How to use text to make your marketing videos jump off the screen

For many small businesses social video IS a business’ online marketing approach. Social media is the vibrant, fast-growing, cost-effective place where you can make the most personal and fruitful impressions with current and potential customers.

In some cases, businesses are even replacing a traditional website with a company Facebook page or Instagram account, both of which receive rewardable engagement and continue to be a place for brands and marketing experts to release their content. 

The best way to reach your targets on social media is by natively uploading video content you have created using Magisto for Business.  It takes only minutes to create and natively upload a Magisto video to Facebook and seconds to immediately engage your customers, increase conversations and inspire fresh opportunities for your company in the easiest and most effective way possible. With Magisto for Business additional features we aim to provide our users with tools that are helpful for capturing attention, specifically for content for Facebook and Instagram including:

-Adding Captions/Copy To Your Videos

-Commercially Licensed Music that is cleared for YouTube, Facebook and Instagram distribution

-Smart Storyboard which allows you to re-order the photos and slides in your video

-B-Roll allowing you to add more footage to your videos

One of the biggest current trends in social media is using text imposed across your videos. Nowhere has this been more evident than on the globe’s biggest social network, Facebook.

New data from a variety of publishers shows that as much as 85% of all Facebook video is watched without sound. How do you still get your message across, without sound, at the speed of social? The answer is clear – by (smartly) using text and optimizing the action you want to occur from as a result of your messaging.

As viewing without sound becomes the norm on Facebook, knowing how to effectively utilize text in your social videos is of paramount importance to successfully tell your story. Here are some things to keep in mind:

MAKE IT READABLE

First and foremost, the text of your video has to be easy to read, no matter how or where your audience is watching. Social and mobile have become parts of the same whole, so make sure your text is large enough to be read clearly on mobile devices with small screens.

You can also use simple tricks like alternating the text positioning within your videos. Try seeing if a caption box at the top of your video or bottom of your video performs better in terms of viewings, likes, shares and comments. We want your thoughts, text and captions to stand out so make sure your copy is a verb asking people to use something or discover solutions. 

KEEP IT TIGHT

Cap the amount of any single block of text in your video to one line per caption box or frame. Again, that’s a maximum amount of text onscreen at once. More than two lines of text will start to take up a valuable visual real estate. Big blocks of text can also feel overwhelming to your viewers.

If you have a lot to say, you don’t have to put it all on-screen at once (and you can always utilize voiceover to provide greater insight and create a box in the beginning of your message asking your audience to activate the audio/volume button). You can break up your sentences over two or three splashes. Always try to edit your copy down to a fine point, though, because there’s no need to make your viewers read more than is necessary.

PICK THE RIGHT POSITION

Even when your video relies on text to tell its story, you still want to keep it to the sidelines. Remember, this is video we’re talking about, and visual content still drives it.

House your text at the top, bottom, or sides of the frame, and don’t be afraid to move the position around as your visuals change. You always want to keep your text out of the way of the most important and compelling element of whatever visual asset it sits on top of.

Keep these tips in mind and let text make your video jump off the screen!