Welcome to the fourth and final article in our series. If you’ve read along then you should be feeling pretty darn confident your understanding of the basics of Pre-production, Production and Post-production. Today we’re going to share some wisdom regarding the distribution of your brand new corporate videos, specifically formatting and seeding.
Rare, Medium or Well-done?
Just like everyone has a preference for their steak, each online platform has a preference for how they would like you to format your video content. Also similar to cooking steak, there is a recipe that you can follow to achieve your desired outcome. If you’re pretty confident with video editing software (whether that’s Final Draft, Avid or even QuickTime Pro or iMovie) then you might want to handle this step yourself. If you’re not 100% certain of your skills, or if your knowledge amounts to diddly, then fear not as a good production company will delivery your final video(s) in various formats for you.
To get the “recipe” for each platform usually a simple Google search will point you towards the a page on the official website. Use the guidelines from the official sites whenever possible, as specs listed on 3rd party blogs are often incorrect or out of date. The one exception to this might be SproutSocial who maintain an up to date Google Doc for most platforms here. Below are links to the most recent specs (recipes) for each of the most popular platforms. However, these specs can be updated infuriatingly often, so it’s always a good idea to double check.
Social Media Video Specs
Facebook: AdsFacebook: PagesTwitterInstagram: OfficialInstagram: SproutSocialYouTube
Planting Your Seeds
Let’s start by differentiating between Seeding and Video Ads. Both are forms of distributing your video. Seeding your video usually refers to an organic approach – free placement across various websites. Video Ads (also referred to a as Paid Media) is when you pay a fee to have your video put in front of your audience. In most cases, you’ll likely want a mix of these approaches, paid ads through AdWords, Facebook, Instagram of lInkedIn as well as organic traffic through your website, YouTube and social media channels.
Don’t Catch The Virus!
A term that’s thrown about when discussions begin about seeding and distribution is “Viral”. How do we get our video to go Viral? The problem with this approach is that you are focusing entirely on a result that is entirely out of your control. It is impossible to predict what content goes viral. There is no magic formula to follow and you should be wary of anyone who claims they know it! Even though it can seem that there are millions of videos with million+ views, that’s not the case. It’s an understandable misconception developed as we are more likely to be exposed to (and watch) videos that are trending. The majority of B2C Corporate Videos will not see one million views, the numbers are on average lower still for B2B videos. Don’t panic however, as let me convince you that you don’t need to catch a virus!
Why 1000 Views Can Be More Powerful than a Million
In the most infantile stages of your video production, you worked with your excellent production company (hopefully us!) to really, really get specific about who your ideal audience is. Based on this homework you developed your video concept and (with just a couple of stages in between, ahem) voila – you have a video your target audience wants and need to see. You don’t’ need a million views to produce results – you need 1000 views by people who are most likely to buy your products or service.
Home Delivery Versus Take Out
We are busy people on a planet getting busier and faster each day. We are also becoming overwhelmed with content – there’s a lot of it and the standards of content are improving with each day too. So how do you get seen? Just about everyone prefers their food to be home delivered than to have to pick it up, right? You need to drop your video right where your audience lives online. Don’t post it on your website and then expect them to come to your home for the “honor” of watching your content.
Logically, the next step is to find your where your audience lives. Sometimes this homework is handled by your Marketing person, the Production Company (if they offer a seeding or marketing service) or, if you’re a smaller company where employees are wearing multiple hats, this research might land on your plate. If it’s your responsibility the best way to start to is do some Google searches using the age, location, sex and any other defining data and terms such as:
- Online+Statistics
- Video+statistics
- SocialMedia+Statistics
- Mobile+Video+Statistics
You’ll find there are usually 5-10 relevant sources of research and statistics that will guide you to where your audience spends most of their online hours. Compare at least 3-4 and be sure to make sure you use the most recent data available.
It’s Better To Regret Something You Did, Than Something You Didn’t Do*
Once you have your research and can make a good guesstimation about the sites that are most popular with your demo, then it’s time to throw the spaghetti against the wall. Succeeding in social media is not a quick process. As a captain sails his ship, there is not a straight course in which to follow. Instead you will need to monitor your progress (or lack thereof) and change course based on that valuable information. It’s integral to the success of your video to create a feedback loop, to monitor not only viewership numbers, but also read and respond to any comments your potential customers are leaving. Don’t get too caught up in the details, this is a game of trial and error, so make your best judgement and get on with it!
(*I think it was The Butthole Surfers who sung about that! Kudos to them!)
Congratulations! You have just graduated our mini series covering the basics of Creating, Producing and Distributing Corporate Video. Still have questions? Don’t hesitate to reach out as we are always happy to help. Want to work with a team of impassioned, award-winning professionals who are fun to work with and product videos that get results? Start the conversation and send us an email (info@frontrunnerfilmsllc.com) or see our work and learn more about us at www.frontrunnerfilmsllc.com.
