🤳🏾Create content faster using this simple hack

Hey folks👋🏽

Social platforms are making so many changes that I can’t keep up. LinkedIn is reportedly testing short-form videos (I don’t know how to feel about this), while Instagram is testing longer carousels (bigger photo dumps!).

As these changes happen, I remind myself that there’s no pressure. Changes come and go as frequently as they go, and focusing on what matters to me is most important. Right now, that’s making fun content and sharing ways to do that with you.

For example, my LinkedIn carousel experiment (check the list of our most recent blogs for the article) was successful because I opened up to creative ideas.

I wish you lots of fun sharing on social from today on.

Let's get into it!

💌 In today’s email:

• 🤳🏾Execute your content ideas faster with a full stock footage library — let’s cover how to make one
• 📱Mitra shares a fun trend for Reels
• 📣 The latest social news, features, and bonus reads
• And as always, all the latest and greatest content from the Buffer blog.

Have a great weekend, and we’ll see you next Friday!

Warmly, 

Tami & the Buffer team

P.S. #Bufferchat is on Threads! Join us on Tuesdays at 12pm PT/ 3pm ET/8pm UTC. Give us a follow and hit the bell to get notified 🔔

🖊️ Deep dive: Filming your own ‘stock footage’ to help you create more content, faster

Picture this: the perfect idea for a TikTok, Instagram Reel, or YouTube Short strikes.

It’s a simple, thought-provoking quote or statement in line with the text-over-simple-clip trend on Instagram and TikTok.

All you need now is the background footage to go with it — which is where your ‘stock footage’ library comes in! Here’s how to create your own stock footage::

1. Consider what kind of footage will be most helpful for you. What videos have you gone out of your way to film in your most recent videos — could some of those shots be recreated and repurposed? What clips will help you take followers behind the scenes in your business or life?
2. Make a list. Jot down the ideas that popped into your head, and then extrapolate on them. A fitness creator, for example, might want to include things like packing their gym bag or loading up their barbell. (You’ll find some examples to spark ideas below
3. Get your recording equipment ready. Have everything you need ready to go for moments when inspiration strikes to remove the friction of filming. That doesn’t necessarily mean investing in anything particular over and above what you already use. A tripod can be handy, but I went with a sturdy water bottle that I could prop by phone up against.
4. Get filming. Here’s one part that’s best not to overthink — whenever you perform one of the tasks on your list above, get your phone or camera out and film a few minutes of it. I’ve found that unless I’m recording a timelapse or a longer clip that I plan to speed up, going for short snippets tends to work better. The last thing you want is to spend hours chopping up your stock footage to something you can actually use.
5. Create a stock footage folder. Save all your stock footage in a specific folder on your phone or device so it’s easy to find and sift through when you’re looking for something specific.
6. Block time out to film stock (optional). If you’re not building up your stock footage library as much as you’d like, you could dedicate a day, afternoon, or even an hour to film. Here, you’ll want to review your content calendar to be strategic about the shots you need to get and pick your location accordingly.
7. Set up filming ‘dates.’ If you’re a social media manager who needs clips of a business owner creating their product, set it up. If you’re a creator, you could ask a partner or friend to come to a couple of locations with you to film or even team up with another creator and film for each other.

🪴 Four creators skyrocketing growing for fun with Buffer

We pride ourselves on being an excellent tool for entrepreneurs and business owners to grow on social media — and our users were more than happy to back us up.

• Michael Piperno on Linkedin: “What used to take me hours now takes me minutes. Easily 2 hours saved per week.”
• Nathalie Tran on Instagram: “My engagement has increased around 999% on Pinterest!”
• Jennifer’s Fading Memories podcast: “I’ve made over $8,000 in podcast sponsorship since using Buffer”
• Adriana on LinkedIn: “Buffer has been the player in my following growth on my personal LinkedIn and Twitter accounts, over 5,300 followers. I cannot imagine life without Buffer.”

Want to skyrocket your growth? Click the link below to get started with Buffer today!

👇🏽 The latest from the blog

• I Posted LinkedIn Carousels for a Week – Here's What Happened: In this article, I’ll explain my reasoning, process, and results for posting PDF carousels daily to my LinkedIn profile for six days.
• TikTok Algorithm Guide 2024: Everything We Know About How Videos Are Ranked: A deep dive into the TikTok algorithm, how it works, and how you can work with it to enhance your visibility and engagement on the platform.
• How I Adjust My Business and Prices for Inflation (and Communicate Those Changes With Customers): Like many businesses, this small chocolate brand has faced inflation challenges over the past few years. Learn the system that is helping them adjust their processes and prices to adapt.
• How to Handle a Social Media Crisis as a Content Creator: The bigger you grow on social media, the more likely you will run into a situation requiring deft handling. Here's how to tackle that according to expert Kait Shiels.

📱Social tip of the week from Mitra, Buffer’s Social Media Manager 

“Some days I am just on fire…what can I say? 🕶”

This is a fun trend going around on Reels right now where you can highlight something incredible that you do in your work! Or you can go another route and poke fun at yourself, highlighting a not-so-incredible task but acting like it was a big achievement. 😆

You can get a video of yourself lip-synching with the audio and add text that mentions what you’re referring to.

Check out this example from @roysdigitalmedia having a little fun over writing the perfect caption.

🤳 What's happening in social?

The new Threads fediverse features are now available in a few countries, including the US; LinkedIn is reportedly testing a new short-form video experience; YouTube adds ‘members-only Shorts’ to help drive creator subscriptions; X increases DM group chat limit to 256 members; Instagram tests a new option to comment on specific frames within a carousel update

Get these updates and more here!

Thanks for reading! 💟

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