8 Summer Video Ideas for TikTok
Why is making TikTok videos a smart way to launch your digital media career?
- A major part of success in social media marketing and content marketing is mastering the art of video development.
- The more connections you make right now as a social media influencer, the faster you can advance in your film career.
- There’s no substitute for hands-on experience when it comes to video production, and TikTok makes it easy to get started.
Are you looking to launch your claim to fame on social media? Or maybe you just want an excuse to get out of the house and have some fun. Making exciting TikTok videos over the summer can help you do both, and you get hands-on experience in film production at the same time. How can you create the best summer TikTok videos?
What Makes a Viral TikTok Video?
Viral posts on TikTok follow similar techniques:
- Grab attention right away: You have to capture the audience’s attention in the first second or two max. That means starting your video with something shocking, surprising, adorable, mysterious, humorous, or interesting.
- Keep it short: We’re talking 10–30 seconds short. TikTok lets you use up to 60 seconds, but a minute-long video is almost always way too long, even for instructional videos. People are more likely to stick around for 8–10 seconds of any video than for 45 seconds of the best.
- Be trendy: The irony of TikTok is that you need to be different, but you also need to follow trends. Trending topics, and especially trending music, can get you noticed. Music is what makes TikTok’s world go round, so make it a habit to include cool songs in most of your videos.
- Tell a cool story in every video: The difference between videos that go viral and ones that are just OK often comes down to the story they tell. Even a short dancing video can have a cool story behind it. Plus, funny sketches and music-backed memes are wildly popular on TikTok.
- Add text in the video: Crisp, clear text can take a TikTok to the next level. Are you trying to show off a recipe? Add a couple of bullet points while taking a bite of your creation. And for memes, the right text completely changes the viewer’s understanding of what’s going on.
- Include interesting tidbits: Not everything in your video has to relate to your theme directly. People like learning something interesting, whether it’s a random fact about your cat or a closeup of a clothing label that adds humor or irony to the situation. Think of these extras as tasty bacon bits on a delicious salad.
What Are Some Fresh Summer Video Ideas for TikTok?
Get inspiration for your next viral video by mastering these eight categories. For extra gold stars, give each one your own unique twist that expresses who you want to be as a film producer (weird, funny, inspirational, artistic, etc.).
1. The Social Media Challenge
Challenges made it big during the coronavirus lockdown, and they’ve just kept going. You can find them on TikTok, Twitter, Facebook, and many other social media platforms. Some of our favorites were the #TryNotToLaugh, #FlipTheSwitch and #QuarantinePillowChallenge. If you’re feeling especially bold, you can try kicking off your own challenge with a catchy hashtag and a cool idea.
2. The Funny Side of Life
There’s definitely a market for you to show off your humorous side on TikTok. Here are some examples that made us grin:
- Redoing famous movie scenes: This trend has people lip-syncing the words to a favorite movie clip while doing activities that add a hilarious side. Dressing up makes it even better.
- Song lyrics: The same thing, but with music.
- Physical comedy: Seriously, who can avoid laughing at a grown man putting a big pot on his head and walking into something?
- Everyday experiences: Share funny things that happen during summer, cringeworthy mistakes, and epic fails. We’ve all secretly done the same things.
- Pets: They’re adorable and naturally hilarious. Enough said.
3. The Trending TikTok Hashtag
Trending hashtags can help your videos attract attention. These are topics that people are interested in and searching for, so you have a better chance of getting likes. #Defrosting is a popular 2021 hashtag that has people talking about getting ready for summer while acting like they’re thawing out in a microwave.
Hashtags are also important because they introduce people to your other content. Visitors may click on your name to see other videos with your unique sense of humor or creative style. Be trendy, but always be yourself.
4. The Artist
Film yourself creating something artistic, be it a painting, pottery, photo, or some type of performance art. Speed up the video as needed to show off the finished result. In summer, you can turn practically anything into a stunning creation, from fruit to your lawn.
5. The Voiceover
TikTok now lets you add voice overs to your videos. This gives you another layer of storytelling ability. Voiceovers are awesome for narrating travel experiences, and they also let you make fun of yourself (or other people, gasp) in videos.
6. The Freeze-Frame
This tool lets you set part of your video as a static background. It’s perfect for designing eye-catching and reality-warping stories. Want to do a cannonball into your mouth with your favorite snack? Now you can.
7. The (Summer) Dance
TikTok and dancing go together like peanut butter and jelly. Show off your incredible (or peculiar) dancing abilities outdoors. Do you have what it takes to dance and swim, dance and play volleyball, or dance and flip burgers at the same time? There’s only one way to find out.
8. The Food
Food videos are popular on TikTok. But we’re not just talking about recipe videos. We’re talking about actual videos of people doing strange things to fruit, vegetables, and other ingredients. Chopping, slicing, squishing, and smashing are all fair game, but so are geometric creations and food-related science experiments.
Summer is the perfect time to shoot TikTok videos. It gives you a huge range of backdrops. You can shoot morning or afternoon, indoors or outdoors, in the city or at the lake. You have tons of flexibility for creating the story you want, from hilarious videos about vacation misadventures to inspiring thoughts in picturesque surroundings.
How Can Making TikTok Videos Advance Your Career?
Trust us; the more experience you have with video production, the more powerful your videos are. Smart editing is even more important when it comes to short content such as TikTok videos and social media posts. Every video you make helps you increase your confidence and creativity. You can learn from other influencers and become an influencer yourself.
Whether your dream career involves video production, social media marketing or digital production, we can help. Become a TikTok influencer extraordinaire by learning the skills film pros use for video planning, storyboarding, production and editing. Go viral by understanding the science behind marketing trends and testing. Learn marketing best practices to grow your audience, from the hashtags you choose to the types of videos that define your “brand.”
Find out how video production courses can change your life by contacting the Media Schools, located in Colorado, Ohio, Illinois, and Miami, right away.
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