Video production, photos, influencer marketing, email campaigns...with so many strategies at your content team's disposal, it can easily become overwhelming when a new one is added to the list. But as a rapidly growing video strategy, crowdsourcing is definitely one to not overlook.

Now, there’s a big difference between crowdsourcing video, and outlets like Zoopa and Tongal that provide “crowdbidding” video services. Crowdbidding differs in that it asks semi-professional content producers to compete to win a prize or professional contract. While it has its place, it unfortunately can turn off your organic users and diehard fans, while taking away some of the fun of being part of a larger, more collaborative campaign.

With crowdsourcing, you’re directly engaging with your fans and consumer base in a much more intimate and collaborative manner. You’re leaning in to the people who already love your brand or product, allowing them to share their perspectives in the content that you need to create. While this should be reason enough to consider it for your content strategy, this isn’t the only hard-to-ignore benefit.

1. You save money.

Doing good work is costly. Pricing out a film crew, locations, and equipment can blow the entire creative budget of a small brand or agency. But, by using a crowdsourcing tool like Cinebody, you can direct your biggest fans to capture countless perspectives & angles for you to use and interweave in your content. These tools are not only affordable but also allow you to ensure camera settings are aligned.

2. You will discover new talent

The internet is teeming with the next big celebrity, spokesperson, thought leader, or musician. The challenge is finding them in the sea of millions of people making crowdsourced content and knowing which ones are going to give you the best ROI for your brand budget. With a crowdsourcing campaign, you can directly engage with your diehard fans to create content, while easily identifying who might be the best of the pack. These nano and micro-influencers cost much less (if anything) than their celebrity counterparts and often create more organic buzz.

Crowdsourcing isn’t just ideal for finding out who's the most excited about your offerings; it can tell a lot about who is poised to be the face of the future, before you commit to a lengthy ambassador contract. In fact, many brands have used crowdsourced video for market research and surveys, learning more about their customers & identifying potential ambassadors for their brand.

3. You keep things fresh.

It’s easy to tune out the barrage of video content being made for customers. If your campaigns all have a similar feel, you risk losing some of your audience. By combining professionally-created video with home-grown content from your fans, you mix things up. Crowdsourced video helps breathe life into stale marketing campaigns and connects with your audience in an authentic way that the polished stuff might not. Unlike 100% professionally-filmed content that screams “I’m an advertisement,” user-generated content is more approachable and works well on multiple social channels. It takes that “paid for” feel out of ads altogether.

4. Capture quality on demand

With the new iPhone and similar products hitting the streets, everyone has a studio-ready film tool in the palm of their hands. It’s now possible for anyone to capture a quick shot and share high-resolution video footage to be used in campaigns with very little editing. With the added direction provided through Cinebody, you’ll know what you’re getting, too. Keep the footage on hand for your current project, or set the best clips aside for upcoming content needs as they arise.

5. It’s where the world is headed.

Forward-thinking companies are harnessing the power of user-generated content to stay relevant, crowdsourcing videos from their fans, influencers, and ambassadors. With everyone using Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter to find video content to engage with, and younger generations embracing content-creation apps like TikTok to make projects on the fly, crowdsourcing with brands will soon feel like the norm. Tech-led creativity is in the DNA of future consumers; those who lay the groundwork to engage with them now will certainly reap the rewards.

If you’ve been leaning toward using crowdsourced video, but haven’t jumped in yet, what’s stopping you? The benefits are real, and the time is now.