Every brand wants masterful, memorable and eye-popping online video creation. There’s just one problem: Many companies don’t know where to begin. Lots of businesses mistakenly believe that simply because they’ve watched a lot of snappy, hit viral videos that they can easily make one of their own. That couldn’t be further from the truth. From simple things (like how to hold a video camera and coming up with a clever storyline) to difficult tasks (like editing and marketing) take skill and talent. Don’t have either one of those things? Well, maybe your fans do.
Fan-made videos have dominated the Internet and viral landscape for years, and the genre recently made headlines once again. Just yesterday, a fan-made music video for Daft Punk’s new song “Get Lucky” sent fellow fans and music bloggers alike into a tizzy. The clip uses pre-existing footage of featured vocalist Pharrell mashed-up with clips from the group’s 2006 documentary, Electrorama. But the fan-made pandemonium doesn’t stop there. Pop culture zeitgeist like Pretty Little Liars, Pokemon and Lady Gaga are just a handful of phenoms that have recently inspired fan-made clips.
Naturally, the smarty pants from advertising land have honed in on the power of videos created by fans. Doritos, Pepsi, Blackberry and Chevrolet have all called on the talents of their respective fans to come up with videos. Not only do these creations slice the work (and advertising dollars) in half, but calling for fan-made videos is a terrific way to engage social media followers and drive website traffic. Dr. Pepper is the most recent company to turn to followers for cheap labor and inspiration. The campaign, Be The Next 1, is looking for videos from one-of-a-kind fans with unique stories. Dr. Pepper’s followers on Twitter and Facebook will then choose which one will be featured in a national commercial.
But you don’t have to be a soda giant or a rock star to get followers excited about making videos. Simple product testimonials, footage of beloved family pets and videos of clients talking about your services are just a few ideas to get fans’ creative juices flowing. Video contests are really fun and easy ways to spike engagement and video content on social media. Just be specific about what you want, give guidelines and deadlines, set prizes and let the video-mania begin!
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