Level Up Your Videos With This Ultimate YouTube Playbook

We recently talked about how Youtube and other major platforms are democratizing content creation in our previous story, Democratization of Content Creation: How You Can Leverage It?

And ever since the article was published, we have received queries from so many readers about how they can step up their YouTube channel to convey the right message to their audience and reach more people.

And that is why in this post, we have decided to start with the basics and give you all the step-by-step guide you need to make your best content yet. We have got you covered for everything, including,

Pre-recording Tips
Recording
Post-production

Now, many of you may wonder whether or not you should still be making YouTube videos or not. After all, we are about to enter 2022. It is understandable if you think, “is it even worth continuing your YouTube channel or getting started?”

Well, let’s cut through some of the hysteria before we dive in any further.

Believe us, YouTube is still kicking well and has a growing viewership.

Here are some YouTube 2021 stats that would blow your mind (1):

At the beginning of 2021, YouTube had over 2.3 billion monthly active users
75% of millennials prefer watching YouTube over TV
Over 500 hours of video are put up on YouTube every minute
1+ billion hours of YouTube are daily watched
The number of YouTube channels earning six figures a year is up 40% Y-O-Y.
YouTube is localized in over 100 countries
And most importantly, 70% of YouTube viewers come to the platform to solve a problem

All in all, there is a huge potential for you to reach your ideal audience with YouTube. There are several social media experts and entrepreneurs still vouching for the platform. For instance, Gray Vaynerchuk even wrote in his book, Crushing IT (2),

“No other platform has created more wealth and opportunities than YouTube.”

So, yes, you should still be making YouTube videos in 2022 and beyond.

Now, let’s get started.

Pre-recording Tips

#1 Plan Your Video

Most content commonly falls into three main categories (3, 4):

Education: Teaching your viewers a concept, skill, or idea
Awareness: You want to bring people’s attention to a certain issue or cause
Engagement: Creating content that triggers an emotional reaction from your audience for likes, comments, or shares

Once you know what you are trying to achieve with your video, it will help you design a plan of action about how you would do it.

The plan should include everything you need to create your video, from the target audience to the script and setting the right visual set.

If you are still not sure, consider asking yourself these questions (5, 6):

The message of your video
Your target audience
Your budget
Number of people you may need
The target length of the video
Where you will record your video
How you will record your video
Do you need a script or any other sound
Should you include any image or text in the video
If you have the right equipment
Who would edit your video

#2 Set up Your Equipment

Below are some essential pieces of equipment you will need to make your YouTube videos:

Camera – as long as your space is well lit, even your phone camera is good enough
Microphone – external is more preferred
Lighting – artificial or natural
Editing software

If you have some extra money for equipment, do not mind denting your pocket for a new camera. In case you don’t have any of these items, you can also consider lending them.

#3 Set up Your Visual Set

When it comes to making a video, the most important thing is that your recording place needs to be agreeable enough to allow you to do a good job. Ensure that it is warm, you have no-spillable drinks within reach, and it should make you want to sit down and start recording.

There are also a select few practices you can follow for your background design (7).

It is recommended not to have a background with words since different cameras and streaming or recording software handle mirroring differently. Meaning it can mess up your texts or signs you hoped people would read.

Instead, consider placing a few big pieces in the background relevant to your video or speaking to your personality. You can polish up by sprinkling some smaller “easter eggs” that change based on your current interests (8). All of these will lead to your set evolving, and your long-term viewers will love watching those changes.

Recording

If you have grasped all steps mentioned above so far, it is time you turn on your camera and hit the record button.

It doesn’t matter what you are recording; there are a few things you need to keep in mind.

First, be sure to keep the camera rolling.

Don’t stress out if you misspeak or make those little mistakes and restart everything. You can pick up shortly before the mistake and try again – without turning your camera off. It would make the entire process less stressful (9, 10). Don’t forget; you can always fix these mishaps while editing!

Next comes embracing what you do not know.

You do not have to be Steven Spielberg to make YouTube videos. And you assuredly do not need to know as much as him or any other expert. In addition, often, what you do not know can be a huge advantage since it can help you make something creative.

Another critical thing you need to keep in mind is to have fun. Making a YouTube video or any creative content should be fun. You need to enjoy the entire learning process and not focus too much on your mistakes.

It is always the best strategy to play around and see what works rather than not doing anything at all. Moreover, you may not continue with your YouTube channel if it is all hard work and no play. So, be sure to keep it fun.

Lastly, remember, you have less than five seconds to grab someone’s attention in a video (11, 12).

Hence, make sure to brighten the right presence in your recording.

You can start by dialing up your energy. Compensate drops because of the camera and video by smiling and showing your emotions more than you may expect.

While negative emotions may give you a short-term boost, it is recommended to stick to positive emotions and topics you are excited about for long-term growth.

Post-production

Once you are done recording your video, it is time to start editing your work. At this point, you will clean up any mistakes you have made while recording and make your video ready to upload online.

In other words, editing is where the real magic happens.

The most common process included in editing a video (13):

Put your scenes in the correct order
Synchronize the audio
Get rid of unnecessary footage
Add intros and outros

You can also go ahead and perform extras such as adding images and clips from other videos if feeling more creative.

Another important tip we can give is using SOPs, standard operating procedures to outsource essential tasks. SOPs are step-wise guides for finishing a task, and you can use them to outsource your editing and free your time for other tasks (14).

Make sure to include “How much is this worth” in each of your SOPs. The section explains how the task is valuable for the business, making everyone more invested in their work.

For instance, don’t put an SOP for just another YouTube video. Instead, try saying like these videos drive 90% of our sales. Meaning, everyone who would read it knows why you are serious about it and why they should take it seriously.

Here is how SOPs commonly works:

You write the SOP, including an overview video of yourself talking through the task.
You share it with any of your employees who are trained for the process.
That employee then trains another person using the SOP to ensure there is a redundancy in the system, and it would not need you to continue explaining the same things repeatedly.
Recording final notes in the SOP to ensure it is clear to any outsiders

Apart from the right pieces of equipment and editing software, you will need more tools to create the right content. And that is why we have whipped up a beginner’s guide to help you choose the most suitable tools for your needs. You can read it here!

Summary

As mentioned above, most people go to YouTube for two primary reasons: to get information or entertainment. Meaning you need to tailor your content as per those expectations (15).

For instance, if you are a plumber, it is probably a good idea to post videos about funny or strange things you have found clogging up pipes, which are entertaining videos or post short how-to videos to establish you and your business as an authority in your field, which is informative videos.

Regardless, YouTube is one of the best long-term advertising strategies compared to other more ephemeral social media platforms like Twitter or Facebook. However, remember that any social media presence can influence the visibility of your website in search engines.

Don’t worry if your channel is not flooded with likes or views within the first few hours. It can take a while for your channel to gain momentum. However, with regular good quality video updates, you can go a long way towards becoming prominent in YouTube searches.

Also, don’t forget to look at your video stats. If people are regularly skipping the intro, consider making it shorter. If you notice that shorter titles are gaining more viewers, go ahead with that strategy. Remember, you will keep getting better results when you continuously test since it allows you to learn more about your audience.

And that’s it for today’s post. We believe that now you have a better idea of creating killer content for your YouTube videos by now. You can always connect with us otherwise!

While this guideline is primary for YouTube uploads and streaming, you can follow the same guideline for podcasts. And if you are running a podcast, consider reading our previous story, 10 Tips and Tricks to Grow Your Podcast, in 2021.

The key is to plan as much as you can, set up a nice environment to record, delegate tasks as much as possible so you can focus on things you do best, and have fun while doing it. Remember, you can always correct things while editing!