How to cheat at social video and win

Any seminar that claimed to be ‘a cheat sheet for social video’ was just bound to be packed to the rafters. And so it was a standing room only affair at Clicks and Skips presented by Sam Saunders, chief creation officer — USA, We Are Social and Matt Donovan, general manager/partner — Office, Microsoft.Here are some of their observations tips and tricks:

The purpose of social video is igniting content at a high level leading to advocacy, love and action.

The average human attention span is 8 seconds and shrinking. Luckily, the ability to absorb content is on the rise.

Brands typically start with ‘Let me tell you about myself’. They need to invert that. The viewers want something that makes them laugh, ‘good cry’ or tell them something they don’t know about what they are interested in. Understand that retribution will be swift, so lead with what the viewer wants.

Leverage a personal insight into starting a conversation. For instance instead of asking Peter Dinklage about GoT, ask him about his favourite guilty pleasure, using that as a peg to ask people watching video about their guilty pleasures.

How long a piece is does not matter. If it bores the audience for three consecutive seconds, they are out.

Start with the big bang end and work your way back to the beginning.

If a content piece feels more authentic shot on a phone, go with that. Your discussion on craft should never be longer than piece itself.

85% of videos are watched without sound. If you have a $5000 budget, spend only $500 on sound.

Always track back and never zoom in.

The last lines in ads are often memorable. Bring that rigour back. Make sure the video ends and don’t just ‘finish’.

Provide an avenue for action since 40% of video viewers immediately want to take action.

When brands don’t acknowledge the people who post about them organically, it is disgusting.

One way of staying ahead of the competition is to shut up and not be misled by the need to constantly communicate into making potentially damaging statements.

The future should have creative elasticity: if you visit the Apple site from a Samsung phone, you should first be greeted with ads for an iPhone instead of a MacBook, for instance.

Be weird, have fun & don’t be a buzzkill.