How Michael Hoffman of Gather Voices is Revolutionizing Community-Driven Video for Omnichannel Marketing

What if authentic customer testimonials could be captured at scale, automatically, and seamlessly integrated into your omnichannel marketing campaigns? Michael Hoffman, CEO of Gather Voices, sat down with Postalytics CEO Dennis Kelly on the Print to Pixel podcast to discuss how community-driven video is transforming the way marketers approach authentic content creation.

The marketing world has been operating under outdated assumptions for years. We’ve been told that authentic video testimonials are expensive, time-consuming, and require professional production teams. But what if that’s completely wrong?

Michael Hoffman of Gather Voices is challenging these long-held beliefs by democratizing video content creation and making it as scalable as email marketing. During his recent appearance on the Print to Pixel podcast, Hoffman shared insights that could fundamentally change how you think about customer engagement, authentic content, and omnichannel marketing campaigns.

From Political Direct Mail to Community-Driven Video: The Michael Hoffman Journey

Before founding Gather Voices, Michael Hoffman cut his teeth in the high-stakes world of political direct mail. Working at the largest direct mail persuasion firm in the country, he learned the critical importance of targeting, timing, and authentic messaging—lessons that would prove invaluable in his later ventures.

“In politics, election day is election day,” Hoffman explained. “You can’t extend your runway. Everything has to hit when it’s supposed to hit, or your whole schedule goes out the window.” This experience taught him that successful marketing requires precision timing and flawless execution across multiple channels.

After transitioning through nonprofit fundraising, digital marketing agencies, and tech startups, Hoffman recognized a massive gap in the market. Organizations were creating expensive, highly-produced videos that felt inauthentic to modern audiences, while the most engaging content was coming from ordinary people with smartphones.

What Makes Community-Driven Video from Gather Voices Different?

Michael Hoffman’s approach with Gather Voices challenges the creator economy model that dominates social media. Instead of expecting every CEO to become a TikTok creator, Hoffman advocates for leveraging the entire ecosystem around your organization.

“The equivalent for a company is the entire ecosystem of that company—the customers, the employees, the fans, the members,” Hoffman explained. “In the aggregate, they’re equal to that creator.”

The key insight? Most people won’t volunteer to be creators, but they will share their stories if you ask them nicely at the right moment. And those authentic stories contain insights that no marketing team could ever write.

The Power of Authentic Voices

Hoffman’s platform has uncovered a surprising truth: every community contains superstars—charismatic, authentic voices that organizations never knew existed. These aren’t polished spokespeople; they’re real customers, employees, and community members whose genuine enthusiasm creates far more engagement than traditional marketing content.

“If it’s somebody on their phone saying, ‘I love this thing and here’s why,’ it just has a different effect,” Hoffman noted. “That’s the world we live in today.”

Strategic Implementation: Beyond the Obvious Use Cases

While most marketers think of video testimonials as post-purchase content, Michael Hoffman advocates for a more strategic approach. Instead of chasing people for content when you need it, build video collection into your existing workflows.

The Purchase Funnel Opportunity

One of the most powerful applications Hoffman discussed involves embedding video requests directly into the purchase funnel. When someone buys a product, they’re experiencing peak excitement and anticipation—the perfect emotional state for creating authentic content.

“Think about how powerful that content is,” Hoffman emphasized. “You’re getting somebody at that moment of anticipation and excitement.”

This strategy can extend beyond purchases to event registrations, membership sign-ups, or any moment when customers are emotionally invested in your brand.

The Omnichannel Revolution: Where Direct Mail Meets Community Video

Perhaps the most exciting aspect of Michael Hoffman’s vision is how community-driven video integrates with omnichannel marketing strategies. During the podcast, he and Dennis Kelly explored innovative ways to combine Gather Voices with direct mail automation.

The possibilities are compelling:

Scenario 1: Amplifying Customer Stories A company captures an outstanding customer testimonial video through Gather Voices. They embed it in an email campaign to their segmented audience. When CRM data shows 70% didn’t open the email, an automated direct mail piece goes out with a QR code driving recipients to view that powerful customer story online.

Scenario 2: Video Collection Through Direct Mail Direct mail pieces include QR codes that don’t just drive people to websites, but to video collection prompts. Imagine sending a postcard asking, “What’s your biggest business challenge?” and collecting dozens of authentic video responses that become the foundation for content marketing campaigns.

The QR Code Renaissance

Hoffman highlighted how COVID-19 transformed QR code adoption: “The revolution in QR codes because of COVID has been phenomenal. We’re in the QR code heyday right now, where it really works and everybody knows what it is.”

This technology bridge makes it seamless to connect physical direct mail with digital video content, creating truly integrated omnichannel experiences.

Who Benefits Most from Community-Driven Video?

Michael Hoffman’s client base reveals the most natural applications for community-driven video:

Membership Organizations: Trade associations, professional groups, and nonprofits already think in terms of community. For the American Bar Association or specialized medical associations, members are the true experts—not the organization itself.

Event Marketers: Early registrants are the most passionate attendees. Their testimonials drive additional registrations more effectively than any marketing team could.

B2B Companies: Complex products and services require authentic explanation from real users who understand the challenges and benefits.

The common thread? Organizations that already have engaged communities but lack scalable ways to capture and leverage authentic stories from those communities.

The Technology Behind the Revolution

What makes Gather Voices different from simply asking customers to create videos? The platform removes traditional barriers through automation and AI assistance.

The system helps create compelling prompts, sends professional-quality email requests, and uses artificial intelligence to optimize video collection campaigns. As Hoffman explained, “We’re using AI to create a customized email that follows guidelines that we know work that are much more assumptive.”

This technological approach transforms video collection from a manual, one-off project into a scalable, automated process that integrates with existing marketing workflows.

Lessons for Modern Marketers

Michael Hoffman’s insights extend beyond video marketing to fundamental principles about authentic customer engagement:

1. Timing Matters: Ask for content when customers are already emotionally engaged, not weeks later when enthusiasm has faded.
2. Lower the Barriers: Technology should make participation easier, not more complicated.
3. Own Your Content: Unlike social media scraping, community-driven video creates assets you control and can repurpose across channels.
4. Think Systems, Not Campaigns: Build content collection into ongoing workflows rather than treating it as separate projects.

The Future of Omnichannel Marketing

As marketing continues to evolve, the integration of authentic video content with traditional channels like direct mail represents a significant opportunity. Michael Hoffman’s work at Gather Voices demonstrates how technology can bridge the gap between digital innovation and proven marketing channels.

The combination of community-driven video and direct mail automation creates possibilities that neither channel could achieve alone. When authentic customer stories captured through video can be seamlessly integrated into automated direct mail sequences, marketers gain unprecedented ability to create personalized, engaging campaigns at scale.

For marketers ready to challenge outdated assumptions about video content creation and omnichannel integration, Michael Hoffman’s approach offers a proven path forward. The question isn’t whether you should incorporate community-driven video into your marketing strategy—it’s how quickly you can get started.

Want to learn more about integrating direct mail with your omnichannel marketing strategy? Contact Us at Postalytics to discover how direct mail automation can work seamlessly with community-driven video and other digital channels.