The world of public relations is always evolving and it is important to have a surplus of resources and tools to help us navigate it all. With so much going on, any resource that makes life easier, while making us look good, is solid gold.
It has become apparent that video is one of the best ways to share news to the masses. From Facebook Live to Instagram Stories, more brands than ever are experimenting with the medium. And rightly so, Buffer released findings in mid-2016 that video, by far, gets the most engagement on Facebook.
However, video isn’t just a tool for brands. Our collective attention spans have shortened tremendously. Video is an appealing way to showcase anything from news to statistics in a fast, fun and creative way, making it an excellent format for professional communicators to utilize for consumers, clients and media.
At Social Sidekick, we rely on Animoto, a cloud-based video creation service (if you can use Powerpoint, you can use this!) to uplevel our video game. Basically the service allows you to upload photos and video clips to create a slideshow.
Below are some we’ve found video to be a powerful agency tool:
If you’ve been in the PR game for awhile, you’ve probably worked on a number of proposals and presentations when seeking out new business. You’re well aware of how much work really goes into these presentations and how important they are in demonstrating your team’s expertise, approach and creative thinking. However, the traditional bound proposal or presentation deck can become tedious and some what monotonous – for both the agency team and the prospective client!
During your next pitch presentation, use Animoto to showcase your press placements, achievements and accolades with a flashy, fun and vibrate video. Here’s an example:
With video and content marketing on the rise, agencies can also utilize Animoto as a value add for client work. Let’s say you have a jewelry client with a beautiful showroom filed with hand-crafted pieces. A video exploring how these one-of-a-kind beauties come to life provides a valuable asset to further express the label’s process, appealing to both media and potential customer alike.
Video is an appealing way to showcase anything from news to statistics in a fast, fun and creative way, making it an excellent format for professional communicators to utilize for consumers, clients and media.
We did something just like the above with a jeweler in New Jersey.
A great benefit with Animoto for client videos is that you can easily adjust your videos at any time to align with a current promotion, holiday or theme. For example, create a new intro to celebrate Valentine’s Day or insert a time-sensitive call to action at the end.
Some clients might prefer excel reports of your monthly activities, but for those who are open to change, send over your reports in the form of a video. Think of how much more exciting it would be to see that New York Times placement or TODAY Show segment you secured in a video where your clients can relive the moment with you again?
For events, a video montage video of celebrity and VIP interviews, plus a few testimonials from event attendees offers a means to qualitatively demonstrate the value of the effort.
In our opinion, Animoto is a must-have for PR professionals. The tool saves our agency money both in terms of outright costs as well as resources (i.e. time spent at the computer). We’ve found that the ability to make videos easily and inexpensively has opened up our capabilities, not only in the pitch process but through to capturing editor attention and social media engagement.
About Cassie Galasetti
Cassie is the co-founder of Social Sidekick Media, Branding & PR. She has over fifteen years of experience in the entertainment, PR and media fields in New York, New Jersey and Los Angeles. Cassie has secured media coverage for her clients on TODAY Show, Good Morning America, New York Times, On-Air with Ryan Seacrest, USA Today, The Weather Channel, Yahoo! Beauty, Prevention, Fox News, Bustle and more. Connect @socialsidekick2 @cass822s
