For brands that wanna be big influencers on Facebook and YouTube (so … basically every brand), the Tubular Labs‘ State of Online Video Q2 2018 report is a veritable goldmine of information.
Here are the important bits:
Influencers (basically YouTube celebrities) wrack up way more views than brands and also upload way more than brands. In the first quarter of 2018, the breakdown for YouTube views was:
84% influencers
13% media companies
3% brands
Influencers clearly trounce companies, but they also uploaded way more content than media companies or brands. The breakdown for uploads is:
89% influencers
9% media companies
2% brands
When you consider those numbers, media companies and brands actually got pretty good bang for their buck considering how little they uploaded.
Over on Facebook, the viewing numbers were:
56% influencers
40% media companies
4% brands
That compares to the following upload numbers:
56% influencers
38% media companies
6% brands
So, brands fared slightly worse for the amount they were uploading on Facebook in Q1 this year.
Clearly, if brands want to be influential on social media platforms, it would be a good idea for them to partner with influencers on the sites. These influencers can have millions of views of their videos and any endorsement they give can be a huge boon to a brand.
Part of the reason they can accumulate so many views is that they either jump on or initiate trends that sweep through the platform they’re on. So, if you identify a type of video that is trending and you can somehow shoehorn your brand into an influencer video about that trend, you may find a winning combination.
One of the great things about social video is that it allows viewers to spend some time seeing how other people live. The category of Vicarious Living lets people step into the lives of these influencers (visually, anyway).
Food is something we all share in common. Nobody can live without it. A couple of big trends in food videos in 2018 are eating a lot and eating off the streets.
While tutorials are highly interesting and helpful, for entertainment value, influencers have gone in the other direction and have made anti-tutorials a big trend on Facebook and YouTube.
Autonomous sensory meridian response (ASMR) videos have been around for a decade now, but they are really taking off right now. These types of videos are basically just people doing quiet activities like whispering, tapping on things lightly or brushing their hair, for example. The quiet sounds are meant to stimulate a physical and emotional response in people. Many people love listening to the quiet audio stimulation and they can easily be crossed with other types of videos, like the makbang ones.
YouTube
Tips, Trends, Tidbits & Tools: 9 Video Marketing Articles to Help you Slay with Your Video Marketing
How to Create a Purposeful Video Marketing Strategy
5 Easy Ways to Boost Your Social Media Strategy in 2018
Setting the Scene for Your 2018 Video Marketing Game Plan
Why You Should Use a Professional Voiceover Artist for Your Animated Video
When a company decides to have an explainer video made, sometimes they try to save money in certain areas. They might choose a less costly form of animation or opt for only a minute when they were going to go with two minutes. One area that is common for people to try and save money when having an explainer video made is with the voiceover.
Is a professional voice actor necessary?
The answer to this question depends on the answer to another question: How professional do you want your video to be? Having a professional voice actor perform the voiceover work for your video will give it that extra sense of professionalism that will be lacking if you decide to do it yourself or you get one of your employees to do it (unless, of course, you are a professional voice actor yourself).
Going through the process of creating a professionally done animated explainer video and then doing the voiceover work yourself is kinda like making a delicious sundae and then topping it with an olive.
Saving Money
While most business people don’t have the skills to write a script, draw up a storyboard and then turn that storyboard into an animated masterpiece, they are quite willing to pay to have that done. But, almost all business people do have a voice and that’s why some of them believe they’ll be able to handle the voiceover themselves or have Alice from accounting do it.
But, just like real acting, voice acting is an art and professional voice actors have honed their skills and knowledge to be able to do it well. That’s why their voice is the cherry and not the olive. It’s not as simple as just reading a script.
Saving Time
Sometimes it’s not money people are trying to save, but rather time. Pulling all the elements of a good explainer video together takes time and sometimes a voiceover artist is busy and people have to wait for them to become free. But, in their excitement, some business people don’t want to wait and decide to do it themselves.
This usually ends up wasting time anyway because most people will discover that if they do it themselves, it will need to be redone. It really doesn’t take that long to make an explainer video and people are better off just waiting the relatively short amount of time. If they are in a real hurry, they can pay a higher fee to have it expedited.
Calculate My Video Cost.
Get your estimated price quote in just 45 seconds!
It’s easy anyway, right?
A lot of people believe doing a voiceover is as simple as hitting record, reading a script and then overlaying it onto the video. But, that’s not true. It’s a skill and the fact that there is such a thing as a professional voiceover artist should tell you that. The job wouldn’t exist if it wasn’t needed. The reason commercials, movie trailers and other videos sound so good is because the people doing the voiceover work are professionals. That’s the company you want your video to be in: The professionally done ones.
Let the robots do it.
Voiceover software is available, but the one thing that software is missing is the human element. People are going to know it’s software doing the voiceover. You can’t disguise that stilted robotic speaking (yet, anyway).
Your brand, your voice
You may feel that because it’s your brand and you know your audience best and you want to make a real connection with that audience that it should be your own voice representing your brand. However, as instrumental as you are in your brand’s success, that doesn’t mean you should speak for your brand if you don’t have the requisite skills.
You may think that you can just do it a whole bunch of times until you eventually get it right, but if you don’t have any experience or skills with doing voiceover work, getting it right will be extremely difficult. Wait until you make a live action brand video and then let your voice speak for your brand.
Just use a professional
An animated explainer video has many steps and one of those is the voiceover. It’s a crucial step in bringing the entire video together and giving it that polished, professional feel that will draw in potential customers and clients, introduce them to your brand and make them want to do business with you. Click here to use our price estimation calculator to see approximately how much it will cost to have an animated explainer video done for your business. (You don’t even need to talk to anyone!)