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A Very Unusual Client Conversation About Video

This is a recap of a conversation I had with a client about video a while back. She had hired us to create a suite of videos for her company.

Me: So, once we’ve made the videos, have you thought about distribution?

Client: Oh yes. We want you to do slightly different versions of each video. We will have call-to-action videos on our social pages, especially Facebook. We’ll be targeting a cold audience there, so it’s important we get their attention and hold on to it. If they like what they see then we will have a slightly different video on our landing page, where we are going to give them something in return for their email address. Once they’ve expressed interest, and if they go to our main website, then we will have richer, more expository video content. We’ll also need you to do slightly tweaked versions for Twitter and our other main social platform, Instagram.’

This conversation doesn’t happen about video everyday, so I remembered it and thought it was worth relaying. It’s still extraordinary to me that even now, in 2017, the majority of marketing people I speak to still think that just ‘putting the video’ on YouTube is the beginning and end of a decent video strategy. It’s not, and when they go back and see a video channel with low views, they wonder why.

On the other hand, our client above had thought about a number of things:

- She’d worked out her audience. In this case it was ‘cold’, and we helped her refine that definition a little bit more. - She had an idea of a funnel in which the videos would play a part. - She understood that videos were one part of a campaign. - She knew it was a good idea to consider slightly different style versions for different platforms. - She wanted to turn this cold audience into a warm one by giving them something valuable for free.

If you’re thinking about using video as part of your communication strategy – and you should be – this is the kind of conversation you should be having.

Would You Like Some Help With Your Next Health Video Campaign?

(To download brochure, click here)

Are you having problems creating health-related videos that cut through the online noise and really present the right message to the right people?

It could be for an awareness campaign. Or for fundraising. Or maybe you have a new medical device you are trying to promote. Maybe you’ve heard that video is the way forward, but you just don’t know where to start or how much to budget. We know just how time-consuming it can be to devise and create a campaign that really works - and then find the right channels to distribute it.

How do we know? Because we’ve created campaigns that work. Again and again since 2009. For clients that have come back to us, again and again - we’ve delivered cost-effective video campaigns that have exceeded targets.

In the last 18 months alone we’ve:

Helped a health apps company win a prestigious award and funding

Completed a four-year hospital campaign which resulted in over £4m in donations

Created a suite of videos for a complex new dental device in advance of launch

Been nominated at film festivals for a feature-length health documentary

Created a bespoke patient-aimed video and online content for sufferers of kidney disease

You can find out more and see further case studies in our 2017 Health Video Brochure, which can be downloaded by clicking here.

What’s more, our content overall has had over 100 million views, likes and shares online.

So, the next time you’re thinking about creating a health-related video, consider HF Health videos. For an informal chat email [email protected] or call 00 44 7779 780 736.

And don’t forget, you can download our 2017 Health Video Brochure by following this link.

What Does BT Sports Rights Deal Mean For Viral Football Videos?

News of BT Sport's new football deal last week - and specifically the fact that they are going to increase the amount of games and highlights they show on social media - will have interesting implications in the online football space.

There’s a lot of competition in this space to create viral content that fans will lap up and share. But there’s one problem, and it’s a big one. Due to rights-holding issues by the Premier League, UEFA and FIFA, it is ‘illegal’ to use any field of play content in any of these virals.

What this means is that as soon as anyone places real current football footage on sites such as YouTube, the spiders from FIFA find it, mark it and the account owner has it removed with a black mark against his or her name. And this is obviously a problem for mainstream football sites, who are trying to attract brands to sponsor their videos. What content are they actually going to use if they can't use the football itself?

Because of this, the sites in question rely on using off-the-field footage to make funny, shareable content. One current vogue is for ‘head replacement’ videos in which the likes of Arsene Wenger has his head transplanted on to a scene from The Wolf of Wall Street, for example. Or Jose Mourinho could be dancing in a pop video. You get the picture. Another is to pile money into capturing the 'Facebook Live' buzz, but that can often mean expensive forays into 'programming' which may not have a guaranteed audience.

But is this all actually illegal?

Strictly speaking, I don’t believe it is. And with BT Sport now promising to show more football on free-to-watch internet platforms, there is going to be scope for viral creators to jump in. The reason is that their right to do so is protected by the exception for parody (or 'fair use if you are mocking the high and mighty') ruling of 2014. As long as they are creating something new, and ideally satirical, and using a short clip in the process, then they should be protected in a court of law.

So could these football entities suddenly be allow to show goals or highlights packages? No (not unless the negotiate the rights). But if they want to make something amusing using a piece of on field action by Joey Barton or Diego Costa, then that is actually perfectly legal. The problem is that the companies may not be aware of the law or be too worried about the repercussions to blow the starting whistle.

We’ve made football videos for a number of clients such as this one where Wayne Rooney played James Bond (done for The Huffington Post) which went viral and was even shown on TV around the world:

FIVE KEY REASONS VIDEO CAMPAIGNS ARE CURRENTLY FAILING

And no, it’s not because people are using wooden cameras, but sometimes I think they might as well be.

I’m continually astonished – in 2017 – that we deliver videos to clients who don’t want to hire us to help with distribution because they are happy just to put the videos on YouTube. And then, a few months later, said videos linger with low views on a ‘lonely’ YouTube channel.

Here are the chief reasons most video campaigns are currently failing:

1. TARGETING IS OFF. For example, if you’re not using Facebook Ads Manager to its full capability (and if you’re not, you should be, so ask us – we will help!) then you are missing out on a world of opportunity to really get your videos in front of the right audience. The way you can split-test in advance for very low daily rates and drill down into niche audiences allows you to see what is working and then maximise your spend to the right audience who does want to see your offer. Finding the perfect target audience is a skill, but it can yield huge rewards.

2. THE MESSAGE IS WRONG. Again, test, test, test. You need to figure out what kind of campaign the video is part of and really focus on getting that message as honed as possible.

3. THE CONTENT ISN’T RELEVANT. Are you sending out video content that is laser-focused to your specific audience? Content that they actually want to see? If not, you need to ask why you are sending it out in the first place.

4. CLARITY OF OFFER. Does the offer in your video match your message and your audience’s expectations? If everything that you are leading your audience to believe leads them to a completely unrelated or confusing offer, then you need to go back to square one.

5. NOT LISTENING TO YOUR AUDIENCE. Too many companies pre-suppose and assume what their audience will want or like when it comes to video. Use the tools available – measuring engagement rates, click-throughs and so on – to really understand the feedback from your audience about what they like and expect you to be offering them.

If you'd like any informal help on this, then drop us a line: [email protected], or call 00 44 7779 780 736. You can find out more about us at our website. I go into all of this in a lot more detail in my book, which is available from Amazon:

What Does Facebook’s Decision To Autoplay Sound On Videos Mean For You?

If you've been on the receiving end of any business-related videos in your Facebook feed over the last 18 months, you may have noticed a pattern of the presenter trying to get you to 'turn up the volume' in the first 10 or 15 seconds. This is because when FB introduced autoplay videos, the sound was turned off. Users had to manually turn up the volume in order to hear the video, and a whole school of video experts taught that getting the presenter to gurn or jump up and down in the first few seconds was a key to what they called 'pattern interrupt' people's scrolling habits.

But all that has now changed.

As of today, Facebook will be rolling out sound as an autoplay feature on videos. According to FB HQ, this is 'what consumers want and expect'. So, as you scroll through your feed, any video will immediately have its sound playing. And if if you don't want to watch a video, it may still appear and play in the corner of your feed. YouTube pioneered this a while back, and I've never quite been sure of its merit. If I want to watch a video, I'll keep watching it: it's never really seemed logical or practical to me to have it play in the corner while I search for something else. If I had four eyes, this might work.

One immediate effect for businesses with Facebook's decision is whether or not to continue to employ subtitles and graphics. I would definitely advise holding off from making any big changes in process until we see how this all plays out. Users have become so used to seeing subtitles, and stylish graphics can often increase the appeal of a video that they may expect this to continue.

Users may also find this new feature annoying. It's one thing to make a decision about choosing to watch and then listen to a video, but it's another to actually have the sound play out. It's probably going to be fine in the long run, but will the sound clash with any other sounds on a mobile - music for example? And if people aren't using headphones on public transport or at work, for example, are they and their neighbours going to be subjected to a cacophony of unwanted noise?

I run Handface.co.uk, and we help companies get noticed with video. Drop me a line if you'd like us to help you out. This is my book about how and why we share videos:

Is It Time to Declare an Embargo on Corporate Animated Videos?

I’m beginning to think so – specifically for certain types of animation.

I still go to a lot of client meetings when an ‘animation’ is the first thing on the list of requirements. I’ve got nothing against animations, we’ve made a lot of them and in the right circumstances they can be the right approach.

But a certain style of corporate animation, which became incredibly popular about five years ago, still retains a currency. It’s usually flash-based, has characters with cutesy faces and oversized eyes and it nearly always accompanied by jaunty (typically brisk piano) music.

This type of video has ticked a lot of boxes in the corporate marketing world. But, more often than not, it simply sits on the company website and makes the marketing manager feel good.

What is the shareability of this type of video?

Next to zero. How many times have you seen a video like this shared on your social feed, or how many times have you shared one that you have no vested interest in yourself?

How many sales does thus type of video create?

Not many, I’d guess.

So – what are the right circumstances for corporate animations? If you’re creating a science video for example, animation can be a really good way of explaining a difficult subject. Likewise, animated infographics still give the designer room to push the creative boat out. But if you are using animation, I really like a combination of animation and live action (ie real people).

People buy from people. Not from Flash-based animations. It’s time to consign them to online video history and instead really think about how your video can break new ground, be shareable and convert viewers into customers and advocates.

If you'd like to talk to us about video, email me at [email protected] or call 00 44 7779 780736. Or you could buy my book on the subject!

The Films I Watched in 2016 - Ranked

Here’s a list of the 100 films I watched in 2016 - most of them on streaming services - ranked from my favourite to least favourite. They’re not all films from 2016, but they are films I saw for the first time during the year.

The Great: The Passenger (1973) One Eyed Jacks Sing Street La La land Manchester-By-The-Sea The Garden of the Finzi-Contini Wild Strawberries Animal Kingdom Weiner Lost Soul Hillsborough The Fall The Mist The Invitation Stroszek La Haine

The Good: HyperNormalisation Slow West The Founder The French Lieutenant’s Woman Rogue One Shifty Love & Friendship Straight Outta Compton Somwhere Looper Mon Roi Touch of Evil Embrace of the Serpent 99 Homes Robot and Frank Danny Collins Jackie La Jetee I, Daniel Blake Soul Boys of the Western World Drunk Stoned Brilliant Revanche The Tribe Melancholia Diary of a Teenage Girl Florence Foster Jenkins The Voices Arrival Confirmation All The Way Bridge of Spies The Gift Of Human Bondage (1934) The Lobster Bad Neighbors My Life Directed by Nicholas Winding Refn The Heartbreak Kid (1971) Exhibition Revolution The Nightcomers Creed All of me Montage of Heck Morning Glory The Nice Guys Precinct 75 She's Having a Baby Black Mass Kill Your Friends Brannigan Daddy's Home Deadpool The Meddler Sorry Wrong Number Legend (2015) Vantage Point Oblivion Cartel Land Eye in the Sky Amanda Knox Goodnight Mommy Gaspar Noe’s Love Amy The Sheltering Sky 20th Century Women Play It As It Lays The Danish Girl Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit Spike Island The Cruise Fading Gigolo Hector Cadillac Man Nashville

The Two Hours I’ll Never Get Back: The Devil's Double Trash Eden Ballet 422 The Rewrite Man Up Sisters Dom Hemingway Are You Here She's Funny That Way

Can You Say YES to These 10 Questions about Making In-House Video?

If you can say YES to these ten questions about making your own videos in-house, then you are ready to roll.

When is it better to use internal resources to make a company video, compared to hiring a third party production company? If you don’t have a dedicated video department, how would you answer these questions? And it’s not about saying YES to some of them – you need to be able to give a resounding YES to all 10.

Let's take an everyday situation: you want to make an internal promotion video using members of staff. You’ve spoken to a couple of local production companies and received quotes for the work. But Joe in accounts has his own camera and tells you he’s a whizz with editing. And the board seem keen – after all, using Joe will save money.

Right?

Maybe.

But only if you can answer a resounding YES to the following questions:

1. Is Joe going to be able to find the appropriate amount of time in his already busy schedule to complete this work?

2. If the answer to question 1 is YES, who is going to cover for Joe when he is filming and producing the project? Is one of his colleagues going to answer his phone and keep on top of his emails?

3. Will Joe be able to fulfil all the requirements of pre-production (storyboard, script approval), production and post-production (all of the editing, graphics, sound mix, grading etc)?

4. Is Joe literally going to do it all alone? Won’t he need help on the actual filming day? Is he going to ask friends to help on this for free?

5. Will Joe be able to stick to deadlines? Or will the production’s timescale ‘creep’ as he has to look after his regular job’s needs?

6. Does Joe have the appropriate experience in developing scripts which really know how to grab attention and solve customer problems, as well as figuring out how to resolve them and create calls-to-action to make a video which sits well in your overall marketing funnel?

7. Is Joe an expert in lighting and sound, as well as his camera skills?

8. Is Joe skilled enough to take an honest third party look at your company, or is his video simply going to cement in-house views?

9. Is Joe going to be able to ask his colleagues, many of them senior to him, penetrating and insightful questions?

10. Will Joe react well to requests for changes to his final edit?

If you can honestly answer YES to these ten questions then that is genuinely great. Itcan happen. There are incredibly talented individuals in various company departments – some of whom may even have past industry experience – who can deliver a thoroughly professional and on-time project. While completing all of their normal day-to-day tasks.

But if not, you need to weigh up what is more important to you: taking the risk on whether your member of staff can produce a high-end product on time, or going with that initial third party professional quote.

The Three Questions You Need To Answer Before Making a Video

In order to increase the chances of making a successful video, we always advise clients to have the WHO/WHERE/WHAT questions at the forefront of their minds at the very beginning of the project.

WHO: Who do you want to watch the video?

‘As many people as possible’ is not really a good enough answer. It’s all about targeting. So if it’s ‘Health professionals’, what department do they work in? What responsibilities do they have? What are their pain points? How will your product or service help them? Do they have the power to complete your WHAT question?

Many people advocate creating an avatar of your ideal customer. This is a good idea, but it does ignore the fact that lots of people will not be your ideal customer. But you still want them. That’s life and that’s business. We recommend thinking about several avatars, and figuring out how you can reach them, even if this means slightly different tweaks to different versions of the video.

WHERE: Where are they going to see the video?

On Facebook? LinkedIn? A forum specific to their interest? Your webpage? Or are they a captive audience at an event you are holding?

What mood will they be in when they see it? What time will they see it? Will they see it multiple times?

There are lots of ways in which people can come across your video, and this will affect how you frame your message: for example Facebook can allow a more relaxed, attention-grabbing approach, whereas an intricate exposition video on your website might require a drier, fact-driven approach.

Many people still assume that just making a company or corporate video and sticking it on their YouTube channel will suffice. This will usually only lead to a lonely YouTube channel and a lot of wasted energy and money. Thinking about distribution from the very beginning of a project is essential.

WHAT: What do you want them to do when they’ve watched the video?

Make an immediate purchase? Click through to find out more? Call for a follow-up session or book an appointment?

Thinking about WHAT you want someone to do when they’ve watched your video will help greatly in figuring out the key question: what’s the message of this video?

Once you’ve answered the WHO/WHERE/WHAT questions, you are ready to really begin the creative on your project.

Is The Interview Wrangler The Most Important Role on A Company Video Shoot?

Organising the interviews for a company video is often an overlooked task, but it's crucial to a smooth final product. There's nothing more disappointing than spending money to hire a film crew only to have half of the expected interviewees drop out at the last minute.

This happens more than you might think - especially in high pressure work situations such as health, when staff can be understandably diverted to more pressing concerns on the day. But since the crew is booked and paid for, having them come back again can often be out of the question.

An experienced video company will work with you to create a schedule and build in a degree of flexibility, but this is ideally a role for someone within the organisation. It's perfect if the person in question has buy-in to the video and is well-known within the organisation. That way any issues on the day can be dealt with by a familiar figure, rather than a third party from a production crew. Bribes, such as chocolates, can also help.

Here’s What NOT To Ask A YouTuber To Do

Every so often I see a brand 'helicoptering' in a YouTube or Snapchat celebrity in order to appeal to the youth market. This typically takes the form of a short campaign on Snapchat in which brands appear with their celebrity for a brief amount of time (regardless of whether they are a great fit or not) and then disappear, leaving no trace apart from a few confused kids. More often than not, a trusting brand has been pushed to run this campaign by a persuasive agency.

It was refreshing to hear the other side of this at IBM's Digital Content day last week when YouTuber Jim Chapman took the stage to reveal his pet hates in terms of brand 'asks'. Don't ask him to dress as a sausage, for example, or to wash his hair in the Thames.

Instead, Chapman showed a deeper understanding of why brands get it wrong when using YouTube stars, and explained what he does like when approached: he is especially in favour of being asked to think of an idea himself, rather than being shoehorned into a script that may not fit his character or that of his audience. If brands want to continue to use YouTube stars, then they need to be aware that a lot of these stars have grown up and have a better understanding of their audience than the brand itself. Letting the YouTuber have a major input is therefore essential.

If You’re Serious About Video, You Have To Be In It For The Long Game

There's no doubt that the amount of internet traffic devoted to video is multiplying year on year. Consumers expect video. Yet some companies and marketing departments are still resistant to embracing it. They're either not convinced of the need, or they are stuck using old marketing methods. Or they think it's all going to take too much effort and cost.

Those are the companies that in the long term will be the likely losers. Marketing managers will move on, leaving younger replacements to pick up the pieces or start from scratch.

Creating a viable video strategy doesn't have to be onerous or vastly expensive. A viable video strategy can include everything from main so-called 'hero' videos to cost-free Instagram clips or Facebook Live broadcasts.

A successful strategy does need a calendar, a schedule and a little bit of effort. A lot of companies are already doing this for their social media output, so adding in video should not be too much of a bind.

If they are going to create video, companies do need to think about being in it for the long game. Not every video will be a smash. There will be failures. But consistency in showing up will lead to better quality output and greater appreciation from customers. There's really no excuse not to be involved.

Diluting Your Feedback Will Dilute Your Video Shares

How does the feedback loop for video work in your organisation?

Does it have a full understanding of the production process as well as the need to increasingly push the envelope in terms of video content?

Or is it governed by fear? This is usually fear that the boss may not approve - which leads to a video made by consensus. And videos that are made by consensus nearly always end up as bland affairs which don't really get shared very much.

If you have confidence in your production team and your writers, then trust them throughout the process. At the outset, establish a clear feedback loop - and don't swerve from it. Sure, sometimes events may have an impact or an idea may not quite pan out the way everyone intended and changes may be required. But on the whole, the videos that make a real impact are usually the work of a small, close group who understand and respect each other's functions.

Saying ‘We’re On Vimeo Now!’ Is Not An Effective Video Strategy

The first time I heard someone say this earlier this year — in a business meeting — I thought it was simply a one-off.

But then I heard it again, in a completely different meeting. It was as if putting company videos on Vimeo marked a new direction, a new strategy, and was the answer to all video distribution questions. ‘We’re not going to have a lonely YouTube channel’, it said. ‘We’re on Vimeo now!’

Don’t get me wrong — I love Vimeo. And it probably is a good place to host a company video. It lends itself more to the artistic and creative community but there’s no reason not to put a video one there. But being ‘on’ Vimeo should be just one part of a video strategy — especially in terms of distribution. It’s not the complete answer to the distribution question — just as much as being on YouTube is not the complete answer.

The answer is to have a clearly defined overall strategy for a video campaign — beginning with a solid objective of what the video should convey, how people are going to see it, what they will do once they have seen it and — ideally — figuring out why they would share it. Vimeo can be part of that, but it’s not the whole solution.

Why Did You Share That Last Video?

Most marketers today are overwhelmed by data. And all this data gives them something to hide behind. A lot of the time they are avoiding the key question: what is really influencing buyers?

The importance of social sharing and social influence returns to the fore with the publication of Jonah Berger’s new book ‘Invisible Influence’, the follow-up to his influential ‘Contagious’. There’s a fascinating interview with Jonah hosted by Jim Williams of Influitive here.

There’s some really interesting detail in the chat which matches the question we always try to answer for clients at the beginning of a new project: why is anyone going to share this video?

Some people consider themselves ‘influencers’, but are they really impermeable to outside influence themselves? Are we all actually as individual as we think?

I recommend listening to the podcast, and think about just why you last shared a video or piece of digital content.

For Online Video, ‘Pretty’ Isn’t Always The Most Important Thing

This is a bit of tough love for anyone who’s commissioned an online video, spent a lot of money to have a top end team shoot it, have a beautiful final product, only to find that it sits on a YouTube channel gathering dust.

‘Pretty’ isn’t the most important thing in an online video.

‘Pretty’ may make you feel good because your boss liked it as well, but in the long term a decent spend on a video which yields little in the way of views or shareability is, it's sad to say, a waste of time.

When we start a new project with a client, our first questions are always:

What is the objective of this video?

What do you want people to do when they’ve watched it?

Why would anyone watch it and then share it?

What thoughts have you had about distribution?

We then work with the client to figure out the answer to these questions – before we really begin on the creative or the pre-production. Having the answers to these questions locked in at the very beginning means that hopefully the project will have a purpose that unites everyone involved, and that it will remain on target.

Too many companies get hung up on pretty when they should really be obsessing over objective.

Facebook Video Stats Are Amazing. Except When They’re Wrong.

Does it really matter how long people have watched a video on Facebook for?

To many businesses, it matters a lot.

The perceived wisdom has always been that the longer someone watches a video for, the more interested they are in the subject matter. Facebook advertisers then use this metric to decide where to spend their next tranche of retargeting money. Earlier in the summer Facebook’s announcement that it was going to improve the statistics it offered was warmly received: it was now going to be possible to see how many watched 10, 20 or even 90% of a video and act accordingly.

It’s a simple process.

Except when the statistics are wrong.

The official apology last week by Facebook Global VP of marketing Carolyn Everson that these metrics may have been incorrectly reported for over 2 years has left a lot of industry watchers scratching their heads.

How could this happen?

It’s the equivalent of Nielsen TV ratings in the US or BARB TV ratings in the UK being wrong. Would advertisers stand for this?

The early calls for a third party service to officially audit Facebook viewing figures seem well-placed. And it will be interesting to see the details emerging of whether this was a calculated mistake or a technical error, and why it apparently took two years to become public. Either way it doesn’t place Facebook in the best light.

What it underlines is the need for video publishers NOT to rely on one platform: we always advise clients that Facebook is just one part of a video distribution strategy. And if you are creating organically shareable content – yes, it is still possible – then you have less reliance on running paid traffic to your video.

We create shareable content for all sorts of companies. If you'd like us to help your bottom line, drop me a line at [email protected].

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