Social Media Content: Learn from Dion’s Video Mess Before Its Too

This post is for all you budding video producers out there mass posting clips on social media sites. Please learn from Dion’s video mess before its too late!

Last week Stephan Dion was forced to resign ahead of schedule and step down as leader of the Liberal party and opposition in Canada. The final nail in his proverbial political coffin? A poorly produced clip of his response to Stephen Harper’s address to the nation. The recording has been variously described as poorly produced, out of focus, over saturated and cheap.

If you are using social media actively then no doubt you’ve noticed that these days everyone and their brother is posting video clips to Facebook or to their website. Some of these videos are great – they are quirky, well done, interesting and add value, others however leave a lot to be desired – and I mean a lot. Many are out of focus, blurry and even worse is the shoulder hunched look people get from holding their Flip video recorder at shoulder level in an attempt to record themselves in action.

Whilst its okay to post poorly produced clip on your personal page, I strongly encourage corporate users and entrepreneurs to stop and ask themselves a few questions before posting content representing your company in the public forum:

  1. What does this clip say about my company?
  2. Does it reflect our corporate brand and image?
  3. Is it professional looking?
  4. If the video is poor quality – what does this say about your product or service to prospective buyers?
  5. Is the content interesting and does it add value or tell the audience something they don’t already know about your company, offering or industry?
  6. Are you just doing this because you heard that posting video on Facebook is the in thing to do right now?
  7. Is this relevant to our corporate goals?
  8. Can we do better – perhaps by having someone else hold the camera?
  9. Is quantity more important that quality?
  10. Why are we doing this and how does this fit with our social media/marketing strategy?
Whilst its true that Internet viewers are much more forgiving when it comes to content than traditional media and that there is a movement against over produced or overly “slick” or manipulated content online, its still important to convey a professional image, to make sure that your video content is produced to the best of your ability given the resources available and that it is an appropriate representation of your brand. Dion’s video wasn’t and as a result, he was publicly ridiculed and taken to task. He lost his job and tarnished both his personnal brand and that of the party he represents.
So next time you are considering posting a clip, take a step back, consider it from an objective viewpoint and ask yourself how you can learn from Dion’s video mess before its too late.

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