he wrote the book, “NonProfit-NonMarketing .” He also wrote a novel called “Reenactment.”
Mark is an active blogger OneMinuteMarketer® with nearly 1,000 readers each week on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter. One of his most popular YouTube videos is on “How to Look Good on Zoom.”
One of Mark’s fondest business memories was being named to INC 500 two times and attending the INC 500 conference with other winners. Mark is considered by some a Civil War expert (and that explains his novel). Mark also served as an adjunct professor in the business and in the communications departments at Wartburg College.
Mark is a graduate of the University of Iowa and is currently vice president of the University of Iowa Journalism and Mass Communications Advisory Board.
Mark is married to state Sen. Liz Mathis, and the two love to travel, even when it means being trapped by a volcano in the Czech Republic for three weeks.