Going Social with Your Public Service Announcements
Many associations create public service announcement videos highlighting important issues on behalf of their members to the general public. However, PSAs are often run by television stations during low ratings time slots to use up excess advertising capacity that they were not able to sell. Hardly ideal exposure.
Enter YouTube, the online video sharing service that was founded in 2005. Anyone can post video to the site, which then allows others to comment and rate the video as well as share it via e-mail and blogs with their friends. Corporate marketers have recently begun posting video clips to the site as part of their marketing. They also peruse the comments people add to the videos as a research tool for how people react to the videos.
Associations should experiment with using services such as YouTube to get their ideas out into the greater web community. Be prepared to view the feedback you get on your video as valuable insight into how people react to your piece without getting defensive. Ultimately, sharing video via services such as YouTube may get your PSA much more exposure to higher quality audiences than traditional distriution can provide.
The real innovation will come, however, when your members begin posting their own video testimonials and commentary about your field on their own initiative!
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