What if I told you that Google did a study around year-end giving that discovered that a whopping 57% of people who watch a video for a nonprofit go on to make a donation?
Despite the evidence about the impact and effectiveness of social media video, small nonprofits are still skeptical about using it in their communication strategy.
The misconception around video is that it requires too much upfront planning and preparation to be successful.
The belief is that a video must be polished, edited, and produced in order to get attention on social media.
However, in my experience, the opposite is often true.
On social media, content is so fleeting and consumed in such a quick, on-the-go fashion – waiting for a bus, at a child’s soccer game, picking up the dry cleaning – that if it’s raw and unpolished, it can often accomplish the desired impact.
People – your donors – use social media apps on their phone to check on issues they care about, find new information, and watch informative and entertaining videos. If you have a smartphone, it’s who you are.
How can nonprofits best capitalize on this in-the-moment, off-the-cuff, social media video trend?
I have 5 tips, based on an event I attended in DC last week. Watch the video, or read the blog for a detailed description.
Here are my 5 social media video tips for nonprofits (and anyone who wants to leverage the power of the platform to do good things):
1) Document, don’t create.
When capturing and sharing social media video, the most important mantra to remember and repeat is DOCUMENT – don’t create.
There is a time and place for professional video production!
But on social media, authenticity is king. Being human is vital to creating a connection with your followers.
Document your day.
Share a tidbit from a recent Board meeting.
Showcase a learning objectives from your volunteer orientation.
Take an Instagram Story when you are packing up those bags of food to deliver to clients.
Social media video helps lay down the bread crumbs on the path for your donors and your supporters – help them understand who you are and why you do it.
On social media, there is NO such thing as perfection. Be yourself and people will respond.
2) Turn the camera.
If you are not comfortable being on camera with your face front and center, turn the camera! It doesn’t have to be in selfie mode!
Use the camera function to show your hands, your feet walking outside, your perspective about the work and what it means.
If you can’t tell client stories, shift the perspective! Have a staff member tell the story of a client.
The story will be just as impactful as long as the details and important bits are included.
3) Post video on LinkedIn.
LinkedIn is THE place to be right now for video.
While engagement is down across all other platforms, LinkedIn video engagement is experiencing an upswing.
Before everyone starts jumping on the LinkedIn social media video bandwagon, consider sharing your best videos to the site.
Be sure to upload the video as a file, and not to just post the link to YouTube. Remember that competing social media sites do not often play nicely with each other, and posting a link to an outside channel can lower your reach and engagement.
4) Practice on Facetime.
If you are worried about what you will sound like and look like on video, you can try tip #2 above, or you can practice!
Practice doing Facetime or Skype (or any other type of video chat) with a friend or family member for five days straight.
You will start to see what lighting works best, how you sound, which angles work well and which don’t, what backgrounds in your house look nice, etc.
Facetime sessions with friends and family offer you a chance to connect on video without the pressure, and they can also offer some (hopefully constructive) criticism and feedback that can help you improve your social media video going forward.
5) Go live for 7 minutes.
Live video remains the most engaging and highest reaching type of content on Facebook.
Whether you go live on Instagram, Periscope, Facebook, or another platform, it’s important to give the algorithm and your followers time to catch up and to connect with you live.
Brian Fanzo of iSocialFanz recommends going live on Facebook for at least seven minutes.
Once you go live, Facebook will notify your top fans that you are live so they can join in.
After seven minutes, Facebook sends out another round of notifications letting other engaged followers know that you are broadcasting so they don’t miss out.
Of course, after the livestream broadcast concludes, you then have a video file that lives on your Facebook Page and that you can download and embed into your blog and email marketing.
So there you have it – 5 quick tips for creating effective social media videos that stand out.
Let me know what you think in the comments!