3 Unique Ways to Utilize Stop Motions and Short-Form Videos

So, we’re here to fuse the two and make them become one (in a manner of speaking). Today, we’re sharing 3 unique ways to utilize stop motions and short-form videos in your marketing strategy.

Stop Motions + GIFs‍

Who doesn’t love a good stop motion? Stop motions (also known as GIFs), do an excellent job of providing a bit of eye-catching motion, without forcing you to create a theatrical film. 
We love using stop motions to showcase work, and different editing, lighting or styling techniques. Stop motions are also phenomenal for Ecommerce (on websites, and in email marketing). In a world of stagnant and still imagery, a GIF can serve to jump off the screen, and intrigue your audience. 

Now, it’s no secret that even the most “simple” stop motions can require a good amount of time, energy and frames. In our experience, we find that right around 24fps is our stop motion sweet spot. If you don’t have time to shoot that many frames, we recommend trying to shoot at least 12. 

Of course, to each their own. Play around with creating those stop motions and GIFs, and find out what your happy place is. Do you really need 30-40 frames to convey that one GIF? Or, can you keep it a bit simpler, while still getting the message across?‍

Reels + Tik Toks‍

Ahh, everyone’s favorite topic: short-form videos for social media. We won’t waste your time discussing the rise in popularity of short form videos and platforms like Tik Tok and Instagram’s new Reels feature. Instead, we’ll just share some ideas with you, so you can create short videos as simply and strategically as possible. Sound good?

While you can create Reels and TikToks up to 60 seconds in length, we’ve found that the shorter these videos can be, the better. Generally speaking, we strive to keep things between 15-30 seconds.

Now, with Reels and TikToks, your subject matter options are endless. You can use these shorter videos to share mini how-tos and tutorials, BTS of your workspace or a recent project, befores and afters, and things that inspire you. 

The reason why we’re pro-Reels and TikTok is simple: these shorter videos can be easily repurposed across multiple platforms! You can now create Video Pins on Pinterest, which is still the top search engine platform for visual creators. Additionally, Tik Tok and Reels content can be shared via Youtube as well, in an effort to cross promote and drive traffic to your social channels. 

So, if you’re ready to make some on-brand, aesthetically pleasing Reels and TikToks, try out these apps:

• inShot (great for Tiktoks and Reels; offers a great music selection)
• Premier Rush (color grading, transitions and editing)
• Tezza (best for super short, <30 second video clips; great for trendy filters and a more vintage aesthetic)
• Kapwing (helpful for auto-generated captions, and funny/trendy memes)
• Ezgif: (A free, simple to use toolset designed primarily for creating and editing animated GIFs)

How’s that for efficiency? 😏

On Your Website

A video on your home or about page can serve to provide engagement, value and personality with your website visitors. We recommend keeping your video(s) down to 2 minutes or less. Use that video to introduce yourself, show off your work, and give a feel for your brand and business.

There’s something to be said about the power of customers and clients hearing and seeing who you really are. What better way than through video?

Need help creating those videos and GIFs?

Have no fear - we’re 3 steps ahead of you. We may or may not have put together our third course and named it Motion + Social Media Branding. And by “may or may not,” we mean that we absolutely did.

Our Motion + Social Media Branding course Bundle was created with 6 incredible creators and educators, with a focus on making short-form videos, and branded social media content. You can purchase the course from now until August 9th for just $197

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First image and second and third gif: Miachel Pruett

First gif: Helen Koker