Among the responses to our post about REI’s “personalized commercials” was a very thoughtful reply from Marc Cica, Director of Advancement for the Shenango Valley Catholic School System in Hermitage, PA. Cica pointed out that video can be an ideal communication tool for non-profit organizations. When it’s done well, video can be personal, motivational, even inspirational.
Don’t Overdo It
“What I am very much in favor of is the use of personalized video messages, when used judiciously and not overproduced. What I mean is, the video should be raw and personal – not scripted. They should NEVER look like a fancy commercial that was crafted by a slick marketing company, and the videos should be SHORT, not longer than 2 minutes or so, ” said Cica, who is responsible for marketing at the recently consolidated diocesan school system.
He went on to explain that taking the time to address an individual (using video) is more about the message than marketing:
“We use social media to find members of our various constituent groups and to drive them to our new websites …(and) we plan to use personalized video messages as a key component to reach out to them with targeted, individual messages.
We envision sending out video thank-you messages to donors and supporting businesses; to welcome prospective students/families who contact us through on our website and to invite them for personalized school tours; to motivate volunteers or fund raisers during important school initiatives or capital campaigns; and to recognize faculty members, Board members or staff members for above-and-beyond commitment/excellence.
Where this article describes how REI has begun to use personalized video messages to promote products, video messages can also be used for other industries, organizations or groups. … Technology enables us to simply create a personal message quickly and in a very cost-effective manner by using social media or email. We believe that the recipient will appreciate the special attention they are receiving and recognize that we truly are interested in them and highly value them and/or their contributions.”
As Cica clearly points out, video has many applications – not all of which are commercial, and like many of the “new” offerings on the social media and content marketing landscape, the application of video messaging isn’t new.
Back to the Message
Concord Flower Shop has offered video education to customers for years. We’re in production with another client, a custom furniture designer, to create some helpful how-to clips for his customers.
Of course we have to mention what is new (and growing) and that’s Vine, Twitter’s six-second video tool. Restaurants climbed on Vine right away, although until smell-o-vision is a reality, we think video is better for showing the drape of a blouse than the cut of a meatloaf.
What do you think? What would you like to do with video? Thank your top customers? Educate them? Show them your newest products?
Whatever you do, give the message careful consideration – then show ’em your best side.
Sales Renewal’s insight:
Should you add video to your marketing content? The bigger – and better – question to ask is, how can you best communicate with your audience?