YouTube is creating a Political Section for the presidential candidates. There are lots of creative ways to use YouTube to reach people. Here are 5 1/2 ways for the campaigns to take advantage of this unique opportunity by creating and uploading videos specifically for the YouTube community.
1. First off the big one: Do not delete comments that are negative and only approve comments that are positive. There is no faster way to lose credibility with the YouTube community. You’ll want to moderate the comments for spam and inappropriate language of course but don’t go further than that. Besides, when users disagree they will respond to each other which will drive more traffic and interest to your video.
2. Make the clips ninety seconds to two minutes tops. This length tends to be optimal for viral videos.
3. Don’t film them all in a row. It won’t look very good if the candidate is wearing the same jacket and tie in every single video.
4. Change it up. Not every video has to be ‘this is my opinion while sitting in front of an American flag’. Use this as a chance to show different sides of the candidate. Have him/her interview a campaign staffer or a volunteer. Some behind the scenes videos of the campaign and rallies would be fun too.
4.5. You could even create a “Campaign Tour Guide†who anchors some of the behind the scenes videos.
5. Respond to the other candidates. Why not film a respectful video response to one of your opponents? No one has ever done that before. Would the opponent accept or reject it?
Have another idea? Post them in the comments!
—
John Boyle runs SocialNext, a blog tracking the next generation of marketing via viral video and social networks. He doesn’t write posts while sitting in front of an American flag but is open to the idea.
