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How to motivate users to record video content?

I running a tech products reviews website and the reviews are video based, I am creating my content but I want users to add their video reviews for tech products they love or hate. How can motivate them without paying them money to review?

We give points to reviewers that can promote their status on the website, but it seems it is not working enough.

Any help?

Answer 9734

You need to come up with a sensible answer for two important questions:

  1. Why should they do so to begin with? Your users need an excellent incentive to volunteer their face and/or voice and post it in a review video on your site. If you do not provide one and make what it is crystal clear, it’s just wishful thinking and you should get back to the drawing board.

  2. How easy is it for them to do so? If you didn’t answer “so brain dead simple than a 5th grader could do it” you also want to get back to the drawing board. (Don’t assume: test it with actual kids.) No consumer in their right mind will waste time learning some video recording software or jump through hoops to edit videos for the dubious privilege of uploading videos to a website.

The “natural” idea for 2) would be to offer a means to share a smartphone video directly to your site of course, but that’ll only get you somewhere for reviews of off-screen stuff. It that in no way solves the very hard problem of recording reviews of on-screen stuff with a good user experience without installing and learning to use - often expensive - software.

In both cases, the fact that people will review what they recorded before posting it will also get in your way. People tend to hate the sound of their own voice and will shy away from posting videos where they’re narrating something as a result.


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