If you look at the kind of content that is being viewed among a wide demographic, video content clearly emerges at the top as the most preferred platform. Not only are videos more entertaining, they also share information in a more engaging and crisp manner.
Today, a lot of bloggers and other social media-savvy individuals are expanding their viewer base by including videos as part of their content. The best thing about video content is that it is not particularly hard to make — you can even turn your existing blog content into a moving form!
The best part of converting a blog into a video is that you don’t need high-profile tools, whether free or paid. For starters, you can use the most basic and user-friendly presentation software known to mankind: MS PowerPoint. Here is a quick guide on how you can turn your articles into engaging, animated content.
Choose the blog post
The first and most important part is choosing the post that best fits into a video concept. If you have posts that are informative or describe the process of any given topic, it can easily be converted into a video tutorial. It helps if you have multiple posts that can be linked into a video series.
Précis down your content
This is another step you must carefully consider when editing content for your video. It is best to cut down the articles or graphs into smaller paragraphs. You can then use two-three lines to showcase the content and keep the rest for a voice-over. Once you’ve broken down the content, save it as a new document and open a new PowerPoint presentation page.
Add the content on PowerPoint
When you are all set with the content, open a PowerPoint file and go about creating various slides. Remember to make them colourful and organised to look presentable and chronological. Add relevant images and graphs where necessary to improve your video’s readability.
Convert the presentation into a video
If you are using the latest version of PowerPoint (2013), you can convert the slides into a video in six simple steps:
~ In the File tab, click on ‘Export’.
~ Under Export, click on ‘Create a Video’.
~ Set the video size and quality.
~ Under Presentation Quality tab, select pre-recorded voice-overs and sound. Remember to create individual audio files and link them with each slide.
~ Click on ‘Create a Video’ and hit save.
~ Your video should be processed in a few seconds depending on the size and once it’s done, it will be ready for upload.
Why video is essential
Most high-profile bloggers make it a habit to create both video and text content revolving around the same subject and share it as a single piece. And it can prove beneficial for your content promotion strategies. Here’s why.
Adds value : Since you are sharing more than one content type in your blog, it helps add value to the end user’s viewing experience.
Invites post engagement : Videos come along with a comments section, and if more people talk, more will want to listen.
Delivers your message faster : Viewing and listening is easier than reading, so your message is delivered at a quicker pace.
Boosts your page traffic : If you’ve got a page that needs some more visitor traffic, use videos to drive it.
Makes you stand out in the crowd : You aren’t the only one writing blogs, but you could be one of the very few who combine blogs, infographics and video together.
Remember to practise the art of converting your blogs into videos regularly to hone your skills. If you feel you’ve found the perfect video formula, learn how to make your content go viral.