Video is an incredible way to create a strong brand. Visual information is very powerful. When people see something, there is a greater chance that it will be remembered if it is in video. Social Media is about having communications that are fun. Something that is very unusual about social media is that it is an almost contradiction in terms. In old media, material was created by a marketer and sent out to the customer. In social media, it is the customers who create the content and send it out to their friends.

This is why social media is so viral. To understand the viral effect, you have to understand Reed’s Law. The mathematics are involved but if you start with a beginning network of 2, that low number quickly becomes 1,092. Video is a powerful touch point that creates strong conversation “among friends”—customer and brand. It is a strong brand creator, but for it to work, video has to be created properly. If the video is done properly it will have a very negative effect.

To make video that creates a brand for you, the videos have to be able to be uploaded to the Web. To do this you will need a microphone and video camera that is compatible with your computer. You are trying to do a particular thing in your videos. You are trying to create a brand on a social media platform. To achieve this purpose, your videos must be quality, professional looking videos.

Many basic, consumer computers come with microphones and video cameras built in. At the time of purchase, explain to sales person what you have in mind. You want to post video on social media sights. Before you make your purchase, make sure that your machine has the proper equipment. If you desire a higher quality video you can purchase a webcam or digital video camera such as the Flip Video Camera. This camera is inexpensive, portable, and easy to connect to your computer. Keep in mind what you are trying to do. You’re not just trying to make videos—you are trying to create a brand through your videos. For this reason you should invest in better quality microphones, and a high quality video camera that allows you to record in high-definition.

To add music, transitions, and an introduction, and a closing to your video, plus delete mistakes, you will need video-editing software. Some computers have this pre-installed. Other makes of computers have software that can be downloaded. Again, at time of purchase, talk to the salesperson to make sure that you will have the proper equipment and software available to you to make the quality videos that are needed to create a world class brand. If you desire even more advanced movie editing, software companies make available powerful software that makes truly immersive videos. Some research at through search engines can find you the upper level software that you are seeking.

Your goal in doing video is to create a world class brand that begins a “conversation among friends”. To achieve this goal you will need a plan. Decide on the tenor of the video. Is it going to be serious, humorous, dramatic, educational, slice-of-life—-what? You will need to pick a subject that relates to your brand. If you’re trying to create a brand for Rihanna, you could video a concert and put it on a Page. The video can create new touch points for Rihanna’s brand. This video can be seen by her fans, your friends.

This video can then be downloaded so that friends can pass the video around to one another. This is a great strategy, because in contrast to people simply talking about the concert, now they can see the concert, over and over again. This video creates brand for Rihanna. Again, the only way to create a brand is by using quality video. This is why having the proper equipment is a must. If you don’t have the resources, don’t attempt to brand through videos. However, this hard work pays off. Don’t forget the numbers—in social media 2 becomes 1,092.

Videos have to be planned to achieve the success that we are looking for. If you are going to video a concert, make sure that you are in a physical position to make your subject look good. If Rihanna is fuzzy, can’t be seen well, or can’t be heard well, people will not want to listen to the video, and you’re sole purpose in making the video will be lost. The Ford Fiesta is bench mark in individuals creating a brand. In the case of the Ford Fiesta social media project, The Fiesta Movement, Ford allowed the participants of the project a lot of latitude, but the video assignments were structured.

Ford wanted the videos on Facebook to make the Fiesta look like a fun car, but a serious car. Ford did not want low quality, silly videos. Ford did not want the Fiesta to become the object of Jay Leno jokes. Ford wanted videos shot where there were a maximum amount of people, such as festivals, and block parties. To create videos that brand a product, serious planning and supervision must be done. Have an idea of what you are going to do. Have a script, an outline of what you are going to say in the video if there is audio, and adhere to it.

Few videos are perfect without editing. The idea behind the making of this video is to create brand. You want people to look at this video over and over again. To accomplish this, you will need to edit out mistakes and dead space. A nice touch would be to have a consistent opening and closing line.

You have to save your video to a Web-friendly format depending upon the computer that you buy. Saving the video is important in creating brand, so pay serious and close attention to format for your particular computer. The format for cell phones is or.3gp.

You must compress it to meet the restrictions of the site where you plan to upload it. Each video-publishing and sharing site you plan has different requirements and restrictions. You have to know all the restrictions and requirements of the sharing site you plan to use to house your video so that you’re videos are housed and compressed properly.

Naturally, the reason why you made this video is for it to be shared. You will need to upload it to a host that provides a video player, which allows people to view it. The best strategy for the viewing of your video is to put it on multiple distribution points. Some of the more popular and more robust sites are YouTube, Vidder, Vimeo, Dailymotion, blip.tv, and TubeMogul.

Dean Hambleton

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