Debate videos and free content
Debate videos, round table discussions and really any kind of content that gets conversations moving are great options for video production. We often tell our clients that if a video can provide information and free content for their audience then it could well prove more valuable than a more conventional promotional video.
With so much video content on the internet right now (YouTube alone hosts somewhere in the region of 1 billion videos at the moment) there’s a lot of competition for getting views online. That’s where free content comes in. If you can offer an audience something they can’t get anywhere else – an exclusive if you will, then you’re going to attract more views and longer viewing time.
Industry insiders
These exclusives can take many forms and what’s great about debate videos is that you can offer a variety ofåÊdifferent opinions and view points on subjects from a number of industry experts. That’s especially true when it comes to hotly discussed topics such as Brexit, the retail industry and the supposed death of the high street. It was these subjects and more that eCommera used as the topics for debate in a recent series of videos that Echo Video produced for them.
What’s in it for you?
These kind of videos work differently to promotional videos and could be considered indirect marketing. You’re not explicitly telling a viewer “this is what we do, this is what makes us great and this is why you should pay us” but instead it’s a different approach and one I feel can, in some cases, be more effective. A video or series of videos like the one above do a great job of presenting eCommera as an industry leader. By watching this video, an audience would get an understanding of the field that eCommera operate in and the kind of industry professionals that it aligns itself with. It’s really more about brand awareness than anything else. What’s great as well is by choosing a prevocational subject to discuss eCommera are immediately opening up the debate to a wider audience. Videos like this could prompt a response on Twitter or through other social media channels and therefore further increase the reach of this one piece of content.
Setting the scene
Picking a great location can make a big difference to the overall look and feel of your video. Just because your videos and debate are dealing with some important subjects doesn’t mean that you have to choose a formal and, let’s face it, boring back drop. The eCommera videos were filmed in the basement, behind a hidden door in a whisky bar in Soho, London. Picking an esoteric locale to hold the debate not only provides the videos with great looking scenery but can also affect the tone of the actual discussion as the participants react to the environment they’re in.
So much content
In order to produce the five videos for eCommera we were booked in to film for a whole day. This included some GVs, a walk and talk, and interviews as well as the main debate. So far only about 25% of that content has been released as videos. That means there’s still a huge amount of content for eCommera to use. This could be turned into podcasts, extra videos or (as they’ve decided to do) a microsite and a full transcription of the debate which is available for download on their website all of which shows a great value for money and time.
Here at Echo Video we think these short debate videos are a great way to encourage discussion either in person or through social media and think they make for great video content. If you’re interested in finding out how we could produce a similar video for your company then please get in touch.