You might be thinking to yourself “Well, we already use Instagram, we’re set.” That could be. You might be a one-and-done, one-take-wonder type of video poster and, if so – honestly, you’re doing better than most. Video, though, as a medium, has a lot more to offer you if you invest a little more time and effort into producing it. You probably already have your ring light and maybe a nice spill light on the background – a little something for flavor for your social posts. Editing and flair, though, can add to what you already do and, if you’re only doing photos, here are some good reasons to start moving into video.

New to Video? Here are Some Basics

Firstly, yes, you can do all your posting yourself, though you can have a lot of this taken off your hands if you hire a social media marketing team. Secondly, if you’re posting only photos – ask yourself, “why not video?” There’s that “perfect shot” mentality, but what some people forget is how you can make a perfect shot while also having some movement in the frame. If you’re a brand that just shoots products, add a little action by having someone demonstrate those products. If you’re promoting a place or event, there’s nothing better than some hand-held or drone shots of your location. Movement sells like nothing else.

What Do You Need?

You can stick with your phone, as long as the way it saves your files is with a constant frame rate, otherwise you’ll notice your video and audio getting out of sync when you edit. If you want to save yourself the hassle and experiment with super-crisp, extra-high-resolution videos, get a good prosumer digital video camera and use that. As mentioned before, a good ring light will serve you well for even lighting if you’re recording a person, though two big LED panels will also do just as well.

Don’t Forget Audio

If you have built-in audio, great, but if you’re taking the step for crisper audio with a lavalier (clip-on) microphone, you’re one step ahead. Closer microphones are bound to pick up less room noise, and sound more intimate. You can also use a good boom-style mic for the same results. RODE also makes wireless box microphones that act as standalone clip-on microphones for your sync sound – simply clap on camera while also recording your sound, and you’ll have a place to line the video and audio up in editing.

Already Making Video?

You can absolutely get by with in-phone tools and other free software, but the absolute winner of free video editing software is Blackmagic’s DaVinci Resolve. It features all of the tools that the best professional video editing software can already boast, but again, these folks have a FREE version. You can teach yourself editing to add effects, flare, transitions, or even get fancy with some l-cuts and j-cuts (a little video overlapping a previous piece of audio, or vice-versa) – the little bit of action that can add to a video is priceless.