I suppose all things must come to an end. While video may have killed the radio star, it is clear now that Facebook killed the video star, or, more importantly, how viewers watch videos. What does it mean for how your arts organization’s marketing efforts? Well, the first step is acceptance: the tried and tested method of creating commercials — something that has been used since the dawn of commercials — is over.
Here at Oklahoma City Ballet, we have spent countless hours on our Facebook page going through all of the current features offered for video metrics. Regarding the content we create for social media, we noticed several things that gave us pause. The first thing that we noticed is that the average time that a viewer watches your video is less — dramatically less — than we anticipated.
Social media is now the acknowledged juggernaut when it comes to video outlets and the way potential customers get their information. More and more arts companies (and non-arts companies) are pulling their videos off TV and posting, boosting and sponsoring them on social media for maximum views. The problem with this is that videos are still being created using methods and approaches appropriate to TV content — that is, commercials. Not videos created directly for, or catering to, social media.
Almost no one watches videos with sound.
What do we do with this dispiriting information? We know, first, that we need to get critical information about our product to the viewer: the name of the ballet, the dates, how to get tickets. So we are starting to create commercials that start with that critical information — a “start card,” if you will. That way we know that the vast majority of the viewers will at least have that information, even if they watch nothing else. And having that information alone might be enough to get people to buy tickets. You don’t need to watch a 30-second commercial about The Nutcracker to know what it is.

In 2015, Microsoft released the results of a study showing that from 2000 to 2015, the average human attention span dropped from 12 seconds to eight seconds. The study also noted this is one second shorter than the average attention span of a goldfish. As marketers, we need to figure out how people want their information, not how we want to give it to them.
The second thing we did to address the attention-span challenge is that we no longer create 30-second commercials, whether for TV or radio. It’s a better use of our money to spread out our commercials and cast a wider net than buy commercials that waste, on average, 22 seconds of time and our money.’
A “start card,” if you will.
Social media is changing the rules. We have no choice but to play along.