Creating engaging behind-the-scenes content for your business is a classic way to connect with your audience. Use this guide for some creative direction to help you create compelling behind-the-scenes content for your video content on social media.
12 Best-Practice Tips
#1 Don’t Overthink
It’s “behind the scenes” not “the scene” so please don’t waste time overthinking and planning everything out perfectly. The less you think the better! Run through these ideas and then just roll with it!
It doesn’t have to be long either. Start with 7 seconds and take it from there! The main thing is to get it posted and you can adjust the next one!
#2 Sound-to-Clip Ratio
When it comes to video your sound-to-clip ratio matters! That means the more clips you have, the better. Our attention spans are like goldfish – it takes 2 seconds to make your point and for us to get it so swap the angels and scenes to keep us watching. Film the same thing from a bunch of different perspectives.
#3 Swap angles
You could plan your shots or just make sure you mix your angles up and get a bunch of different shots of the same thing.
- Overhead shots
- Low-angle shots
- High-angle shots
- Dutch angle shots*
*A Dutch angle shot is a camera technique used in cinematography where the camera is tilted to one side, creating a sloping or skewed angle in the frame. The degree of tilt can vary, from a slight angle to a severe angle which creates an almost upside-down effect.
#4 Get multiple shots
Here are some examples of shots you can use:
- Close-up shots of equipment/props/papers/work in progress / your hands doing something
- Medium shots of you at work / your walls/office/desk/products
- Wide shots of the entire room
#5 Mix motion
Try some shots with:
- A still camera (like on a tripod)
- Hand-held camera
- Pan shot (that sweeps from one angle to another up to down, down to up, or side to side, back to front, round, and round
#6 Choose your framing
- Will you frame with you the focus in the center or off to the side?
- Do you want to leave lots of space in the shot or fill it up?
- Are you presenting directly into the camera or do we only see your hands and hear your voiceover?
- Is it a walk-and-talk where you hold the camera selfie-style as you walk and then cut to what you see?
(For more on framing, get the Style Guide from Content Gold that goes into detail about your photo and digital design framing.)
#7 Capture Candid Moments
One of the best ways to create engaging behind-the-scenes content is to capture candid moments. These are unscripted moments that happen naturally, and they can be some of the most interesting parts of your video. Consider capturing moments like laughing, bloopers, rehearsing, and problem-solving.
A great way to do this is to get into the habit of filming yourself when you’re at work or doing a meeting. A timelapse works well!
#8 Play with timing
You can speed up or slow down sections or your whole video. This adds interest and means you get to reuse the same footage in many different ways. Especially if the video is a background scene for your text overlay and or a voice-over.
#9 Scripting
If you’re stuck with what to say, ask chatGPT to write you a script to start you off until you get the hang of it. But remember, the best videos are real and from the heart so practicing showing up and sharing where you’re at is always going to perform better.
Below is a video with the script from my sales page of Content Gold.
#10 Include a Voice Over and Captions
Including a voice-over in your behind-the-scenes content can help to tie everything together and give your audience context. Your voice-over can explain what’s happening, provide insights into the creative process, simply describe what’s happening in the scene or share a personal story from your life.
#11 Add Sound and or Music
Music is especially great when you’ve sped up or slowed down a video and it’s not direct-to-camera talking. Plus trending sounds help your videos to go viral. Play with music that fits into your business theme or marketing campaign theme so that there is a specific vibe associated with your content AND try a few videos with just talking.
In this video, I share extracts from a blog called Maturing past marketing bullies: building better businesses.
#12 Edit your Video
After you’ve captured your behind-the-scenes footage, it’s time to edit it into a cohesive video. As suggested above, consider adding music, text overlays, and other elements to make your video more engaging. Here are some examples of elements you can use:
- Text overlays to provide context
- Music to set the mood
- B-roll footage to add variety
- Sound effects to enhance the audio
You can edit inside Reels and TikTok (or use one of their templates). A great and free alternative is CapCut for editing. You can download without any watermarks and repurpose to all the video platforms including:
- YoutubeShorts
- Instagram Reels
- TikTok
- Pinterest Idea Pins
Help! I’m not tech-savvy!
If you need help with the technical aspect, get 12-step TikTok and Reels training in 15 minutes flat inside the Video Star course here.
Happy Posting!
Summary
Use this guide for some creative direction to help you create compelling behind-the-scenes content for your video content on social media.
Key Takeaways
Your 12 Best-Practice Tips
Recommended Reading
The Backstage Pass Strategy for Behind-the-Scenes Content
Love, Lauren
***
P.S:
ADVERTISE YOUR BUSINESS HERE
*sponsor a blog post to advertise your business to my audience*
(with links to your website, social media, and email)
email hello@laurenwallett.com to find out more
