By Joe Catullo & Dan Pecchia
One of the best ways to sustain an important message is to reinvent it as a video series.
Even the communicators who understand the importance of staying in front of their customers, employees or other stakeholders can “run out of things to say” and get discouraged. Creativity can take things only so far when the input from management isn’t much more than “keep sharing the vision.”
To sustain a presence on social media and other channels of the digital age, we like episodic communications — turning key messages into micro-stories and sharing those stories on a regular cadence. Those who follow this approach hold a huge advantage in getting their most important messages to keep coming — and to stick.
What are some situations that make sense for a video series?
Here are some examples of “series thinking.”
Q. How can a nonprofit keep telling its donors that it’s doing great work?
A. By creating a series of episodes that feature the most profound examples of that great work.
Q. How can an industrial company keep telling its employees that safety is important?
A. By creating a series of episodes that bring safety to life — colleagues who excel at safe practices, teams that enhanced safety in a specific way, locations that made big changes to improve safety in a big way.
Q. How can a lender or service provider convince its stakeholders that it’s actively investing in the community?
A. By creating a series of episodes that spotlight a wide range of these investments.
Episode by episode, a series can tell new stories that reinforce old messages and bring them back to life.
Here are some real-life examples.
Revitalization Stories: In 2021, the Mahoning County Land Bank, which acquires abandoned properties and restores them to productive use, was turning 10 years old. To mark that anniversary, it ran a series of videos around 10 people and organizations who collaborated with the Land Bank to revitalize properties. Instead of just telling the community about its 10 years of great work, the Land Bank showed us the work in a 10-part video series. Each segment was different, but all of them pointed up what the Land Bank’s first 10 years were all about.
Meet the Lawyers: In 2020, Harrington, Hoppe & Mitchell, a regional law firm, launched its “We’re HHM” video series to convey the firm’s strengths by focusing an episode on each of its lawyers, starting with its newest associates. It’s one thing for a law firm to say it serves a wide range of legal needs and is involved in the community. But it’s much better to demonstrate that breadth and involvement by spotlighting examples of it, one lawyer after another. New faces, new stories, new specifics, but the same bedrock message.
What are the advantages of video?
Here are two reasons we like video: It’s memorable and cost-effective. The first draw is old and obvious. But the economy of video production is a new story, and it makes video easier for cost-conscious organizations to consider.
Could a video series produce results for your company? Our team can help you figure that out with cost options and some initial thinking. To get started, fill out this form.
