Kyle Sulerud - January 20, 2021Let’s go over some recording tips to help you record high-converting YouTube Ads that come out looking and sounding fantastic.
You don’t need to hire a professional film production crew, but if you’re recording your own ads, there are some basic tips and guidelines you should follow so that your ads look presentable and so that people actually pay attention to them.
Messaging is Most Important
Let me first say: If you have a really high-quality ad but you’re not saying the right thing, that ad is not going to do well. You could have a very low quality, low production ad, but if you’re saying the right thing, that ad could do better. The best ads are going to have the right messaging and quality audio and video. (I have a whole series planned to help you figure out the right things to say in your videos so stay tuned!)
Use a Decent Microphone
Quality audio is important, but you don’t need to use a $500 microphone. In fact, the microphone on your smartphone is probably good enough. There are better options such as a USB microphone on your computer, a lapel microphone, or a boom microphone. What you really want to avoid would be any type of headphone microphone or any built-in microphone. The quality of these microphones is going to be very poor.
Learn and Use the Optimal Settings For Your Specific Microphone
Spending a lot of money on a microphone isn’t going to ensure that you have great audio quality. You need to make sure you’re using that microphone properly and that the settings for the microphone are optimally set up for what you’re recording.
Location is Key
The location where you are recording can also have a big impact on the audio quality. If you’re on a beach next to a bunch of rolling waves or in the middle of a city, there might be a lot of background noise. A little bit of noise is okay, but you want to make sure that it is not too much so that it distracts the viewer from what you’re saying.
Some locations can also have a lot of echo. If you’re sitting in an empty room with concrete floors and brick walls, there will be a lot of echo. You can help this a lot by putting foam or blankets on the walls and floors. This helps to prevent sound waves from bouncing around so much and will greatly diminish the echo.
Test the Audio Playback
As you are getting your microphone and audio figured out, make sure you test the playback. You don’t want to record hours of footage only to find out that the sound quality wasn’t as good as you thought. Headphones are best for testing playback because they’ll give you the purest version of the sound.
Ensure Your Volume is at a Good Level
You also want to make sure your volume is at a good level. You don’t want your ad to come up on YouTube and it is suddenly a lot quieter or louder than the videos that people have been watching. So as you’re testing your playback, you can go play some Mr. Beast videos or something, and then you go over to your audio and make sure the volume is about the same. Pay attention to this and fix it with some editing if necessary.
Use a Good Quality HD Camera
You want to use a good quality HD camera and your phone probably has one built in so don’t be shy about using it to record. I wouldn’t recommend using a built-in computer camera. Usually, these aren’t very quality. Of course, there are higher quality cameras you can get. I’m not going to go into too much detail on those, but keep in mind that just spending a lot of money on a camera doesn’t mean you’re going to have great video quality. You still need to know how to use your camera, so…
Watch Tutorials to Learn How to Properly Use Your Camera
If you’re investing in a higher-quality camera, make sure to watch tutorials on how to use it. There are some features that may ruin your video. For example, most cameras have an autofocus feature. This sounds like it would be good, but depending on the camera, if you’re moving around just a little bit, your focus is going to be going in and out and this could be very distracting for the viewer. You probably want to turn that off, but then that means you’ll have to figure out what other settings would be best. A good tutorial about your camera will explain the optimal settings.
Also, try to make sure your camera isn’t moving around too much as you’re filming. This might mean getting a tripod or holding your arm as still as possible. If you’re going to be moving around, you may want a stabilizer or a gimbal device to eliminate shakiness.
Film With Good Lighting
Lighting is an important quality when you’re filming. If you’re outside during the day, the lighting should be good. Any type of natural light works really well for videos so you shouldn’t have to worry about lighting if you’re outside. If you’re inside, if you can get by a window, which will give you a lot of natural light and help with your video quality. If natural lighting isn’t an option, you can invest in a professional lighting setup with diffusers and the whole works. Or, at the very least, just make sure you’re in a well-lit room.
In general, you want as much light pointing at you as possible. Just make sure that the light doesn’t wash you out. On the other end of the spectrum, don’t let your lighting get too dark.
If your lighting is poor or your audio is bad, people might instinctively skip your ads just because they’re not easy to watch. Get these components right to have the best chance of running high converting ads!