Social Media Video Production UK

Vertical first: sizes and safe zones

Short-form video is watched on phones held upright, so it is filmed and edited vertical first. The standard is 9:16 at 1080 × 1920 pixels for Instagram Reels, TikTok and YouTube Shorts. For feed posts, 4:5 at 1080 × 1350 fills more of the screen than a square, and 1:1 at 1080 × 1080 still works well on LinkedIn and Facebook.

Each app lays buttons, usernames and captions over the edges of the video, particularly along the bottom and the right-hand side. Social media size guides from tools such as Hopper HQ and Postfa.st recommend keeping key text and faces in the central area of the frame, roughly the middle 4:5 section of a 9:16 video. We design captions and titles inside that safe zone so nothing important is hidden behind a like button.

Length limits have grown: guides published this year put both Reels and YouTube Shorts at up to 3 minutes. That is a ceiling, not a target. Most useful business clips make one point and finish.

Captions on every clip

Many people scroll with the sound off, in offices, on trains or late at night. If the message is only in the audio, they never hear it. So every clip we deliver has burned-in captions: text fixed into the picture that appears whatever the viewer's settings. We style them in your brand fonts and colours, keep lines short so they can be read at a glance, and place them in the safe zone.

Where a platform accepts caption files, such as YouTube or LinkedIn, we also supply an SRT file, which can be switched on or off and makes the spoken words readable as text. Captions are also an accessibility basic: they let deaf and hard of hearing followers get the same message as everyone else.

Batch filming: weeks of posts in one session

The hardest part of social video is consistency. Filming one clip whenever you remember rarely lasts. We plan a batch instead: a list of short ideas filmed in a single session at your premises, then edited into separate clips you can post over the following weeks. Typical ideas include:

• a quick tip or answer to a question customers always ask
• a product shown in use, from unboxing to result
• behind the scenes: how something is made, packed or installed
• meet the team, one person at a time
• before and after on a finished job
• a short customer comment, with their signed permission

Starting each clip with the most interesting moment, not a logo or a slow introduction, gives it the best chance of being watched. Your branding can sit in the captions and the closing frame instead.

Music, permissions and business accounts

Music rules on social platforms catch many businesses out. Business accounts on TikTok are limited to its Commercial Music Library, and other platforms restrict popular tracks for commercial use too, so a song you hear on a personal account may not be available to your brand. As music licensing firm Soundstripe points out, tracks from TikTok's commercial library are cleared for TikTok only, so the same clip reposted to Instagram or YouTube needs separately licensed music. We use music licensed for commercial use, so clips stay up and keep their sound. Staff and customers who appear on camera sign a release, and the licence for the footage is written into the quote.

Price and what to prepare

Social media video starts from £695 + VAT. The fixed price depends on how many clips are in the batch, how long we film, and the amount of editing and graphics. Travel beyond the Mansfield and Nottinghamshire area is shown in the quote. To prepare, list the questions customers ask most, the products or services you want to push, and the people happy to appear. Pair the clips with matching social media templates or a social media graphics pack so stills and video look like one brand. For longer brand films, see video production.

What you get

• Vertical 9:16 MP4 clips at 1080 × 1920
• 4:5 or 1:1 versions for Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn feeds
• Burned-in captions in your brand fonts and colours
• Separate SRT caption files where the platform supports them
• Cover frames for Reels and Shorts grids
• Licensed music suitable for business accounts
• A simple posting list with suggested captions

How it works and what it costs

Logos from £150, brochures from £295, photography from £295 a half day and CAD at £45 an hour, all + VAT. You get a fixed price before we start.

1. Tell us the brief

   What it is for, who will see it, where it will be used and any examples you like. Rough is fine.

2. Fixed price

   We confirm the price and what you get, in writing, before any work starts.

3. First designs

   We design, shoot or model it and share the first version for your comments.

4. Refine

   We make the changes, check every detail, and prepare the files properly for print, web or manufacture.

5. Final files

   You get the finished files in the formats you need, ready for your printer, website, social channels or manufacturer.

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