Recording video and voiceovers for ads on a small budget

Video ads no longer need a studio and a crew. A phone, a decent microphone and some thought about light can produce adverts that hold their own in any feed. The secret is knowing where small amounts of money and effort make the biggest difference, and it is not where most people start.

Sound matters more than picture

People will happily watch slightly soft or grainy video, but they scroll past within seconds if the sound is echoey, muffled or distorted. Bad audio makes even a good message feel amateur, and in direct response advertising, feeling amateur costs you trust.

That is why the first pound of any video budget should go on sound, and the first job is not buying a microphone. It is choosing the right room.

Fix the room before buying kit

Hard surfaces such as bare walls, wooden floors and large windows bounce sound around and give recordings a hollow, echoey quality that no software can fully remove. Soft surfaces absorb it.

The best room in most homes is a smallish bedroom with carpet, curtains and furniture. A wardrobe full of clothes is famously good for voiceovers, and plenty of professional voice actors started out recording with a duvet over their heads. For video, hang a heavy blanket or duvet just out of shot to deaden reflections, and put a rug on a hard floor.

Then listen. Turn off fridges, fans and heating that hums, close windows, and record a few seconds of silence to hear what the microphone picks up. You will be surprised how loud a quiet room really is.

Choosing a microphone

There are two main families of microphone, and the difference matters more than the brand.

Dynamic microphones pick up sound mainly from right in front of them and ignore much of the room. They are forgiving in untreated spaces and excellent for voiceovers and talking-head videos where the microphone can sit close to your mouth. The Shure MV7 range and the Rode PodMic are popular examples.

Condenser microphones capture more detail and a more open sound, but they also hear more of the room. They sound wonderful in a treated space and unforgiving in an echoey one. The Rode NT-USB is a common starting point.

Wireless lavalier microphones, which clip to your clothing, are ideal for video where a desk microphone would be in shot or where you move around. Systems from Rode and DJI connect directly to phones and cameras and are small enough to hide under a collar.

USB microphones plug straight into a computer and are the simplest choice. Microphones with an XLR connection need an audio interface, but give you more flexibility to upgrade later.

Whatever you choose, position matters most. Keep the microphone around a hand-span from your mouth, slightly off to the side so your breath does not hit it directly, and add a pop filter or foam windshield to soften hard "p" and "b" sounds.

Recording settings that keep you safe

Record at 48kHz and 24-bit, which matches video standards and gives you room to adjust volume later without adding noise. Set your level so that your loudest moments peak somewhere around a quarter to a half below the top of the meter, roughly between minus 12 and minus 6 on most recording software. Too quiet and you will add hiss when boosting it; too loud and the peaks distort in a way that cannot be repaired.

Before each session, record ten seconds of silence in the room. Editing software can use that sample to remove background noise gently. Use noise reduction sparingly: too much makes voices sound watery and robotic.

Light: the cheapest way to look expensive

Light makes more difference to how a video looks than the camera does. The classic setup uses three lights. A key light, the main and brightest one, sits about 45 degrees to one side of you and slightly above eye level. A fill light on the other side softens the shadows. A back light behind you separates you from the background.

You do not need all three to start. A large window to one side makes a superb key light on a bright day, especially if it is diffused through a net curtain. Add an LED panel or a softbox on the other side to fill shadows, and you have a setup that rivals a small studio. The Elgato Key Light and similar LED panels are popular because they mount out of the way and let you adjust brightness and colour temperature from your computer.

Ring lights are cheap and flattering for close-up phone video, but they create distinctive circular reflections in glasses and eyes. If you wear glasses, raise the light and angle it down slightly to move the reflection out of your eyeline.

Cameras: start with the one in your pocket

Recent phones shoot excellent video, especially with the rear camera, which is usually much better than the selfie camera. Mount the phone on a tripod with a clamp, use the rear camera with an app or a second screen to check your framing, and lock the focus and exposure so they do not drift as you move.

A good webcam, such as one from Logitech's Brio range, is more convenient for regular recording at your desk and for live calls, though it will not match a phone's rear camera for quality.

If you want to go further, a mirrorless camera with a "clean HDMI" output and a small capture device, such as the Elgato Cam Link, turns a proper camera into a webcam with beautiful background blur. It is a big step up for regular talking-head content, but light and sound should come first.

Frame for where the ad will run

Different placements want different shapes. Vertical 9:16 video fills the screen in Stories, Reels, TikTok and YouTube Shorts. Square 1:1 and 4:5 portrait work well in most feeds. Horizontal 16:9 suits YouTube and websites.

The simple approach is to film in 4K with yourself framed in the middle of the shot and plenty of space around you. You can then crop the same footage to every format without losing quality. Keep important text and faces away from the edges, where platform buttons and captions sit.

Always add captions. A large share of social video is watched with the sound off, and captions also help viewers who are deaf or hard of hearing. Most editing tools now generate captions automatically; check them carefully, because automatic captions regularly mangle brand names and numbers.

Scripts that sell

Direct response video follows a structure that has worked since long before social media:

1. The hook. The first three seconds decide whether anyone watches the rest. Open with the problem, a surprising claim or a question your audience is already asking.
2. The problem. Show you understand the viewer's situation in their own words.
3. The solution. Introduce what you offer and how it helps.
4. The proof. Reviews, results, demonstrations or credentials.
5. The call to action. Tell people exactly what to do next.

Write the way you speak, read the script aloud before recording, and cut anything that sounds like a brochure. A teleprompter app on a phone or tablet placed just under the lens keeps your eyes close to the camera while you read. Our list of the marketing books that shaped how we work includes several that will sharpen your scripts, particularly Breakthrough Advertising.

Film more than one version

In performance marketing, nobody knows in advance which advert will win, including the people who made it. So do not film one perfect version. Film several: three or four different hooks, a shorter and a longer cut, a version with someone on camera and one built from product shots and a voiceover. It takes very little extra time while the lights and microphone are already set up, and it gives you something to test.

Then let the numbers decide, and do not be precious about it. If a version is clearly failing early, pause it and move the spend to the versions that are working, rather than waiting politely for the test to end.

Remember, too, that the advert is only half the journey. The page people land on does as much to win or lose the sale, and the imagery on that page matters enormously. A brilliant video that leads to a page with weak, generic or mismatched images wastes most of the attention it earned. Make sure the first thing people see on the landing page feels like a continuation of the advert they just watched.

Editing without the headache

For quick social edits, CapCut and the editors built into the major platforms are fast and capable. Descript lets you edit video by editing a transcript, which makes cutting out mistakes and filler words remarkably quick. DaVinci Resolve is a professional-grade editor with an extremely capable entry-level version, with a steeper learning curve. For audio-only voiceovers, Audacity is a long-standing, straightforward option.

What to buy, in order

1. A dynamic USB microphone and a pop filter, which improve every recording immediately.
2. A tripod with a phone clamp, so your shots are steady and repeatable.
3. One LED panel or softbox to pair with window light.
4. A wireless clip-on microphone for video where a desk microphone would be in shot.
5. A second light, a backdrop and, eventually, a mirrorless camera with a capture device.

Keep it simple

Professional-looking video is mostly about sound and light, not expensive cameras. Fix the room, buy a good microphone, use the light you have, and film on the phone in your pocket. Then put your effort into the script, because a strong hook filmed on a phone will always outperform a weak one filmed on a cinema camera. If you are setting up a space to record in, our guide to setting up a home workspace covers choosing and arranging the room.