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Nov 22
2008
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Creating successful online mediaPosted by camthecameraman in YouTube, strategy, online video |
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This article has been inspired by a blog by Alister Cameron about creating successful online media, read it it a great article. I am going to share with you what I think makes good online media based on my observations. While not trying to repeat Alister I inevitably wil but hopefully there are enogh new insights to make this blog worthwhile.
- Keep it short, or interesting, but preferably both. People consume video online differently to sitting down to watch TV
- Focus on quantity rather than quality. While quality is important, it is far better to have a lot of short medium quality videos than one or two excellent quality videos
- Focus on audio. People may not watch you entire video, they may listen to all of it while surfing elsewhere. They may pop back if you provide compelling reason too, i.e. they feel they may have missed something.
- Funny is good. Show some personality, make sure your video stands out so viewers will want to came back.
- Lighting. Yes, rules of good video production dont change. Ensure that your images are well lit. If doing a vlog/webcam video make sure your primary light source is in front of you not too high illuminating your face specifically your eyes.
- Consider your audience. Ionce did a video on deaf services that required and deaf and hearing people towatch it. Obviously the deaf audience NEEDED subtitles and close ups to assist with lip reading were appreciated too.
- Live aint so clever or special. I am talking to you YouTube. People dont want to be dictated to online, they want to consume mediawhen they want to not when you want to deliver it. There are some obvious exceptions like international product launches etc but make sure an "on-demand" version of the video is available after you live event.
- Choose a delivery platform that is easily accessable by your audience. The easiest video service is of course YouTube but sometimes this isnt appropriate. Choose any codecs you may use with your audience and their internet connection speed in mind. Dont use the latest DivX hacker codecs if you are dealing with a non technical audience.
- Snappy titles work. People are more likely to click on your video if the title is interesting, this will help with rating high in "most popular" lists and will aid your SEO attempts.
- Ensure that you link any videos hosted on external sites back to your site.
Thanks for the great article, Cam.
No doubt you really know what you're talking about on this topic 
Just a note that the original article was actually written by my business partner Ben Galt. He, in turn, was reflecting and altering/adjusting some points discussed by a YouTuber who published a video on "viral content"... most of the points Ben agreed with, but some not.
Cheers,
-Alister
