ChopChop.Video

How do I become a content creator? And How Much Can I Earn?

ChopChop — Mon, 15 May 2023 11:22:52 +0000

So you’re thinking about getting into content creation? Congratulations!

In 2023, we’re seeing even more opportunities for emerging content creators with the rise of homegrown video platforms like Moj, MX Takatak, and more broadly with the Metaverse.

But it can also be quite difficult to get started… the competition can seem really overwhelming.

So, before you take the plunge, check out our answers to some FAQs about getting started as a content creator to decide if it’s right for you.

What does a Content Creator do?

Well, it may seem rather simple – create content, primarily for social media platforms like Instagram, Facebook, Youtube and others. This could be in the form of videos, music, photography, content writing… the sky’s the limit.

It’s not all fun and games though. Being a full-time (or even part-time) content creator can be hard.

While the creation process might be largely fun (I mean, video editing is not fun at all but the rest of it is!), there are a variety of admin-related tasks a successful freelance content creator must do to keep the ball rolling and grow their business. Yes, we said business. Because what you’re likely hoping to build in the long run is not just a social media presence, but also a brand that can be profitable.

Even if you don’t want to monetize immediately, having a business plan will help you get in the right mindset.

Because being a content creator is much more than just a creative job. The range of administrative tasks depend on what your medium, niche, and goals are.

This means that on top of planning, conceptualising and creating the actual content, you have to define your niche, narrow down which platforms to use, plan a content schedule, set goals, track your metrics, reach out to brands for partnerships, identify fellow content creators to collaborate with, optimise for social media (e.g. SEO), engage with your target audience, etc.

A good way to get a handle on this is to check out ‘A Day In The Life’ YouTube videos or articles from content creators in your field that you look up to.

How To Become A Content Creator

Build the skills you need to succeed

You may not know everything right away, but up-skilling is a must if you want to stay ahead of the pack.

This can be in terms of industry knowledge to drive value with your content and all the technical stuff related to digital marketing. For the essential soft skills, like storytelling or content marketing, you can rely on online courses and articles.

And don’t forget about the technical skills for making digital content, like learning software needed to create your social media content. You don’t need pro-software like Photoshop, Illustrator, Premiere Pro etc. anymore.

There are a range of great free and low-cost tools to get you going. For example, there’s Canva for graphic designing, Pixlr for photo editing, and ChopChop for video editing.

If you’re working in video, ChopChop has all the essential tools in addition to cropping and trimming, like sharp titles, a media library, built-in voiceover recording and more. It helps you create videos using simple text-based forms, while taking care of all the technical things like animation, transitions, audio balancing etc.

Try ChopChop for free now!

Define your niche (but be prepared to tweak it)

Initially, your mind will be buzzing with a thousand ideas. But resist the urge to follow through on each one mindlessly.

Developing a niche means narrowing down the 2-3 content types or mediums unique to you that will help you hone in on your audience.

For example, if your industry is personal finance, you could be writing blog posts, doing Instagram Reels, or making videos for your YouTube channel.

And you can funnel your audience down further to personal finance for women, or personal finance for teens. And the content type could be instructional, informational, white papers, case studies, etc.

Analyse the competition

Doing research on your competitors is essential. It will give you a sense of what the audience likes and what works or doesn’t work for content creation.

Create great content and see what sticks: Initially, it’s all about testing the waters and seeing what content ideas your audience gravitates toward most. Feel free to play it a bit fast and loose for the first 3-6 months or so. Lean towards your successful content. This will also allow you to rework your niche and content strategy if needed.

Plan ahead

Waiting for inspiration to strike is not efficient. Planning ahead will give you a roadmap and help you stay motivated and focused.

It also means having a plan in place for ideation, set-up, execution, and final touch-ups. You can assign days of the week or time-block accordingly, so that you’re working on projects while ideating the upcoming ones.

Set some goals

Having a clear sense of what you want to accomplish will keep you going. Setting SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound) goals as a quality content creator is an absolute essential, whether or not you want to monetise. You can break these down to every quarter or six months and tweak as you go.

Be consistent

So many content creators quit because they’re not seeing their follower count rise enough. But if you keep showing up, your audience will also find their way to you.

How Much Do Successful Content Creators Make?

And finally, the all-important money question. The short answer to how much content creators make is… as much as they want!

The longer one? It can vary widely depending on your location, follower count, and industry. When it comes to paid Instagram posts or stories for example, there are different tiers you can charge based on the number of followers you have.

For example, with around 1,00,000 Instagram followers, you could be paid Rs. 20,000 per post. Whereas if you had under 10,000 followers, it could be around Rs. 2000.

Experienced content creators gradually diversify their revenue sources to anywhere between 5-10 over time. This allows them to make money through paid social media posts, AdSense money on YouTube videos, sponsorships, affiliate links, online courses, books, merchandise, sites like Patreon and Cameo etc.

Bottom line, there’s no upper ceiling to how much a web content creator can make.

Are you looking to become a Content Creator?

We hope this article was helpful for you as you embark on your content creation journey.

For more information, check out this article on being an efficient content creator, and head here to know more about some more useful tools.

And sign up for ChopChop’s super-intuitive online editor that will help you push out quality videos for social media without any experience in video-editing.

The post How do I become a content creator? And How Much Can I Earn? appeared first on ChopChop.Video.

Types of Content Creators in 2023 [and where you could fit in]

ChopChop — Sun, 14 May 2023 11:22:00 +0000

Creating content is great. And the world of content creation is ever-expanding, with more opportunities opening up every day. But that can also lead to analysis paralysis if you’re a newbie figuring out where to begin.

So here’s ChopChop‘s ultimate guide to the different types of content creators out there today.

Basically, if you are trying to find your niche and chase your dream like millions of other content creators, you’ve come to the right place. We’re going to distribute content creators into four parts:

Types of Content Creator based on medium: writing, video-creation, etc
Types of Content Creator based on business models: monetizing brand vs skills
Types of Content Creator based on platform: YouTube, Instagram, Twitter, etc
Types of Content Creator based on level of expertise: Expert, Newbie, Novice

You will definitely find your niche in one – or a combination – of these as you start your journey.

1) Types of Content Creators based on medium

In this context, when we say ‘medium’ we’re talking about your specific skill set. You like what digital creators do and you have a bunch of content ideas. But are you a writer? A photographer? Do you love making videos – the most in-demand form of content on the internet these days?

Let’s dive into each of these in detail.

Video Creators

Video is truly the future of content creation. Video creators are the holy grail of content marketing and usually include filmmakers, video editors, producers, directors, director of photography, and more.

But with new content creation tools in the market – such as ChopChop – it’s possible now to be everything rolled into one. ChopChop, which is better than most other tools on the market, takes care of all the technical aspects of the video editing process, allowing you to focus solely on the creative parts. All you need is some great content ideas.

This means you can start thinking of launching your YouTube channel and creating good content as soon as possible!

Writers

Successful content writers showcase their skills and storytelling through their words. These could be 2-3 word slogans, long-form pieces, white papers, or website content. These skillsets are essential for content marketing.

This can also be divided into further specializations based on industry (we’ll get into technical content writing or blog content in future blog posts, but here’s a good blog to read in the meanwhile).

Photographers

Photographers can also be categorized further down based on the industry and type of work they do. From flatlays to landscapes, photography is a pretty wide-reaching arena where you can find great success working on the brand side, freelancing, or even selling their prints and doing freelance work.

Graphic designers

Graphic design is a whole universe in itself. It encompasses everything from creating everyday social media graphics, animations, landing pages,

etc. to packaging design, motion design, 3D renders, game design, and more.

There’s jobs to be done for a graphic designer at virtually every level of creating any new product or idea, right from ideation to packaging. Like writers, they form the backbone of content marketing.

Podcasters

Working with audio also allows you to experiment a bunch to become the content creator you want to be, whether it’s self-producing a personal show or handling production for clients for web content.

There’s plenty of room for experimentation here too. You can start a chat show-type podcast, or deep dive into a particular subject/area, or start creating a series with a narrative that unfold over various episodes.

2) Types of Creators based on business models

Content creators can be categorized based on who they represent – either themselves, or a third-party brand or individual. Basically, are you building your own brand or working off someone else’s marketing strategy.

Monetizing your personal brand

This includes anyone putting out content on their own social media accounts as their main (or potentially their main) source of revenue. Social media content can overlap across visual, audio, graphic design, video blogging, etc. These posts can go up anywhere, from Facebook to LinkedIn and anything in between. The biggest skills you’ll need to have or develop are content planning, marketing strategy, and of course creating great content consistently.

Monetization: A social media creator tries to monetize their personal brand. For example, I build a massive following on Twitter, Instagram or YouTube, and make money through the platform or through brands paying me to promote their products or services on my channel.

Monetizing your skillset

Next up, we have creators for marketing brands. Their role is pretty much the same as social media creators, except they push out content on the social media feeds of other brands. Marketers and folks in the advertising field, experts in content strategy, and social media managers fall under this category. This falls under the influencer marketing bucket, and you will probably be interacting with folks who share a common target audience and potential customers (especially those with no content team).

Monetisation: In this case, you’re monetizing your skill rather than your personal brand. So brands will pay you to create for them – from podcast content to case studies and everything else – as opposed to paying you for promoting their brand on your channel.

3) Types of Creators based on platform/ channel

The third categorization is based on what kind of content you create and what’s the best platform for it.

For graphics and photographs, Instagram is probably right for you. Twitter is a great place for long insightful threads. YouTube is amazing for long-form video such as product reviews, travel vlogs, recipe videos, etc.

Let’s dive into these.

YouTube creator

YouTube is the home of user-generated content. YouTube content creators generally dabble in creating more long-form video content. Think vlogs, tutorials, DIYs, etc. With the introduction of YouTube shorts, snackable content is also picking up, but the platform is still dominated by video creators that make longer content.

Instagram creator

Instagram creators are often active on other social media platforms, and this just happens to be one of the places where they connect with their audience. However, Instagram has proven itself to be a great medium to get discovered and engage with followers, through features like Reels and Live.

TikTok creator

TikTok shot up to the top of the charts in terms of popularity, especially for brands and figures with younger, Gen Z audiences. The video making app pushed the limits of creativity and helped individuals build communities organically. TikTok creators can do just about anything – from singing to reviews and mini-vlogs to tutorials.

4) Creator based on level of expertise

Your level of expertise on the industry or field can influence the type of content creator you become. Though you should be looking at a mix of instructional, informative and entertainment as your content marketing pillars, there’s one you’ll likely lead with.

Expert/ Industry Insider

If you’re an expert in your field, it would make sense to mostly make instructional content. Being an expert also gives you access.

For example, say you have knowledge of a super niche and specialized field like Web3. You can use that to become a technical content writer.

You have the option of monetizing through instructional courses, mentorship, books, or sometimes even content calendars / content plans, on top of your existing digital marketing content.

Novice

Being a novice yourself does not mean you can’t make educational or instructional videos. If this is the case, you can take them through your audience through your own journey from novice to expert. In fact, if you get your tone and personality right, there’s a good chance audiences will latch on to you for relatability. Another way to approach content creation as a novice would be to interview experts in your field.

Newbie

Just like the novice creator, the newbie too is in a position to deliver educational content to their audiences, as they have lots to offer in terms of engaging your audience through your journey into this field.

If you’re transitioning from another field, this can be a great way to document this jump and reach out to others in that niche by doing more blog posts, vlogging style or other digital content.

It’s a great opportunity to share in-real time the content creation process that you’re on and really show your progress. You can inspire others like yourself to go down the same path.

Are you looking to become a content creator?

Ready to jump into the Creator Economy? While the most important thing about content creation is to find the intersection of your skillset, your interests and the different content types out there. But it’s increasingly clear that video-creation is a great skill to have in your arsenal. A tool like ChopChop allows you to create great video content even if you’ve never edited a video before in your life. It does this by splitting all editing tasks into two categories – creative and technical. As long as you have a strong story to tell, you can easily turn it into a high-quality video on ChopChop.

For more details on the features, check out this post!

And good luck on your journey!

The post Types of Content Creators in 2023 [and where you could fit in] appeared first on ChopChop.Video.

5 Best Laptops for Content Creators in 2023

ChopChop — Sun, 30 Apr 2023 11:21:00 +0000

As a content creator, having top-of-the-line tools of the trade can help you get a leg up in delivering quality content. And a laptop is a content creator’s most essential tool – or one of them at least.

You’re about to make an investment that has the potential to supercharge your career. To help you get it right, we’ve put together a list of our top 5 laptops for content creators.

But let’s talk about some baseline specs first so you have a place to start.

What to look for in a laptop as a content creator

Creators need fast performance to get all their work done on time, effective multitasking to manage multiple projects, a powerful processor that can make memory-intensive workflows a breeze, and reliable hardware that gives your laptop a long life and can withstand a life on the go.

If you’re a content creator, we recommend you opt for an SSD system (solid state drive) that’s way faster when it comes to day-to-day tasks, retrieving files, and switching between different apps.

We would also suggest an intel core i5 processor, or an i7 if it’s in your budget. An i5 is a mid-range processor that would suit your content creation if you’re a content writer, for example, and do a bit of design or video editing every now and then.

However, if you’re a filmmaker or designer, it’s best to invest in a laptop with an intel core i7 processor and a more high-end graphics card.

Here’s a round-up of the 5 best laptops for content creators.

1) 2020 Apple MacBook Pro

13.3-inch laptop/33.78 cm, Apple M1 chip with 8‑core CPU and 8‑core GPU, 8GB RAM, 512GB SSD

Surprise, surprise – our first pick is the 2020 MacBook Pro. This laptop is the favorite of creators around the world for a reason. Whether you’re a creator with professional video or photo editing needs or are just looking for an all-around reliable system, the 2020 MacBook Pro ticks all the boxes thanks to its upgraded internal specs.

With Apple’s new M1 chip with an 8-core CPU and GPU, this laptop makes graphics shine and is more than capable of sitting through all memory-intensive tasks like those hours-long video editing stretches. If you’re getting confused by all this cores business, know that the more cores there are in a processor, the better and faster it performs. Apart from that, you get the brand’s reliable customer service, clean design and interface, and a whopping 20-hour battery life.
Click here for more

2) Dell XPS 9700 17-Inch FHD Display Laptop

(10th Gen i7-10750H/16 GB/1TB SSD/4 GB GTX Graphics/Win 10 + MS Office/Silver)

Coming now to a Windows laptop. If you’re a video editor or designer and want an all-round beast, this laptop by Dell is another great pick. It comes with the latest 10th Gen i7 processors & NVIDIA Geforce graphics which promise an excellent experience for all intensive creative pursuits like design or video editing.

Its 16 GB RAM is also ideal for memory-intensive workflows. And it also got dual fans so that your system doesn’t overheat. It also takes care of the small stuff, like your eyes–thanks to its reduced blue light system. And speaking of the display, it comes with a 16:10 InfinityEdge Display so that you’ll get the most accurate colors.

Ultimately, if you’re looking for a system that will enhance your productivity as a design or video creator, check this one out. Powerful hardware, an excellent display, and upgraded RAM are all on offer with this one.
Click here for more

3) ASUS ROG Zephyrus G14 (2021) 14-inch (35.56 cms) QHD 120Hz, AMD Ryzen 9 5900HS, RTX 3060 6GB Graphics, Gaming Laptop

(16GB/1TB SSD/Office 2019/Windows 10/Gray/Anime Matrix/1.7 Kg)

This one is a gaming laptop, but it’s also a gem for content creation. It’s very comparable to the previous option, but with a Ryzen processor instead. This beast’s RAM capabilities will make multitasking a breeze, even if you’re working with memory-hungry programs like photo editors or video editing suites (the option, of course, is to use cloud-based tools like ChopChop instead of Pro tools that need heavy infra).

The 1 TB SSD slices through booting up and loading times and will be great for all those large size files you’ll likely have in your archive. It’s a light laptop, great in terms of portability and battery life, also its 14-inch QHD display offers an excellent viewing experience and top-notch color accuracy.

If you’re a content creator looking to upgrade your laptop in 2022, this laptop may be just the one for you.
Click here for more

4) Microsoft Surface Book 3 10th Gen

(Intel Core i7 15 inches Touch-Screen 16GB Memory 256GB SSD Windows 10 Home – Platinum – Business, 1.90 kg)

This creator laptop is the ultimate choice for those who are always on the go. The tablet can come apart from the keyboard with ease, so portability is not a concern here at all. The 15-inch screen size comes with Nvidia GTX 1660 Ti graphics and a 1600:1 contrast ratio–which means colors will look fantastic on it.

If you’re working in the fields of 3D animation, color grading, or graphic design, it’ll be particularly useful as the laptop has pen input enabled on the tablet or keyboard mode.

The laptop also boasts an impressive battery life of up to 17.5 hours, so you can trust that it’ll be able to keep up with long workdays.
Click here for more

5) MSI Bravo 15 Gaming AMD Ryzen 7

5800H, 15.6 inches FHD IPS-Level 144Hz Panel Laptop
(16GB/512GB NVMe SSD/Windows 10 Home/RX5500M, GDDR6 4GB/Black/2.35Kg

Here’s another one that’s branded as a gaming laptop, but is a good pick for creators as well. And it’s also one of the budget laptop options in this list as it’s an entry-level offering, but that doesn’t mean any great compromise on specs.

With its powerful Ryzen 4000 series processor and 1080p performance, it works well for creators who may be into gaming or design thanks to its super-fast refresh rate.
With dedicated thermal solutions for the CPU and GPU, this laptop will stay cool even under your most intense work-flows. If affordability is your number one priority, this might be the right one for you.
Click here for more

Wrapping Up Laptops for Content Creators

Now that we’ve given you our top picks for the best laptops for creators, you can narrow down your search and decide which works the best for your lifestyle.
If you’re looking for even more options, check out this article https://in.pcmag.com/laptops/120571/the-best-laptops-for-video-editing-in-2020 by PC Mag.

Don’t forget to check out ChopChop’s blog for more helpful tips for content creators.

The post 5 Best Laptops for Content Creators in 2023 appeared first on ChopChop.Video.

4 Most Sought After Instagram Niche Ideas in 2023

ChopChop — Sun, 23 Apr 2023 11:34:00 +0000

Instagram is no longer the humble photo-sharing app of yesteryear. It has evolved to become a powerful tool for brands and businesses to get the word out there and start growing as a powerful business platform.

How has this happened? Let us give you a few numbers…

- - Instagram has over 2 billion monthly active users.
  - 91% of active Instagram users watch videos weekly
  - Instagram is the 7th most visited website in the world.

Content creators, influencers, and brand marketers have plenty of opportunities for making money on Instagram.

But it all comes down to how you niche down and leverage your own skills, talents, and strengths. Niches are absolutely a must when you kick off your content creation journey on Instagram.

In this post, we will tackle a few topics:

- - What is an Instagram niche
  - Why choosing the right niche is important
  - The 4 most profitable niches in insta today (with examples)

What is an Instagram Niche?

You can think of an Instagram niche as a particular category or focus area in which your content centers around. For example, you could be in the beauty niche, the fashion niche, the travel niche, the food niche, the business niche, and more!

Such content is perfect for brands and businesses as a platform to put on native advertising.

And when you take a look at user preferences, people are becoming more averse to direct, in-your-face advertising and much prefer campaigns and messaging that has been integrated as a part of the content in a more thoughtful way.

Why choosing the right niche is important

Choosing the right niche is essential as a content creator because it will give your content the best chance of reaching the right audience. A solid niche helps to ensure that you are cutting down on the competition.

To put it simply, without a niche you’re competing against a larger group–and your content lacks focus.

On top of that, you would still benefit from chalking out an even more specific niche within your industry. For example, compare this to your niche being lifestyle content for females aged 17 – 25. Not only is your content more targeted, but it also helps you define your audience more clearly.

Tailoring content

In addition to helping you tailor your content, niching down helps you develop a persona that you can target all your content to. After all, it’s much easier to create content with a specific person in mind. It will help you make it much more focused, relevant, and valuable. And these are the things that will bring audiences back to your page.

Monetization

Once you have a niche, you can start establishing your credibility as an expert in that subject area. Niches help your followers associate your Instagram account with something specific, on-brand, and recognizable.

And this is where the monetization comes in.

Once you’re an authority on that subject and have built a sizable following, you can earn from affiliate marketing, sponsorships, consulting roles, and even design your own courses that your Instagram followers can purchase.

4 Most Profitable Instagram Niches in 2023

Without further ado, here is a suggested list of 4 of the most popular profitable Instagram niche ideas (in no particular order). Have a read through this list and see what aligns with your interests and/or skills.

Health & Fitness

Health and Fitness are one of the most lucrative niches on Instagram. Not only are there lots of sub-categories to dive into, but it’s also one of those niches that will never go out of trend or become outdated. In fact, in more recent times there has been a resurgence in the demand for this kind of content.

In the post-pandemic world, people everywhere have become more and more aware of the importance of cultivating a healthy lifestyle. Wellness has also become a hot topic, with many celebrities and influencers popularizing it for the layman audience.

This has resulted in health and fitness becoming extremely trendy and has led the industry to skyrocket. With an average organic reach of 3.1 million instagram accounts, there are lots of opportunities at your disposal.

Within Health & Fitness, there is a range of focus areas you could create content on–such as yoga, weightlifting, sports, etc.

Opportunities for monetization are also wide-reaching. You could launch your own fitness programme or class, become a coach and do 1:1 training with private clients, take group classes, and tie up with supplements, healthy food, and gym accessories brands to earn via affiliate links or sponsorships.

An example of a fitness influencer who has had a long-standing career is personal trainer and nutritionist Maulika Sharma AKA @thegirlwithabs16.

Beauty

With total global beauty industry spending in 2020 being $483 billion, and the annual total expected to top $716 billion by 2025, beauty is a super in-demand niche to use for your content creation journey.

Part of why beauty is such a great niche to start off with is how easily the niche lends itself to photos and video. There are a dizzying array of inspiration posts out there. From tutorials to product reviews, comparisons to DIYs and recommendations–beauty is one of those niches where you may never run out of content ideas.

Beauty is also a great niche because it isn’t just about educating followers on makeup or beauty techniques. In fact, this kind of content can be made with an emotional pull, and there are several beauty trends or challenges that feature difficult topics like bullying, etc.

In other words, you can really connect with followers on a deeper level, and use this to start a conversation about the standards of beauty and all the pressures that we face. Personable niches like this one will help you grow your followers quickly and keep them hooked.

Even celebrities and influencers have jumped on this train with the absolute explosion in makeup and skincare brands that have come up in the last year.

Check out how Sidhdhi, who goes by @bestofbeauty29 on Instagram, gives product recommendations while interspersing it with more personal posts that give her a friendly, girl next door persona.

Fashion

Thanks to Instagram, trends are hopping straight from the runway to people’s closets. We can all agree that Instagram has made the world of fashion a lot more accessible than ever before.

When it comes to brands and influencers using Instagram for fashion, the business benefits are plenty. With the new built-in features like Instagram Shopping, your followers can shop right from the app. It’s also become easier than ever to curate lists and tailor your recommendations.

Leveraging fashion as your niche on Instagram can help you drive traffic, make sales, and build a loyal community. In fact, a 2021 report by the platform showed that over a third of users bought items from their feeds. On top of that, the fashion community on Instagram is more engaged too. They post three times more often than the average person and also have 230% more followers.

Whether you’re making styling videos for certain clothing pieces or doing clothing hauls to show what you bought recently, there’s a lot of room for experimentation and talking to your audience directly.

If you’re feeling confused about what to opt for as your niche, fashion can be quite forgiving in that sense.

Since it is something that’s constantly evolving, it will really allow your followers to go on that journey with you as your own style changes and refines itself.

Lifestyle

Lifestyle content is also one of those niches that will never quite go out of vogue anytime soon. However, this one can be a bit tricky to navigate as the term ‘lifestyle’ can be quite a catch-all one.

This niche mostly involves content like daily vlogs or glimpses of what your day-to-day activities are like. In that sense, it’s extremely easy to pull off from a production standpoint. Showcasing your lifestyle on Instagram can be quite lucrative too–as 80% of social media posts center around lifestyle, opinions, and personal ideas.

If you’re a beauty and/or fashion content creator, it can be easy to niche up to creating lifestyle content. The most straightforward way to start monetizing here would be to tie up with brands for sponsorships and paid partnerships, along with affiliate links for products and services you use and showcase to your followers.

Are you looking to start an Instagram page?

To sum things up, a niche is crucial as a content creator because it helps you narrow down your target audience, makes you more discoverable to the right audience, whittles down the competition, and gives you an area to be a subject matter expert so that you can start monetizing quicker.

Keep in mind that this list of niches above is just a starting point to get the wheels in your brain turning. If you want to start creating content around a completely different niche, more power to you!

A ton of creators out there have found success by opting for more unconventional or more specialized niches like real estate or relationships. Doing so allows you to cover other topics worthy of exploring and makes your content that much more original.

If you’re a newbie content creator looking for an easy way to whip up videos for your niche, try ChopChop. Our text-based online editor is a breeze from start to finish–with all the tools you’ll need to start telling amazing stories on social media.

Use our charts and tables to bring numbers and figures to life, then add some ambience with a selection from our audio library.

ChopChop also comes with an inbuilt voiceover recorder so you can easily create a narration for your clip if you so desire.

Along with automated captions to optimize your feed, we’ve also got striking graphics. Whether it’s a location tag, lower-third or any text graphic, our overlays section will add style and polish to your video.

The post 4 Most Sought After Instagram Niche Ideas in 2023 appeared first on ChopChop.Video.

Content Creator vs Content Marketer – What’s Best for You?

ChopChop — Mon, 28 Nov 2022 11:22:00 +0000

As more and more businesses and personalities develop their online presence, the world of social media marketing is becoming more and more cut-throat. What this means though is that experts in this field are suddenly high in demand.

This blog should help you make the right choice if you’re starting off your content creation journey!

If you’re just starting off, it’s definitely worth spending time to see if you’re a good fit for the content creation industry. This blog should help you decide which niche to choose.

Should you be a content writer or content creator? What about a content marketer? Though there is a considerable amount of overlap across these, there are subtle nuances between the roles.

Keep reading for our breakdown of the difference between creators vs content marketer to figure out which is right for you.

What is a Content Writer/Creator?

Content creation involves any and all activities which come under creating content that can engage your demographic and drive value.

Depending on whether you’re a content creator or writer, this could involve simply written material (like blog posts and whitepapers) or multimedia content (like testimonial videos and vlogs).

To break it down further, content writing involves all aspects of the process from ideation, secondary research, interviews with experts, finding images, optimizing SEO and keywords etc.

What is a Content Marketer/Strategist?

Content marketing mainly encompasses creating, designing, and optimizing social media campaigns. This means they have to put together a set of goals (eg increase conversions), manage the editorial calendar and content library, identify the relevant channels to publish the content on, as well as keeping track of metrics using tools like Google Analytics.

Once the writer/creator has sent out an article, video, or graphic post that aligns with the overall content marketing strategy, it is the content strategist’s job to distribute it for the widest reach and target it to the relevant audiences.

The goal of a content marketing manager is to influence users to change their opinion or behaviors. This could mean anything among providing a fresh take on an industry topic or encouraging them to make a purchase.

The key objective here is to push out your content to the desired audience and boost engagement. This is why the terms content strategist and marketer are often used interchangeably.

In other words, while content creation is a creative role, content marketing is more of a strategic role.

Though you are constantly optimizing your metrics across both if these, they require different skill sets and industry knowledge. You can play to your strengths and decide accordingly.

Skills of a Content Writer

When it comes to content writing, your focus is on the A to Z of the written word. The goal is to simply to create effective content. Great content assets are error-free, research-backed, and full of insights that drive value to your audience.

However, you need more than good writing skills you need to thrive in this role.

Creating successful content means conducting research, competitor analysis, and ideating new and relevant topics that can lend discoverability to your brand.

In addition, you may also need to take on some aspects of content promotion and marketing. Since your assets are already defined under a pre-determined content strategy, you are by default engaged in its marketing. Here, it is always helpful to have some basic digital marketing skills like SEO optimization and keyword research.

Another example of this is adjusting the tone or length of a blog article to suit your audience.

Skills of a Content Marketer

Though content marketing comes with a focus on execution, it also involves influencing parts of the content creation process. Content marketers must figure out what the audience wants, and how it can be delivered best to them.

So, in addition to core marketing skills like in-bound lead generation, you would also need to be well-versed with consumer research and data analysis to identify target demographics and the types of content fit for them.

To succeed in content marketing, one can benefit from having a wide range of experience across content types and styles.

Because this is a strategic role, they must also have a long-term vision. This is where having experience in digital content across platform types is beneficial.

Digital marketing is also a must-have skill to crunch the data behind the content. Skills like social media marketing, email marketing, pay-per-click advertising and SEO are all beneficial here. Having a solid foundation in automation tools like Hubspot or Trello is also a must to optimize marketing strategy.

Project management also consists of a huge chunk of content marketing because one has to oversee content assets across their life cycle. Good communication skills are a must to translate client objectives into successful campaigns.

Use ChopChop To Create Content That Engages

If you’re thinking of starting off as a content creator, video is certainly one of the first things you should be skilling up on. Whether it’s increased engagement on social media platforms, or better traction on your blogs for SEO, videos and video content creators are in high demand!

And while video creation might seem intimidating at the outset, the fact is that with new tools such as ChopChop, the entire post-production process has become super-simplified.

ChopChop has everything you need to easily create eye-catching videos for social media.

Use our simple text-based forms to create beautiful videos that drive engagement to your brand. Add background music from our audio library, select titles that pop, and even add a voiceover using our in-built recorder.

We’re completely free to use for six months, if you sign up for early access here.

Looking to start your journey as a creator?

Now that we’ve broken down the differences between these two roles, we hope you have a better sense of which you’re better suited for.

Remember that since there is a fair amount of overlap between them, you can always start out in one field and slowly branch out into the other.

Don’t forget to check out ChoChop and head back to our blog for more useful tips for creators just like you.

The post Content Creator vs Content Marketer – What’s Best for You? appeared first on ChopChop.Video.

How To Make A Travel Vlog – 8 Tips for Beginners

ChopChop — Mon, 21 Nov 2022 11:20:00 +0000

Sunny beaches, breathtaking peaks, and gorgeous river views. Travel vlogs are those epic super-cuts that capture a trip and help your audience feel like they were right there with you.

Whether you’re trying your hand at a travel vlog to remember a fun trip, or intend to be a travel vlogger full time, we’ve got some pointers that can help.

This type of content appeals to casual watchers as well as locals and even tourists looking for spots to visit on their own trip. Not only do travel videos perform quite well, but if you play your cards right, there’s a good chance your content may get picked up by the algorithm.

However, what if we told you you don’t have to be a seasoned travel vlogger to create eye-catching travel videos?

In this post, we will walk you through how to make a travel vlog that drives traction to your Youtube channel or brand. Even if this is your first ever travel video, we’ve rounded up some tips that will help you nail it from the conceptualization to the edit stage.

Eight Tips To Make A Great Travel Vlog

Determine the goal of your travel vlog

As we often say here at ChopChop, the purpose of making your video decides the final output. And it’s no different here.

Travel vlogs will contain different shots, narrative structures, and accompanying details depending on whether you’re trying to educate, inform, entice – or all of the above.

Once you have figured out your location and travel plans, the time has come to determine what you hope to communicate or achieve with this vlog.

Do you want to deliver purely information, like details of itineraries, stay, budgets, and the like? Or, do you want to weave a narrative around the trip and just catch your audiences up with what you did? Or perhaps it’s a bit of both.

Select a niche within Travel Videos

Since travel videos are a dime a dozen on most social media platforms, it’s important that you do everything you can right from the conceptualization stage to stand out from the competition.

Some examples of niches could be solo travel, female solo travel, eco-tourism, backpacking, etc. Find the lifestyle and niche that aligns with the kind of trip you will be taking.

Remember that a travel vloggers’ job is to deliver a new perspective that shows people undiscovered areas and/or activities.

And if you’re highlighting a very popular site/area, your personality must shine through enough to make the audience stick around.

Find Your Audience

This tip follows from the previous one. Once you find the kind of audience you want to attract, say, first-time solo travelers, you can begin filming and editing in such a way that it covers the important questions and key concerns they would need answers to.

The ratio of cinematic content to informational content, voiceover portions, length, cutaways, etc. will be determined by the type of audience you are trying to reach.

Leverage Competitor Research

Another tip that can really help here is to do some competitor research. And with no dearth of great travel content out there, you can really get granular with what to look for. You’ll never run out of travel vlog ideas if you just take a quick look at what’s trending.

Try watching videos in your niche, those likely to be watched by the audience you’re targeting. In fact, you can even check out other travel channels shot at the same location you intend to visit. Check out travel guides made by fellow vloggers. Be sure to include in your video the things they may have overlooked.

This will allow you to study what kind of information is already available for audiences and what further queries you can address through your videos to really drive value through them.

Now that we’ve covered the ideation stage, let’s move on to some travel vlogging tips and how to shoot the best shots.

Don't Think of Equipment At The Start

When it comes to travel vlogging, your smartphone’s camera is all you’ll need to get started. If you have a vlogging camera or DSLR already, even better. If you’re doing adventure sports or activities like diving, then getting your hands on a GoPro would be great.

However, don’t let equipment be the reason you delay your travel vlogging journey. What’s important is that you explore the full range of whatever kind of camera is available to you.

There are tons of resources online that will help you figure out how to customize your camera settings best for the type of shot you want to capture.

Structure Your Footage With Mini Montages

When you’re sitting down to do video editing sifting through all the amazing content you got for your YouTube vlog channel, it’s easy to get overwhelmed.

That’s why, right when you’re filming, it can help to think of large chunks of footage involving a single activity or area as a mini-sequence or montage of its own.

Essentially, your vlog will then be a bunch of mini montages strung together.

You could even prepare a rough script based on the list of activities you have on your itinerary for that day.

Conceptualizing it in this manner will help you break activities into specific sequences and use that to create self-contained stories wherever possible within your vlog.

Remember we want a healthy mix of show and tell.

Don’t be afraid to break down the video by day/area visited if there’s a lot of material to cover like Lois You does.

Make the video easier for the viewer to navigate too by adding things like chapters.

Include Insider Voices

Something that travel vloggers often miss out on is incorporating local residents and voices into the mix.

While you are the main protagonist of the video, having a great supporting cast will help you unearth nuggets of insider information that audiences would not find elsewhere. That’s exactly what YouTuber Kristine Caaloa did for her vlog in Nepal.

Plan Your Content & Optimize

This advice applies to all types of videos, but especially travel vlogs due to the volume of content out there. Use keyword search to plan video titles and some more secondary research to get a sense of the popular types of thumbnails.

Keep optimizing and tweaking based on the kind of response you get. Remember to keep doing you, but also incorporate trending formats or styles to rack up the eyeballs.

Try ChopChop for fuss-free, block-based edits

Part of making a travel vlog successful is cross-posting content from it across platforms.

With ChopChop, you can import your vlog footage and easily condense it into short, snackable videos for social media. Our card-based editing system comes with virtually no learning curve and is super intuitive to use.

We’ve got all the features you’ll need from basic edits to voiceovers, an audio library, and more.

Are You Ready To Make Your First Travel Vlog?

Now that we’ve given you our top tips on how to kill it at the travel vlog game, get out there and start making movie magic.

You can sign up for ChopChop here. Remember to also check back on our blog for more actionable advice to improve your video creation efforts.

The post How To Make A Travel Vlog – 8 Tips for Beginners appeared first on ChopChop.Video.

The Ultimate Video Marketing Guide: 10 Best Practices and Tips

ChopChop — Mon, 07 Nov 2022 11:21:00 +0000

Video marketing is one of the best content types to add to your marketing strategy. But venturing into this whole new terrain of content marketing can feel super intimidating.

And if it’s your first video marketing attempt, it will set the tone for the rest.

So if you don’t know what you’re doing, it can do more harm than good and put your viewers off. And once you figure out the winning combination, you’ll be able to repurpose them to drive your social media marketing or email marketing strategy too.

So no matter your industry or business type, here are our top 10 tips to help you create stellar video content that will skyrocket your sales!

P.S. We’ve divided these into the planning, production, and post-production stages, so feel free to jump around depending on where you are in the video creation process.

Once you’ve gotten the key logistics out of the way, like fixing a budget and defining your objectives it’s time to plan!

Planning Your Video Content

1. The AIDA framework is your best friend

This is an industry staple when it comes to all things video marketing (Attention, Interest, Desire, Action). This is going to be the core framework guiding your script. Even though what you’re making is at its core a video ad, it must tell a convincing story to be worthy of social sharing.

With Attention, you want to get your viewer’s attention right away with a relatable situation and keep their interest by touching on a pain point specific to them. With Desire, you want to keep them hooked by showing exactly how your product addresses that pain point and offer a glimpse of how it will improve their quality of life. And at the final Action stage, you want to encourage them to buy now by tantalizing offers or discounts.

Let’s use an example of a small business owner who makes workout programs. If her target group is young women in their late 20s, she could center her video marketing campaign around a 6-week, 1 hour bridal boot-camp during the wedding season.

By doing so, she’s addressing a very specific audience, not just women looking to lose weight–but busy women looking to get in shape fast for their wedding day.

When creating videos for social media, the first few seconds are absolutely essential so make sure to create an out-of-the-box hook that will drive traffic to your page.

If you want to read more about the AIDA model, check out this link.

2. Map out your buyer persona to nail video marketing

No matter your video type, in order to create quality content that adds value, create a fictional buyer persona, a profile of who you’re making the video for. This could be your target audience or a more specific subsegment.
Get together with your team and brainstorm! A standard buyer persona includes basic demographic details (age, location, family), interests/hobbies, motivations, goals, preferences (channels where they can be reached etc.) and pain points.
If you need help with creating a buyer persona, head this way.

3. Keep your marketing video under 2 minutes

When creating your script, make sure you’re already optimising for video marketing by keeping the video length under 2 minutes.
In the age of infinite scroll, many will likely not stick around past the first 10 or 15 seconds. The view count doesn’t always tell the full picture in video marketing, engagement does. So for the ones that do, get to the crux quick and hold their attention for the remainder of the video.

4. Create a storyboard to help you visualize your video content

Video marketers will often forget about storyboarding while they write the script. But a storyboard can help make your life so much easier during the production and post-production stages. These aren’t just for animated videos after all.
In addition to the framing of the shot, a storyboard can also include its duration, transitions, visual elements, graphics, potential sound effects, etc. It can be as simple as a pencil sketch on paper. Whether your content is dialogue-driven like a customer testimonial or info-driven like explainer videos or a product demo, this is a crucial step.

Best Practices for the Production Process

Once you’ve got all the prep out of the way, it’s time to shoot!

5. Don’t forget to take test shots

If you’ve got the legroom for a video production team, they’ll probably handle this part. But if you’re doing it yourself, make sure to take test shots at your chosen location mimicking the exact conditions of the actual shoot day–the same time of day, the same camera angles and framing etc.

6. Keep the branding consistent wherever possible

With any piece of new marketing content, it’s super important to remain consistent for better brand awareness. This can be through the color scheme you use, the style of video content (eg a product-focused vs. a talking heads video, a tutorial vs. an unboxing), or even your frames and props reflecting the brand and brand colors.

7. Do multiple retakes and try out different styles

Even if you feel you’ve got your shot on the first go, take a couple more retakes with different angles and delivery styles. This is super important especially if your video is dialogue-heavy, like an explainer video or product review. This will ensure you have a sizeable bank of content that you could even mix and match to post on different platforms. For example, a longer version could go on your YouTube channel or a shorter one as a Facebook video.

Post-production Stage

8. Decide on a video editor

If this is your first time making video marketing content and you’re working with a tight budget, an intuitive, web-based editor like ChopChop can help you get the job done fast. From automated captions to voiceover recording and and adding logos to your brand videos, it’s got all the features to take your content to the next level .

9. Optimize for social media

There’s a couple best practices to follow while sharing your video on different platforms, whether you are making a Youtube video or any social media video–like adding captions for viewers watching without sound, changing the aspect ratio to suit different social media platforms, and chopping out scenes as necessary to suit different platforms. You could always try video ads as well. Again, you can easily clone your video into different aspect ratios on ChopChop.

Clone your video into different aspect ratios on ChopChop

10. Don’t miss out on SEO

We often forget that marketing videos can also be optimized for SEO. So be sure to add keywords in the name of your video file and the title, but avoid making it feel dry or too sales-y.

Wrapping Up

Now that you’ve got our ultimate guide for making a killer marketing video, it’s time to script and shoot and overhaul your video marketing strategy! And don’t forget to check out ChopChop for a fuss-free video creation experience – yup, you can create videos with zero editing – that helps your marketing video stand out. And check out our other blog posts for how-to videos, testimonial videos, product videos and other video marketing ideas.
And for more video marketing tools and tips and digital marketing strategies for your video campaign, check out HubSpot!

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How to Make a Time Lapse Video – Best Practices

ChopChop — Mon, 24 Oct 2022 11:21:00 +0000

Think back to that gorgeous sunset you saw on your last vacation in a tropical paradise.

What if there was a way to relive those cotton candy skies as they changed color? You can experience the progression unfold with a time lapse video.

Similarly, time-lapse videos can help capture other events like snowfall, blooming flowers, a busy street corner, and more. Many people think of these as the opposite of slow motion.

Time-lapse videos are essentially a series of still images captured in real-time, but at super low frame rates. And they’re quite easy to make nowadays, with most smartphones having a dedicated time-lapse function.

In other words, your phone will automatically stitch the images together. When played back in video mode, you can speed these up and watch the magic happen all over again.

Here we talk about the best practices on how to make a time lapse video.

How to use the native time-lapse feature on your phone

First, if you’re looking for a quick and easy way to get the job done, whip out your phone and put together a readymade time-lapse video using your phone camera.

Open up your native camera app.
If you have an iPhone, you’ll see the Time-lapse option near the shutter button. If you’re using an Android device, you may need to scroll through the options and hit ‘More’ to find the time-lapse option.
If you find your phone does not come with an in-built time lapse feature, check out the apps Hyperlapse here for iPhone users and Framelapse here for Android phone.
When selected, you will see a red record button appear on your screen. Tap it when you have positioned your camera correctly.
When you’re happy with what you’ve captured, tap the record button once more.
You can find your fully stitched-together time-lapse video in your gallery.
When you’re ready to jazz up your video or want to mess around with the speed, head to ChopChop’s online video editor. Here, you’ll be able to mess around with the speed, add sharp titles, graphics, music, and even a voiceover to take your creation to the next level.

Best practices for recording a time-lapse video

Now, we’ll go over some best practices that will help you with eye-catching time-lapse videos that do full justice to your subject.

1) Do a recce and try to frame your subject carefully

Walk around the area you’re going to film, and try out a couple of different framing techniques. All your shots will be captured in this steady frame only, so be super intentional about what you include.

2) Charge your phone

Ensure that your phone has an adequate battery supply. If not, connect it to a portable charger as you’re likely going to be filming for several minutes. Make sure you’re not leaving your phone out in the sun for too long.

3) Carry a tripod or create a makeshift tripod for steady shots

Remember to use a gimble/tripod and secure your phone so that it won’t tilt or fall over. If none are handy, use whatever you have in your surroundings–books, rocks, walls, you get the drill.

4) Experiment with speed settings

Play around with changing the speed during different intervals of your time-lapse to create added interest and emphasize the ‘climax’.

5) Add filters that elevate the mood

Once you’re ready to edit, you can even add funky filters to add to the mood of your videos. If you’ve filmed a busy crosswalk for instance, add a black-and-white filter to give it that slick, noir feel.

For even more advanced tips and advice on useful equipment, check out this article from Studio Binder.

To learn more about the different types of shots you can include in your time lapse clip, check out this video by Matthew Vandeputte.

Examples of Successful Time Lapse Video

Now, let’s take a look at some successful time lapse videos and see what they got right.

This video has over 25 million views, so you know it has really blown it out of the water. But it isn’t just your standard time-lapse.

Instead, the creator uses a different clip that shows him moving around in different parts of the world. It’s an interesting play on the conventional time-lapse, and adds additional visual interest.

The concept is definitely a novel one and will be enough to inspire curiosity for viewers to click on the video. The travel aspect of it also makes it appeal to a larger group of audiences.

This time-lapse is an effective one due to its sheer simplicity. Not only does the creator use photos to capture herself at different points, but she also swaps out the images on a weekly basis.

This makes it easier for her in the editing room to put all the stills together and makes the growth more noticeable from one week to another.

The use of something as simple and classic as the black and white filter also adds a certain amount of depth and moodiness to the video, even though the subject matter is fairly mundane.

Are you looking to shoot a time-lapse video?

Armed with our best tips, you’re now all set to get out there and make your very own time lapse video.

And don’t forget to check out ChopChop’s newbie-friendly online video editing tool, which can help you tell the most impactful story with your time-lapse video in minutes.

Add some narration with our in-built voiceover recorder, set the mood with selections from our audio library, or throw in some cool text to add context about the place and time.

You can sign up for early access here (it’s completely free).

The post How to Make a Time Lapse Video – Best Practices appeared first on ChopChop.Video.

How to Make a Study Vlog [4 Tips + Recommendations]

ChopChop — Mon, 17 Oct 2022 11:20:00 +0000

If you’re confused over what type of videos to start your content creation journey off with, study vlogs are a great pick.

With the world transitioning over to online learning from their bedrooms, study vlogs have an instant relatability to them.

The study vlog is also one of the most-watched type of vlog, especially if your target audience is Gen Z. This content has become so popular that it built a thriving community around the world.

So why should you make a study vlog for your YouTube channel? Well, it’s a great video to start off with as a young creator who may be balancing university or school on the side. Since you must be studying in any case, you might as well vlog the process and share tips with your audience.

In this article, we will be taking you through how to make a study vlog of your own and start building your audience today.

Study vlogs are one of the easier types of videos to pull off if you’re looking to start vlogging. Unlike travel vlogs, for example, you don’t need a ton of pricy inputs like a scenic foreign location or expensive cameras to make an engaging video.

Four Tips on How To Make A Study Vlog

1. Figure Out Your Aesthetic And Stick To It

Though study vlogs don’t require breathtaking views of nature, viewers generally flock to these YouTube videos for their aesthetic quality.

In fact, the best study vlog channel on YouTube is the kind that takes studying from being a stressful and tiring activity to a calming, relaxing experience. Your goal is to provide that serene vibe.

So, it’s important that you figure out what your aesthetic is and use that to make your video stand out. This could be through the props in your video — for example, stationery and desk implements — or even in post-production elements like the music.

You can also lean into trending subcultures like Dark Academia to inform your desk setup and the music, colours or style of your video like this vlogger did (this would also help your video get picked up by social media algorithms).

2. Pick Your Subject Areas & Niche Down

Defining your subject matter will help you further niche down your content and bring it to the relevant audience.

Mention the name of your program, course, or degree in the video title and drive value by giving viewers tips on specific subjects or areas within that field.

For example, there are several study vloggers in India like The Medico whose niche is NEET preparation videos. All their content revolves specifically around preparing for this competitive exam.

You can niche down even further by figuring out what topics you will cover within the vlog itself. StudyTube and StudyTok broadly encompass stationery reviews, instructional videos on how to study more efficiently, etc. Incorporate these into your vlog to switch up the pace and make it more useful for your viewers.

Will you make a study tips vlog, like in this video by Emma Louise?

Or will you film raw footage in real-time to help those who want an online study buddy, as the Study to Success YouTube channel does? Or perhaps you want to additionally share some helpful resources?

3. Add Visual Interest To Your Study Vlog

Study vlogs often tend to be longer videos, so you want to ensure that your frame is just right. It can help to use a multi-camera setup to up your video production game. For decent video quality, your phone and an additional vlogging camera should do the trick.

Incorporating different types of camera angles will add visual interest to the viewer, especially if the majority of the video involves you sitting in one location.

YouTube creator Love, Nika has nailed it with videos like this one.

The various props you’re using become important here also. Change up the style of shots often, and give the audience a full 360 of the activity you’re doing. You can also purchase stationery and use supplies that fit within a consistent aesthetic to make it all look cohesive.

Seeing someone who has their notes and revision in order inspires viewers to do the same. It’s enjoyable and useful for them to see new techniques when it comes to how others set up their desks, take their notes, do revisions, etc.

When you’re making instructional video content, in particular, make sure to film each part of the process, using close-up shots that demonstrate the technique or tip adequately.

Depending on the style you’re going for, you can decide how much of your day you want to document. You can either choose to capture just the hours in which you are studying or show additional content like switching between classes, making yourself a snack, doing household chores, etc.

4. Use ChopChop To Put It All Together

Once you’ve sat down and recorded your video footage, it’s time to bring it together with ChopChop.

We’ve got all the tools you need to put together a super aesthetic study vlog. Even if you’ve never used video-editing software in the past, our storyboard-based editor makes it super easy and intuitive.

You can also Record and add voice-overs right within the tool to add extra context and share additional tips.

Find the perfect upbeat yet cinematic background music from our audio library, which has hundreds of tracks for you to choose from.

You can also add captions and other text to highlight any other pointers which you want to emphasize.

Best Study Vloggers On YouTube To Inspire You

If you’re still in need of more inspiration, check out our round-up of some of the best study vloggers from around the web.

1. Studyquill

Her concise yet casual style of presentation makes you feel like you’re getting study advice from your best friend. Studyquill offers different guides for students who want to improve their ways of working. The college grad’s productivity-related content is full of useful hacks for students in school, university, or adults who feel they simply don’t have enough hours in the day. From tips on note-taking to Study With Me vlogs and stationery reviews, Jasmine has a variety of content that will suit viewers in need of study motivation or if they want to take a break.

2. love, nika

Combining productivity with aesthetics is this creator’s forte. Her editing style has given her a distinct niche in the world of StudyTube. Known best for her real-time Study With Me videos, Nika also has an excellent set of videos for those looking to upgrade their desk setup. Her minimalistic and calming videos are a favourite of stressed students around the world. Keep an eye out for her background scores, pacing, and editing style–which take studying from something daunting to more relaxing.

3. StudyNest

Closer home, StudyNest is a study vlogger who has created a lot of content around her preparations for the Chartered Accountancy (CA) and Company Secretary (CS) exams. Though she’s less popular than the other two names on this list, you can still find a lot of great videos on her channel. Not only does she share study tips for other aspirants, but she’s also got a bunch of Study With Me videos for those needing a study buddy. The great thing about this creator is that on top of creating ‘productive’ study day vlogs, she also films content when she’s taking breaks or not being productive. This larger messaging around the pressure to be productive is one that a lot of viewers can resonate with.

Are you looking to start a a Study Vlog?

Now that we’ve shared all our best tips for making a study vlog, it’s time to sit at your desk and get down to it.

And don’t forget to check out ChopChop for a fuss-free editing experience. You can sign up here.

Be sure to check back on our blog next week for more useful content creation pointers.

The post How to Make a Study Vlog [4 Tips + Recommendations] appeared first on ChopChop.Video.

How to Make Teaser Video [7 tips to get started]

ChopChop — Mon, 10 Oct 2022 11:20:00 +0000

Looking for a quick way to drum up hype for your new blog post, marketing campaign, or product launch?

A video teaser is one of the easiest and most effective ways to grab eyeballs and promote your content. Teaser videos are also super handy for repurposing longer content and getting maximum visibility across platforms.

Usually between 15 and 60 seconds at most, this type of content is easy to put together and can help you get a bigger bang for your buck. If you’ve got a longer YouTube video for example, you can break it down into smaller clips to use for platforms like Instagram and TikTok.

Not only will this help fill out your social media calendar, but it can also boost views and engagement with the original piece of content as you redirect audiences back to it.

Whether you want to know how to make teaser video for Instagram or YouTube, keep reading for our best tips. We’ve also got a few examples of teaser video ideas you can take inspiration from.

But first, here are a couple of essential ingredients that make up engaging teaser videos to get your viewers hooked.

Tip #1 - The Hook

The first couple of seconds is paramount for capturing your viewer’s attention. Here, you can select clips or add shots that address the problem you’re trying to solve. Do some research into the kind of demographic you’re after, and cater to their needs or concerns.

One way in which you can brainstorm is by having a distinct type of user in mind. Keep things out of the box, and avoid cliches.

You can even play on certain conventions or overdone concepts that your competitors or industry might be known for.

Check out how coffee brand Sleepy Owl does this. By keeping their hook focused on marketing itself, they break down the wall between themselves and their user. The hook itself centers around marketing spends, which is quite unique and encourages the viewer to stay on.

Tip #2 - The Introduction

Now that you’ve got their attention, you want to keep your viewer engaged with a quick introduction. In order to get them actually invested in your product or service, you must save some shots describing what you do or provide.

You can also do this with on-screen text. For example, by adding your brand slogan, or a one-liner that captures your mission statement (by the way, it’s really simple to do this using the ChopChop storyboard).

Even for those who may be familiar with what you do, it will act as a refresher for the kind of value you can provide to them.

Tip #3 - Narrative Arc

Good storytelling is at the heart of effective content, especially when it comes to video. You might be wondering what story you’d be able to tell in the few short seconds you have in your teaser. But it all comes down to the visual you’re able to create in the viewer’s mind.

The creators of the Rich Roll podcast achieve this very well with their teaser for an episode of the show. They intercut emotive nuggets of wisdom from their guests with sweeping shots of people doing tasks that demand motivation and determination.

Along with that, the inspirational music helps create a powerful mood that builds off the clips’ weight.

This makes the guests’ advice even more powerful. Fleshing out the theme of self-improvement, it also gives the viewers a glimpse of the things they might be able to achieve if they apply these words to their life.

Tip #4 - Captions

Your audience will often be scrolling Instagram or TikTok with their sound off. Make sure you’re catering to this segment by adding captions to your video.

Doing this will also improve how much information they’re able to retain, and make your content that much more valuable.

Tip #5 - Brand Assets

It’s super important that the viewer knows exactly who or what they’re watching. That is why it’s essential to add branded assets like your logo or a lower third detailing your expertise.

For example, if your teaser is for an epic travel vlog – it’s important for the viewer to know where exactly you come in.

Without any visible branding, it becomes unclear if you’re a travel agency providing luxurious trips to an island getaway or simply a content creator sharing about your last trip.

This is especially important due to the limited duration of the teaser format. With not much real estate to go off of, it’s all the more necessary to flash your logos or credentials to build brand awareness.

Tip #6 - Money Shots/Montage

The goal of a teaser video is to entice the viewer enough to redirect them to your other channels, landing page, or website. This is why you must go through all your footage and choose the ‘highlights’ or ‘money shots’.

Depending on the content you have, this could be a montage of scenic shots or the final output of a recipe video for example. Remember to pick your most compelling shots for this.

This teaser for make-up brand Fenty Beauty nails does exactly this.
The selection of shots not only highlights the products themselves, but also the message of inclusivity and empowerment that the brand stands for.

Tip #7 - Call To Action

The call to action is an essential component of content marketing, and the teaser video is no different.

Once you’ve gotten the viewer’s attention, it’s essential to tell them what they can do or where to go to find out more information.

Note that a call to action doesn’t have to be long or complicated at all. It could even be something as straightforward as ‘Link in Bio’. Or you can opt for a phrase like ‘Coming Soon’ along with a date in case you’re counting down to a new launch or release.

Make a killer Video Teaser with ChopChop

If you’re a brand or creator looking to boost your video marketing efforts by making a teaser video, check out ChopChop.
Our easy to use card-based video maker makes video editing seamless, even if you’ve never done it in the past.
You can also add captions, choose some funky music to go along with your shots, and even record a voiceover with our inbuilt recorder.
You can sign up for access here.

Final tips for your teaser video

Remember that the aim of a teaser video is just to tease. Be mindful of what you decide to keep without giving too much away.

The real value for the audience must still come from the full-length video or content that you want them to check out.

While editing, it is also good to keep in mind which social media platforms you are posting the teaser video to. The duration and orientation of the video may be affected by this.

For example, for Instagram, you may want to add bars around your video so that it can be within a square frame.

Check out more tips for marketing creators on our blog here.

The post How to Make Teaser Video [7 tips to get started] appeared first on ChopChop.Video.