Monday, April 18, 2011

What Makes Videos Click?



Studies show that visual communication creates more impact to humans as compared to written or oral communications. The phrase “a picture is worth a thousand words” has been proven to be true, especially at this time of multimedia and mass communication. What more if they were not just plain pictures but videos, which have both graphic and audio composition?

Back in 2008, reports projected a 129.5 million viewership of online videos, and were expected to increase to 183.3 million by 2013. Today, people use the power of Youtube or videos to get their message across to viewers. Although quite hard to maintain, many succeed because of a limited set of producers willing to shed out effort and time.

On the other hand, most advertisers maximize the visual multimedia to draw people to purchase their products or services. Since competition is very tough, only a few commercials succeed to become viral campaigns. What makes a video viral then? Actually, it just happens.

While there is no absolute formula of producing an effective viral video, there are several factors that video-makers need to remember. Aside from being original and relevant, the video must be able to make viewers laugh or smile, to trigger curiosity, and to facilitate community discussions.

A viral video is like a game we play that we talk about first. Whether it’s the passing or the shooting of the basketball, the players plan the game well to show something hardcore and be able to stand out from everyone else when the playtime ends. It needs to grab viewers’ attention and be memorable, so as to ultimately compel audience to pass it on to others.

Professionally or not, bloggers or advertisers alike, they must know the difference of creating something that is internally exciting, interesting compared to what actually excites and interests the users or viewers. As with any creative act, producers should always put the angle from an audience’s perspective. It must be user-centric.

A simple, just-for-fun Youtube video entitled “We Love You Venus Raj” came out shortly after the conclusion of the Ms. Universe Pageant. It stars four young men wearing boxers, pajamas, and sandos while screaming their hearts out as Venus was announced as part of the top 15. Even as simple as that, the video instantly stirred gossips and reactions, and spawned mashups, which accumulated more than 3,000,000 views as of this writing. How? No matter how it was planned and executed, it ended up with all the factors mentioned above, plus “random” as part of the equation.

Video campaigns may seem to be a futile effort, since there is no assurance of success at all times. But remember that visuals, more importantly videos, are invaluable resources for today’s business and popularity.

With modern tools and component choices today, videos and visuals can definitely be more dynamic and compelling than ever before.

This article is my twelfth contribution to Manila Bulletin -- one of Philippines' leading broadsheets -- published on April 18, 2011 (Monday) in the TechNews Section. You can view the PDF version here.

1 comments:

A great article, very well said I super agree that videos today are one of the most effective way to advertise, videos can really attract attentions.

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