Videos!
Videos are everywhere. From social media posts and YouTube clips to pumping gas at the nearest service station, everywhere we look, we are bombarded by a constant stream of videos.
But unlike other marketing fads, the popularity of videos is going nowhere but up.
Countless companies have jumped on board and subsequently capitalized on the trend of video marketing, and have had enormously positive results in the last few years.
But why should just for-profit organizations have all the fun?
A video made for a nonprofit organization can be just as useful and efficient at achieving its financial goals, raising awareness, and anything else it’s hoping to accomplish.
- Well-crafted online videos can engage your audience, speaking to both the head and the heart.
- Videos move people to action with compelling stories, combined with vivid imagery, appropriate music, and personal appeals.
- Videos Increase your outreach by being shared online, and the potential reach goes beyond the target audience and is far more effective than text and pictures alone.
- Using videos puts active nonprofits in a unique position to communicate with their supporters.
Here are a few nonprofits that have tapped into the more creative (and thus more productive) side of video marketing:
Rainforest Alliance – This video boldly uses humor to inspire action and show people how they can help.
Dressember Campaign – This video helps viewers understand not just the organization’s purpose, but also the viewer’s role within it.
Love Your Brain – This video shows that sometimes the most powerful nonprofit videos are the ones featuring the people impacted by an organization’s work.
So now that you have an idea of a video’s potential, the question now is what platform is best to display your video?
The first answer that leaps out like a crowd-surfing grunge rocker is YouTube.
With over 3 Billion videos watched every day on YouTube, I highly recommend consistently uploading all of your videos on YouTube Even if you don’t visit it or even have an account, YouTube is ubiquitous, user-friendly, and best of all, totally free. If your nonprofit uploads a video and uses strong keywords in its description, the chances of your video reaching your target audience skyrockets. Just check out a few statistics, and you’ll be uploading your marketing video faster than you can say, ” video marketing’ what?.”
The Google for Nonprofits program is geared specifically toward nonprofits utilizing Google, including YouTube videos to raise money for their cause. While owned by Google, YouTube Social Impact is another program that helps nonprofits create and distribute effective videos.
YouTube is a 2-for-1, if optimized correctly, Google will index it and show it in Google’s Search Results potentially reaching billions of people. Other social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram are all perfect venues for a well-crafted and well-timed video. Just remember to keep it short–60 second or less is ideal for social media outlets and optimum viewing. People have short attention spans.
So pick up that smartphone or camera and start recording!
As part of Bloomerang’s Content Donation Program, $100 was donated to Outsiders Inn.
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