Hipolito Navarrete, Managing Editor/Publisher

Social Media has made video content creators lazy. There are myriads of videos that are now invading our Facebook feeds every hour, some are excellent, see NewsBroke, AJ+, and then there are others. The focus of the content, video or other wise, is on making sure they give information and also hit an emotional vain that will encourage the viewer to share it, after all, most of us feel that our Facebook friends agree with us, or so we think. Strategically, this sharing can create opportunities to identify prospective customers to sell a service, a product or an idea to. Content from private companies can only survive if something is sold, and in order to make videos that are effectively designed to create a response, someone must finance the content creators. There are moments that are caught organically, they will incite and evoke emotion, and they will be widely enjoyed, and if they persuade people to take the desired action, then they truly are successful. However, those are very few of those, there must be thought put into videos, images, captions and the over all design so that it does make a difference for your desired outcome.

Review different content online, focus of the videos that are putting out there the message you want to expose. A message that is reflective of the product you are selling will help you find those people that are looking for you. If a viewer is looking for a laugh, for education strategies, for political explanations, for practical answers, etc., they may bypass your video if you are not designing the video for them, or they will click on the image to see what you have for them. We are now turning to the internet for answers, not because we are lazy, but because it is a place to start, good or bad, its practical and efficient, but is it effective and honest? Again, it depends on who it is that is producing those videos. Are you considered trust worthy or are you designing the message in a way that is deceitful? If folks feel you lied or misrepresented, unless you are a parody storyteller, you will not be trusted. It is important that you vet those that are putting videos out there, are they qualified to engage this particular audience on those conversations, or are they at least able to find those that are qualified to collaborate with.

In the age of social media, defined as websites and applications that enable users to create and share content or to participate in social networking, we don’t have the ability to take back a mistake that can cost money or credibility in the market place we are trying to inhabit.

If you are making videos that would be shared through a specific online distribution platform, such as Facebook or You Tube, in mind, it is important how that audience acts in such a space. Twitter, Instagram, and all other platforms have been designed so that certain messages are accommodated, follow their suggestions until you have a base that will follow you. This is a tricky challenge so be prepared to experiment. It is important that those that you are trying to sell to, understand that this is an exchange. Create a video or image that they can talk about during their coffee break or during any social time that they have available. Most folks are looking for answers, if you can answer or hint to the answer of a basic problem, then you will get those folks that the product is most relevant to. If you have your video shared by millions of folks, but none are buying the product, was it a successful video? If you are selling politics, did they vote as it was intended in the video? If its about a school, did your school admissions get more inquiries, did they have a small bump in folks asking and coming for a visit at the school? If it’s a video for an artist, are they buying more tickets for a local concert or are they purchasing the song online? Does the video create a connection between the product and its potential purchasers? If not, what did you miss. There is no cookie cutter option. Easy strategies are generally not effective strategies, people are complex and sophisticated, social media strategies must bear that in mind.

You can easily create a video clip to post, point shoot, upload, and then what? Was there an actual understanding of the message that is being posted? Was there a design that would allow for the preferred out come? A transparent answer will help you with your bottom line.