Just about everyone today knows the power of social video; however, some do not know how to articulate the top reasons why marketers should incorporate video into our marketing campaigns. I have combined my 15 years of experience in marketing, communications, e-commerce and social media management with degrees in Videography and Public relations to compose the top 3 reasons for integrating video. These top three reasons will help you modernize your marketing efforts by giving you best practices in video that will not only enhance your marketing budget/efforts but will also extend your ROI by way of greater adoption through engagement and reach.
1.It's Your Hook to Your Purchase Path
The first reason to use video and / or animated content (in the form of .gifs) is to hook your viewer back to the purchase path. What does that mean? When you create a social video you want to make sure it is entertaining and value adding enough to have your target audience inquire more about your content. Additionally, if you have a case study or white paper published on a website, a short video (15 sec or less) will help drive awareness and adoption. An example of what I would put in a social video is just one tweet-like message, that's right- we're talking about 140 characters or less. Why so little? Because people have a short attention span; people scan and move on to the next thing. That's why your video content needs to be short and to the point. Articulate one main message then your website or your blog can help unpack the rest. Think of this video as the "appetizer" before the first course, "the soup" which is your blog or the "main dish", your website.
2. Illuminate Your Top Value Prop
When creating a social video here's your opportunity to highlight your one (hopefully just one) top value prop or solution to entice your customer to learn more or buy now. For @CiscoDC, we've created 15 -second Instagram-ready videos called "snackables". Snackables are very sharable on Twitter and are made to be published primarily on Instagram and or embedded into a blog. They're created by utilizing around 140 characters of text (essentially a tweet) into a condensed 15 second video, fully animated with music.
*Pro Tip*In order to upload these with ease they need to be max size 2MB. Here is a 15-second videos on Instagram to show you what they look like:
View this post on Instagram
We're setting Oracle world records. See#CiscoUCS at#OOW15 http://cs.co/9007B3ayT
3.Live stream -Discussions and Q&A
You're ready to launch a product, service, or e-book and you have next to no budget. You now have an opportunity to create buzz around the reasons why this product was created. Creating a Blab or Periscope video is a good opportunity to tell the "Why" and answer any questions from your customers. A few best practices for either a BlabCast or Periscope:
Finally, repeat. You've done just one Blab or just one Periscope and now you have 100 followers this means you have started a community that needs to be nurtured. Have a calendar and a regular cadence of topics to keep your community engaged and wanting more.
I've just scratched the surface for Blab and Periscope. The great thing about Blab and Periscope is that both platforms have a community of people who are always willing to help you and answer any questions. You just need to get out there and make mistakes and have fun trying.
Now you have three great reasons to start thinking about integrating video into your marketing campaigns. Experiment, have fun and create something you'd love to share. Comment below and tell me how you've been using social video and let me know your experience.