Never has it been easier to make video.
Technology has made this happen. Just about anyone with a flip cam or phone can grab footage, add titles with some free editing software, post it to YouTube (also free), and away you go.
As far as entertainment goes, the value factor can be extremely high. As far as the waste your time factor goes… it can be even higher. But the value in this medium is the immediate access it provides. Access into communities, individuals, thoughts, expressions, art, music, culture, and everything that makes us human. Video helps connect us on this human level that is not only gratifying but incredibly important.
When it comes to your business or organization this can play a huge factor in bringing your message across. Video ranks as one of the highest traffic drivers for Google. Just today I came across that Facebook is up to 20 million video uploads a month. The ‘viral’ potential is there.
However, like all mediums that touch the social web, it requires a very humanistic approach. Posting only commercials and your ads won’t work. But will work is experimenting. Remember video is a collaborative effort. It require both you and an audience to connect.
This can only be done by organic experimentation and the courage to try new things.
Take a look at what YouTube and Guggenheim are doing.
Putting into practice the collaboration/access combo, they are providing a contest in which anyone around the world can submit a video to be selected for their YouTube channel. 200 entries will be chosen and from these 20 will be selected to be viewed in the Guggenheim museum.
You can read more about the contest here.
Companies should consider videos. Just remember to be human about it and you’ll see the collaboration effect. The results will be access into the viewers world.
