Why You Need Behind the Scenes Content in Your Videos + 5 Valuable Ideas
Have you ever been backstage at a concert or watched the outtakes of your favourite film? That’s the allure of behind the scenes content, clips of real-life moments woven between epic pieces of performance or entertainment.
Behind the scenes (BTS) content gives you a peek behind the curtain, providing a human connection and satisfying your curiosity. It’s a unique form of entertainment, and in many cases, something audiences enjoy watching more than the actual film, concert, or video as it gives them a look into the lives of those creating it.
This form of content isn’t new in the realm of influencer marketing, however, it’s picking up speed in certain ways. We’ve seen it subtly included in all kinds of creator content—whether revealing specific methods used to attain a photograph or mistakes made when building a table.
Want to learn how to seamlessly work behind the scenes content into your posts to increase audience engagement, build community, and enhance your content value?
We’ll tell you exactly how to do it here, plus give you details on all the benefits you can reap simply by including it in your next video or photo.
What Is Behind the Scenes Content?
Behind the scenes content on platforms like YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok offers a glimpse into the everyday, unpolished activities and processes that go into creating a more refined piece of content.
It helps humanize creators, brands, and businesses, making them more relatable and engaging to their audience.
BTS content is typically used in the following ways:
- Stories & Reels: These provide the perfect format for sharing quick, informal glimpses of daily activities. Think: setups for photo shoots or answers from Q&As.
- Posts: Images or videos of BTS content are often shared in regular posts, giving audiences a look at what went into creating longer-form content.
- YouTube Videos: For longer BTS content, YouTube allows creators to post details videos about their processes, such as tutorials, day-in-the-life videos, and detailed project breakdowns.
Take a look at this video from Lizzie Pierce—the queen of POV content—to see how she subtly works in BTS content of a camera test.
Why Behind the Scenes Content?
Audiences love knowing how things work. Ever watched a magic show and researched how they performed a certain trick? While for some, knowing how outcomes are accomplished may kill the magic, behind the scenes content actually adds to it, making celebrities or influencers we admire even more appealing.
Ahead you’ll find the reasons audiences are attracted to behind the scenes content, plus some examples.
- Human connection: Knowing creators make mistakes too (even if their final product is perfect).
- Curiosity satisfaction: Find out how a magic trick is performed.
- Learning opportunities: Discovering how to set up lighting for a particular style of photo.
- Enhanced appreciation: Watching Tom Cruise perform his own stunts.
- Entertainment value: Seeing unscripted reactions after a movie.
- Exclusivity and inclusivity: Feeling part of an exclusive group that gets to witness something others don’t.
The Benefits of Behind the Scenes Content
Behind the scenes content is a great move for creators looking to strengthen their connection with their audience. Some of the most significant benefits include:
Enhanced Authenticity
BTS content shows the real, unscripted parts of production, design, and daily operations. This authenticity allows audiences to see the genuine effort and personality behind a creator, enhancing trust.
Increased Engagement
Audiences tend to engage more with content that feels personal and exclusive. BTS content often invites comments, shares, and likes because it provides a unique view unavailable in mainstream content.
Stronger Emotional Connection
Sharing the challenges and successes of their processes helps creators forge stronger emotional bonds with their audience. This connection can turn casual viewers into loyal fans and advocates.
Educational Value
Behind the scenes content can be incredibly educational. For aspiring professionals in any field, seeing how others work, the tools they use, and their strategies can be an invaluable learning experience.
Transparency
In an era where consumers are increasingly concerned with how products are made and who makes them, BTS content can demonstrate a brand’s commitment to quality and ethical practices. This transparency can enhance consumer trust and loyalty.
Content Variety
Incorporating behind the scenes content can diversify a creator’s content portfolio, keeping their social media feeds fresh and interesting. This can help make things more interesting.
Community Building
BTS content often encourages viewers to interact with the creator and with each other. This can foster a sense of community among viewers, who may share similar interests or aspirations.
Marketing & Promotion
Some creators use behind the scenes content to promote upcoming products or events. By showing the work going into a project, audiences become more interested and invested in the outcome.
Cost-Effectiveness
Often, behind the scenes content can be produced with less formality and fewer resources than fully polished media. This makes it a cost-effective strategy for maintaining consistent engagement with audiences without the need for high production values.
Boosts Credibility
For professionals and artists, showing the depth of their process and the care they put into their work can significantly boost their credibility and authority in their field.
5 Valuable Behind the Scenes Content Ideas to Boost Engagement
Integrated Bloopers
We love the way creators, like Make with Miles, include mistakes during the creation process right in the finished video. While Miles Menely is a talented carpenter, seeing his mistakes (and how he corrects them) makes us want to watch him even more.
How to do it: When editing your content, don’t edit out your mistakes. Instead, show your audience what happened and how you resolved it.
Gear & Setup Tours or Timelapses
The average Instagram account of a professional photographer is filled with breathtaking shots. But tons of work goes into capturing a single picture—and understanding that is very appealing to audiences.
How to do it: Record a timelapse of your setup process, from trekking in your gear and setting up your tripod to actually snapping the photo.
Editing Breakdowns
If AI has taught us anything, it’s to question the reality of images. Before and after images have always been popular, but few influencers actually want to pop the bubble of what the scene beyond their perfect image looks like.
We say, go ahead and pop it. Transparency is in.
How to do it: Whether you’re showing the reality of an image before the filter or providing a detailed walkthrough of your editing process, your audience will appreciate the transparency or the free lesson.
Q&A Sessions During Shoots
There’s a reason so many influencers do their makeup while speaking to their audience: it’s more entertaining than just speaking to the camera while sitting still.
This is the brilliance of Q&A sessions during shoots, where creators answer questions from their audience while giving them a look at what their life is like behind the scenes.
How to do it: Post an Ask Me Anything Reel before your next shoot. On the day of your shoot, record yourself answering questions while set up your gear or get ready to film.
Storyboard Sharing
We love this idea as it makes audiences feel like they’re part of the production process—which with this technique, they will be.
For example, Ellie Watson, influencer and founder of The Wholesome Store recently asked her 664k followers on Instagram if they knew of any locations in Australia that would accommodate the aesthetic of an upcoming shoot for her brand.
She shared the store’s storyboard in her Instagram story and gave her audience an inside peek at upcoming content.
How to do it: Take a page from Ellie’s playbook and share the storyboard for your next piece of content. Ask for audience feedback or create a poll.
Connect with MODERNSPEAK
Behind the scenes content shows your audience how the magic is made—it also helps them become part of it. We hope you loved these 5 behind the scenes content ideas to pump up the magic in your content strategy. Tag us at @modernspeak if you try one in your next post!
Ready to work with a collaborative influencer management company that truly gets it? Get in touch with MODERNSPEAK today by emailing hello@modernspeak.co or calling 1-403-991-4988.
