In the past few years, we have seen the shift within the social media platforms to everyday people watching more videos on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and of course, YouTube and now TikTok. With the growth of these platforms, RIGHT NOW, one of the best ways to engage with your audience is through video content. 

This is great news for those of us who want to use video marketing as a way to connect with our audience and promote our products or services! 

However, creating videos for social media marketing can be a daunting task, especially if you lack confidence in getting in front of the camera and coming up with ideas to create videos on a regular basis.

Trust me - I have been here… And even though, I am feeling more confident, it’s an ongoing process and some days I feel more confident than others…

Luckily, there are some things you can do to increase your confidence and make sure that your videos are relevant to your audience. With a bit of planning and effort, anyone can create engaging and creative videos that can even help you promote your products or services! I promise…

Here are a few tips to help you boost your confidence with creating social media marketing videos:

1. One way to find confidence with creating social media videos is to have a clear idea of what you want to achieve with your content. What are your goals? Who is your target audience? What kind of message do you want to communicate? Once you know the answers to these questions, it will be much easier to plan and execute your video strategy. (more details on goal planning here). Plus, it can also help to build up a bank of ideas so that you're never stuck for something new to post.

2. Another tip for creating great social media videos is to keep things simple. You don't need fancy equipment or editing software - a smartphone and some basic editing skills will suffice. It's important to focus on quality over quantity. This means that you shouldn't try to pump out as many videos as possible without taking the time to ensure that they're well-made and interesting.

Keep your videos short, sweet, and to the point; no one wants to watch a ten-minute commercial masquerading as a social media post! UNLESS - that ten-minute video is detailed in helping your target audience with a pain point they are suffering from - and that you can help them with.

Consistently means something different for everyone. You DON"T have to be creating videos every day. If you want to start slow, and create one video a week for Instagram Reels - go for it. 

3. Don't try to do everything yourself - enlist the help of friends or family members if you're feeling nervous about being in front of the camera. They can help you set up your shots, hit record, and even provide moral support! You can always book a 45-minute one-on-one session with me to help brainstorm ideas so you can feel confident in your ideas. 

4. Make sure that you're creating videos for social media that are relevant to your target audience. There's no use in making videos that nobody will want to watch, so take the time to figure out what kinds of things your audience is interested in. Use trending audio (I wrote a long blog post on how to find trending audio on Instagram Reels), and make sure to make your videos relevant to your niche!

If you aren't sure where to start - ask yourself what kind of content you would want to see from someone in your industry. What types of videos do you find yourself watching for longer, or find yourself wishing you could create. Also - if you aren't your own target audience, ASK them what they want to see from you. The more unique your videos are, the more likely people are to remember them (and share them with their friends).

5. Don't be afraid to experiment with different types of social media videos until you find what works best for you and your brand. There are all sorts of possibilities out there - from educational “how-to” style videos, funny clips featuring behind-the-scenes footage, customer testimonials, or even just short snippets highlighting your products or services.

If you don't want to show your face - don't. Find someone at your business who would like to be the "face" of the brand, or share behind-the-scenes clips of your work life. 

The important thing is that you put yourself out there and have fun with it; social media should be about connecting with others, not selling them something (the selling comes from building relationships and getting your connections to know, like, and trust you - and video is one of the best ways to show off your personality and build on that trust - ultimately selling your product or service). 

6. Ask for feedback and check your analytics. Once you've started putting out regular video content, it's important to get feedback from your audience so that you can continue improving. Ask people what they think of your videos in comments or surveys, and use this information to inform future productions. Checking out your analytics within the apps also helps tell you what type of content is doing the best. Look once a month to see if there are any trends and if those trends change.

7. Check in with yourself once you start getting into a routine of creating and posting content. If you enjoy creating content, it will make it a lot easier to keep building on your confidence to create even more social media videos throughout the week. Keep track of your wins and when you feel the most confident when you create. Maybe it's after you get all dolled up and are feeling gorgeous. Maybe it's a time of day when you are feeling energetic. Create content during the times when it makes sense for you!

Now that you've seen how simple it is to create videos, try making one in the next few days! And remember - everyone starts somewhere - you don't need to have Hollywood-level production values or million-dollar equipment to create great content. Just start with what you have and work on improving your confidence, and your videos over time.