Video Editing 101: A Small Business Guide to Marketing Success
How to create business videos that engage your audience
Marketing is crucial for your business. And small business video marketing is an excellent way to gain followers, drive sales, and across multiple platforms.
Video content is popular—over 3 billion internet users stream or download video at least once a month. It’s also consumer-friendly, as research shows that shoppers watch video content to learn about a brand or product and 51% of people in a survey responded that they’re more likely to share a video with friends versus other types of content.
In this article, you’ll learn about popular video editing styles, how to create business videos, and different types of video editing software available to help you grow your company and expand your reach in a budget-friendly way.
Video guidelines for business
When it comes to creating videos for your business, there are many styles to choose from (more on this later in the article). And the style and format you choose often depends on where you’re hosting it. Social platforms, for example, each have their own set of requirements for size and formatting that are essential to follow when developing your video marketing plans.
Here are video requirements for some of the largest social platforms, according to Sprout Social. Note: these requirements are for general videos on the platform—not ads, shorts, or reels.
In addition to different requirements for organic versus paid video content, certain platforms have multiple options for videos (for example, Facebook ad videos versus videos for Facebook stories). You’ll want to check the individual guidelines for each platform before you create and edit your video.
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Online video editor features and benefits
Online video editors offer creators a variety of features and benefits. Here are common components of modern video editors on the market:
- User-friendly interface: Intuitive drag-and-drop capabilities that makes it easy for people to create videos quickly.
- Multiplatform compatibility: Accessibility on different devices and across various operating systems.
- Visual editing capabilities: Basic editing functionalities—such as trimming, cutting, and splitting clips—to adjust the look and length of the video. Additionally, video editing software typically offers:
1. Features for adding text, titles, captions, and graphics. , for example, allows you to use speech transcription and translation to easily add closed captioning in multiple languages.
2. Options for adding transitions between clips and putting in visual effects.
3. Pre-designed and easy-to-incorporate templates and themes.
- Social media integration: The ability to share edited videos directly to social media platforms.
- Audio editing: Tools for adjusting audio levels, and adding background music, and voiceovers.
- Cloud-based editing: Allowing people to access and work on their videos from any device with an internet connection.
- Instant preview: The ability to preview edits instantly and see changes in real time.
- Import and export options: Support for importing video clips, images, and audio files, and exporting edited videos in various formats on different platforms. With Microsoft Clipchamp for business, you’ll be able to store videos in OneDrive and SharePoint as well as watch or share them with Microsoft Stream.
- Collaboration tools: Features that enable multiple people to collaborate on a project simultaneously.
There are many benefits of an online business video maker as well, including:
- Accessibility: Online video editors are available to use from any device with an internet connection.
- Cost-effectiveness: Many editors offer free trials and affordable plans, offering solutions for individuals and small businesses alike.
- Efficiency: Streamlined interfaces and simplified features can help you hit the ground running and save time when editing.
- No software installation: Online video editors reduce the burden on device storage, eliminating the need for people to download and install software.
- Automatic updates: These types of editors are often updated automatically, ensuring users have access to the latest features and improvements—no manual updating required.
- Educational resources: There are often tutorials, guides, and community forums to help creators learn and improve their editing skills.
- Collaboration: Online video editors facilitate collaboration among team members, especially when working remotely or across different locations.
When choosing an online video editor, consider the specific features that align with your editing needs as well as the level of flexibility and convenience offered by the platform. Learn more in this .
Business video editing examples
When it comes to small business video marketing, your industry standards, business goals, target audience, and messaging will help influence the style you pick, as well as the platform you plan on distributing it on. You’ll want any videos you create to align with your brand voice as well.
Here are several common styles of business videos and typical components of them:
- Promotional: Showcases a product or service and features dynamic music and visuals to create excitement around it.
- How-to: Has clear and concise information or step-by-step instructions, and often features text overlays and helpful graphics or animations.
- Corporate: Gives an introduction to a company or overview of policies and features professional text overlays, graphics, animations, and transition scenes.
- Documentary: Includes interviews or testimonials—usually guided by a narrator—to tell a story about a product or service with either a professional or more natural, real-life style of editing.
- Testimonial: Features customer interviews and testimonials told in an authentic, relatable way and features b-roll footage and conversational editing.
- Product showcase: Focuses on product features and benefits, typically with lots of close-ups and detailed shots, and uses text overlays and graphics to show important information.
- Behind the scenes: Shot in an informal, authentic style with personalized footage and commentary depicting a product, service, or event.
How to make and edit your videos quickly
Whether you’re just getting started with video editing or looking to formalize your process, here are 10 steps to help you get started:
- Decide the style of your video. Figure out which type of video—like a testimonial or how-to—you want to shoot.
- Plan your video. Outline the content and structure using a whiteboard or other medium to plot out your main points in advance. Also note the size settings and dimensions for the platforms and websites you want to share the video on so you can film accordingly.
- Choose your equipment. Decide if you’ll use a high-quality camera or smartphone and what other accessories (such as a ring light or external microphone) you’ll need for the video.
- Shoot the video. Plan your shots ahead of time to minimize reshoots and record short clips for easier editing.
- Organize your video footage. Transfer your video clips to a folder—created specifically for this video editing project—on your computer and give the files easily identifiable names.
- Use video editing software. Check out dedicated video editing apps and software and familiarize yourself with basic editing features to polish the look of your video.
- Create a rough cut of the video. Import your clips into the video editing software and arrange the footage.
- Edit the video footage. Add music, templates, titles, transitions, and other effects to enhance the quality of your video. Edit for size for multiple platforms (if necessary) as well.
- Back up your project. Regularly save and back up your project to avoid losing your files.
- Export the video. Choose the export settings for the platform you want to post the video on and export it according to the platform guidelines to maintain quality. Learn more about how to share large video files.
Once you’ve followed these steps, created the video, and had your team sign off on it, it’s ready to post.
What are the rules of professional video editing?
Universally, there’s no set number of rules to follow when it comes to creating engaging videos for your audience. However, here are six general principles that are commonly emphasized in video editing:
- Establish your game plan. Before you shoot a single frame, determine the “why” of your video, who you’re creating it for, and where it will live online.
- Follow the 180-degree rule. Imagine an imaginary line called the “axis of action” or “line of action” along which the camera is placed. This rule helps maintain spatial continuity in a scene—you want to keep to one side of this line when recording to keep the viewer engaged and avoid distracting them.
- Observe the rule of thirds. In this video editing principle, the frame is divided into a grid of nine equal parts, using two horizontal and vertical lines. The idea is to position key elements of a scene along these lines or intersections versus putting them in the center of the frame to create balance.
- Maintain continuity. Pay attention to shot composition, lighting, and sound to ensure consistency across both visual and audio elements.
- Create a coherent flow. Organize the video footage in a way that makes sense to the viewer. Create a smooth flow of action from beginning to end and avoid unnecessary cuts and transitions.
- Enhance the content through editing. Use video editing techniques to enhance the narrative and express your intended message. Transitions, overlays, audio, and other features can help guide the viewer through the story you’re telling.
These best practices can vary depending on the type of video you’re making. But they’re a solid benchmark to follow when creating professional-looking videos for your business.
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