web video: creating what people want to share

shareability & shareworthiness

creating for earned vs bought media

essential areas to think about:

shareability & shareworthiness

creating for earned vs bought media

Does content need to be more interesting to people in the social space than in paid media? Yes.

In one case, we’re dealing with people who are viewing your content because you’ve paid to place it front of them. They’re essentially a captive audience, and in most cases, brands can rely on the fact that people will see the ad.

With web video, it’s a different story. People could be watching anything available on the internet. Cute kittens. Dancing babies. Naughty things. Content created to be spread socially via the internet has a much harder task to accomplish - it needs to earn attention, and earn the right to be shared.

TV advertising rare instance where the two overlap social content

Brand messaging is key focus and overt.

Reason for existence is to tell people something about the brand / product.

Media spend ensures that people see it. Content alone needs to be compelling enough to earn an audience.

Reason for existence should be to entertain people or provide value in some way.

Brand messaging should take a backseat or not be there at all.

Why creating content for earned media is different than creating content for bought media.

usually cheesy infomercials

TV advertising social content

Example: T-Mobile

http://creativity-online.com/news/behind-the-work-volkswagens-the-fun-theory/139512

The T-Mobile Dance

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQ3d3KigPQM

T-Mobile brand spot

shareability & shareworthiness

creating for earned vs bought media

brands don’t make viral videos, people do. you can make a video, but it’s people who make it viral by sharing it.

so what prompts them to share?

Shareability

Shareworthiness

Exists in a number of places online.

Features share buttons and favicons for various social networks, as well as embed code.

Follows general rules of thumb - like length of 90 seconds or under, or no login required for viewing.

Functionality that makes sharing easy

Qualities that make your audience want to share.

Two essential factors:

...This is a little harder.

Wrigley’s redesigned their packaging, but not only for the reasons listed on this weird ad.

They discovered that people were more likely to share gum that came in this type of packaging - ultimately leading to more people chewing and buying their gum. So they re-designed their packaging with Shareability in mind.

Had they been striving to improve the Shareworthiness, they would be focusing on what was being shared, not the mechanisms used to share. In this case, the taste, texture and other attributes that contribute to the enjoyment of their gum.

Simply put, if the gum tasted terrible, all the Shareability in the world wouldn’t help them. It’s Shareworthiness that is the deciding factor.

Shareability Shareworthinessvs

an example

funny shocking / sensational

emotionally moving or remarkable

informative oruseful

“Ha!” “What?!” “Wow!” “Aha!”

so what makes a video Shareworthy?

primary motivators related to content

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=txqiwrbYGrs

“Ha!”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lj3iNxZ8Dww

“What?!”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=518XP8prwZo

“What?!”“Wow!”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pAwR6w2TgxY

“Wow!”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-94JhLEiN0

“Wow!”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q0zEXdDO5JU

“Aha!”

Now, these reactions are somewhat subjective. What one person finds funny, another might not.

To create a video that is shareworthy, it’s critical to understand who your intended audience is, so you can assess what mean to them.