As some people return to the workplace while remote working increasingly becomes the new normal, we can be sure that video’s prevalence is not going away any time soon.

Video provides an opportunity to be transparent, to present the face of the organisation and to communicate with humanity. This is incredibly important in these times when businesses have to communicate many difficult or strategic internal and external messages.

But it also typically takes a lot of time and money to get video looking right: two things in short supply for many organisations.

User Generated Content (UGC) provides an alternative to big budget productions, but how do you manage the often chaotic nature of UGC and ensure your message is consistently on brand both in look and feel and tone of voice?

The technology in smartphone cameras has improved so radically in recent years that you can now deliver footage of a quality close to that of professional video kit. But with the added opportunity of capturing the moment in a way never previously possible.

It is important to create premium content so that you can rise above average video production values. 

Here are my ten tips and insights into how to become the latter.

1. Stability, light and sound
User generated content is becoming more and more prevalent – don’t let the quality of video clips let your brand down. Three things about user generated content that are great: it can be relevant and timely – providing the immediacy of grabbing the moment; it provides the ability to provide a reaction; and it provides a feeling of authenticity.

But there are three ways in which UGC can let you down: stability, light and sound. So, always try to be as stable as you can when shooting footage; control as far as possible your shooting environment; light your subject well; and elevate the audio production to get better quality sound.

2. Time critical content 
Keep internal messaging fresh and timely. With many people looking for guidance from trusted sources a daily briefing from the CEO and senior management will help to keep a dispersed team together or a client abreast of ongoing changes.

3. Authenticity 
This is essential, especially during these difficult times. Hit the right note with a personal piece shot by yourself, of yourself, from your own home.

4. Pre-record
Wherever possible, try to pre-record as well as going live. Pre-recorded footage allows you to shoot as many times as necessary to get the script bang on message; especially with an integrated autocue function on your phone.

5. Consider different locations
Now that we’re all highly skilled virtual workers, consider ways in which you can shoot videos across a number of locations or even countries. Wherever or whenever it is shot, it’s still possible to have the final product edited and passed through legal or brand compliance on the very same day.

6. Brand compliance
Do not let your brand compliance slip when times are difficult. Ensure you stand out from the crowd with professionally produced, fully branded animated intros, outros and lower thirds. These can easily be created well in advance of any shot footage and on-brand video content ensures continuity across all shared communications. 

7. Control is key
Centralise all content creation and, more importantly, publishing. Keep full control over what is made public whilst at the same time empowering your staff or clients to run a little wild with their creativity giving them opportunities to create multi angle or even multi camera shots! The choice should be yours to see what fits and what should be left in on the cutting room floor.

8. Keep up with the changes
Right now, businesses need to respond to changes to their working environment and new ways of working on an almost daily basis. You need the ability to react to this and create timely video content whilst it is still relevant and on topic.

9. An essential element to every video
Make it fun, make it engaging or make it memorable. We should always be asking ourselves: will it be watched in its entirety and shared – will it grab attention and pique curiosity? What do you tend to pass on to your connections? Ask yourself if your video content is timely, relevant or rewarding. If it ticks any of these boxes, it's more likely to be watched and shared!

10. Get it seen!
Promote your video content across social media channels or internally throughout your organisation, fully realising your video’s potential and making it easy for users to find and share.

Written by Alex Hughes, CEO and co-founder of video editing platform Binumi Pro