Video – and going viral!
The story of Alfie Sheard is just one example of how powerful social media can be in sharing news and catapulting previously unknown people into the limelight. Alfie was a local school boy living in Rotherham who happened to like playing guitar and singing when Youtube videos of him were shared and before he know it he was being flown (with his mum) to LA to perform on the Ellen DeGeneres show and to top it all was given a guitar by his idol, Ed Sheeran!
Views on Youtube of Alfie playing his guitar were seen by three million people in just a few days as the video went viral, catapulting the 15 year old from Rotherham into the international limelight.
The power of video, backed by social media sharing, is immense and unparalleled. However it’s not just celebrities or young performers who can be the winners – businesses can too. A construction client last week told me that one of the reasons that they won a major social housing project was that the housing association they were tendering for had started following them on social media and seen their video content. They had taken footage of some of the community projects they had supported and interviewed young people about what impact their fundraising had had on their lives. This had been shared across social media and run on their Youtube channel, generating over 150,000 views – including that all important viewing by their potential client.
What cannot be denied, though it is often not appreciated, is the power that video has in getting a message across. Think about it, if you want to know how to do something, where’s the first place you look these days? That’s right, Youtube! You can pretty much guarantee that there will be an instructional video out there showing you how to set up a TV or programme your car radio.
Similarly, ‘how to’ videos are becoming really important in demonstrating how products and services work in the construction and home interest sector.
Business-to-business companies, particularly construction and manufacturing, are becoming well aware of the value of Youtube videos to generate interest in their products and services
In the past 12 months, we have produced a series of ‘how to’ videos for clients, ranging from how to fit a boiler, right through to how to specify the right type of insulation for tall buildings.
They don’t need professional voice-overs or actors and can be quite cost effective to produce. In fact, they are often much better and more credible when the person giving the instruction is the product manager or technical expert at the company.
Whatever your subject, you too can become an expert – and Youtube gives you the vehicle to showcase this. It’s true that video content still ranks very highly in Google search. So websites with more informative video content should start to see a better search ranking.
Video case studies work really well too. Often we write these and include a link directly from the written article on the website, through to a Youtube video of a customer’s project.
So, the value of a well-produced video cannot be underestimated. If you would like to discuss PR, social media or videos to help promote your construction or manufacturing product or service, please email hello@dragonflypr.co.uk or call 01709 300130