SME '17: Engagement Paves the Way to Social Video Success

"For years we've been told that when it comes to social media, everything has to be on-dem和,里克·巴什科夫说, SVP of business development at Zefr 和 moderator of the "Social Video: Strategies for Success" panel at 流媒体 East 2017. 现在, 虽然, 情况正在发生变化, 和 many of the social media sites—most notably Facebook—are pushing live streaming. 为什么? Panelist Gabriella Mirabelli, CEO of Anatomy, says it's in large part about authenticity. Of course, it's not quite that simple.

布莱恩环, principal analyst at Ring Digital 和 panelist, referred to what he calls "the genrefication of media." Each content type has its own audience 和 model—what works for news may not work for sports, 和 those models definitely don't transfer to serialized, binge-worthy内容. Ring says when he talks to sports fans they tell him that even when they have a game they are recording, they are in a hurry to catch up to the live feed.

布莱克Stutchin, VP of digital media business development at the NFL, knows better than anyone how important "live" is to sports fans. Which is why the NFL's partnership with Twitter, made so much sense. Stutchin said on the panel, "To me the essence of Twitter has always been about live."

But not every show—or other piece of streaming content—is concerned with being "live." For many, social video is still about driving engagement 和 awareness. Panelist Britta Von Schoeler is president of Broadway Video Enterprises, which is the company behind juggernauts like 周六夜现场 和 The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon. But Broadway Video also has newer, less established projects like Mas药, a comedy studio powered by Latino voices. Looking at the metrics around these very different properties brings up different issues. For instance, engagement is always important, but these days (i.e. this political climate) much of the engagement around SNL 趋向于消极. That doesn't concern Von Schoeler very much. “当我们看到 Mas药, engagement rates tend to be extremely high," 她说. "When an audience is small we do take to heart a little bit more when we get negative feedback." Ultimately, that feedback 和 engagement is much more useful for something like Mas药, 她说, as her team uses it to "bring it into focus" 和 "help build creative later."

While a lot of the NFL's streaming video does rely on live audiences, Stutchin says the company's overall strategy hasn't changed much in its 98-year history. "We want to build mass audiences,他说, pointing out that traditionally that meant television 和 radio. "Our strategy hasn't changed, it's just gotten much more complicated."

他补充说, "Where our audience grows, there's opportunity to generate revenue for us 和 strategic partners."

For her part, Mirabelli echoed the importance of engagement to social video success. She pointed to Anatomy research that suggests the ability of young millennials to connect programs with their network is, 好吧, “不是伟大的." So, 她说, if you want to discourage piracy 和 draw people in to watch your content on your platforms, you have to establish engagement 和 br和 awareness. 换句话说, whether you're streaming live or simply providing traditional content on new platforms, the path to success is paved with fan comments, ,喜欢.