The Evolution of Dance. Miley Cyrus on a wrecking ball. A sneezing baby panda. All of these things live on a little website called  YouTube. Heard of it? Chances are, you have…and you’ve been on the site a few hundred times to watch videos of everything from cute baby animals to a man overwhelmed with the beauty of a double rainbow.

Over 6 billion hours of video are watched each month on YouTube. That’s a crazy amount of time and should tell you that pretty much everyone uses YouTube to watch, well, whatever they want. If you think of it from a professional standpoint, YouTube can be a very powerful tool for event directors to have in their endurance event management toolbox.

But should you add YouTube to your race director checklist and start creating and posting videos for your event? Maybe. Here’s how we see it:

Pros to Using YouTube for Your Event:

Creating video content and developing a channel can really give your event a face. YouTube videos are easily shared across many social media networks, providing rich content for your marketing, and creating more opportunities for engagement.

Cons to Using YouTube for Your Event:

Creating videos can be time consuming. If you hire someone to create them, it can be expensive.

What Types of Videos Should You Post?

Put yourself in your participants’ shoes: What would they want to see? Videos of the start and finish lines, past race day videos, training tips, nutrition ideas, and inspirational interviews with participants are a good place to begin. Get creative and keep the videos short—less than one minute is ideal. (Remember, you can share other peoples’ videos or your own to your channel.) An exception to the ‘short video’ rule is a video of your race event course. This can help people prepare for what’s ahead on race day.

You Don’t Have to Be a Movie Director

race-director_youtube-film-directorThese days, if you have a smartphone you can make a video. Some people are even taking it to the next level with drones and GoPros, and creating exciting new experiences for viewers. But if you’re just starting out with YouTube, keep it simple and use a good ‘ol iPhone, unless you have budget to spare.

 

 

 

Here are examples of what some of our partners have done:

HMF Events Blue Back Mitten Run presented by UnitedHealthcare

Skinny Raven Pub Run

GO! St Louis Marathon Weekend

ShaZam Racing’s Detweiler at Dark

If you’re convinced your event needs to have a channel on YouTube, we can help you get started. Check out our Race Directors Social Media Guide, which explains it step by step:

 

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To learn more about ChronoTrack, contact us.