- In this video, I'm gonna take you
through five steps that will take you all the way
from planning to posting a fantastic review video
that people will thank you for.
And if you have any questions, don't hesitate
to leave a comment below and I'll always do my best to help.
Hey, I'm Dunna and as I'm sure you've already guessed,
I make videos here on YouTube.
Today, I wanted to do something a bit different
and give you an overview of how you can make
an informative, concise, and entertaining product review
for any kind of product, be it tech, makeup,
software, coffee, or an Idaho potato
with your face printed on it.
It's a thing. Look it up.
And together with the amazing sponsor of this video,
Musicbed, we're also gonna be giving away
a thousand dollars worth of gear
as well as $250 straight to you
to help you get started with your reviews.
So keep watching for the details
on how you can win that prize.
(upbeat music)
Alright, step one is making some initial decisions
about what kind of reviews you want to make.
There are a ton of different types of reviews on YouTube,
everything from fun lighthearted reviews,
to more clinical and technical reviews
and everything between.
The best way that I've found to make decisions
about what you want your reviews to be like
is to start by watching a bunch of other reviewers
and take notes on what you liked and what you didn't like
about the way that they put together their reviews.
This isn't necessarily product specific,
but more just getting a general idea
into how they make their videos.
Take notes on their visuals, their audio,
how they approached the details of the review
and start to put together a list of things
that you think you'll do
and a list of things that you want to avoid.
Another part of this is choosing which products
you want to review.
When you see other reviewers, is there an obvious pattern
to how they choose the products
that they feature on their channel?
At first, you'll likely have to review products
that you already have around,
but there is potential that you can get more choosy
as your channel grows.
It's very important to remember that the goal here
is not to be the only person to have a review
of any particular item, that really doesn't matter.
The goal is to have the absolute best review
for the viewers that you're trying to attract,
which brings us to another important thing
to think about during this step, who are your viewers?
What do you think will impress them?
What would it take to make your viewers go out of their way
in the comment section to tell you
that your review was the best one they saw on YouTube.
They most likely watch several different reviews
on whatever product it is that they're considering.
So what will make them thank you
for being better than the rest?
So once you think about all those things,
you've got some choices to make.
Are you going to be more scientific with your review
or more practical, more lifestyle based?
Will you talk to the camera
or maybe even just do a voiceover with video examples
and it's in this step that we're gonna make
those broad decisions that will guide our choices
throughout the other steps.
Okay so we've made some important initial decisions
at this point.
Now it's time for step two, research and testing.
The very first and most straightforward part of this phase
is to read any manufacturer materials that you can.
I'm not necessarily saying that you need
to read the whole manual,
but just take a look at the features
that the manufacturer's highlighting in their advertising
and get an idea for the key features of that product.
Most likely these will be the features
that people are most interested in.
Now, obviously the manufacturer
isn't going to bring up any potential flaws,
but we'll find those later.
Beyond your own personal experience,
which we'll get to in a bit, there is more
that you can do to determine what should
or shouldn't make its way into your review.
And like before, I highly recommend
looking into other reviews that may have been done
for the same product you're about to review.
It is important that you're not
just copying and repeating what other reviewers are saying.
You're gonna want to form your own opinion
and put that forward.
But watching other reviews can give you a heads up
on potential issues to look out for and test.
When you're watching other reviews,
just like we did in that first step,
take notes on what you think was good,
what didn't work so well and use that information
in your planning.
This is the single easiest way that I found
to make sure that your review is the absolute best review
of that product.
The next part of this step is arguably the most important.
Test the product.
Your audience, once you build one,
will come back to every review you make
to hear what you think of the product
and to see how your experience was.
So you're going to have to use the product and test it.
Make sure to test all the main features.
While people are gonna ask questions
and being able to answer their questions in the comments
will earn you subscribers and true fans.
I highly recommend making a little plan
for the things that you want to test
and documenting that process of testing
so that you have the information to rely on
when you come back to make your video.
This could also mean doing some filming of your test
to use in the review, but you can also
recreate your tests again afterwards,
if you prefer to do it that way.
For certain videos, it may make more sense
just to use the product for a while and see what comes up.
But I still think it's a good idea
to have a note somewhere where you can take down
anything interesting that comes up as it comes up,
instead of just trying to remember it later.
Once you have a whole pile of information
from your testing and research,
I recommend refining your points into a list
and then prioritizing that information
into the stuff that you think is most important.
But that brings us to the next step
in our process, planning.
This is where we take all the decisions
that we made at the start
and the research and testing that we did.
And we mashed them into an outline for our video.
The way that I outlined my videos
is by breaking down the video into sections.
And there are two separate formulas that I like to use
depending on the product.
The first one I call the breakdown.
First, there's the introduction and overview.
This would include a little hello or cold opener,
if you feel like being funny that day.
Then you would want to introduce
the product you're reviewing and give a few
quick little things that are special about it
so that the viewer is intrigued enough
that they want to stick around and find out more.
As part of the intro, you would explain
what you're going to go over in the video
to give the viewer an idea of what to expect.
Basically you're like a villain and you have to explain
your whole plan to the hero before you can do it.
Maybe a bad analogy, but you can get the point.
Next, you can talk about the physical features,
specifications, and price of the product.
How much it weighs, how does it feel?
Does it have any special buttons or dials?
What's the build quality like?
You may want to include how these features
compared to other similar products on the market,
if you're familiar with them.
Next, go through the application of the product.
What is it meant for? How did it perform?
What were your experiences with it?
This would be where you would include
any specific test samples that you may want to show.
The next section would be about who the product is for.
This section is important because it makes it really easy
for people to put together everything that you've said
up to this point.
They're probably not taking notes while they're watching,
so they can basically listen here and find out
if you think that it's right for them.
If you've done a good job and earn their trust
by being thorough and honest,
then your recommendation will mean a lot.
And finally, some kind of wrap up
that ties everything together and gives your opinion
on the product before a final reminder
to like subscribe and check out the link in the description,
which should be an affiliate link
if you're trying to make this a source of income.
So that's the formula that I call the breakdown
and the other one, I call pros and cons.
Pros and cons also starts with an intro
that's very similar to the one that we just talked about.
The next section would be a quick blast
through the features and specs,
but the power of pros and cons is in assuming
that your audience can figure out that stuff on their own.
And they just wanna hear the good and the bad stuff
about a product.
After that, you can go into the pros first,
or at least I like to do it that way.
Personally, as a viewer, if I hear the cons first,
I'm most likely to click away
because I don't have anything positive to keep me interested
in that product anymore.
Going with the pros first keeps them watching
because they're hopeful about their potential purchase.
Of course, after that we have the cons.
These would be things like missing features,
things that went wrong during your testing
or things that you believe could be improved.
Very importantly here, though,
you want to make sure that you double check
all of your tests to make sure that the cons
weren't actually user error.
It happens from time to time.
So try not to sweat it too much,
but it can be a little embarrassing.
Again, like the breakdown, we have a who it's for section,
where you can make your recommendation for who
that product might be good for.
And finally, a wrap up and conclusion, again.
Both formulas work well in my experience,
but sometimes one will just be a right over the other
for a specific product.
After writing up an outline using one of the two formulas,
turn that formula into either bullet points or a script.
To do this copy your outline to another spot,
and then start to elaborate each point in the outline
into a line, paragraph or whatever is necessary
to get all the info across.
Some people like to write a loose outline.
Some people like bullet points,
and some people like to have a full script.
This going to to depend on you and your comfort level
in front of the camera and just how you operate best.
That being said, I highly recommend making sure
you at least have a checklist of everything you know,
you need to say during your video,
just so you don't miss anything vital
while you're recording.
And finally, you want to make a shot list
for any shots that you might want to get.
I personally find this easier once I have my script,
rather than just the outline,
because sometimes I elaborate enough
in my script writing process
to end up needing more shots
than just the outline alone might suggest.
Basically you do this by just going back over,
reading your script again and writing down
any of the shots you might need to show
what you're talking about.
The next step is the part that people think of
as the actual making of the video.
Let's call it production.
This includes shooting all the footage that you might need,
recording any voiceovers you've chosen to do,
and then putting it all together in the edit.
I have an entire channel basically dedicated
to helping you improve the quality
of your videos and photos, but here's the bottom line
when it comes to quality for reviews on YouTube.
It just can't be distracting.
What I mean by that is that if the quality is so bad
that it's distracting the viewer from the point,
then it's getting in the way.
As long as the picture looks decent,
as long as you speak and can be heard clearly,
you show the details that need to be shown
to get the point across, it doesn't need to be
a cinematic piece of art.
In general, the people who are watching your review
came to get information.
If you can make it look great
and be entertaining too, that's a bonus.
It'll help to create a connection with your audience,
but so does giving them all the information
that they came looking for.
However, that being said, here are a few basic things
that you can think about for your production.
First audio is so important.
If people can hear what you're saying clearly,
and you're speaking without too much stumbling,
then they are likely to get the point
that you're trying to convey.
The general rule of thumb here
is that you want your microphone
as close to the subject as possible.
Next it's about showing what you're talking about.
We call this B-Roll.
The main shot might be me talking to the camera like this.
And the B-Roll is showing off what I'm talking about.
So if you're reviewing a phone and you say
that it's really small show a shot of it
next to something that people generally know the size of
so they get a visual reference.
And yes, that means you're going to have to learn
a little bit of video editing,
but we're talking about super basic stuff here.
Thirdly, think about lighting, generally all cameras,
including the one on your phone perform better
when you give them lots of light.
So make sure that whatever you're filming is lit up nicely.
If the, of what you're trying to show,
aren't clearly visible, your viewers
will find some other video to watch where they are.
And fourthly, think about your space.
Make sure it's tidy, not distracting.
And it represents the vibe and overall aesthetic
that you've chosen to go for.
If you're showing things on a table,
are the products nicely visible on that table,
or are they blending in and hard to see the details?
Now I'm not gonna tell you that gear doesn't matter.
That would be really contradictory
from a guy who spent as much money on gear
as I have to make videos.
Having great gear can definitely increase
the quality of your videos and make the process
a lot more convenient for you.
That being said, as you learn more and grow more,
you will acquire more gear,
but don't stop yourself from starting
just because you don't have that camera or this light,
just start now and build up to that.
With that said, I'm very excited
to be accelerating that process for one of you
by giving away an amazing YouTube starter pack,
$250 and one year worth of amazing music for your videos,
with the help of the sponsor of this video Musicbed.
Head over to my Instagram @dunnadidit and find this post.
The instructions on how to enter are in the caption
and a huge thank you to Musicbed for helping put this on,
which actually brings me to another great point
about production, choosing music.
I personally really liked to have music in my videos
for a couple of reasons.
First off, I find that it sets the vibe
for the type of video that I'm trying to make,
but also it helps cover up some potential background noises
or flaws in my audio.
Musicbed is an amazing place
to find music for your videos.
The music that they have is major label quality
and comes from real artists that you can find
on your favorite streaming services.
This is not cheesy stock music.
They have a subscription made
specifically for online content creators,
and you can try it out for 30 days, absolutely free.
And the winner of our giveaway is going to get
a one-year free subscription.
If you wanna go sign up for your free trial,
there's a link down in the description.
When I'm choosing music for my review videos,
I head over to Musicbed and the first thing I do
is click songs in the top left to start searching.
And then on the left-hand side,
there's a button called instrumental.
Basically this filters out any music that has lyrics in it.
If you're putting music with lyrics
behind the video of you talking,
it could be very distracting
and difficult to hear what you're saying.
Luckily, pretty much every song on music bed
comes with at least one instrumental version
that you can get.
You can filter your search results by different genres,
moods, attributes, instruments, to find the perfect vibe.
You can also check out my curated playlist
for my favorite Musicbed tracks right now.
There's a link in the description for that as well.
Once you pick a few songs for your video,
put them where it feels right,
and make sure that they're quiet enough
so that you can still hear your voice clearly.
Okay so you've got your video put together.
You've got your B-Roll that shows
what you're talking about.
You've got decent audio, maybe some texts
that pops up on the screen if you think that it might help.
The video is done. Now what?
That brings us to the final step in the process,
which is posting and optimization.
What you wanna remember here is that reviews are primarily
a search based type of video,
meaning that someone is going to find your video
because they searched for a review of that product.
So while great reviewers can get a lot of subscribers,
reviewers with smaller channels can still get good views
if they do everything they can
to optimize for the search results.
I highly recommend checking out a website
called Morningfame.
I'll leave a link in the description for you.
This is a site that I use to choose my keywords,
my title, my description,
and just to make sure that I have the best possible chance
at showing up high in the search results.
You want to create a title
that has some kind of a searchable term in it.
This is what I mentioned before as the keyword.
In the case of a review, that might just be
the product name with the word review behind it,
since that's something that a lot of people
will be searching, but then you also wanna make sure
that it's intriguing so that they click yours
over someone else's.
Maybe a little bit of mystery
or a question in the title will get you there.
And maybe even more important than the title
is the thumbnail.
The bottom line is that we are visual
and instinctual creatures.
So when we pull up search results,
we're immediately drawn to the most appealing picture
that we see.
So spend time thinking about your thumbnail.
You can even add thinking about the thumbnail
into the planning phase.
In fact, a lot of the title and thumbnail planning
could arguably be done beforehand
to influence how you go about making the video,
but that's up to you.
Once you post it's mostly in the hands of the world,
but you can definitely share it around
and try to get other people to share it too.
Engage with the comments and have fun
connecting with people.
So those are my five steps that I follow
to make my review videos and I truly believe
that if you follow this formula and tweak it a little bit
to fit you and your channel,
you can make a great review video
that performs well on YouTube.
Now, before you go, I do have one request of you.
If diving into more details on each step of this process
is something that you'd like to see in a video series,
or course, please tell me so down in the comments,
and if you have any questions,
don't hesitate to leave them down there as well.
And I'll do my best to help out and on your way down there,
make sure to hit that like and subscribe button.
Hit the bell notification (bell dinging)
so you don't miss out on feature reviews and tutorials.
Thank you so much for watching and I'll see you next time.
(upbeat music)