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Video Distribution: YouTube Is Not A Dumpster

When brands think about ways to create and distribute video content, they often consider their existing work -- commercials, testimonials, how-tos, etc.. --  as a resource.  Ideally, this tactic is sitting underneath a more developed content strategy.  Regardless, existing content will better integrate into an overall marketing plan if the planned programs, platforms, and projects yield assets that are uniquely built for specific channels.  For example, during a TV commercial shoot, marketers would create additional storytelling, engagement, or participatory content for Vine, YouTube, Twitter, and more. 

But many brands, and even many agencies, are still not coordinated across online and offline channels to frame this up in advance.  They face barriers such as timing, structure, and budget, and are frequently left with the tactic of repurposing existing content.  This is not a bad plan until, like Facebook and any social channel, YouTube becomes an archived dumping ground for bad, useless, and ill-suited videos. Even some of the brands that are purposefully developing digital video continue to resort to throwing behind-the-scenes, bloopers, and straight versions of their :30 TV ads onto YouTube.

There’s a better way to do it. While many marketers lack the resources required to get past things like time constraints and budget, brands can still make better use of existing assets, and add some channel thinking to program asset creation.

Here are the things you need to consider when redeploying or repurposing your content on earned channels:

Consumer Expectations by Channel

Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube, still the big three earned channels (outside of .com and newsletters/emails), have different consumer expectations about use.  A brand’s subscribers are probably different on each channel.   If you consider different consumer behaviors, you might characterize Twitter as essentially real-time/news, Facebook as current (but not real-time), and YouTube as archival.  That might tell you that posting your most recent TV commercial, while useful for Facebook if it’s really worthwhile (like the renowned Volkswagen “Darth Vader” ad), is most effectively placed on YouTube, where search is the most prevalent activity. Or that instead of linking to the full video on Twitter, it could be better to tweet a still of the best frame, and ask followers to provide a caption, vote on it, etc.

Think of it this way: many people talk about “YouTube” videos.  In general, they are referring to random user-generated content.  But we don’t talk about “Book Store” books. The bottom line is that publishing, whether books or videos, needs to be well-considered and of significant utility for the audience.  Randomly posting any asset to any channel does not provide a useful consumer experience -- but setting up an understandable and organized content library can help consumers find valuable information or entertainment.

Consumer Makeup by Channel

Brands have a tendency to seek to redeploy assets, as when a behind-the-scenes content from a TV integration deal winds up on your Facebook page.  But what if your fan base on that earned channel doesn’t care about that content, even if your overall target does?  Then you need to reframe the postings in a way that make sense for that channel’s audience. So for example, if you sponsor “The Bachelor” through a broadcast relationship and negotiate access to the content, and your Facebook audience is tech-savvy/geeky, then you should figure out how to utilize and present “The Bachelor”material in a way that will engage your social audience – but still tie back to your overall branding.  This content plan may be quite different from the engagement plan you develop for the broadcast viewers of the show.

The same considerations apply to non-video content as well. Take Pinterest for instance: Brands need to carefully curate their presence there in a way that best suits the overall consumer behaviors on that channel (shopping, design aesthetic, etc.) and aligns with their goals and content strategy. Whatever the channel, whatever the content, brands and marketers need to go beyond just taking their assets and cookie-cutter releasing them. Ultimately, the most engaging content for consumers is that which has been tailored to the right audience and channel. ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
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2 comments about "Video Distribution: YouTube Is Not A Dumpster".
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  1. Ruth Barrett from EarthSayers.tv, September 13, 2013 at 10:48 a.m.

    Excellent post offering sound advice. Hope people hear it. Thanks, Eric.

  2. Pete Austin from Fresh Relevance, September 16, 2013 at 4:20 a.m.

    I read through this several times and still don't know why you think YouTube is, or is not, a dumpster.

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