Another Lesson In Social Media Marketing From Team Obama

Preface: Any reference to political figures on the bigMETHOD blog is in any way a vote of confidence nor critique of what is going on policy-wise in Washington, D.C. We’re talking strictly marketing.

Many times already on this blog I’ve brought up how incredible the Obama team’s continued use of social media has been. As I stated back in February, “No matter how good, bad, or ugly the outcome of the next four years turns out to be, what President Obama’s administration is doing to connect the American people to its government via social media will overshadow everything else when all is said and done.”  Once again they are out exhibiting exactly how great a handle on the space they have, and teaching us all a little something along the way.

Yesterday the Official YouTube Channel of the White House posted a video explanation of the administration’s health care plan:

Watching this, a number of points jumped out at me.  A few things we can take away from a social media perspective:

• Quality Matters - Every video on the WH YouTube Channel is available for viewing in HD.  Nothing but the best coming from the President.  The administration’s web team understands that the content they put out their reflects on their brand, and so should the rest of us.
• The Importance of Direct Communication - There is so much noise out their overwhelming the conversation and debate on health care in America. News programs, pundits, reporters, bloggers, tweeters, journalists, etc. etc. are all providing their own take on the issue. The White House wants to provide their perspective unfiltered, and there is no better platform then direct-to-audience via web 2.0 tools like YouTube.
• Getting To the Point - Attention spans are shrinking, content is abundant, and you don’t have all day to get the message across just because YOU think it’s important. If you’re interested in offering your perspective, make it digestible enough for your audience to be able to sit through…especially if they’re not already sold on what you’re saying.  This video is 4 minutes long. They even made it a point to base the video on delivering the message in 4 minutes…knowing that’s about as long as the uninterested folks they’re trying to reach are willing to invest.
• Don’t Save the Best For Last - You want to look at web video like you would a press release. PR 101 classes around the country are teaching aspiring public relations professionals the long-standing best practices of front-loading releases with the main points of the story. And then drilling down from there.  The most successful web content grabs viewers by the horns in the first ten seconds, and fills in the details once they’re captured. Team Obama knows this, and lays out the 4 main points of the plan right off the bat, and follows with the explanations for the rest of the clip.
• Be There - This is absolutely the most important point. If your goal is reaching ears with a message, then you want to make that message as publicly available as you can. The administration’s web team has known this from day one, and it’s a lesson marketing managers around the country are really starting to come around on.  If this video was not posted online, 65,000 less Americans might understand its principles.  Being there is half the battle.

Valuable lessons learned from watching “the most important social media team in the world” at work.