These quick tips are designed to help you get through these hard times. If you have any tips that you want to share, send them to marketing@tourismtiger.com(opens in a new tab)
If all this time confined at home has taught us anything, it’s that we all love a good snack and, more importantly, the power of video to keep us engaged and entertained. Think Netflix, TikTok, YouTube, and Instagram. But seeing other people’s videos has likely generated two strains of thought. Firstly: Woah! That’s so cool, I’d love to have content like that, and secondly: Woah! There’s no way I could ever have content like that. Working with video may seem intimidating, but with a few basic concepts(opens in a new tab), you’ll be well on your way. Video provides dynamic material to help promote your business, sell an experience, and capture a feeling that photos alone can’t do.
Use Your Guests
There are two ways to incorporate guests into your videos. First, ask them to be in your videos. This could be in the form of a quick video review which you could post on your social media, or them just generally enjoying a tour which you can then feature on your website. Secondly, your guests have likely been taking photos and videos during your whole tour, so ask them to share this footage with you and use it to promote your business. Don’t be afraid to follow up with past customers if you see something that they’ve posted online!
Technical Basics to Get You Started
Here are a few introductory tips to take your videos to the next level:
- Rule of Thirds: When it comes to composition, think of your shot as having a 3×3 divider (#), giving you 9 equal parts. This gives you a good reference for positioning the subject in an appealing way either using vertical or horizontal thirds, or the points where the “lines” meet.
- Headroom: If you’re filming a person make sure you leave enough space between where their head ends and the top of the frame. There’s nothing worse than a head suddenly being partially out of the shot.
- Stabilization: One of the most distracting things in video is shaky footage. While it’s not always entirely unavoidable (especially during active moments) you can definitely help minimize it. Ideally, use a tripod, but another great alternative while filming is to rest your elbow on your hipbone in order to use your body to help stabilize possibly shaky arms.
- Variety: In order to keep viewers watching throughout the whole video it’s important to use a mix of content. Using a combination of interviews, panoramas, close-ups, action shots and more will keep viewers engaged from start to finish.
Now that the ideas are flowing, and you’re feeling motivated there are more tips you can check out(opens in a new tab) to continue to improve your skills, additional things to consider(opens in a new tab), and content to keep you inspired(opens in a new tab). And don’t worry, you don’t need a bunch of fancy equipment to tell a compelling story—so grab your camera or cell phone and start planning today!
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