Social Media Week 2017

As Social Media Week NYC took over the city last week, Visual Country opened our doors to the public for the first time to present, Short Video: Courting the Modern Attention Span. The panel ranged from current trends in short-form video to how we create shareable content.

Speakers included social media experts Sydney Fazende, Digital Director of LaFORCE; April Reynolds, Manager of Digital Marketing for Lifestyle Brands at Marriott International; James Ryan Ohliger, Co-Founder and Chief Content Officer of Jerry Media; and Katie Sturino, Founder of The 12ish Style. Sturino’s Insta-famous dog, Toast, also made an appearance. Visual Country’s CEO, Amber Lee, moderated the panel.

The panel focused on short-form video as a means of engaging audiences and addressed how social media platforms can spread content. The value in video comes from being able to showcase personality and offer a level of engagement with viewers that is hard to achieve with still pictures. Videos can also make content culturally relevant when they are made by local creators that are familiar with the specific place being marketed.

We discussed not leaving sound as a last choice and to use powerful background tracks and sound effects to enhance your video content. In order to be truly effective, short videos have to be interesting enough for people to want to share. The panelists agreed that the first few seconds of a video are the most important.

“Video is shared 39% more than any other content,” April Reynolds, Manager of Digital Marketing, Marriott International

The speakers discussed how their strategies are shifted as platforms are continually updated. Sydney Fazende felt particularly overwhelmed by the Instagram carousel update because it is a new feature that now needs to be incorporated into her marketing strategy. Fazende suggested we learn to adapt and be flexible to the changes rather than trying to find a solution.

“We know attention spans are shorter so our videos are shorter,” Sydney Fazende, Digital Director, LaFORCE

Outside of the panel, guests networked and tried out Visual Country’s stop-motion animation booth.

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A big thank you to all of our attendees and our sponsors Urban Stems, Hangar 1 Vodka, and American Juice Company.