Question: what’s a low-cost, high-results way to get great traction with your next video content campaign?

At the end of 2020, Chamberlain was gearing up to launch an innovative automatic dog door opener called the Pet Portal. Its plan was simple: get as much UGC as possible showing dogs going crazy at the prospect of going outside. Then pump out a ton of strategic video content -- including teaser videos to build hype and pre-orders -- ahead of the full unveiling at CES 2021.

But with the product not yet publicly available, Chamberlain turned to their longstanding LA agency The Woo for help with sourcing content.

The aim was to try to recruit as many filmers as possible -- without Chamberlain promoting anything on social media. Sound tricky? The Woo, knowing it needed to source lots of content, teamed up with Lumenati for help leveraging the Cinebody software. Then some clever thinking and smart incentives soon had things wrapped.

“The product didn’t exist,” says Lorna Paul, executive producer at The Woo. “Nobody had seen it. So we knew we needed an innovative approach to build buzz and get our UGC campaign the momentum we needed.”

First, both agencies hit up their internal networks. If you worked for either and owned a dog -- you got asked.

Then the incentives really came into play. The Woo and Lumenati targeted a small selection of Facebook groups across the US. The message was short and simple: Film your dog getting excited. Get paid $25 if your clip is used.

That simplicity struck a home run. More than 700 clips came flooding in. And because some were vertical while others were horizontal, there was enough footage to produce both announcement videos AND a ton of supporting social ads.

Cinebody made things easy, too. Onboarding was a breeze thanks to the project smart links and in-app project codes that were provided to filmers. That meant filmers could be submitting their shots in just seconds.

And the auto-upload feature meant The Woo didn’t have to worry about file transfers. All videos automatically found their way to the cloud without the filmer having to do anything other than point and shoot. All the remote editor then had to do was download the clips directly from Cinebody & put them in their edit suite. Easy!

Unleashing the Power of Creative Incentives

Incentives don’t just have to be about money. We’ve seen cases of filmers being motivated by the chance to take part in a world record. Creating a content ambassador team is another model where incentives come into play.

The choice is yours. But what’s not up for debate is just how effective incentives are.

If you’re new on the block and your fans don’t yet exist, incentives are great. And if you’ve already got a fanbase and you throw an incentive into the mix…well, it’s game over for your competitors. A little extra motivation goes a long, long way.

Conclusion

By capitalizing on user-generated content and implementing an innovative and cost-effective strategy, businesses can propel their video content campaigns to new heights. Chamberlain's collaboration with The Woo and Lumenati exemplified the power of incentives and creative thinking in generating a wealth of engaging material. With a comprehensive UGC campaign and the seamless integration of Cinebody, the process became streamlined, resulting in remarkable traction and widespread anticipation for the Pet Portal's unveiling at CES 2021. Embracing incentives as a driving force behind user participation can unlock unprecedented success in the digital landscape.