Engaging fans everywhere is the new norm
OTTAWA – In the digital environment where a multitude of video content is uploaded to a variety of new platforms every minute, content creators need to do more than just make interesting and compelling programming, said panelists at session on digital platforms at the Canadian Media Producers Association’s annual Prime Time in Ottawa event.
Ling Lin, head of content partnerships at Google Canada, noted that content creators have to go where their audience is (aka make content suited for the devices their consumers use). “We should always think of it from a consumer point of view,” she said. “How many devices are you on and how many sites are you on? You don’t just stay on one site or consume content in one place. So be omnipresent, be wherever your consumers are.”
Getting the most of the content is also another element to consider. This means that rather than just promote the long form content and the trailer, create other short clips to entice people to watch the video.
“So don’t just think about my full episode shows and trailers, there’s so much more to that that you can create with your highlight moments from your show, the best of moments or the funniest moments. I’ve seen partners who have long form content like an hour long or two hour long, and they can make 30 videos from that, upload all that to YouTube and you have so much more engagement than just that one long form plus a trailer,” she said.
Peter Gerard, director of VOD at Vimeo, agreed, noting that variations of the same content – 15 second videos on Instgram or longer versions on YouTube – will be complementary to each, will expand reach of the content and are critical to engaging with audiences. “Fans are engaging on lots of different devices in different contexts and in different services and they want a different experience on each of these,” he said. “This is really exciting to see creators who have figured out how to have a different piece of content that fits their voice for their audience in those contexts.”
“Fans are engaging on lots of different devices in different contexts and in different services and they want a different experience on each of these.” – Peter Gerard, Vimeo
One of the big questions to come from the session was whether the digital environment – these new digital platforms – are ready to do more TV-type content. While YouTube has come a long way from its cat and baby videos and Netflix and others are distributing high quality TV content, the question remains whether digital can become a permanent second home for broadcast video.
“How do I get my upfront $20 million to make my 13 hour TV series?” asked panel moderator Alexandra Raffé, VP of production at Thunderbird Films.
“You get the money when these digital platforms have enough predictable revenue,” said Greg Rubidge, founder and president of content distributor Syndicado. “So when these bigger platforms have more stable cash coming in, and maybe Shomi will be starting to Commission original programming and development that Vimeo is doing. When they become predictable and they have audiences, that’s when you’ll see the new broadcasters if you will, you’ll be going to them to pitch your project.”
Vimeo has recently began to invest in original content whether that be series or standup comedy specials for its for-pay platform.
“I think that’s the real key thing to understand in terms of approaching us with content,” said Gerard. “The content we’re investing has to be the kind of content that a consumer will decide to watch on a pay per view basis. They’re going to get their credit card out and say I want to watch this particular show.”
