The public relations profession is built on a foundation of two-way communication. Whether it’s working with the media, writing a tweet or building a website, communications professionals are tasked with raising awareness of their employers’ or clients’ work and perspectives -– and learning from and responding to the conversation.
Video sharing sites like YouTube are an excellent way to break the ice because nothing online is as personal and human as video. And right now, few activities online are more popular. In February there were 139.2 million unique online video viewers in the U.S. who spent an average of nearly 4 and a half hours watching video on computers at work and at home. Not surprisingly, YouTube was the leading online brand for video, followed by VEVO and Facebook.
With such a huge opportunity, how can PR pros tap into the power of sites like YouTube? It’s certainly a challenge — for every viral video, hordes more go unseen. Below, we highlight a few ways you can use online video to execute your communications programs.