You see it all the time on YouTube. How-to videos for applying makeup, cooking a recipe, or even build a chair frame. So why don’t magazines, which provide advice about makeup, cooking, and chairs (well, for a carpentry magazine, anyway!) have more videos on their websites to demonstrate these techniques?
When people are looking for how-to videos, they probably go to YouTube and similar sites first. Not only is there an excellent search function, but you can find a video showing you how to do almost anything. Magazines are losing out by not providing instructional video to go along with their how-to topics.
Take Lou Lou magazine, for example. They have a nice article about how to apply foundation, but it would be much more useful to have a video that actually shows how to do it—they could even show what happens if you do try to fill in your wrinkles with foundation (which the article warns against). Not only would it be informative, it would also be entertaining!
The Tyee is a great example of video use, although the majority of the content is generated by “amateurs” that aren’t part of the magazine. But there’s nothing wrong with that, so long as credit is given where it’s due!
Vlogging might also be a good idea for magazines, considering that many magazine websites have blogs (often from magazine editors). How can a magazine make their blogs stand out? Personally, I’d like to see one of the editors who blogs about their work experiences (often a fashion editor blogging about the newest productive they’ve tried, or newest treatment they’ve undergone) try a vlog instead.
Take this blog post, for example. It’s from the editor blog on Lou Lou magazine, and it’s very short. While there are comments about how gorgeous the editor looks, what would be more interesting is if this blog was a vlog of the editor’s hair transformation—it would engage users (and so would the gossip from the stylist about that Hollywood party), show a very human side to the editor (because we all have bad hair days) and showing the transformation would make others more inclined to try the Moroccanoil Oil Treatment that this post seems to be endorsing.
Vlogging and added video content on magazine websites, however, would probably require a greater time commitment from everyone involved, although it wouldn’t necessarily have to be expensive. After all, a multitude of users watch, enjoy, and respond to the amateur videos on YouTube.
Maybe other magazines should first try following The Tyee’s example, and make use of amateur content that is already out their to make their websites more attractive and generate user response.
Advertisement
Like this:
Be the first to like this post.
My Delicious Bookmarks
Video Content on Magazine Websites
March 22, 2009 — amyelizabethgYou see it all the time on YouTube. How-to videos for applying makeup, cooking a recipe, or even build a chair frame. So why don’t magazines, which provide advice about makeup, cooking, and chairs (well, for a carpentry magazine, anyway!) have more videos on their websites to demonstrate these techniques?
When people are looking for how-to videos, they probably go to YouTube and similar sites first. Not only is there an excellent search function, but you can find a video showing you how to do almost anything. Magazines are losing out by not providing instructional video to go along with their how-to topics.
Take Lou Lou magazine, for example. They have a nice article about how to apply foundation, but it would be much more useful to have a video that actually shows how to do it—they could even show what happens if you do try to fill in your wrinkles with foundation (which the article warns against). Not only would it be informative, it would also be entertaining!
The Tyee is a great example of video use, although the majority of the content is generated by “amateurs” that aren’t part of the magazine. But there’s nothing wrong with that, so long as credit is given where it’s due!
Vlogging might also be a good idea for magazines, considering that many magazine websites have blogs (often from magazine editors). How can a magazine make their blogs stand out? Personally, I’d like to see one of the editors who blogs about their work experiences (often a fashion editor blogging about the newest productive they’ve tried, or newest treatment they’ve undergone) try a vlog instead.
Take this blog post, for example. It’s from the editor blog on Lou Lou magazine, and it’s very short. While there are comments about how gorgeous the editor looks, what would be more interesting is if this blog was a vlog of the editor’s hair transformation—it would engage users (and so would the gossip from the stylist about that Hollywood party), show a very human side to the editor (because we all have bad hair days) and showing the transformation would make others more inclined to try the Moroccanoil Oil Treatment that this post seems to be endorsing.
Vlogging and added video content on magazine websites, however, would probably require a greater time commitment from everyone involved, although it wouldn’t necessarily have to be expensive. After all, a multitude of users watch, enjoy, and respond to the amateur videos on YouTube.
Maybe other magazines should first try following The Tyee’s example, and make use of amateur content that is already out their to make their websites more attractive and generate user response.
Share this:
Like this: