Every social media blog ever: You need more video on Facebook. Think of the reach! The engagement! Those sweet KPIs!
You:
– I don’t have the time
– I don’t have a good camera
– I don’t have the editing experience
– I don’t know how to produce a high-quality social video
You could probably add a few more bullets of your own to the end of that list, but I’m here to tell you that creating videos for Facebook is easier than you think.
Storytime
In May, the College of Health and Human Sciences honored the late Ben Granger, former director of CSU’s School of Social Work, with a memorial outside of the Social Work building. The memorial was a plaque, bench, and bronze statue of Ben’s favorite golden retriever, Casey.
When I arrived at the event, I found out that the statue was covered because Ben’s wife Georgia wanted to unveil it in front of everyone.
The wheels in my head started turning. Are you thinking what I’m thinking?
What a great photo opp!
What a great video opp!
When it was time to unveil the statue, I got up immediately to position myself in the very front—prime videoing location. I made sure no one was in front of me, kneeled down a bit to get a good angle, pulled out my iPhone, and pressed the record button. Here’s the result:
00:31 seconds. No tripod. No mics. No editing. One endearing video clip.
Takeaways
There’s a misconception in PR and marketing that all video must be highly-produced video. That’s simply not the case, and I’d almost argue that for Facebook, raw is better. In fact, raw video catapulted into CSU’s Most Popular Facebook post, ever.
Think about it. Facebook was originally created for people to share raw, unedited moments of their life. That type of un-produced content is native to the platform.
Being a brand on social media is all about authenticity, so sharing something meaningful and un-produced is a great way to build that relationship with your audience.
And your audience will love it.
Every social media blog ever: You need more video on Facebook. Think of the reach! The engagement! Those sweet KPIs!
You:
– I’ve got a smartphone
– Let do this!
All you need for Facebook video is a smartphone and a voice in the back of your head telling you to turn the camera on.
Bonus
Since most of us are not solely social media professionals, an added bonus of taking raw video like this is adding it to your stories. It’s a quick and easy way to add multimedia to your press release, blog post, or website story.