Creating powerful messages for influencer generation
With more communication tools and platforms available now than at any time, reaching a young audience should be a doddle.
Advertisers know the power of moving image to hook millions of young people on channels that range from YouTube, TikTok, Instagram and Snapchat.
But drill down into the statistics and it becomes clear the type of video grabbing young eyeballs and getting them to interact with content is the user-generated, age-related, disruptive stuff that doesn’t necessarily come from the finely-honed traditions of agency creatives.
It’s not easy to get down with the kids and figure what floats their boat. Be wary of those agencies that tell you they can.
From in-depth studies about attitudes towards social media content amongst young UK online viewers, it seems they are wildly eclectic in their interests.
Although there are topics that dominate, such as sport, music, wellbeing, beauty and relationships/sex, they are savvy when it comes to distinguishing between authentic user generated streams and advertorial messaging from a grown-up space.
Given the social media ecosystem is a powerful communications nexus between the target viewer, the means of distribution (mobile, tablet, laptop) and easy to access platforms, the holy grail for marketers is figuring out how to inject the right content to trigger a viral storm they can control.
Brands, educators, industry execs know that if they can crack the video sharing networks with content that appeals, they have a chance of influencing a hard-to-reach young cohort.
YouTube influencers have emerged as one approach. Recruiting tribes of youngsters to create videos on behalf of brands another. AI is being harnessed to analyse a kids-view recipe of user-generated content which can then be replicated to underpin a top-down communications agenda.
So should the nuclear sector be exploring social media video to support recruitment and education amongst young people?
In the coming years, the industry is going to require huge labour inputs and enthusiastic public support. It needs to step up with confidence to show non-specialists what it is, how it is set up, what the opportunities are and how to engage with it.
Video is a key tool in this campaign. But it needs to be content that young people will watch and share. From our visual communications work with nuclear new build at HPC and decommissioning with Nuclear Waste Services, we have experience in this area.
Hitting on a formula devised in corporate HQ is unlikely to achieve the shareability and engagement if you’re after big general audiences. But there are pointers that can increase the chances of videos getting into target networks:
- Conceptualise – multiple bitesize videos showing different aspects of ‘nuclear’ to create scale.
- Authenticity – authentic stories, real people, narrative boldness, non-commercial film techniques.
- Strong distribution strategy – create long timeline, post in scheduler, sprinkle in paid-for boosts.
- Prioritise platforms – choose platforms with care. You can’t hit them all.
- Film in multiples – it’s not one video you are after but volume. Film lots of footage. Output lots of clips.
- Approve quickly – the clips don’t have to be perfect but they do have to be online quickly..
- Shake it up – avoid formatting; different lengths, no slates, sparse use of wrapround copy.
- Pay attention to thumbnails – SEO loves text overlay on video thumbnails.
- Good tags – have the tags researched and ready.
- Ready to respond – create more if you are getting strong interest.
- Consistency – keep going until the end of the campaign.
- Measure – keep meticulous records of engagement and follow up leads.
As tastes change and interactive technologies innovate, finding a way to engage with the younger generations is a quest. There is no golden rule but as the online world expands it’s observable that video continues to be the one constant in the influencer equation.
By creating the right kind of video in volume with systematic and consistent delivery, there’s a good chance this approach will reel in the networks of young viewers required to promote and benefit from nuclear.
Woodbridge Visual Media Ltd 