IS VIDEO THE RIGHT TOOL?

“You’re not on Twitter?” my friend asked with an alarmed tone one day in 2012. Immediately, I felt insecure and inadequate. I had read articles and even seen a couple social media experts testify at conferences to the value of this relatively new thing called Twitter. Insecurity eventually won, and I tried it… casually.

I posted quite rarely and eventually phased it out of my life, feeling I had forced it on myself. I found most of the content just noise and an enormous time-suck. And as utterly brilliant as some of my tweets may have been, they never had any reach. It just wasn’t me. In retrospect I had succumbed to peer pressure and what I erroneously assumed professional society expected me to do.

Video can present the same trappings as that little bird. Yes, I love to say how we live in a visual-focused society and that you need to show your story, not just tell it. However, don’t feel obligated to produce a video for the sake of having a video. Maybe you’re not ready, or maybe the budget isn’t there yet.

Ask yourself this: will this video tell a story and provide perspective that is not already visible through a photo, your PowerPoint, or the first 10 minutes of conversation a CEO has with a donor/partner/client? Is this video just noise? Many people will tell you that you “need a video on your website and for social media”. However, it’s important to feel confident in the goals and the video’s intended effect, or else it’s just like one more noisy tweet… except much more expensive.

Also, know your desired ROI for the video. That absolutely can get tricky to measure depending upon the goals. I’m a firm believer that success is not measured by how many people see your video but rather which people see it — and how they are affected by it. Is the goal to reach the greatest numbers, the deepest wallets, or the most loyal customers? Keep that in mind if you’re tempted to stare at those ‘total views’.

Bottom line, you need to tell your story and reach the right audience when the time is right. That may be in the early stages, or it may be once your mission or impact is well established. We’re here to help you discover that story when you’re ready. And the whole tweeting thing… we have someone who can help with that, if you need it.

Postscript for nonprofits: Many may understandably question the investment in digital media tools. Keep in mind that every large nonprofit organization invests in its people and overhead. Having been with Team Rubicon since late 2010 and seeing it go from a $150K charity to $30M+ in my seven years there, it is easy to measure the impact of digital media and rationalize the investment in capable people, technology, and tools. Entrepreneur, humanitarian activist, and author Dan Pallotta sums it up very nicely in a TED Talk video that every leader of a nonprofit organization should watch.