Improve video production quality with these sound and music tips
Within the past year, we have gone through thousands of videos from brands for industry overview analysis and there seems to be a few common blunders that we encounter time and time again. Here are eight common mistakes with audio that brands make in their audio content and how to fix them.
Audio Watermark still in the song – When you test out different tracks to your video in the production phase, make sure you have steps in place to ensure that the watermarked version gets deleted or the file is named in a way that it doesn’t end up uploaded to public channels by accident.
No audio – Being cheap with social media content harms your brand. Silent brand content leaves your consumers cold. Studies show that a coherent audio identity can increase your visual brand message recognition by 1200%. Don’t miss out on a chance to connect with your audience on another sensory level.
Poor music choice – A fairly common mistake that we come across is choosing a good song but it doesn’t fit the mood of the production or is in direct contrast with the brand’s identity. Professional music supervision and audio branding guidelines will help to make sure music choices represent your brand identity. The right music will increase the emotional impact of your marketing message and the overall quality of your production.
Unsuitable/Unfit lyrics – Lyrics are something to be extra careful with. When licensing a song make sure to read and UNDERSTAND what the lyrics are really about. Do a Google search for “most inappropriate song choices in advertising” to understand why.
Bad voice-over quality – Studies show that bad voice quality can decrease your credibility as an information source. Use appropriate recording equipment and try to think what’s happening in the background. Avoid noisy environments in general if that’s not the actual purpose of the video. Also, bad voice-over quality cannot be saved with great music or mixing techniques so try to avoid it.
Bad mixing in general – e.g. sound only coming from the left channel, or the background music is too loud. Invest in a hiring a mixing and mastering professional who will make sure your audio levels are just right. With good mixing, you will make sure your marketing message is presented loud and clear… but not too loud
Irregular loudness levels – Sometimes the loudness can differ quite a lot within the same social media channel. This can be very irritating if the video changes and your ears get suddenly blasted off with loud noises. This can cause frustration and anger that you don’t want to be associated with your brand. This is one of the many small things that can harm your brand. Pay attention to loudness in your content and make sure to use the same loudness levels in all your productions within the same channel.
Using the same music as your competitors – There are about 20-25 high-quality and good music library tracks that video production companies like to use in their creations. We hear them time and time again. You wouldn’t share your visual assets with your competitors so why would you risk sharing your audio identity. For this, we have a good and certain solution. Go custom. Ordering custom music is actually easier and cheaper than you think and it will do wonders for your productions overall quality and impact.
By avoiding these common blunders, you can make sure your social media channel content is high quality and a more enjoyable experience for your viewers.
The world of custom audio is waiting, what do you sound like?
