How to Edit Video for Social Media

Creating an amazing video is immensely satisfying and takes a lot of hard work. But it’s not the end of the road! If you want to share that video with the world (and we assume that’s why you made it), then you have to edit that video for social media. The good news? With a few tips (and the right tool), you can quickly and easily edit your video for social media so that it’s ready for the masses to enjoy in no time.

How to Edit Video for Social Media

1. Grab Viewer's Attention

To ensure that your intended viewers actually watch your video, it’s vital that you grab their attention right from the get-go. Attention spans are not very long these days, especially when it comes to social media. So when you’re editing your video specifically for social media, it’s vital that it starts off with a bang. Let “succinct” and “engaging” be your guiding words for social media video editing.

2. Add Subtitles

Let’s just go ahead and state the obvious: we’re all on our smartphones all the time. Because of this, we often scroll through social media and watch the videos we find there in very public places, where it’s not always welcome or appropriate to crank up the volume. As a result, 80% of social media videos are now watched on mute!

And that is why the need for subtitles cannot be overstated. If you don’t want to waste time transcribing every word of your videos, then we have some more good news: you can use Zubtitle for that! Zubtitle is the first automated, on-demand social media video tool that automatically transcribes the speech in your video and converts it to captions.

3. Add a Top Border Video Headline

Subtitles will make it easier for people to watch your video, but the video headline is the part that will make them stop their scrolling and actually notice your video. An eye-catching title can be the difference between gaining a new fan and having that same person triple-time scroll right past your video without ever seeing it.

When you’re crafting your video headline, make sure to use verbiage that creates a sense of urgency and appeals to your target audience. To see how Zubtitle can help you easily add a customized video headline, click here.

4. Optimize Length for Each Platform

Every social media platform is different. That’s especially true when it comes to video sizing (we’ll get to that in a minute) and video length. Video length can be the trickiest because there are two different stats to consider: the maximum length allowed on each platform and the ideal length. Here’s a quick breakdown of the numbers you need to know:

• Facebook
• Maximum length: 120 minutes
• Ideal length: 1-2 minutes
• Instagram (Feed)
• Maximum length: 1 minute
• Ideal length: 30 seconds
• Instagram Stories
• Maximum length: 15 seconds
• Ideal length: 15 seconds
• IGTV
• Maximum length: 10 minutes OR 1 hour (for verified accounts)
• Ideal length: 10 minutes or less (the more succinct, the better)
• Twitter
• Maximum length: 2 minutes and 20 seconds
• Ideal length: 43-45 seconds
• LinkedIn
• Maximum length: 10 minutes
• Ideal length: 30 seconds or less

5. Optimize Sizing for Each Platform

Just like with video length, every platform has its own guidelines for optimal video aspect ratios. For an overview of the best video sizes for each platform (and a walkthrough on using Zubtitle to easily resize your video for social media), check out this blog post.

Are you ready to edit video for social media the easy way?

Sign up for a free Zubtitle account today to get started! With our free plan, you can create two videos per month. To create up to 10 videos per month (and remove the Zubtitle watermark), check out our standard plan.