Mobile video is not a type of video the way an explainer video or a testimonial video is. Those are video content styles, but mobile is a delivery system.
Over the years many different devices, large and small, have been equipped to play video. Video can now regularly be viewed on smartphones, tablets, desktop and laptop computers and TVs.
Here in 2014, YouTube says 50-percent of its traffic now comes from mobile and research shows smartphones have the edge over tablets for mobile video viewing:
http://www.marketingpilgrim.com/2014/11/smartphones-beat-tablets-for-mobile-video-views.html
Plus the mobile video audience is growing. ReelSEO says mobile video watching overall is up 400 percent from 2012:
http://www.reelseo.com/mobile-video-views-increase-400-per-cent/
What does this mean to video creators? You have to think about how your audience will watch your video and take into account the different screen sizes, audio quality differences and other potential limitations as you plan your video.
Take creative and technical steps to make your videos suitable for any device. For example, a high resolution, high definition (HD) video looks great on a big screen, but on a tiny mobile screen, the difference between HD and standard definition (SD) videos is hardly noticeable.
Here are a few considerations to keep in mind as you design, shoot and edit your next video project.
TECHNICAL
– Record video in the highest quality possible. Shooting in a mobile only format will limit your choices for sharing the video and make editing more difficult. Once you load the video into an editing system, you can save the edited high quality version in various video formats. These are also tools to convert video into mobile-compatible formats.
-For mobile viewing, you’ll want to make your video size as small as possible without degrading the quality. A small file is faster to download online and easier to play on video devices that may have limited download space.
-Check your video on your own mobile device(s) before sharing it. Make sure your video will look and sound good on whatever player your audience chooses.
CREATIVE
– Design the video’s look and feel for the smaller screens of smartphones and tablets. Avoid editing a lot of small details that would work well on a big screen TV but are lost in a video window of 4 inches.
-Simple layouts, large plain font styles and sizes, spacing for small screen clarity and strong colors are all important elements.
-Bigger, bolder images will work on most screens, regardless of size.
There’s more to both the technical and creative aspects of mobile video creation, but these are some basic points to remember.
If you’re thinking about using a mobile device to make the video, this article recommends a number of apps that help produce quality video on the go:
http://ijnet.org/en/blog/best-apps-film-and-edit-mobile-video-pro
Is mobile video in your marketing mix for 2015?