Consistently creating attention-grabbing, social-friendly video content isn’t an easy task. So, we’ve listed a few ways to help alleviate that stress by tapping into your existing content and repurposing it for video.
If there’s one thing I know to be true, it’s that people learn and consume content in many different ways. Some love to read long articles chock full of details, while others prefer to plug in headphones and listen to a short podcast.
Personally, I’m a visual learner. I prefer to see and experience something firsthand (whether in person or virtually) to capture my attention and grasp a concept or procedure. I’d rather watch a short dynamic video than read a tedious case study any day.
As content creators, we have to use various communication tactics to satisfy our diverse audience groups. But, would you completely recreate the wheel when you’ve already spent countless hours creating content most of your audience already loves? Of course not! If you have customers like me (and you do), here are three easy ways to repurpose existing content to create dynamic video for online distribution.
Repurpose Infographics
Create animated video to bring a popular infographic to life
If you’ve already invested many hours and dollars in creating compelling infographics, review those that have historically received the most traction via social media. Take a look at those that earned the most shares, likes and comments to understand which performed best. From there, repurpose the same content and visuals to
If you’ve already invested many hours and dollars in creating compelling infographics, review those that have historically received the most traction via social media. Take a look at those that earned the most shares, likes and comments to understand which performed best. From there, repurpose the same content and visuals to design a dynamic motion video. For a great example, check out this example by AT&T.
Animated infographics leverage music, motion, and storytelling to illustrate important messaging better. Storylines may include walking a customer through a journey they will likely experience with your brand or a process the company went through to create a valuable offering. The best part about this approach is if you’ve already determined people respond well to a previously posted infographic, you will have greater confidence the messaging will also be received well in an animated format.
Repurpose User Generated Content
Derive cues from audience conversations
It’s easy to monitor heated conversations taking place on your social media channels to understand what your audience cares about most. When users comment, sharing powerful statements, questions and comments, you have a wealth of user-generated content (UGC) on your hands to repurpose as you see fit.
You can succinctly capture audience viewpoints that resonate with the crowd by collecting and reviewing popular comments (those that receive multiple likes, for example). Take the most important part of a comment and transform it into a quote, and pair it with a visual to reinforce your point. For example, if you own a fitness studio and want to promote a mission of health and wellness, set a slideshow of inspirational photos set to music, and interspersing motivational quotes (famous and UGC alike). Chances are, by reiterating a point you know resonates with your audience, they are more likely to like, share and engage with the video as well. After all, the Internet loves quotes (maybe more than statistics, videos, clickbait articles, and yes – even cats).
As you create videos inspired by UGC, remember that photos and text are the most important elements of many videos watched and shared via social.
After all, 85% of Facebook videos are watched without sound, so it is more important than ever to make sure your video is watchable without requiring viewers to turn up the volume.
Repurpose FAQs
Address Frequently Asked Questions Via Video
Many years ago, one of my clients (an electricity provider) began using Twitter as a customer service channel, as most brands chose to do when social media first became a business tool. Over time, the communications team tracked direct brand mentions and the local electric conversation at large to understand common areas where customers had questions and concerns.
With a list in hand, we partnered with the broader customer service department to compare our findings to theirs. Unsurprisingly, we discovered many common pain points were present on Twitter and the customer service phone lines.
Instead of just responding to the same question over and over via both portals, we chose to take proactive measures to address customer questions before they were asked. Both departments agreed videos addressing these problems would help customers seeking solutions on the company website and social media profiles.
We identified active employees to speak on camera to directly address some of these questions, like “what does this charge mean on my bill”? We also featured subject matter experts to shed more light on the details, and kept the videos online as a resource for new and repeat visitors to reference when needed. This strategy provided an alternative route for customers to seek answers, positioned the brand as a company who listens and cares, introduced customers to the face of the brand and helped unburden the busy customer service department.
Don’t Forget…
This approach is still relevant today. Use existing content and experiences to figure out what your audience finds valuable, and then use it to create videos they’ll actually watch, use and better yet – share.
As you exploring creating video for your brand, remember that we now live in an era where audiences have mastered the art of “skipping”. If content doesn’t grab the audience’s attention in seconds, it is immediately passed over. To combat this harsh reality, employ the “bite-sized approach”, where rather than distributing the same video on each platform, use a fractionalized approach in which the “big idea” (or the backbone) of a campaign is custom-tailored to each site, and is relevant to each platform.
