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Marketers know that user-generated video content works. It drives more engagement, it improves click-through rates, it increases conversion, and it yields an impressive return on investment. Your audience is watching more video content this year than they ever have before. And, that trend is only going to continue to accelerate.
Your audience isn’t just consuming more video content. They’re creating more video content, too. We’re all walking around with tiny supercomputers in our pockets. Our smartphones have powerful cameras that make expressing ourselves and sharing our stories simple and accessible.
Despite that, one of the most common questions we get is “what if I can’t get people to make videos?” And it’s a good question.
Just because we’re all able to create video content doesn’t mean that we all want to. And, in our increasingly connected digital world, getting people to interact with your organization’s campaigns can be challenging enough. How will you actually get them to co-create video content with you?
Think of it this way: your community is full of people who have authentic stories and real-world experiences to share with one another. Their insight and perspective is more valuable than anything your marketing team could come up with on their own.
When you invite your audience to collaborate with you to co-create video content, the invitation itself drives engagement. You’re inviting your community to participate in the conversation that your organization is facilitating. You’re lifting up the voices of people who don’t usually have a seat at the table. Even if someone doesn’t collaborate with you on a user-generated video, they’ll remember the invitation.
Using our simple Video Relationship Management software, Gather Voices’ clients are gathering the user-generated video content they need to achieve their goals - quickly, affordably, and simply. Here are just a few examples of the results they’ve seen:
With that in mind, here are the top three tactics that our clients and partners use to encourage the members of their community to co-create video content with them:
You already have existing processes and workflows that enable your community to interact with your organization. For example, if you execute meetings and events with external speakers, you probably have a process for collecting session proposals from prospective speakers. When learners want to attend a Continuing Education course you’re offering, they go through a registration process. When members have a good experience with your association, they complete the renewal process.
When organizations include the request for video content right into these existing workflows, user-generated video content just comes naturally. Lippman Connects made the request for simple video introductions part of the registration process for their Exhibition and Conference Executives Forum (ECEF) and more than 70% of registrants created their own welcome video!
Listen to Nikki Bell, Co-Founder and Director of Fundraising Everywhere and Everywhere+ discuss how gathering video content from prospective speakers helps her team:
Another way to help get amazing video content from your community is through direct, personalized outreach. In every industry, there are influencers, rising stars, and people with amazing experiences to share. You probably know who many of these people are in your own community. Whether you call, text, or send a simple email, a personalized invitation to collaborate with your organization on a video can go a long way.
The ASAE: Center for Association Leadership employed this strategy for their new Community Voices campaign, a diversity, equity, and inclusion initiative that celebrates the wide variety of perspectives, experiences, and backgrounds that enrich the association community. Before requesting video stories from their entire member community, ASAE extends personal invitations to staff, volunteers, and key industry thought-leaders to help get the conversation started.
People are more likely to feel comfortable sharing their story when they see their peers doing it, so don’t forget to take advantage of social proof. As you gather video content related to your campaign, share it! Incorporate user-generated video content into the social media posts, emails, and landing pages you create asking your community-at-large to share their own video stories.
At Gather Voices, we make it simple to incorporate social proof right into your request for user-generated video content, using The Hive. The Hive is an interactive, web-based video gallery that empowers you to collect and share video content on one simple page that can stand alone as a landing page or be embedded directly into your existing website - all in just a few clicks!
It’s important to remember that gathering user-generated video content from your community is all about collaboration. Not everyone is going to want to go on camera and share their experience, but inviting your community to join in the conversation with your organization creates authentic engagement and shows your community that you value their experiences, stories, and voices.
Ready to get started collecting high-quality, high-converting user-generated video content? We can help. Request a demo today to get started.
How to Boost Your Video Marketing Campaign with User-Generated Video Content. (January 2018). Semrush.
Why Consumers Share User-Generated Content. (May 2016). Adweek.
The State of Online Video 2020. (2020). Limelight.
How Many YouTube Channels Are There? (November 2020). Tubics.
