Research online use of videos (YouTube/ Vimeo/ FaceBook/ Kickstarter/ BLURB etc.) to show/ promote/ fund photo-books. Reflect upon your findings and give examples of where you think this works well and where it does not.
Video = Social Media
There’s no better way to build a connection with people than video, as information is no longer confined within the minority. Use video to show/ promote/ fund photo-books is a new kind of marketing strategy and it is an online marketing campaign to get the word out to people. Back in the old days, book promotion heavily relied on the traditional press and time-consuming tasks. Nowadays, there are millions of consumers who are one click away from sharing works with their friends on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube etc by upload a video with just a few easy steps. Power to the people without spending a huge amount of promotional fees! Information spread in a large scale propagation in order to cause the market’s reaction.
Create a personal and storytelling video
“A picture worth a thousand words.” If a video is able to escape the general frame of mind with creativity, then the information will be able to spread effectively. More importantly is to attract the viewer to watch the video. The key to success is to arouse viewer to watch it continually and completely. Otherwise, the video will lost its function and unable to be success.
Creating a video to tell people about the making process of the project in order to crowd the funding. As video is the perfect way to record the excitement, the specifics and content of the project. Also it can show people who you are.
Below is the element of a success video:
- Increase the discussion and the number of shares
Do Something Remarkable and worth talking about in order to attract attention and build up the sense of trust from the potential customer.
- Stimulated curiosity and interest
By promoting something with video is a great idea for people who have no way to get it published or accomplished. With the rise of crowd-funding platforms like Kickstarter, it helps artists, musicians, filmmakers, designers, and other creators find the resources and support to bring their ideas to life. Kickstarter provide a platform for creator to find and connect with a high-quality audience easily; creator can invite different Backer supporters for funding with a video which included explanation and operational information of the project. The program starts once the preset amount is reached. Then, Backer will get different rewards, more common is the first to receive the item.
Crowd-funding platforms takes advantage of the internet without borders, attracting people from all over the world to sponsor and support a project. It helps creator to bring their dream into reality, from a concept into work.
In Kickstarter, there are 15 categories. Below I found two examples in Photography. There is a photo-book named “Se7en Years Scene” Photos from Japan to Jamaica & Beyond is waiting for funding. By using a video, the photographer can share their thoughts and introduce the photo-book directly to the audience. Also, show a bit of the behind the scene/book (The printed pictures from the photo-book).
Facebook live stream
The Facebook function ‘Live Stream’ allow user to create “real-time interaction” among people; viewer can leave messages during the stream and the player can reply immediately. It also provide a free space for people to promote themselves in their own way.
Final Thoughts
To conclude, Even though using video to promote photo-book is a great way to advertise and get funding without spending a large budget to do the marketing. There are still disadvantages of using video.
The advantage of using video in promotion
- The combination of sound and picture is easier to attract customer attention then motionless thing
- Compared to reading, listening is easier to understand to the content, also it is more interesting
The disadvantage of using video in promotion
- Editing is time consuming even you’re already well-known of the editing software
- Creativity is very important. A boring video won’t be able to attract customer’s attention