Video is of course a great tool for sharing your message and raising support, but how does a non-profit organization get their videos seen by the right audience and get results?
When creating promotional videos for your non-profit, be sure to have an overall goal for the video. Did you create it to raise awareness or raise money? To enlist volunteers? No one video can do everything so be strategic in choosing the goal for your video, as this will determine how you share your video and who you try to get it in front of.
HOSTING PLATFORM: There are many options as a place for your video to live online. They all have their advantages and disadvantages. If a goal for your video is that it come up in searches, YouTube is a great choice because it has over two billion monthly active users. It’s also technically the second-largest search engine on the internet, with over 3 billion searches per month. When uploading the video, be sure to have captions turned on so the text of your captions can be searched in Google. Simple, common-sense rules apply - have an understandable and attention grabbing title, description, key words for SEO (search engine optimization), and in the description be sure to include the link to your website or landing page.
Also, consider titling the videos for people who are not already familiar with your organization. Since your goal is to optimize search engines and help people find you, don’t assume they know you or your details and choose keywords that are general and might draw someone to a search with you in it. Remember, good descriptions will be what helps people find your videos!
YOUR WEBSITE: Once your video is uploaded to a hosting platform, be sure to put the video somewhere on your own website. See below about creating a landing page for the video as one option. You may also use it on social media, but remember that videos need to be short and sweet on social media to get seen. It is smart to create a version of your video just for social media. It should be shorter than the main video and have a square or vertical aspect ratio.
SOCIAL MEDIA: When creating videos for social media keep in mind that most of the time it will be viewed with the sound off. Therefore, you must consider how your video can still grab the viewer’s attention and communicate your message without any audio. Ideas for this include starting the video with motion, use visually stimulating content throughout the video, and incorporate on-screen text or captions. It is always best to upload your video natively to any social media platform. By uploading the video directly to Facebook (for example), Facebook will favor this over a linked video on some other hosting platform like YouTube. Try to get people to like/share/comment on your post so more people will see it, and you should like or reply to any comments that people leave. In the video itself or in the description be clear about what you would like the viewer to do next (which is determined by your video’s goal). Make it easy for them to take that next step with a single click if possible.
PARTNERSHIPS: If you have a good relationship with someone who really loves what you’re doing at your organization and they have an online audience, it might be worth calling in a favor and ask them to promote the video. This could be a social media influencer or another organization you have a partnership with. Maybe they could feature the video in their newsletter or give it a shout out on social. Think about who you might know with access to the people you are trying to reach for this video campaign.
MAILING LIST: Send the video out to your email list. If it’s a smaller video project, just include it in an update or newsletter. Your supporters will love seeing your organization in action! If it’s a larger video campaign, send out a separate email for the occasion. Within the email, use a clickable thumbnail image hyperlinked to the video url or landing page. By including an image, you greatly increase the likelihood of someone clicking on it.
Don’t forget snail mail! For any print media, be sure to include a QR code– the easier you make it for people to watch the video, the better.
LANDING PAGE: Sometimes it’s helpful to create a unique landing page for the video on your website. This is especially true for larger campaigns. Anytime your video has an action you want your audience to take (beyond something like following you on social media) it is advisable that you have a special page you can direct them to. You will then always link people back to this page instead of the actual video. At the top of that landing page you’ll have the video and below that you can provide more information and make it easy for them to donate or sign up or whatever your call to action is. In this way everything related to that video campaign is in one place and it makes it very easy for the person to take the next step. It also saves them from having to navigate your website to try and find the right place, possibly giving up in the process. Everything leads to the landing page: social media posts, emails and other hyperlinks, QR codes, etc.
BE CONSISTENT: To most effectively use video in your organization, it should not just be a one-off effort. Try to keep sharing the video, sending it, posting it, and putting it out there. You might also consider sharing smaller snippets of a longer video or finding other creative ways of repurposing the same content. A series of videos may be a good idea too. The possibilities are endless!
Video has great potential for non-profits to gain support and recognition. The more you share the good news about your non-profit, the better the chance you will gain the results you desire.
