# 39 Expert Video Tips for Making Professional-Looking Videos

Looking to make good videos? We asked 27 video experts for their best video tips. Read this article to get the right advice for your content!

**By Amir Shahzeidi, Director of Demand Generation** · Published 2021-03-03 · Updated 2024-01-31

Tags: Video Production

Canonical: https://www.uscreen.tv/blog/video-tips/

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There’s one question that video content creator asks:

**How do you make a good video?**

It’s a great question, but a tough one to answer! There are so many things you _could_ be doing to create engaging videos that resonate with your audience.

So:

We decided to ask 27 video experts for their best video tips, so you can get the right advice for your content!

In this post, we’re going to cover:

- How to improve your video content strategy
- How to use the equipment you have to create great videos
- How to professionally shoot videos
- How to better edit and pace your videos
- How to use music to get emotional responses
- How to make your content inclusive and accessible
- How to repurpose your video clips
- How to create engaging live streaming content

Let’s go…

## Video Tips to Improve Your Content Strategy

We asked experts to share their #1 video content strategy tip to help you create better videos, grow your video subscription service, and retain your audience:

### 1. Produce Consistent Video Content

> Consistency in video itself, but importantly, consistency across all marketing channels. Wherever you put yourself, your brand, your video, your messaging it has to have the same look and feel; that’s how you build trust. To achieve consistency start by establishing the three core values that you want your audience to resonate with when they come across with your brand. Write them down, then, make sure that everything you put out demonstrates one of those core values. Jack Brodie
> Managing Director at [Colada Creative](https://colada.uk/)

### 2. Embrace Live Video Streaming

> Embrace live video. Your audience will be much more forgiving to imperfections when you go live vs. pre-recorded. The interactive part of the live video will invite your viewers to join the conversation and create meaningful connections with your brand. Anya Razina
> Head of Influencer Relations at [Restream](https://restream.io/)

### 3. Be Clear About Your Target Audience

> Be clear about who you are talking to! Who is your ideal customer? How old are they? How do they talk? What is important to them? Don’t make assumptions! There is no point in creating 25 videos only to realize your audience doesn’t like them. You have to talk to your target audience. Ask for feedback at the end of your videos, in your social media posts or your newsletter, post a poll on Facebook and ask them what they want to see more of. Christine Brunner
> Marketing Videos & Animation Specialist at Uscreen

### 4. Solve Your Audiences’ Pain Points

> Solve peoples pain points. Too many creators are trying to chase vanity metrics and wondering why their content is not getting the views they think they should or worse think they deserve. You must always ask, “what problems am I solving for the viewer?” When you put the viewer first both sides win. Shawn “Doc” Boyd
> Community Manager at [Ecamm](https://www.ecamm.com/)

### 5. Know Your Message

> My #1 video content strategy is to **focus on the message over the production.** Trying to just make “better videos” as your strategy to grow your audience and retain subscriptions is a race to the bottom.  The key is to build an audience of raving fans through your message and the stories that you tell. When you focus on serving your raving fans the subscriptions will take care of themselves. The problem lies when creators get into copycat mode and try to make videos like everyone else. Stand out from the crowd and build your own raving fan base! Colin Shipp
> Founder at [ColinShipp.com](https://colinshipp.com/)

### 6. Cut Out the Fluff and Deliver on Your Message

> My top tip for a successful video content strategy is to **cut out all of the fluff and only include elements in the video that matter to the audience**. Not only does this help keep them engaged throughout the video, but they’ll be more likely to want to convert and/or continue consuming your video content. Itamar Blauer 
> Video Marketing Consultant

### 7. Give People What They’re Looking For

> Use tools like Answerthepublic, Google Trends, Quora, Reddit to analyze what questions people ask about your niche and create videos to answer those questions. **Your videos need to help people do their jobs better**, become more efficient at what they do, and, in general, add value. Jake Jorgovan
> CEO & Founder at [Lead Cookie](https://www.leadcookie.com/)

## Expert Tips on Video Equipment

We’ve all been there. Thinking about shooting a video or hosting a live stream, and the first thought is always “What gear am I going to use?”.

We assume that having the best gear equals the best content. But is that true?

Let’s go to our amazing video experts on how to master your equipment and getting the most out of what you have:

### 8. Focus on the Story, Not the Equipment

> It’s not the camera quality or lighting that will drive people to consume your video content. It’s the story you’re telling. Think about the moon landing. It has poor sound and poor image quality. Heck, it’s not even in color! **You don’t watch the moon landing because of its technical quality, you watch because of the story.** Focus on what you’re saying first. Work on a solid beginning, middle and end for all your videos. That’s what will drive viewership. Guy Bauer
> Founder & Creative Director at [Umault](https://umault.com/)

### 9. Start Where You Are With What You Have

> **Gear has nothing to do with good content.** There are seriously people creating killer content with mobile phones and action cameras. Most of the excuses about gear are simply self-generated excuses to put off creating content. That being said, yes start where you are but also know when it’s time to upgrade and get to the next level. Don’t forget about buying or selling gear on the secondary market. Keep an eye on Amazon Warehouse and B\&H Used sections or rent gear from a local Camera shop. Shawn “Doc” Boyd
> Community Manager at [Ecamm](https://www.ecamm.com/)

### 10. Master Your Gear and Upgrade as You Go

> I have nice gear now, but I haven’t always had expensive equipment. I started years ago, bought what I could afford, and learned how to get the best image possible out of what I had. More people need to take that approach. **Start with what you have or use more affordable gear to start out and master that equipment.** Once you’re consistently producing amazing content with mediocre equipment, it’s much easier to justify upgrading. Daniel Kosmala
> Video Creator at Uscreen

### 11. Focus on Your Content

> While having the best equipment can make your videos look more professional, the most important part of your video, however, is the content itself. **You could spend thousands on professional equipment but if the content is bad, it will all be a waste.** On the other hand, if your content is great, people won’t be paying much attention to whether it was filmed on an Arri Alexa or just on someone’s phone. Ollie Burrows
> Videographer at [Contrast](https://contrast.digital/)

### 12. Learn to Tell Better Stories

> Story! Learn to tell better stories. **Before you invest in a single piece of new gear, learn to tell better stories.**  You have watched videos or commercials without a single spoken word that have told amazing stories. Director Jean-Jacques Annaud proved this in “Quest for Fire (1981)” and “The Bear (1988). If you want to win in content creation and channel your inner Gustav Freytag, Simon Sinek, or Donald Miller… start studying and practicing your storytelling skills. Shawn “Doc” Boyd
> Community Manager at [Ecamm](https://www.ecamm.com/)

## Tips for Filming Amazing Videos

Filming a video is perhaps the most important step in video production. It’s where the magic happens and your content strategy becomes reality.

Here are some expert video tips to [shoot and film amazing videos](https://www.uscreen.tv/blog/how-to-make-youtube-video/):

### 13. Know Your Camera

> Know thy Camera. Whether you’re using a mobile phone or a mirrorless camera, know what it does and what its limitations are and killer features are. **Study the craft!** For my YouTube creators, I say stop watching YouTube and start studying YouTube. When you look at content from the student perspective as opposed to a consumer mode you see things differently and you see opportunities. This makes you a better creator. Think of athletes studying film of themselves and others before a competition. Shawn “Doc” Boyd
> Community Manager at [Ecamm](https://www.ecamm.com/)

### 14. Make Sure You Have the 3 Essentials

> Make sure you have the three most underrated pieces of video gear: microphone, light, and tripod. **Everyone gets hung-up on the camera, but the easiest way to spot an amateur video is bad audio, poor lighting, and shaky video.** Anyone with a smartphone in their pocket has a good video camera, but if you can learn to use those three other tools effectively… you’re going to set your videos apart from everyone else. Tony Gnau
> Founder & Chief Storytelling Officer at [T60 Productions](https://www.t60productions.com/)

### 15. Use Plenty Of Natural Light

> If you don’t have great equipment, **leverage natural light as much as possible**. Find a quiet meeting room that’s filled with light and use that to your advantage. And if you’re able to invest money into your equipment, **start with a good microphone** – because poor audio is always the tell-tale sign that this was done on the cheap. Johnny Lombard
> Founder and Lead Writer at [Superwords](https://www.superwords.agency/)

### 16. Your Audio Quality is Key

> **Make sure you have good clean audio.** Think of it this way: you can look away from a video, but you can’t stop listening. If you’re using the on-camera mic to record audio, go buy an external mic right now. It can be a boom mic, a lavalier mic, or even a hand-held mic but get one because it will increase your production value immediately. Dan Phenicie
> Owner and Executive Producer at Seven/Seventy-Nine

### 17. Focus on Your Message and Make It Easy to Follow

> Focus on your message and make it easy to follow. Use captions, graphic overlays, audio and visual highlights of your key-points. **The most professional-looking content is the one that resonates with your community and gets your point across.** Anya Razina
> Head of Influencer Relations at [Restream](https://restream.io/)

## Video Editing Tips for Improving Your Post-Production Skills

We’ve finally arrived at the post-production stage. Video editing requires a good mix of both creativity and technical knowledge.

These tips will help you focus on all the right elements from capturing the viewers’ attention to unpacking your message and retaining your audience:

### 18. Keep Your Video Editing Simple

> My best advice for editing is to keep things simple. **Don’t get distracted by trendy graphics and transitions because in a year or two those will be out of style and your video will look dated.** Simple edits are the best because they help deliver your content without unnecessarily distracting your audience and your content will age better. By keeping your edits simple you allow your content to remain relevant longer and that should mean more money in your pocket. Daniel Kosmala
> Video Creator at Uscreen

### 19. Use B-Rolls to Keep the Audience Engaged

> **Do not use jump cuts.** Not only are they distracting, but they’re also the number one sign of “amateur editing.” The best option is to cover cuts with b-roll but if that’s not possible, try filming your subject with 2 cameras so you can cut to a different angle. At the very least you can shoot the subject in 4K, zoom in, and cut to a tighter shot. You can also use graphics, slides, and photos to cover cuts. Dan Phenicie 
> Owner and Executive Producer at Seven/Seventy-Nine

### 20. Match the Rhythm of Your Video and Your Edits

> The secret to engaging videos lies in the pacing. Learn to **understand the rhythm of your edits and pace them according to what’s happening on the screen**. If an edit is too fast your users may not be able to process all the information. But if an edit is too slow, your users can get bored. The trick is knowing how to get it just right. Matt Bertram
> CEO & SEO Strategist at [EWR Digital](https://www.ewrdigital.com/)

### 21. Create a Unified Branded Experience

> Before producing marketing videos at scale, ensure you prepare a set of unifying branded elements: logo, color palette, fonts, text styles, and other visual add-ons like lower-third, transitions, intros, and outros. **You want to make sure that even a glimpse of your video will contribute to your brand recognition.** Consistent branding is a great way to build your authority in the digital space and, as a result, continue improving the click-through rate from your videos on social media. Kate Skavish
> CVO at [Wave.video](https://wave.video/)

### 22. Always Ask for Feedback

> Once you are finished editing your video, it’s always a good idea to have someone look at it with “fresh eyes”. Show it to someone who doesn’t know much about your videos or your business and ask for feedback. YOU know your videos and the content inside out. **But does the video actually make sense to someone with no previous experience or background information?** You will be surprised what comments you get from someone who looks at it from a different perspective! Christine Brunner
> Marketing Videos & Animation Specialist at Uscreen

## Tips to Use the Perfect Background Music for Video

Music is one of the most important assets you have to keep viewers engaged.
However, choosing the right background music or soundtrack can take a lot of time. Incorporating that music into your content is no easy feat!

Here are some insightful video tips for using the perfect background music for your content:

### 23. Focus on the Emotions and the Mood

> Music brings the emotion; it’s one of the strongest tools you have to create a connection with your audience. **Start by taking a step back and thinking about how you want people to feel when they watch your videos.** What mood do you want to create in your commercial, your exercise video, your travel vlog, your content? Once you have that, search through Epidemic Sound’s different moods to find the perfect soundtrack for your story. Aram Winkler
> Brand Partnership Project Manager at [Epidemic Sound](https://www.epidemicsound.com/)

### 24. Match the Music to the Visuals

> Our #1 tip for using background music and soundtracks in videos to create better content is to always match the music to the emotions from the visuals. This is a basic editing tip, but you would be surprised to see how many times it’s not applied. **You have to be aware of the pace of the visuals to decide which music to choose.** Our recommendation is a simple formula: fast visuals = faster-paced music. Keep in mind that certain genres tend to have more potential to evoke a specific mood. For example, heavy rock tracks evoke an energetic ‘heavy’ mood. But there can be slower rock tracks that transmit a completely different feel. With so many options of music around, think first about what kind of emotion you want to transmit and then try to be as specific as you can. Nicolai Heidlas
> Artist Relations Manager, Contributor, and Music Curator at [HookSounds](https://www.hooksounds.com/)

### 25. Pay Attention To the Music Volume Control

> Music is a great way to improve the production value of any video. However, **one common mistake is using music that drowns out vocals.** Fortunately, this is a simple thing to fix in post-production. You should raise and lower the music volume depending on whether anybody is talking. While this may seem arduous, it’s a vital quality control measure. And in doing so, it ensures that your listeners receive the information that they need to hear. Mark Hayes
> Head of Marketing at [Kintell](https://kintell.com/)

### 26. Ensure You Use Royalty-Free Music

> Background music and soundtracks can help improve the viewing experience, but **it’s imperative that you make sure the music you are using is royalty-free.** Otherwise, you may end up losing monetization, getting the video taken down, or even worse, legal issues. It’s best to source music that you can freely include in your video content without getting in trouble! Itamar Blauer
> Video Marketing Consultant

## Tips on Improving Your Content’s Accessibility and Inclusivity

If your video content is not accessible to people living with a disability, you could be drastically limiting your reach.

After all: **1-in-4 people** [**in the United States have some type of disability**](https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/disabilityandhealth/infographic-disability-impacts-all.html).

Here are some tips to make your videos inclusive and accessible to a wider audience:

### 27. Boost Your Impact by Adding Captions

> Whether you’re a brand or individual creator, adding captions to your streaming videos is a simple measure that can have a profound impact. **Captions make your video more inclusive and accessible** for individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing, are non-native speakers of the source language, or who are viewing the videos in a sound-sensitive environment. In addition to access, captions improve viewer attention and engagement, and can help your videos reach a wider audience. Josh Miller
> Co-CEO & Co-founder at [3Play Media](https://www.3playmedia.com/)

### 28. Make Sure The Captions Have Sufficient Contrast Ratio

> Make sure transcription or caption text is well contrasted. **The golden visual ratio is at least 4.5:1, meaning either the captioned text is either 4.5 times lighter or 4.5 times darker than its background.** This light/dark contrasting rule is essential for static text on your website as well, not just video captions. Nick Drewe
> Founder & CEO of [Wethrift](https://www.wethrift.com/)

## Tips on Repurposing Your Video Content

[Repurposing your paid premium content](https://www.uscreen.tv/blog/repurpose-paid-content/) into free social media content and marketing assets is the best way to boost your reach and create connections with your audience.

These tips will help you boost your ROI and reach by repurposing your video content:

### 29. Boost Your ROI by Repurposing Your Videos

> **Repurposing video content can bring new life to your concept and it makes it easy for your audience to reconnect with your brand more easily.** By repurposing one can form their content into different formats with different uses, publish it on different platforms, reach out to the wider audience and help in improving the ROI. Sanket Shah
> CEO of [InVideo](https://invideo.io/)

### 30. Focus on Your Target Audience On Social Media

> **Repurposing video content comes down to one simple thing; understanding the audience on each platform.** This is the most important part. For example, let’s say you have long-form premium content behind a subscription paywall. The best way to repurpose some of this content for other channels is to take some of the most valuable and enticing bits of that content and clip it. Some shorter, snappier style clips can go on Instagram. The longer clips can be used on YouTube. And you can keep repurposing on other platforms. You just have to remember what the audience is like on each platform before you start repurposing your content! Colin Shipp
> Founder at [ColinShipp.com](https://colinshipp.com/)

### 31. Repurpose Platform-Specific Content

> Make certain you are repurposing platform-specific content. **It is normally discouraged to simply pick up content from one platform and drop it in another.** The platforms really don’t like that because it is not a good experience for their users and many platforms will mute your post or penalize your channel. Find a way to make it fit the platform, keep that in mind while producing content too. Recording knowing you will use a clip, say on IG, you will make adjustments in the production process. Shawn “Doc” Boyd
> Community Manager at [Ecamm](https://www.ecamm.com/)

### 32. Focus on the Big Picture

> **Brands must have a content program with activation deadlines.** A well-thought-out program outlines the assets required, the overall campaign, and most importantly – the purpose – where’s the video being used, who’s going to see it, and what do you want them to do after they’ve seen it? This level of planning is time-efficient for editors and if you’ve held someone accountable for posting assets on scheduled days the repurposed video is more likely to be used. Jack Brodie
> Managing Director at [Colada Creative](https://www.colada.uk/)

### 33. Promote Your Content Across All Social Media Platforms

> **The main repurposing rule is to adapt all your videos to every social media platform where your company is present.** Wave.video users call our[ auto-resizing tool](https://wave.video/tools/video-editing/resize-video) a lifeline since it allows them to produce as much content as the modern video-first social media world demands. Luckily, there are just four dominant aspect ratios you need to care about: 16:9, 1:1, 9:16, 4:5. After you tweak the timing and composition a few times, you will learn to implement this routine task in minutes! Kate Skavish
> CVO at [Wave.video](https://wave.video/)

### 34. Boost Your SEO By Transcribing Videos

> **Transcribing videos into text is a super way to repurpose them.** When people watch your videos and find them helpful, they are likely to engage with the text format to be sure they understand it word by word. Such text can be formatted into a blog post which is another way of distributing your content to a wider audience. Also, a video transcribed into readable text has SEO benefits. It makes your video search-friendly. Chuks Chukwuemeka
> Founder of Depreneurdigest.com

### 35. Repurpose Your Repurposed Content

> Create a recap video of your video stories. It is now a trend to post videos as stories on Instagram and Facebook. These story videos can be added together to create a new video that can be posted to the social media page of the brand and/or be sent to customers as a newsletter. The title of this video depends on the content, such as ‘recap of the year’. Alex Berman
> Founder of [x27](https://www.x27marketing.com/) and Email10k

## Tips on Improving Your Live Video Streams

In recent years, live streaming has become a must-have way for businesses, brands and creators to engage their audience and build deeper relationships.

[Live streaming statistics](https://www.uscreen.tv/blog/live-streaming-statistics/) show that watch time for live content is up by 250%.

Here are a few tips to help you [plan and host successful live streams](https://www.uscreen.tv/blog/how-to-live-stream-beginners-guide/):

### 36. Promoting Your Live Video Content is Essential

> If people don’t know, they won’t go. **Promoting your live stream before you go live is absolutely essential**. In a time where we are constantly checking our calendars, you want viewers to RSVP in advance. Stephanie Liu
> Chief Executive at Office Lights, Camera, Live

### 37. Schedule Your Stream Ahead of Time to Build Hype

> **Schedule your streams 4-5 days before you actually plan to go live**, that way you can get a Youtube URL to promote on your other social channels and communities, to drive more live viewers. Rob Balasbas
> Partnership Growth Manager at [TubeBuddy](https://www.tubebuddy.com/)

### 38. Listen and Celebrate Your Audience

> An audience is the heart and soul of any live video or TV show. **You need to be generous, listen, and find ways that you can highlight and celebrate your audience.** Provide them valuable content, and never take them for granted. Interacting with your audience is what helps you build a lasting relationship with them! Winnie Sun
> Host of [Level Up With Winnie](https://www.levelupwithwinnie.com/)

### 39. Boost Live Engagement By Asking Easy-to-Answer Questions

> **A great way to increase engagement during a live stream is to simply ask easy to answer questions.** For example, asking new viewers to identify themselves with #new or asking viewers to give their opinions with a #yes or #no answer. Hashtags not required, by the way, it just makes the answers stand out from the other messages. Nick Nimmin
> [YouTube content creator and educator](https://www.nicknimmin.com/)

## Key Take-Aways: Level Up Your Video Production Game

Producing engaging high-quality video content is not easy. 

Let these 9 video tips be your north star to guide you towards video content creation mastery:

1. **Research and Identify Your Target Audience.** Start with learning more about your target audience, their pain points, and questions.
   Who is your ideal customer? How old are they? How do they talk? What is important to them? Learn as much about your audience as possible and [create a buyer persona](https://www.uscreen.tv/blog/how-to-grow-youtube-channel-using-buyer-personas/).
2. **Create Content People Are Looking for** Create video content that directly connects to your target audience. Focus on delivering value and solving their pain points.
3. **Start With What You Have & Work On Improving Your Message** It’s possible to create amazing DIY home videos just using your iPhone or Android phone. Make sure you nail down all the three essentials: audio, lighting, and composition. Pick a quiet location with little background noise to record your videos. Use natural light sources to improve lighting. 
   In the end, it all comes down to mastering your equipment and [your editing software](https://www.uscreen.tv/blog/best-video-editing-software-beginners-ultimate-guide/). And work on polishing your messaging.
4. **Keep Your Editing Simple & Focus On the Story** Don’t get distracted by flashy trendy graphics and transitions. Use B-Rolls and pattern interrupts to increase engagement and retain your audience. Keep your editing simple and focus on the message and the story.
5. **Leverage Music to Boost Engagement** Use soundtracks and background music to effectively communicate your message. Ensure you’re using [royalty-free music](https://www.uscreen.tv/blog/royalty-free-vs-copyright-free/) and work on matching your music to the visuals on the screen.
6. **Make Your Content Inclusive and Accessible** Leverage subtitles and captions to make your content accessible. Ensure your subtitles have sufficient contrast to the background.
7. **Boost Your ROI by Repurposing Your Videos** Repurposing your videos can bring new life to your concept and it makes it easy for your audience to reconnect with your brand. Identify your audience on each social media platform. Repurpose your marketing and premium videos for each of the platforms.
8. **Embrace Live Video Streaming** Live streaming enables you to create meaningful connections with your audience on a deeper level. Promote your live streams ahead of time and invite your viewers to join the conversation.
9. **Always Ask for Feedback** As you continue to create awesome content, ask your audience for feedback. You can do that at the end of your videos, in your social media posts, or even in your newsletter. Post a poll on Facebook, LinkedIn, or Twitter and ask them what they want to see more of.

What are some of your video content creation tips? Tweet at us [@uscreentv](https://twitter.com/uscreentv)