Making The Most Of Your Video Content

In the digital age, having high-quality video content is more important than ever. Not only is there a staggering number of songs being uploaded to streaming services daily, but there are also countless videos that seek to compete with any attention one of your songs may get. That's why catching the audience's eye through video can prove essential for increasing the chances your music will be heard.

Getting Prepared

The first step to making sure that your video content will catch the audiences' eye is making sure you are prepared. The process of making video content takes a bit more preparation and research than one might think.

Before beginning, think about what your main goal for creating a video is: are you trying to be educational? Get your audience to pre-save a song? Convey what your song is about? Is this a full-fledged music video? Or are you wanting to post a few TikToks? None of these questions are exclusive, and the answer might be "yes" to all of them. But knowing what your goal is will inform everything else that you do.

One of the foundational steps that should be considered are the project timelines for prepping, recording, editing, and publishing the video itself. You should consider how many platforms you wish your video to be on - TikTok, YouTube, ads, Instagram Reels, etc are all viable options. Many of these platforms require differing video dimensions, lengths, and hooks for the most success. Factors such as these will go into how you prepare and approach the video making process.

Another way to get prepared for generating video is by understanding exactly what you are trying to convey to your audience. What do you want the audience to feel? Are there any specific colors or images that you are innately drawn to? Do you have any specific inspiration for the video?

If you are working in a full-production music video, your team will work with you to convey these abstract ideas into tangible concepts to be worked with. One tactic for approaching this is by generating a mood board that could potentially answer the questions your team is going to ask.

If you are struggling to get answers for these questions or are scared your audience won't be receptive towards them, go directly to the source. Get your audience involved in the process, ask them to choose color palettes, costume options, or select their favorite part of your song. These seemingly innocent bits of information can help you not only make a video that will be more receptive towards your fanbase, but can also help generate excitement for the upcoming release.

Getting It Made

You've got some solid ideas for your video, and now it is time to execute it. Take all of your inspiration and preparation and let it shine. But don't get married to anything that isn't working. It's time to let creativity shine, and sometimes the best results can come from in-the-moment magic.

If you have a team working with you on the video, this is the time to let them impart their expertise to make your video shine. If you are working alone, put the video before fresh and trusted eyes. This will help you to know if you are properly communicating what you want to, and notice something within your creation that you never saw before.

Getting It Out There

Even if your video is serving the purpose of promoting your song, the video itself also requires proper marketing. Just like a good song, a good video needs to be known about in order for people to care.

If there is one thing an audience likes, it is the feeling of exclusivity. Showing the behind-the-scenes process of shooting and editing the video and showing it to your audience can be beneficial for generating excitement for the release itself. Other video ideas might include: your reaction to seeing the final cut for the first time, a day in the life video of the day you recorded the video, or a video of you explaining your favorite shot/scene from the video.

Another way to generate excitement for your video release is by giving your audience exclusive access to the video in exchange for singing up for your text or email list. This way, the audience gets instant gratification and also puts them in direct communication with you to promote your next song or video.

Getting It Wrapped Up

Congratulations! You released an absolutely sick video and are now ready to kick back, relax, and let those streams rack up! Not really though. Once your video is released, the LAST thing you want to do is kick back and forget about it.

The work is not done, continue talking about the video, engaging with fans, and making them feel exclusive is fundamental to making sure that your video does what it is intended to do.

Overall, making video content to accompany your music can be however simple or complex as you want it to be. If you want your video to be just you singing your song in the car...Great! If you want to produce a full-blown professional music video...also great! Take your ideas and role with them because adding that visual element to your song can help stretch your reach across audiences you never knew existed.