Social media is a moshpit of content creators all trying to stand out in the crowd. If you find yourself among them and are hoping to learn how to improve your YouTube, Instagram, or TikTok shorts, you’ve come to the right place. This quick guide will fill you in on five things you can do to hopefully increase your views, engagement, and following.
Use an AI Dubber
While videos with music can do just fine, voiceovers often help keep viewers engaged. Some creators don’t want to use their own voice, don’t have a high-quality microphone, or can’t find a quiet space to record. If that sounds like you, you may be interested in AI video dubbing with Happy Scribe or one of the many other services.
These services add a voice-over to your shorts based on the text you provide. You can also use different voices, giving your video a more unique feel than the typical TikTok voiceovers. It’s all about standing out from the crowd and giving your viewers a natural-sounding video. You don’t want your videos to sound like a robocaller from 2005.
Add Trending Sounds
One way people find videos on social media is by viewing shorts with similar sounds. Since you can click on a sound to view similar videos, it makes sense to use one that is trending, giving your short a chance to be put in front of more viewers. It also helps feed the algorithm, as videos without sound or with sounds that are rarely used may not be shown to as many people.
Over 80% of social media shorts or reels are viewed with the sound on, making this just as important as adding an AI dubber to your clips. Not adding a trendy sound or a voiceover, whether AI or human, will have people almost instantly swiping past your clip.
Follow Video Trends
On a similar note as trending sounds, video and topical trends are a great way to put yourself in front of more viewers. Combined with hashtags, you can easily find yourself gathering more views than ever before. If your content focuses on dancing, you need to keep up to date on dance routines that are making the rounds on social media.
That doesn’t mean you should only be doing popular dances, however. No matter what your content is, remember that imitation is the death of innovation. While it’s fine to recreate trends, try to do so in your own way to make it unique. Likewise, regularly post content that does not follow a current trend. Viewers come to your page for your content, not content that they can find everywhere else. While it’s fun to watch your favorite creators do a trendy dance or skit, it’s more fun to watch original content from your favorite creators.
Research Your Competition
You should know the top creators in your sphere. You may even want to interact with their content, as it can increase engagement on your own profile. Regardless, make a note of the top creators in your niche and regularly watch what they’re doing.
However, keep in mind what was said earlier in this article—imitation is the death of innovation. Don’t just copy what they do in the hopes that it works for you. Really look at what they do and take notes of what you like, what you don’t, and what you think makes their content so engaging and trendy.
Do this for every top creator you can find and see what is similar and different. Similar qualities can be a good indicator of a possible way to increase your own engagement and views. You may even come up with a new angle while doing your research, making you even more unique compared to the rest.
It should also be said that researching outside of your sphere is a great way to get ideas, too. Some trends transcend niches and are applicable to a wide variety of content. A funny joke in the model kit community could be reworked to fit a yoga following.
Post Regularly
This really cannot be overstated enough. Regular posting shows the algorithm that there is someone at the head of the ship. These sites want people to come back and consume content. A great way to do that is by promoting content creators who regularly upload content, giving followers a reason to come back to their platform.
They want viewers to log on and see content that they are familiar with and likely to engage with. Posting regular shorts and interacting with your community is a great way to prove to the algorithm that your content deserves to be shown and will be engaged with.
In short, there are a few ways that you can up your shorts game on social media. Perhaps the most important way is by posting regularly, but you can also gain some traction by following different trends and using an AI voiceover to improve your content. Remember to keep your videos engaging and to give back to the community that gives to you. Like comments, reply to questions—even a simple thank you when someone says, “Great vid!” can make a world of difference.
Lynn Martelli is an editor at Readability. She received her MFA in Creative Writing from Antioch University and has worked as an editor for over 10 years. Lynn has edited a wide variety of books, including fiction, non-fiction, memoirs, and more. In her free time, Lynn enjoys reading, writing, and spending time with her family and friends.
