Social Fresh: Web video for marketing

Panel:

Moderator: Jason Keath (@jakrose) with Social Fresh From the program:

    From video contests to video blogging to interviews to the ultimate viral hit, moving pictures are becoming a bigger and bigger piece of getting your marketing message to be shared among customers. We have brought together video experts from all levels of this growing marketing channel.

 Sample video:

Again, this post is in the form of Q&A. I’ve paraphrased a bit to make full sentences out of my notes.

Advice about Web Video:

Jill: Add personality. Add tag words to get more views.

Paul: A common misconception about web video is that doubters perceive web distribution as cheap, and think production quality is related to that. Quality of content actually needs to be better for people to choose to watch it. The quality of story and production, creative are all important. You must invest in that to take advantage of opportunity presented by web video.

Jonathan: How we do business is “What’s interesting to us?” We put people we want to write about in our video. Making it viral was making it about the people.

Wayne: Don’t spend too much time (transitions, special effects, etc). People want information and they want it quick. The want to comment and share.

Small business: initial tools of trade to invest in: good resource – definition6.com

Wayne: Get a good mac. It’s the standard in video world. Depends on how you want to create content. You don’t have to get a $20,000 camera, but get an HD camera, and make sure it works good with your computer. Audio and lighting are the two main factors when filming..

Jill: Sound, editing, and someone who can hold the camera. It’s the little things that count because people watching the video have such a short attention span.

Jonathan: Get a hold on your messaging and copywriting.

Web Videos in Internal Culture:

Paul: Videos are a great way to convey and invoke sentiment among employees.

Jonathan: “Be entrepreneurial, go above and beyond.” We created videos of people who are passionate about their job, talking about the company’s core values. These videos are shown to new employees.

Using hoaxes. Should you?:

Wayne: I don’t recommend it. If you do, be careful. A fake persona is ok as long as you’re transparent about it.

Jill: Be aware that they can flop. I did one with a major brand, and nobody cared.

Paul: Start with what you’re trying to accomplish and your brand values. Humor is most powerful approach, but it has to relate to your brand. Ask yourself what it’s going to do in terms of invoking a response. Quality storytelling first, production quality second.

Distribution strategy:

Paul: Seeding. Put it in hands of audience. Integrate all assets: social pages, websites. Get people integrated into creative to get things retweeted, etc. Some brands pay to get views on top 25 lists. Then it can go naturally from there.

Jonathan: With my video, I didn’t spend any money. I spent time researching people who would like video, and personally wrote them one-on-one emails, sharing the video with them. They then shared it with friends, coworkers, etc.

Wayne: Use your socialgraph and online presence to spread and promote your video. Let people embed it so they can share. Don’t limit or try to close it out.