To b-roll or not to b-roll - that is the question!
Do you need little bits of footage for ‘background’ content?
A reel-ly good idea for you before the summer holidays start
First up, if you’re local to Leighton Buzzard and want to learn how to make reels, step by step, button press by button press, then my workshop next week is for you!
Take some time to learn how to make great short videos and then you’ve got the summer, while things are quiet, to practice what you’ve learnt and get ready for that end of year push from September!
Tickets are £10, and I’d love to see you there. Book your ticket now!
This newsletter is changing - a quick word on that
I know that these posts are super valuable and packed full of loads of stuff that is helpful if you run a small business and do your own marketing.
But I’m also the worst for being super-wordy, and I’m aware that might make what I want to tell you all about a bit difficult to get through sometimes.
For my last two posts / newsletters this week and next week I’m going to start to change that a bit, and from September my focus is going to be sharing a super useful, actionable tip with you every week.
No wordiness, no waffle, just what you need to know to make your marketing better, and feel better when you’re working on it. Practical, actionable, easy to follow.
So with that in mind, let’s get into this week’s topic and tips!
What is b-roll?
B-roll is ‘supplemental or alternative footage that is intercut with the main or primary footage.’
On social media, I think it has come to mean all those bits of video that you see where someone is doing something but not specifically to camera. For example
Working at a laptop but not facing the camera
Point of View (POV) video where you can see what someone else is seeing - e.g. walking along the street
Video where someone is making something - in real time or sped up - or packing orders / doing background work in their business
You probably see a lot of it with text over the top which often gives a viewpoint or opinion, and instrumental music. Here’s an example from my Instagram account, where I took a video of me signing a contract with a client and got a surprise instead.
How would I use it?
OK, here is the thing with b-roll, or at least the thing that I always think about it.
I think that it is a great idea for ‘extra’ content.
As a small business, people want to know real tangible things about you and your business.
They want to know
What it’s like to work with you
What it’s like to buy from you
Why others trust you
Why they should work with you and trust you
Does b-roll put that across? I would argue, not really, or at least not enough.
B-roll is often more ‘inspirational’ or ‘aspirational’ content. The moving wallpaper, if you will, of the content world.
And it’s great to mix that in with other content, but I wouldn’t make it the only kind of content that I share for my business.
The reel that I just shared from my Instagram account sits alongside others that I made in the same week, one talking about the future of content creation, the other about why creating video content is hard for small businesses.
These were face to camera, me sharing my opinion, as a Creative Director, on what is happening in my industry. They are showing off what I do, how I do it, and what kind of ideas you're going to get if you work with me.
What would I tell someone about how to use b-roll content?
You are going to want to use b-roll content as ‘extra’ content, on top of short videos that are showing off exactly what you do and how you do it, ideally with your voice / face and in your own words.
B-roll content is great for viral sounds and quick opinions.
If you see a reel and you like the sound / music it is using, hit save so you can use it for your own b-roll videos
Note down little thoughts you have about your business that would be great for captions on these kind of videos - for example
‘POV: When your client just gets it’
An amusing or funny annoying thing about your work / process
Something you want to shout about / celebrate
And as I said at the start, if you want to know how to make these kind of videos, and you’re local to me in Leighton Buzzard then do join me next week to learn how!
As always, if you have any questions or want to chat more about how I can help you, then just hit reply and let’s chat!
Chat soon
Laura