What do companies mean exactly when they say they do “social video production?” Is it just about creating a video that’s creative and entertaining, and placing your video on social networks? Or do you need to be doing a lot more?
In an article on MediaPost’s Video Insider column, “Getting The Most From Your Social Video,” the author, Corey Weiner, Media Director of Jun Group, refers to his business as a “social video company.” Corey started off his article by saying his company has run hundreds of social video campaigns for major brands over the past five years.
Here are some of his statements on doing social video:
- “A successful social video editing strategy… must consider the creative, the placement, and the distribution simultaneously. Where and how the video is displayed says as much about the brand as the video itself.”
- “The goal is viewer engagement, not just ad impressions.”
- “Speak to your audience, not just yourself.”
- “Openly promote the brand, but respect the culture… we feel the brand should be prominently placed;” and the brand “can be the hero without being an interruption.”
- “The approach should be: entertain first, advertise second… the viewer should feel rewarded for his or her selection.”
Then he compared social video editing to movie theater ads:
- “The medium is closer to movie theater ads, where the audience is looking forward to a laugh, or to seeing a big star, or special effects.”
- “Leverage stars, celebs, and big names if you got them… just be sure the star is current, and that he or she is popular with the consumers that you want to reach” and “its important to provide a script that your talent can pull off.”
- “Use special effects… anything that creates a ‘wow’ factor will help generate interest.”
- “Made it edgy, dramatic, shocking, or otherwise memorable… if it’s brand-appropriate, edgy content usually has a strong appeal.”
Here’s the problem though:
- He only goes into the creative aspect, and only on the enterprise/big-brand level. Nothing appears to be offered as something obtainable for SMBs to achieve. (We already know that that big differences in budgets and resources require a clear differentiation in strategies. How helpful really are your social video tips if you’re leaving out over 99% of the business doing it, or want to do it?)
- He only pays lip service to the placement aspect, without talking about how to get involved in the social networking (i.e., distribution) part. He infers that all you need to do is simply create a video production that’s really entertaining, people will want to share it everywhere and with everyone. (In other words, just expect them to do all of that for you.)
- He doesn’t provide any actual examples of “viewer engagement;” isn’t that supposed to be the hallmark of what make for a social video?
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