Multi media platforms have come on leaps and bounds in the past decade. With YouTube taking off in 2005 and visual social media adopting many different forms, it is clear that companies need to search for ways to take advantage of these opportunities being presented and they have!
Viral videos have taken YouTube by storm but most people don’t realise that they have become a form of advertising. Back in 2007, a group of lads tied balloons to their car in an attempt to re-create a Ford car advert. Most people bought into the homemade version of the advert as being real, but little did they know, it was a fake created by Ford in order to attract more attention to the real advert. Clever, ay? Another example of viral video advertising was when a Danish woman named Karen posted a video in search for the father of her baby. Again, viewers bought into the video and it went viral, when really it was all made up by the official tourism board of Denmark, VisitDenmark, in hope that it would attract attention to the little known country. But it’s not just the viral video that can be used to lure unknowing spectators into researching your company.
Short spin off style videos can also take advantage of the visual wonders that the Internet holds. Only recently, Costa Coffee posted a video about a haunted Costa store to play alongside their Halloween themed drinks and advertising. This 3 minute video may have only attracted a minority of attention with over 1,300 views in 24 hours, but it made use of the kind of media that is out there and by combining it with a theme such as Halloween, that is possibly being significantly searched on Google, there is the opportunity to reach millions with little effort and expense.
But enough of what other companies have done. How can your company use videos to help promote or advertise? The first and most important step is to become aware of the many and ever-growing ways there are to post videos on social media. YouTube, Vimeo, Vine, InstaVideo and many social media networks have integrated video sharing into their sites. It is important to create a profile for your company on the various platforms to ensure maximum exposure.
To some, it may seem blatantly obvious that the way for a company to incorporate online video mediums in their advertising regime is to simply make an advert, or some form of visual representation of the company to be shared online but that is just child’s play. It is important to connect with the audience that is available. For example, if you are trying to connect to a more mature generation in the 50+ age range, online videos aren’t your best bet. It is the generation of technology addicts that are easily reachable if you know how. With social media sites such as Vine and InstaVideo, you are only be allowed seconds to get your message across, but the best way to reach the masses is to connect with their funny bone. By combining the concept of viral videos, humour and hashtags, a simple but comical ‘homemade’-looking Vine video could attract the attention of millions. The wow-factor also plays its part. Six seconds could be all it takes to grab the attention of a social networker and have them sharing your content just seconds later.
Although, if you would rather create something with a little more technique and depth, why not try inviting consumers behind-the-scenes? Take the audience on a tour of the office; show them precisely what it is that your company does, make customers feel like they understand what exactly is the product they are buying in to. However, briefer can sometimes be better. With social media growing rapidly, people want to access content quickly with minimal effort but be entertained at the same time and bare in mind that tagging and hashtagging can be your best friends in social media!
At the end of the day, it is all subject to what exactly you are trying to achieve. What is the message you are trying to convey? Who are you trying to reach? Why is video the best way to do it? And how will you use video social media to it’s full potential?
