Step 16: Create Your Videos Using Canva

Estimated Time: 3 hours

Requirements: Draft of scripts/content for your videos (from step 12)

In this step, you will use Canva to create your own Social Media videos.

Step 16.1: Prepare to Capture Attention

• You already have your content from step 12. Take some time to fine tune it to come up with what you wish to specifically say through each of the short videos - the exact set of words.

• Anecdotes, short stories and trivia are some of the most engaging content types.

• Videos and images that evoke emotions are the best at evoking desire in people. You have just about a second before the viewer scrolls up - and your thumbnail (video cover) image and text plays a crucial role in holding their attention and making them read the content. So select good ones!

  • Feel free to revisit step 11 for more on how to create/find images.

• Finally, be clear about the action that you wish the viewer to take (like, comment and share?) and mention it explicitly towards the end of the video - guiding the viewer to where you want them to go.

Step 16.2: Create Your Videos in Canva

1. Create Video File (each video will be a new file)

   1. Go to Canva >> Home.

   2. In the What Will You Design Today? box, select Videos.

   3. Choose the respective template in the Easy-to-assemble videos:

      • For 2 minute videos - YouTube and Instagram >> choose YouTube Video 

      • For 45 second videos - Facebook/Twitter >> choose Facebook Video

      • For 30 second shorts - LinkedIn >> choose LinkedIn Video Ad

      • For 15 second shorts - Instagram Stories >> choose Instagram Reel

      • ~7 seconds ultra-shorts - Pinterest and Snapchat >> choose Pinterest Video Pin 

Tip: Start with the shorter formats.

2. Create First Slide

   1. Add Videos, Images and Graphics you have selected, by dragging them from elements or directly from your system. 

      • You can also go to the Uploads tab and upload the video there and then drag it onto the page. 

      • You can also click on the video once it is in Canva Uploads tab to add it. 

   2. Add text: Click on Text >> Add a Text Box to add a text box. Type your text in it. Add text animation - very important in a video.

   3. Note: A single slide can be a fraction of a second to hours long depending on the content in it. Most slides in the videos you create will be a few seconds long.

3. Complete your video: Similarly, create more slides... as many as you need. Usually, you would be putting one message from your script on one slide.

4. Add audio: Just as you added the images, videos and graphics. 

   1. Audios can span across multiple slides depending on the length of the slides. 

   2. You should be able to see and control the audio using the timeline window in the bottom (on desktop).

5. Branding: Align the colours, fonts and music to the Brand Guidelines shared with you in Step 10.

6. Credits: At the bottom of all slides in your video add your campaign code, campaign topic, and name in the following format (feel free to copy-paste from the social media posts): 

24XXX | <Campaign Topic>  | <Campaigner Name>

That's it, you're done! Your first video is ready.

Feels good? :)

You can follow the same process for the remaining videos.

• The reason you have to create so many videos is for you to get ample amount of practice working on different kinds of videos, while also learning how different social media sites differ in their approach to video content.

• You may submit the videos as you create them, but it might be wiser to submit them in the end together as you might want to go back and edit them as you learn new things.

Tip

• Instead of starting with a blank screen, start with a readymade template that meets the video size of the given format. This will significantly reduce your video creation time.

• Explore the element libraries well - there's a lot of decent free content hidden below the pro ones.

Remember

• You don't need to make it perfect, the editing team will do the final round of editing.

• White Space is not a problem in itself. In fact, you should not make the slides too crowded - there should be lots of space - and the message or the object you intend to show should be in focus.

• You have the option to create recorded 'reels' if that's what you'd prefer. 

Step 16.3: Generate Caption/Description for your Videos

Caption/Description is the text accompanying images and videos that you might have noticed on almost all Social Media sites - Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, etc. These have significant advantages including improving the engagement with the viewer and discoverability (by using mechanisms such as hashtags) on the social media platforms.

Here, you can easily generate captions/descriptions for your videos using free tools such as AHREFS YouTube Video Description Generator.

Remember to add #ICIMWS to your captions/descriptions.

Step 16.4: Submit Your Content to the Editing Team

Ready to submit?

Note: You need to submit the form separately for each of the videos. 

• Get share link (editable)

  • Click on Share in Canva

  • From the dropdown below Collaboration Link select Anyone with the Link. 

  • In the box that appears next to this select Can edit.

  • Click on Copy Link. 

• Fill the Submission Form:

  • Open the submission form

  • Fill the details:

    • Content Type = "Short Video"

    • Content Title = Your Content's Title (not the campaign's title)

    • Content Link = Paste the Canva link that you copied earlier

    • Caption/Descirption = Caption/Description generated in the previous step

  • Submit the form

That's it. You're done!