<videovortex> YOUTUBE: Charity Marketing Online

[Geert Lovink]

http://www.xperedon.com/news_650

Charity News: YOUTUBE: Charity Marketing Online

02/11/2011 by Alan Cole in the UK

Video media report reveals glaring opportunities for charities.
Research into online habits suggests more charities should take up  
YouTube marketing...

The latest white paper from Experian Hitwise exposes major  
opportunities for charities to experience growth via simple video  
marketing and social  media campaigns. Experian's Hitwise 2011 report  
Online Video: Bringing Social Media to Life, reveals for instance that  
UK web surfers accessed online video websites 785 million times during  
September alone.

That's an increase of 36 per cent in a year, according to analysis  
from the online marketing intelligence firm.

Experian also reveals YouTube is now the third most popular website  
with UK internet users after Google and Facebook. Other video sites  
including the BBC's iPlayer are also gathering momentum.

This suggests charities that are not entering the YouTube marketing  
space for their fundraising and awareness campaigns, or just for basic  
branding awareness for their charities are missing out. For small  
charities with limited resources that may be understandable to a  
point, but for medium and large sized charities with a marketing  
budget it really is a glaring own goal.

Generally speaking many charities could obtain more benefits in the  
direction of online video viral marketing for their campaigns and  
especially YouTube marketing… That many charities do not decide to do  
so is a shame for the social causes they represent when you take into  
account how prevalent video is online right now.

A recent example of how many people can be reached online in a  
relatively short period of time is the current Rethink Breast Cancer  
campaign on YouTube which at time of writing has experienced 1,263,044  
uploads.

That million plus audience for its campaign has been reached in less  
than one month…

YouTube marketing largely relies on word of click via social media,  
email, blogs, comments, ratings and such like… While effective viral  
media marketing can be any media form such as static images or  
interactive flash content, videos appear to provide some of the best  
possible options for effective and immediate online advertising for  
charities right now.

Experian's research only confirms what hardened internet marketeers  
have been saying for years, that online social media should be a major  
part of any marketing person's toolkit these days, and that includes  
the charity sector.

Other recent examples of charity viral video marketing include an  
innovative partnership involving the RSPCA and Lego who have been  
getting together to put big business in its place…

RSPCA's latest viral marketing video uses building blocks to get its  
message across in simple terms to spell out views on responsible  
farming. The RSPCA YouTube video is also an example of how the charity  
sector, despite being under-represented on YouTube, is showing  
increasing interest in video viral marketing strategies to promote  
awareness and fundraising strategies.

The stop motion animation video follows Lego Farmer Brown talking to  
shoppers in his village about buying ethically reared chickens and  
other animal related products which conform to welfare standards… The  
RSPCA is one of a number of charities dedicating more and more time to  
viral marketing campaigns for good reason.

Other recent charity viral marketing campaigns include GROW, involving  
Oxfam's viral video on building a better food system.

Another popular recent online example of video marketing for good  
causes was the F Word video on YouTube, using a provoking campaign to  
raise awareness for the Horn of Africa hunger crisis…

Other points to consider for charities considering viral video  
marketing should be that the videos need not be presented in  
isolation... Effective viral video campaigns are largely dependent on  
their ability to generate interest via a range of social media and  
this depends on good, inspiring content which creates a connection  
with its target audience and that people wish to share.

Charity marketeers can help this along the way by promoting their  
video content on other social media sites such as Twitter and Facebook  
as well as their own websites…

A successful charity viral video marketing campaign… ideally needs to  
part of a wider strategy social media launch and it has to be catchy  
and easy to upload, retweet, blog, etc, etc. However, as ever  
innovative ideas for content and a true understanding of online trends  
and social behaviour online are the major factors which will lead to  
success.

Good viral marketing campaigns often involve a lot of leg work but as  
the recent internet data from Experian reveals, the opportunities  
available for charity marketeers as well as the business sector are  
considerable.

Experian's new research shows that 86 per cent of UK internet users  
use video websites each month.

Experian's report also reveals the average internet user makes 18  
visits to video sites per month. That's a considerable market that  
YouTube and other video sites are offering to charities as well as  
other sectors, at the click of a button…