Is there a right way to handle video? - SmartBrief

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Is there a right way to handle video?

3 min read

Digital Technology

Blue cardiogramSmartPulse — our weekly reader poll in SmartBrief on Social Media — tracks feedback from leading marketers about social-media practices and issues.

Last week’s poll question: What role does video play in your social-media strategy?

  • We haven’t done any video yet, but we’re looking into it — 22.75%
  • We sometimes use video as a supplement to blog posts — 21.56%
  • Our video content lives exclusively on video networks such as YouTube — 17.37%
  • We have both video and text content on a blog, but tend to keep them separate — 11.98%
  • We don’t produce original content at all — 11.38%
  • Video is the focus of all our content — 8.38%
  • Video is overrated — 6.59%

There aren’t a lot of one-size-fits-all rules for content strategies — at this point there’s at least one successful exception to just about any dictum you care to name. So nobody is really wrong here — even the folks  who think video is overrated. But that doesn’t mean there aren’t a few good rules of thumb that companies can use as starting points.

  • Be easy to find. Marty Weintraub made some really excellent points earlier this week about using video content as a search-engine optimization tool. I think he’s on the money when he says that video content should live in a variety of places. Not only is it a good SEO move to put that video on your home page and on YouTube, but it also makes you easier to find and engage. Most of the cost of video content comes from production — not the relatively small amount of time spent promoting and distributing it — so why not take the extra time to give your content more places to shine?
  • Be multimedia. If you organization produces both text and video content, I think it makes a great deal of sense to mix the two together whenever you can. Text gives people who can’t watch a video right now another way to access your message and respond to your call to action. You can use video to open the door and then text to seal the deal afterward. The two mediums have very different strengths — so why not combine them and get the best of both worlds?
  • Be open. Does that mean you need to be producing videos — or content at all? Not necessarily. But producing video content is getting cheaper and easier all the time. While you business goals should always drive your content strategy, I still think too many brands look at original content — especially video — and have a knee-jerk reaction. Instead of mindlessly jumping on a bandwagon or stubbornly saying “that’s just not what we do,” ask yourself what you’re really trying to accomplish — and if video is a sensible way for you to reach those goals.

What does your video strategy look like? What rules of thumb do you use to guide you video strategy?