Different people like getting their information and news, including political, in different ways. Some folks like to read all about it. Others prefer to listen, as in radio ads. And for some they want to both see and hear the message, as in television ads.
Early campaign website were almost entirely text-based, with an occasional photograph. Later, MP3 and other audio files were added. But today, the hottest addition to campaign websites are videos…which smart phones and services such as You Tube have made a piece of cake.
But you must remember this: It’s the message, not the medium.
Web videos are just a new way to delivering your message. If your message sucks, a Steven Spielberg production won’t fix it. On the other hand, there are right ways and wrong ways to present even a fantastic campaign message to both donors and voters on your website and/or in campaign emails.
Below, fundraising guru Kevin Gentry shares some video production tips he received from the head of a non-profit organization that I believe would be extremely helpful to you and your campaign should you head down this road…which eventually ALL campaigns are going to have to travel.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Donor Videos
by Kevin Gentry
On the efficacy of donor videos, this response from Chris Long, president of the Intercollegiate Studies Institute, I found to be particularly interesting, and I thought you might see value in it, as well:
Look at the Robert Reich videos that MoveOn.org has put up. They move quickly, with a faster pace than the Koch videos. One of the MoveOn.org videos has 29 screen shots in 167 seconds, a screen change less than every 6 seconds . The Koch video has 10 screen changes in 98 seconds, or a change in around every 10 seconds.
Ask Roger Ailes about this. He wants a screen change every 5 seconds on Fox News, I think he told me.
The MoveOn.org videos also hammer a couple of points home, over and over, both in the dialogue and visually. They are organized so that the reader is more likely to have the message imprinted on his memory and retained. They also end with a call to action: pass it on to a friend.
Their videos hold your attention better than ours because the person in the video is speaking to you, not to an interviewer. You are more engaged when the person in the video is looking you in the eye and not away from you.
By keeping each video short, and letting you know exactly how short it is, readers are more likely to forward it to a friend with the message, “watch this video that is under 2.5 minutes long.”
Some of their videos have a countdown clock in the corner. They also use a ticking sound in the background of some. No one wants to waste another person’s time, and it reminds you that it is just about over so that you do not click away before the video ends.
I hope all of this proves helpful to you in your important work.