So you’ve decided what kind of video you want to make. Now you need to ask how you should structure your video to maximise engagement.

Length

Facebook once said that the length of your video isn’t as important as the quality of the story you tell.

That might be true, but consumers still prefer shorter, more consumable videos. Keeping your videos under two minutes will make it more likely that they’ll be watched to the end, as well as making them more shareable.

Keeping your video short will also force you to keep the story you tell simple, and simple stories are easy to become engaged with.

Dynamic Openings

Videos that autoplay are often muted. Using dynamic visuals, or re-purposing your most striking sequence as an opening, increase the chances of capturing the wandering eyes of your social audience.

Keep the attention your opening has grabbed by using a consistent, striking visual style, perhaps taking advantage of unconventional angles, colours, or visuals.

Subtitles

Muted autoplay means that people are used to watching videos without sound on social media. Not having subtitles can mean your audience, unable to understand what’s happening in your video, lose interest.

Subtitles help to avoid this problem, as well as allowing you to emphasise phrases or words that you feel can grab attention.

Keep It Simple

Your social video should be engaging, visually striking, dynamic; but not busy. Overusing effects, having too many shots, and using too many transitions can distract from the story you’re trying to tell.

Read Part 1: Kinds of Video here.