3 Types of Slideshow Videos That Can Be Effective Content

Although slideshows are often overlooked in favor of conventional videos, they can be an effective type of content. Not only can slideshow videos incorporate audiovisual elements, but because they are saved in video formats you can publish and share them in the same way that you would a video.

Make no mistake there are lots of different types of slideshow videos that you could create, but some of the most effective types of content are:

• How-to guides or tutorials

The popularity of how-to guides and tutorials stems from the fact that it is inherently useful to viewers. It is a type of content that has a proven track record of drawing in an audience as both text and videos.

By creating a tutorial in the form of a slideshow, you can benefit from the main advantage that of video guides – i.e. the fact that you can ‘show’ each step being performed. Essentially each slide should be devoted to a specific step in your guide, and have an image that shows viewers how to perform that step along with brief text for context.

Ideally, you should leave most of the heavy-lifting of the explanation to the voiceover that will accompany the slideshow.

• Lists

As you may have noticed lists are an extremely popular type of content and range from being structured as ‘Top X’ to ‘Best of’ or even ‘X Tips’. Slideshows are a very natural fit for this type of content, and each slide can contain an item on the list.

Ideally, the slides should be focused on providing visual information about the list item while the voiceover explains it. It is best if you use images, though in some cases you may want to add some text as well.

It should be noted that although lists are a compelling type of content for slideshow videos – it is best if they aren’t too long. The danger with this type of content is that if the list is too long viewers won’t remember the first few items by the time they get to the last few.

• Explainer videos

Although explainer videos are very popular, their current popularity mostly involves short animated clips that are used to explain a product or service. It is possible to use slideshow videos as an alternative to that, however, and structure its slides so that they introduce viewers to a product, explain how it works, and highlight how it will benefit them.

The effectiveness of slideshows, when used to create content of this type, will hinge on its ability to convey the explanation in an entertaining and engaging form. That is why the visuals that you use in your slide will be very important, as will your choice of background music, the voiceover, and any other audiovisual elements you may add.

Ideally, you should try to make this type of content upbeat, entertaining, and with a somewhat whimsical quality.

The exact audiovisual elements that you can incorporate when creating any of the types of content listed above will depend on the software that you’re using. For example, if you want to create a slideshow with music as well as various other audiovisual elements, you could try Movavi Slideshow Maker.

Keep in mind that in some ways slideshows are a bit more versatile than videos, and can be published on other platforms such as SlideShare as well. In short not only could you use it as video content, but you could also choose to publish it in the form of an actual slideshow – which may be preferable in some cases.