Useful tips that will help you record one video and use it on different platforms. This will save energy, time and money on brand promotion.

Creating video content on a regular basis for multiple venues is hard work. Not every expert likes the way he looks in the frame, not everyone needs a couple of takes. Preparation, shooting, editing – all this takes time and effort.

We often record one video and use it at different venues. I want to share this algorithm – you can use it even if you have little experience in shooting and editing.

How to adapt one video for different formats

Every site has different format requirements. Some require horizontal videos, others vertical, and still others square.

Sites may have different aspect ratio requirements
Does that mean that you have to shoot for each platform separately? Of course not! You just need to shoot the original video so that you can frame it:

• Choose maximum video quality (preferably 4K).
• Shoot horizontally in 16:9 format.
• Make sure that the main subject (e.g. the expert, the interview guest, or the object the speaker is demonstrating) is in the middle of the screen.
• This way you get a video that can be adapted to any format: 16:9, 9:16, 1:1, 2:3, 4:5.

How to make slices in video

The easiest option is when you can publish the same material on different sites without additional editing. But there are situations when this is impossible. For example, you recorded a half-hour lesson for a paid online course, and now you need a short video, a squeeze for social media warm-up.

To neatly cut a part of the video, you need to think even at the stage of preparation for filming, what you can use in the warm-up. Great options – a story about a technique, a technique, a tool, a short story, a case study.

When you record the video, make small pauses at the beginning and end of the chosen block. Make sure that during these pauses there are no active gestures – in short, shut up for a second and take a calm static pose. In this case, the cut part of the lesson will be perceived as a separate video. Ideally, if you can shoot a little synopsis to this mini-video: “Hi! Today I’m going to talk about a technique…”. You can easily add it to the edit.

Teasers are great for warming up your audience

A teaser is a message built on intrigue. Often it contains only part of the information, causes interest and desire to learn more.

For example, you make a big “5 ways to add subtitles” video for YouTube. And then you cut out the story of one way, frame it vertically, and post it to TikTok: “Four more cool ways you can see at the link.” That way you can bring subscribers to your channels on different platforms. And just like that, teasers can be used to attract potential online course buyers.

Additional Recommendations

No text at the bottom and top of the video

This area may contain buttons, icons, or captions from the platform itself, and these elements will obscure your text. Position your lines closer to the middle of the screen – indent from the top or bottom edge.

Add subtitles

The transcription of the expert’s words is an important element of the video. On some platforms, viewers often watch videos without sound, such as when they’re riding home from work on public transportation. If the video is unsubtitled, they’ll just brush it off and not watch it, or if they do, they won’t understand it. Take care of the viewers’ convenience, add subtitles.

Some platforms, like YouTube, will transcribe the text themselves. But we don’t recommend relying on automatic subtitles – they can be inaccurate. It’s better to add your own text to your video or, if possible, correct the automatic subtitles.

If you don’t write text for your video beforehand, you can use audio transcription and subtitling applications, it will make the process faster and easier.

Add Cover art

If you’re not posting videos to posts, posts, rels or your channel, add a visual trigger that encourages viewers to play the video. Sometimes putting a quality cover is enough to make the video get more views. A video without a cover on social media is often a random shot, and not a good one at that. The viewer looking at it is not clear what the video is about, why the video is worth clicking on, what is interesting about these videos.

The cover helps the viewer navigate to the content of the video and the format of the video. And for the brand – to stick to the uniform visual presentation of information in different channels.

In conclusion

So you can record just one video and use it to promote on multiple platforms, cutting out the right pieces for individual mini commercials.