Valerie Aguirre, multimedia producer, CBC New Media Group, WRAL.com
Scott Sharpe, director of multimedia and photography, News & Observer
Rachel Toole, sales and marketing manager, MEDIAmobz

The speakers offered tips on producing and distributing video that effectively garners desired results.

Producing Quality Video

The first step to having an effective video is producing one with quality, but quality doesn't have to mean professional. A quality film is certainly feasible with a Flip cam, sans film crew and expensive equipment. The criteria for quality video have evolved and thanks to sites like YouTube raw footage is now more widely accepted. Nonetheless, quality sound is always vital. Sharpe referred to bad sound as being a "video killer." You can achieve quality sound with a Flip cam by filming in close proximity or incorporating voice-overs.

Adding utility or humor to a video is the next step to increasing its reach. If the video can help or show someone how to do something or simply entertain them by making them laugh or smile, they are more likely to send the video to their friends and share with their online networks. As technologies progress, new waves of utility are coming into video, including programs that allow you to put clickable links right into videos. Aguirre gave the example of WRAL's interactive grocery list tracker, which enables users to compare prices for everyday purchases among local grocery stores. Toole's company can also incorporate lead generation and registration tools into videos. They helped Business Wire, for example, create a video invitation for a social media conference where a viewer could plug in his or her name and e-mail address to RSVP immediately after viewing the video.

Applicability is another key step to consider. Be sure the story fits with the audience you are targeting. Consumers today expect videos to come from a human perspective and can always recognize a promotional video. Internet videos should also be brief. Few viewers have the time or attention span to watch a long video from start to finish.

Maximize Distribution

The final step to having people watch your video is proper distribution. Even if you follow all of the steps above, the best quality video fails to meet its purpose if it is never found. Video sharing sites, such as YouTube and Vimeo, are great places to host your video. The more places you post the more chances people will have to see it.

You can also post your video on your blog and Facebook account but it is also important to always include a link back to your website. What's the point in sharing your wonderful content if you're not driving your captivated audience to learn even more about you or your company? In YouTube, a link to the website can be included as the first part of the description. In social media platforms where you cannot post the video itself, such as Twitter, link to a video with an easy link to your website.

Video can also be included in your traditional public relations pitches. Whether included in a social media press release or pitched as an item itself, video can help visualize public relations stories. When pitching the media, it is important to keep in mind what they would get out of the video. Trade magazines may be more inclined to post informational product videos while general news stations may be more interested in video that fits your product into a news story. Although each publication is different, one recommendation is to send the video as a link to a FTP site where it can be downloaded. From here the reporter can then repurpose the video and edit useful clips if necessary.

Video has the potential to grab the attention of customers and allow your client's story to reach more people than otherwise possible. How are you using video? We'd love to hear from you on Twitter at @largemouthpr.