5 Tips to Save Time & Edit Videos Faster

Using video to tell your story is exciting, and can be so rewarding. Most creators who choose to pursue video as their main form of content find the process of filming and storytelling the most rewarding element...but editing the least.

It takes creators on average 3-4 hours to create one YouTube video that averages in 10 minutes. And higher quality productions can take up days!

But when it comes to connecting with your audience and working on consistent output to improve your brand awareness and engagement, this may not seem like the smartest use of your time. So here are a few tips for saving yourself hours of your day, so more time spent on content creation, and less on video editing.

1. A plan is a creator’s best friend 

The key to great content is intention. To add value to your audience with your content, you need to think ahead of time what your message is, how you can get it across best and what you need to do and prepare to maximise your ROI on your time creating this content.

Try planning the content you need to produce for the month ahead using a content calendar, and noting down any resources you may need to help you produce the content is your first step to creating great content faster.

When you organise your thoughts and plan, it is easier to zoom through the workflow faster. Aim to plan your content, ideally, frame by frame, or at least create a video pitch for yourself outlining what you expect the end result to look like, and feature.

‍Photo by KAL VISUALS on Unsplash



2. Take charge of your time

In the same spirit, it is important to be in charge of your time and your own process.

Schedule certain days when you know you will have access to the resources you may need, and the freedom and time to create distraction-free. Make sure you arrange time to be in a well-lit setting, and plan for all the shots you may need for filming your content in bulk. This can save you a whole load of time colour editing later on.

Pro tip...split your ‘admin’ days and your ‘creation’ days.

Film on a Monday, but edit on a Tuesday. This helps you get in the zone for each activity, and makes focusing on the task at hand easier, hence improving the speed at which you produce quality content.

Photo by Jo Szczepanska on Unsplash

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3. Don’t be afraid of technology & automation

Features that improve accessibility, and engagement of your content can take just as long to add as editing. Maybe that’s why so many creators skip these steps completely?

That is why it is so important to create a workflow that automates the more time consuming tasks. These tasks may include adding and editing subtitles, and exporting your video in multiple formats for various platforms.

Subly can also come in handy if you’re looking to export your video in multiple formats. Another great tip is to use automatic colour-correction tools like Lightroom for video to save time colour editing.

Photo by Cookie the Pom on Unsplash

4. Set some brand guidelines

Another important element often overlooked by creators is ensuring that you feature your brand across your content, and offer a consistent experience for your audience.

It may be positioning your logo in the same corner of every video, subtitling using your brand colours, or adding eye-catching headlines to your content to distinguish yourself from the other content creators out there.

In fact, adding your brand and colours to your video can increase brand recognition by 80%. And, according to Forbes, 64% of consumers make a purchase after watching a branded video!

When you automate these features, and are able to simply add them in seconds, it becomes second nature, and makes a huge difference to how your audience receives and reacts to your content.

Photo by NordWood Themes on Unsplash

5. Become a SEO pro

After post production, posting your content with appealing descriptions and captions is the next most important step— which also happens to be time consuming.

To save yourself time when scheduling your videos, or preparing them to share with your audience, you can use transcribed TXT files (from Subly!) to tell your audience what your video is all about, instantly.

This will save you time optimizing your content for SEO as all of your relevant keywords from your video can be posted straight into the description.

This can also be handy if you need to stay on topic but want to make your SEO copy more engaging. Plus it is much easier to write creative content when you already have draft text in front of you right?

Photo by You X Ventures on Unsplash

When you speed up the pre and post production process for video content you can save yourself hours. All it takes is great organisation, content targets, and a few automation tricks to get your video from good to great with hours to spare for more creating!

Excited to start saving time during video editing and uploading? Try Subly Pro today.