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"This\u00A0post\u00A0was originally published on the HootSuite\u00A0blog. HootSuite\u00A0is\u00A0a social relationship platform.\u00A0\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nSocial media and storytelling\u00A0are a match made for marketers. As consumers continue to flock to social networks, reverting to\u00A0the origins of storytelling\u00A0may be the best way for brands to connect. But unlike in the broadcast era, marketers need to approach content creation with shareability (and\u00A0the psychology of sharing) in mind.\r\n\r\nVisual storytelling\u00A0has proven to be the best means for inciting content sharing on social media and a new type of content,\u00A0social video, is quickly becoming the most effective tool for businesses across the globe.\r\n\r\nAs social video continues its exponential growth, it will become more and more important for brands to hone in on what makes their online videos successful. These videos are very different from a commercials and should be approached as such. With that in mind, here are 10 tips brands should follow while creating social video.\r\n\r\n1) Design it to be shareable\u00A0at the outset\r\n\r\nYou need to be able to answer the question, why will people\u00A0share\u00A0this video.\r\n\r\n2) Use the power of\u00A0storytelling\r\n\r\n\r\nUse a beginning, a middle and an end. Make sure there\u2019s conflict. Think about who the hero is in that story. What\u2019s the plot, what\u2019s the setting?\r\n\r\n3) Use proven archetypes and story structure\r\n\r\nThere is a lot of research that illustrates that people are hardwired to respond to the same types of stories with familiar character archetypes. (see\u00A0Joseph Campbell\u2019s \u201CA Hero\u2019s Journey\u201D).\r\n\r\n3) Shorter is better (usually)\r\n\r\nKony 2012\u00A0is a very good 30-minute video but for the most part, shorter is better. \u00A0I have made this mistake many times. I get into the story we are creating and what was supposed to be a 1-minute video morphs into 3-minute video. Be disciplined and get to the core of what your message is.\r\n\r\n4) Always start strong\r\n\r\nWistia has\u00A0collected data\u00A0that illustrates how the first 30 seconds of a social video is what matters. If you can get people hooked in those 30 seconds they\u2019ll stick around.\r\n\r\n[caption id=&amp;quot;attachment_666508&amp;quot; align=&amp;quot;aligncenter&amp;quot; width=&amp;quot;400&amp;quot;] Graph illustrating video drop-off by Wistia. The red line represents a 30-second video, while the blue represents a 90-second video.[/caption]\r\n\r\n6) Make the customer the hero, instead of your brand\r\nYou can play the role of the mentor, but the really powerful stories that get shared are ones where the customer sees themselves reflected back in the story.\r\n\r\n7) Remember search\r\n\r\nThink about the\u00A0meta data and the descriptions of your content. Don\u2019t ignore SEO. Hint: YouTube is a huge search engine.\r\n\r\n8) Focus on evergreen content\r\n\r\nIf you\u2019re going to spend lots of time, money and effort on creating a video, make sure that the content is going to have a long shelf life.\r\n\r\n9) Don\u2019t forget the music\r\n\r\nIf you watch HootSuite\u2019s\u00A0product release videos. you\u2019ll notice we have a certain sound in terms of the type of music we use. It\u2019s not the typical sound you\u2019ll hear on corporate videos; most of it is indie rock bands, and largely bands from Vancouver (where we are based \u2013 we want to support local talent). They are all earworms, catchy songs that you want to listen to again and again.\r\n\r\n10) Distribution strategy is critical\r\n\r\nYou need to think about how you\u2019re going to get this video out into the world with a converged media plan that includes a paid, owned and earned. This is such a critical point I think it needs some further explanation. More to come in a future blog post.\r\n\r\nImage credit: THOMAS COEX/AFP/Getty Images"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://thenextweb.com/socialmedia/2013/08/14/10-tips-for-social-video-success/>