Reality Show OTFs Can Work For Social Media Marketing

One of the biggest questions when it comes to social media marketing is: What the heck do I post everyday? It’s a great question. Possibly the most important question to ask. A good answer, if you’re struggling to post often enough, is to document your life. You can mix in personal and work. That’s up to you. A good way to think about it, though, is to imagine what you see on reality TV. It’s been around now for about three decades or so. But the shows all follow a similar formula. The cameras hang around the cast and document everything. Then there is editing. But something that often happens along with the documenting is what’s known as OTF or On The Fly.

On The Fly (OTF) – Reality TV Term

Let’s say something happens during the day while you’re at work. You close a sale. You show an employee how to do something. An OTF occurs when you take a few minutes after the moment to explain what happened and maybe how you feel about it and what it means going forward. You see these in reality shows all the time. You’re watching the drama unfold and the video cuts to an interview with one or more of the cast members as they explain what you’re seeing. It provides a little context to the situation and helps break up the monotony of the reality setting. Another version of this is when the cast does the interview or explanation well after the fact. In a different setting. Several hours, days or even months later. That can be a good thing too, but OTFs really help catch a lot of the context and can even provide some added emotion to the situation.

OTFs for Business Social Media Marketing

The smartphone and social media have given a reality tv-type living for a lot of people. You can document what you’re doing with video. And that’s what many people are doing. The barriers and friction to doing it are slim. You basically just need a phone. And that’s wonderful, but it also means there is a lot of video content out there that is lacking a bit. There are some folks, though, that are taking a little more time to make sure their content stands out. Some are adding some OTFs with editing to their videos. They document what they’re doing. Then they take a minute to explain what they’re doing to make sure the viewer understands what’s going on. Imagine a dentist that’s looking at x-rays and then takes a minute to explain to the viewer what they’re looking for on the scans. Or imagine the auto mechanic that is doing an alignment on a vehicle. It’s something mechanics do everyday, but the average person has no idea what’s going on. One of the best examples I’ve seen is from George Gankas:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cUtEf-laVdc

He has someone document the lessons he gives people. And he often takes a few moments to face the camera and explain a little more about what he’s telling the student.

Final Thoughts

Documenting is a great way to get some content for your social accounts. Put someone in charge of using their phone to do the documenting. Even if you have to hire an intern to come to your office one or two hours a day. And to make your content stand out above so much of what’s out there, add some OTFs to give more context and value to the viewer. Just like reality tv shows.