Give me 15 seconds...

Luke White looks at the rise of short and snappy social videos and how photographers can become a brand’s best friend by making them

So, Twitter just introduced integrated video capture to their smartphone app. This is pretty big news in the world of media. It seems as though everybody is embracing video as a preferred tool for communication, even Twitter, which had previously eschewed the idea of visual content being more important than the written word. Just a few months ago, after data came out showing that Instagram now has more followers, Twitter co-founder Evan Williams stated, “I frankly don’t give a shit if Instagram has more people looking at pretty pictures”. Twitter is all about communication and they’ve designed a way to make sharing a moment incredibly fast and intuitive with this new video integration. In fact, it has just two buttons – record and share. The visual landscape of 2015 will be full of spur of the moment, smartphoneshot videos which are very engaging. Of course, there will be many times more awful videos.

Until very recently, there were a number of restrictions to sharing and creating video content. With faster internet connections, more advanced smartphones, and social media platforms embracing video content, the tide has turned. Video marketing will take off this year like never before as it becomes easier to make, to share, and to consume.

Last year Facebook introduced ‘Autoplay’. This feature means that videos in users’ newsfeeds begin playing automatically as they scroll down. It seems that removing the hurdle of hitting ‘play’ leads to a much higher percentage of people watching video. Soon Facebook will lead YouTube as the main platform for video content sharing.

For brands using social media channels to promote their products, video is a very smart choice. All social media platforms will give preferential treatment to hosted video content as it keeps users on the platform for longer.

The good news is that, as people get used to these visual platforms, any old photograph or video will no longer cut it. As competition grows in these visual platforms, only great content created by people who know what they are doing will be good enough. People today are experiencing more imagery than ever. They have short attention spans and an increasingly high threshold for quality. A video needs to be good and quickly get to the point if it is going to grab a user’s attention as they scroll through all of the other photos and videos. Statistics show a huge percentage of drop off after just a few seconds.

If you’re reading this magazine, you’re probably in the business of helping people sell stuff. And the people with stuff to sell fall into one of two categories. The first is people who understand that high quality, engaging photographs and videos shared through social media channels are an essential part of business growth. The second is people who do not have a clue what social media is but they know they need to get involved.

Instagram has a higher engagement rate of any social media platform and boasts over 75 million daily users. Recently, brands have started taking these seriously. A great example is the Smirnoff #purepotential campaign which showed 17 new and classic cocktails being made in just 15 seconds each. These were shared all over their social media channels and were well received – everybody has 15 seconds to spare. Knowing that the clip is only going to last a few seconds means that the viewer is happier to commit than if it were much longer.

You can say a lot in 15 seconds. In fact, you can do a lot in less. Lowe’s is an American hardware chain and their micro videos have received millions of views. Their ‘Fix in Six’ videos are a series of six-second clips demonstrating ‘life hacks’ such as how to extract a rounded-off screw using an elastic band. They were simple and fast to create and share. Another key to the success of Lowe’s ‘Fix in Six’ series is that they offer genuinely useful tips rather than being simply an ad.

Many very successful online videos are shot with professional equipment, but a lot of the most engaging videos are created and edited with smartphones. As with all technology, it’s what you do with it that counts — an iPhone in the hands of a master will create a better story than an Arri Alexa in the hands of an amateur. ‘Immediacy’ is a word we keep hearing with regard to content creation and the ability to shoot, edit, and upload a video from the same device helps to make things pretty fast. Shooting quality videos using pro equipment can’t be replaced, but creating clips with limited resources can also be effective. Lowe’s minivideos often use stop motion or are shot with hyper lapse and are reminiscent of the super lo-fi videos by the likes of Casey Neistat and Michel Gondry.

One of the things I find most surprising is the gaping void between brands who are doing social media well and those who aren’t. Mitre 10 (Mitre10NZ) have just 320 Instagram followers. Tip Top (TipTopNZ) have 372. That’s less than my cat. There are lots of opportunities for tech-savvy photographers and videographers to create content tailored to these social media platforms. Before your next meeting with a regular client, take a look at their Facebook and Instagram profiles and draft a plan for how they can get more engagement using (your) quality photographs and videos.

So, in keeping with my message of the importance of brevity, you could sum up the last 900 words as: People are busy. Show them something great and do it quickly.