The 5 Senses Of Social Media
Creating captivating content
During my time wandering around the country helping people grasp social media for their businesses and organisations, I often find myself rattling off the same information. This had lead me formulate my own 5 senses of social media. I am aware that others have created the same in a similar fashion, (read what Michael Durwin has to say on the topic) but I wanted something for myself.
I want to be able to look at a marketing plan or press release and easily be able to assess what is relevant for content creation.
For that, we need the big 5:
- video
- audio
- photos
- text
- downloads
How you use them and why you don’t, may not be as obvious as it sounds:
Video:
So much can be summed up if only we captured it on film. The trick to utilising this medium when you aren’t used to it, is to make a light hearted game about it during the day, adding ‘can I get that on film?’ to random statements from other peoples words. Carrying a camera on you at all times. Practice setting it up quickly, capturing a small quote and converting the files to the format you need to drop it online.
The biggest barriers we face is individuals being concerned how they look, sound and what they say on camera. Basically everything. But once people are comfortable with their look and sound in a trial situation which is often deleted, getting over the camera is just a matter of time and practice.
For MediaSnackers, we are keen to stress that we don’t do feedback forms in our workshops, we use video and capture only 20 secs of footage per person. Creating an easily manageable file and film as a record of our day. Take the same model and try it yourself.
Photo:
Remember the saying ‘Kodak moment’? Yet again, like the video, just repeating the words ‘that’s a photo’ or ‘that’s a front cover’ or even ‘someone capture that’ gets the mind in the right space to start building it in to your day. Our phones are our biggest assets with regard to creating dynamic content, yet we let great shots slip by us time and time again. Another classic is missing an opportunity, because the moment has passed. Get into the habit of saying ‘do that again’ as a statement, not a question. Speaking converts into action. That change might not happen immediately, but it will if you keep pressing it. We use photography to document all our travels and have fun throughout the training day.
Audio:
Our phones are the saviour again. We often use text quotes in documents, meetings and proposals. Could you recapture that great piece of knowledge directly from the source on your phone? Embed the audio straight in to your website? Have you tried? Many people are not comfortable with their photograph being used, however an audio response is much more favourable. Just like the video example, explore the equipment you have and create test files first. What file formats do you end up with? Can you upload them to Audioboo? Try it out in the office and inject it more and more in to your project work. You’ll be surprised at the results and how it influences other people to do the same.
For MediaSnackers we create audio interviews as podcasts and make them available on iTunes
Copy
With all this visual and audio dynamic content, lets not forget about the written word. The podcast example above is always transcribed into text to allow for search engines to pick up on keywords. It also allows for quotes to be copied and shared. Copy should also reflect the social web by being more friendly and informal but with the content quality always staying high. Putting emotion, opinion and humour are normally the things left out of corporate copy, so please try and shoehorn some in to give it personality. Take a stance on your subject too, make it clear which side of the fence you fall. You may pull in advocates which support you and challenge those who don’t, but a (comment) reaction of any sort becomes a chance to engage with your community.
Downloads
Think about what can people do and share with your information. Showing is great, but doing is engaging. Can people download something, share it with friends, send it to their phone and read, listen or view it on the move? Many media creation software allows exporting in a variety of formats, don’t just offer the format you would like, offer formats that many would like. Check out the download options on Scribd.com, offering a whole host of document formats ready for mobile phones.
Ok, we’re not licking screens and smelling websites just yet, but the web has a lot to offer our senses already. Try to show people not tell people how good you are and challenge ‘dry’ content when presented with it. Sometimes it’s not always possible or practical, but when we’re reminded and get a second chance, it often produces better posts, comments and updates.
What’s your biggest barriers to creating more engaging content?
Are you comfortable with your voice and image enough to be on film?
Do you have any tips to share about creating more dynamic content?
Or what piece of technology has made your life so much easier to do so?
Let us know in the comments below.
April 8th, 2011
re: Video, you can’t make “compelling” content with random people shooting random things on cell phones. The whole problem with culture organisations and the video they use is the “sound bite” mentality of most of it.
There is a profound lack of substance in far too much of the content produced, never mind the quality. Video production and post production is a professional endeavour and although the technology is making access easier it doesn’t automatically provide people with the skills to to produce the content.
Vox pops are a pointless exercise in mugging your audience as they walk out the door. When was the last time you heard a vox pop that was critical of the show they just saw? It’s marketing fluff, disingenuous and patronising.
The same applies to photos. Too many images on culture websites, sharing platforms, etc have no captions, no credits and no context to say nothing of the fact they look amateurish, like so many millions of Facebook images. They are neither compelling not interesting.
As for transcribing podcasts. Apple actually does a pretty good job of getting podcast information to show up in search engines, just provide an appropriate description in the podcast itself. You make no mention of transcriptions for access to the deaf, why is that?
Fundamentally the issue here is that admin staff don’t posses the requisite skill set or have the time to produce anything like compelling video/photo/audio content. Many professional outfits often produce by the numbers material because they are more concerned with a pay cheque than they are with doing a good job which might require them to work harder. A fundamental lack of understanding of the art-form they are documenting also play a part.
This piece might sound good at a seminar but it holds little water in reality
April 11th, 2011
Hey thanks for the great comment Michelle,
you are quite right, quantity over quality is massive concern of mine too. The barrier to entry with most social spaces (with the exclusion of Quora / LinkedIn) is so low that producing ‘any old rubbish’ is almost too easy. I am constantly cringing and moaning about people not having a focus on their content product. However I do see a totally different perspective with the client we deal with and the personal barriers people present us with, which holds them back from producing anything. Forget quantity and quality… some people can’t even create anything. For this type of person, the piece was written. Analysis Paralysis! People procrastinating so much that their social endeavors fail to even begin. Fear over that professional image holds them back from getting started. These people need encouragement to Start, to get used to having a camera pointed in their faces and the faces of others. People like you and me are in the minority. We see the dross and are seeking for the quality, but even we sucked once. We had to begin somewhere, make mistakes and learn from them.
Whilst I understand your points, all of them valid, so many people just need a bit of encouragement (or a kick up the arse) to get going.
Once again, thanks for your thoughts.