By: Wimpi Handoko – Branding & Communication Strategy Expert of Fortune PR
For a country that belongs to a continent with a visual-driven society, the role of video for communication in Indonesia is fast gaining momentum in the social media environment.
A recent short amateur video through a smart phone of a street brawl between citizens for the freedom of pedestrians with one Jakarta unruly motorcyclist uploaded in Facebook managed to create uproar amongst Jakarta citizens and had reinstated strong measure by the Jakarta police on the prevailing laws on the use of pedestrians…for the time being at least.
A purposely-edited version of a campaign speech by the former Jakarta governor managed to inflict hatred during the region’s gubernatorial election campaign that put the popular incumbent governor in jail for religious blasphemy. So too was a video of sexual intimacies and hatred campaign speech involving the one person who was the key person in getting the former governor lost in the second round of election became evidence in getting the religious clerk to be indicted for inciting hatred before he left the country.
President Joko Widodo has successfully upload videos in his presidential Facebook channel to provide factual progress to his policies on national programs across the country.
When a picture is worth a thousand words, a video is worth more than a million followers. Treated well, videos are strong medium of communication for engagement. Miss treating videos can cause social (and sometimes political) uproars.
Social media channels are now simply talking through videos and it is simply more lively using videos to talk to one another. Social media has given Indonesians more ways to express their thoughts by simply using their smart phones to make a video or for those who can afford it, with their mini video cameras and social media will do the rest.
With 2 billion monthly active users worldwide, Facebook is fast becoming the primary delivery method of videos. It is thought that video posts are given twice the reach of photo posts and Facebook and Instagram are doing all they can to encourage publishers to put more weight behind video publications. Such opportunities still remain a big opportunity for brands to develop their engagement with the Indonesian markets through video communication in both conventional and social media. While brands are still dependent on conventional TV media for a one-way communication, communicating via video on social media can provide more exact measurements on reach, effectiveness and responses. With 88 million Internet users and 79 million active social media users, brands seeking engagement with the Indonesian market should start to balance their dependencies between conventional media and social media as soon as possible.
Looking at the behavior of Indonesian social media users, for brands that are looking into using video as one of their communication strategy, here are tactics that can be considered:
Go Live!
Live videos are the most engaging form of video communication in social media similar to that of live broadcast scenes seen on breaking news across TV channels. Though the term “live” can be in the form of “live streaming” meaning seeing it as it happens, as frequently seen on TV news channels, or it can be recorded as it happen and then do re-run as in the case of many breaking news or in Facebook and Instagram. Live streaming or live recording provide more reality and non-prefabricated scenes so that audience would likely to believe more. If you’re a car brand manufacturer, show a real test drive though the streets of Bandung or Mount Bromo. If you’re promoting a green property, show how your property is being built from the round up caring for the environment. Go live on your restaurant opening and show who’s who attending the ceremony. Once you stop the live broadcasting, it then can be converted to a traditional video, sitting on your timeline to be enjoyed for eternity by future followers or visitors.
Use Newest Video Technology.
Some new video technologies may end up exceeding the permitted space on social media, but consider the impact of showing a wow to the audience! Using 4K-quality video makes a lot of difference especially when showing details, colors, movements and sound. While some may see 360-degree video as nauseating, younger audiences see it as a new experience and creating more engagement with its content. 360-degree videos are more engaging when you’re doing B-to-C business, as consumers are always excited with new things!
Expanding Targeted Audience
While some social media channels have limited users database, most popular social media channels are selling themselves as the source of big data, immersing themselves with details of their users gained during their first registration followed by analyzing users algorithm. So what you get is a source of almost total insights on what the users are from demographic, hobbies, social segmentation, work and interest, whereas conventional media offers more of shotgun effect to reach out to your target. Video communicating your brand through social media not only provides the ability to choose your specific target group; it can also expand that specific target group into other social media groups with a common denominator relevant to the brand. A lubricant brand trying to establish engagement with their consumers can specifically focus on people who love car engine and cars can expand towards classic car communities, rally enthusiast, second hand car seekers, off roaders etc.
Video provides real-life motions and sounds, it enriches your imagination, it creates emotional attachment, and it shows reality and sometime unreal scenes that captivate your attention, all the characters of human communication. Video combined with social media, your brand will go a long way.
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