Last week I had a chance to talk with Wayne Ferris , COO and Co-founder of Illustrate iT Video, a custom video animation company, about web video and how it relates to social media. Wayne’s company creates simple animated videos that explain a company’s value proposition in under 2 minutes, in a fun and entertaining way.
Here’s an example of what Illustrate iT Video does…
Our discussion centered around the impact of video on social media and how video impacts social media, the do’s, don’ts and how to’s. Wayne is an encyclopedia of information on video and storytelling. I asked Wayne some questions and got some helpful insight. I started with what they do…
How are Illustrate iT videos unique?
We use cartoon-like/motion graphic animation to tell our client’s stories, because we find this medium more engaging. In comparison to a live action video, with the normal talking head which is over done and tend to be boring, coming across as a sales pitch, too long, and over embellished. We have found that you only have about 30 seconds to capture someone’s attention, so we do that quickly by breaking the ice with humor using animation that is engaging and entertaining. With humor and animation you can define a problem and tell a story in a fun and engaging way that teaches people about your product or service without coming across as a sales pitch….that’s why we do what we do.
What else you do for clients and their videos once they’re created?
We advise our clients after production as well, consulting them on what to do with the video to market it correctly, social sharing etc.
We also provide them with a hosting and sharing package that includes:
- clickable call to action support
- tracking and reporting analytics
- Email video embedding capabilities
- Video SEO & Video Transcription
Why should companies use video in general?
If you are building relationships and sharing valuable content, at the end of the day there needs to be some return. Using short videos that are entertaining and educational tend to be shared more often than the normal CEO talking about the greatness of their product. Video’s can become an extension of a company’s culture, showing the corporate personality. Beyond the static website, blogs, and images, video uniquely enables a brand to be fun, creative and effectively tell your message.
Social bridges the gap with companies and makes them more human to their customers. Nothing does that better than with a video.
How is social media changing video?
Social media has allowed businesses to relax and build a more human personality that has opened up the very avenue that makes video so effective. Social media has forced companies to be innovative and creative with their audience, so using video solidifies the messaging. A fun video preserves a brands message which can then be shared across most social platforms.
Social media has changed video because it established an effective distribution channel that, by its very nature, facilitates a need for video. Social networks have become the platform that enables them to be easily shared. As a result, brands and marketers are paying a lot more attention to video and using it as both as education AND a branding tool.
What is the biggest thing that changed video over the past several years?
YouTube would not be the powerful platform it has become without the growth of social media. Web video’s power and what Illustrate iT Video does for our clients would be far less effective without social. Look at the Old Spice campaign… without social, it would not have impacted the market in the same way.
We put it like this…if you were a company advertising in the real world would you place your advertisement on a billboard on road with low traffic, or would you put it on the busiest highway you could find? Social media is the highway for video…
What do you suggest small and medium brands do with video in social media?
First and foremost, you must have a YouTube Channel. Social media is very crowded and requires all companies to do more than just share content to stand out. They must also create content that is appealing to their audience and sets them apart from their competition. Video is an extension of that.
It’s important that they be creative with it, update their content regularly with a fun and interesting video. Things like using their smartphones to capture fun or unique events in their business, staff doing cool things or even customers having a good time can be effective.
Remember to give your audience something of value, entertain them as you educate them. Have your videos capture their attention quickly and above all, make them short and engaging.
What are the costs for Illustrate iT custom videos:
There are a lot of great explanatory video producers out there, and most of them are doing really great work. The problem is that many of them are more expensive than a lot of companies can afford. We invest in our production team within our company, rather than having large overhead with a big expensive management team. Ninety percent of our team are those that actually work on our videos, which enables us to have much lower overhead, produce the highest quality stuff, at a much lower cost for our clients. So rather than $10,000+ minimums, we produce effective, creative videos for clients for between $3,000 – $9000 depending on the scope of work.
We work with tonnes of start-ups and businesses that have a new story, product or concept. Nothing tells your story, the problem you’re solving, and the benefits better than video. That’s why we do what we do.
