Social Video Marketing: A New Competitive Advantage

What do companies imply after they say they do “social video”? Is it nearly creating an attention-grabbing video and distributing it on YouTube and different social networks? Or is there extra to it? Let’s discover what makes a video for enterprise actually social, the particular relationship between social video and search advertising and marketing, and ideas for search entrepreneurs on beginning to use social video in enterprise at the moment.

Social Is An Evolution In Marketing … And Doing Business

To finest describe social video advertising and marketing, we first want to contemplate what it means to be social in enterprise in at the moment’s market. We lately moved from a gross sales tradition constructed round one-way content material and top-down promoting to a search tradition the place shoppers discover info and options related to their wants by way of computer systems. Now we’re evolving extra right into a social tradition constructed round sharing with our friends and a way of group with manufacturers themselves.

Social instruments and applied sciences have helped us mature in how we select to interact with different folks on-line. Those who reap the most important enterprise rewards select to take part in social media moderately than stand on the sidelines. YouTube and different video internet hosting and sharing websites — together with blogs, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, FourSquare, Yelp, and many others. — have empowered manufacturers and shoppers to raised work together with one another and construct significant relationships based mostly on dialogue, service, and suggestions.

Social is just about how we select to interact with different folks, and it has compelled many manufacturers to begin respecting their prospects as on-line equals. From this comes a definition of social video because the mixing of video with human relationships for the co-creation of worth.

The 3 Cs Of Social Video Marketing: Content + Conversations + Community

Social video advertising and marketing (SVM) is the usage of instruments and applied sciences that assist social exercise round a given video — by companies for enterprise functions. This may be carried out with video content material creation, distribution, and sharing instruments equivalent to blogs, social networks, and assist communities.

As Wikipedia’s web page on social video advertising and marketing aptly states: “In a profitable social video advertising and marketing marketing campaign, the content material, distribution technique and client self expression instruments mix to permit a person to ‘add their voice’ or co-create worth to a bit of content material — then additional propagating it out to their social circles.”

Social video advertising and marketing has helped many manufacturers enhance their high quality of customer support. Whether it’s responding to viewers/client questions (equivalent to Google Webmaster Central’s YouTube channel or CrutchfieldElectronics.com), and even reserving a client video platform (equivalent to Zappo’s YouTube channel solely for client suggestions, or EXPOTV.com for brokering video critiques of brand-name merchandise), what we’re witnessing is a shift to a co-dependent relationship between manufacturers and shoppers.

Video with social media has enormously elevated the facility that buyers have, requiring manufacturers to deal with them as equals within the enterprise relationship — sharing one another’s content material, concepts, and assist towards constructing and rising an precise group. All of which may be summarized within the easy-to-remember 3 Cs method for social video advertising and marketing at the moment of Content + Conversations + Community.

How Social Video Impacts Video search engine optimization

“Social has change into an enormous driving pressure now — not just for search engine optimization, however for video,” says Mark Robertson, founding father of ReelSEO. “Take for instance, YouTube. It’s the second largest search engine, which persons are looking out continuous on, and closely listed in in Google’s personal search outcomes (together with an rising variety of common video sharing websites). Now, so as to rank effectively on YouTube, it’s vital to explain your video correctly, to have an excellent title. But greater than that, it’s about ensuring that there are feedback going up, persons are sharing that video, and that there are lots of thumbs up,” says Mark. It additionally means responding to any unfavorable feedback shortly and fully. In brief, engagement is vital.

Social video advertising and marketing is just not solely about distributing video content material to video vacation spot platforms like YouTube (which we might argue is a social community). Social networks, that are beginning to drive much more site visitors to video, additionally have to be thought of. These embody locations like Facebook, Twitter, and naturally, blogs.

“Basically, social video advertising and marketing is about advertising and marketing a message by video, in the easiest way that you simply probably can. In order to do this it’s worthwhile to disseminate your message to the biggest viewers (and most focused viewers) that you simply probably can.” says Mark. “Video advertising and marketing is simply that, and video search engine optimization is one part of that. It seems that whereas search engine optimization remains to be a really sturdy part of video advertising and marketing, social is shortly turning into simply as sturdy of a part.” Mark continues.

Here’s extra proof of how search engine optimization and social are coming nearer collectively. Last December, SEOmoz’s Rand Fishkin reported on Google and Bing confirming that Twitter and Facebook each affect search engine optimization. This includes Facebook “likes” and Twitter “retweets” influencing rating in natural search. Videos on Facebook and Twitter are additionally being listed by engines like google and seem prominently in search outcomes, which speaks volumes to the good influence of sharing video throughout social media. For that motive alone, search entrepreneurs have to be concerned in social video in the event that they anticipate to remain related on this enterprise in the long run.

Adopt A Social Mentality With All Your Video Marketing

It’s very straightforward to get caught up within the technological advances round on-line video, particularly regarding social media advertising and marketing. This makes it particularly vital to develop a correct mindset round what your particular social video advertising and marketing technique wants to contemplate in your individual enterprise. Here are some issues to bear in mind.

1.  It’s about actual folks — Social video is extra about that includes actual folks behind your marketing campaign. and your organization sharing actual tales, than employed celebrities giving paid endorsements or commercials with no actual private attachment to the model.

2.  It’s about service — Social video shouldn’t really feel like an advert, regardless of how entertaining and well-produced it could be. An advert by its very nature is meant at the beginning to promote one thing. Social video, then again, is initially about constructing relationships, in order that something that does get bought appears like one thing pure to the client, with no feeling of stress.

3.  It’s about dialogue — Social video is just not about speaking at folks; it’s about speaking with folks. You use it to interact together with your viewers on a direct, equal stage with the company barrier eliminated — or at the very least minimized.

4.  It’s about conversations — Social video ought to contain you paying consideration, and responding, to folks participating together with your video. It ought to function a conduit for exhibiting you’re listening to your prospects, you’re listening to what they’re saying, and that you simply’re responding in a manner that helps them out.

5.  It’s about high quality of engagement — Social video isn’t concerning the variety of views you get. It’s concerning the high quality and enthusiasm of the suggestions you get.

6.  It’s about participation — Social video isn’t nearly “seeding” attention-grabbing content material. It’s about taking part with others in their very own content material and conversations.

7.  It’s about group — Social requires ongoing engagement with shoppers and colleagues, the place self-interest takes a backseat to group curiosity. A mindset of everyone benefitting outcomes, as a result of everybody in the neighborhood is extra apt to share.

Adapting To The New Social Video Landscape

Search entrepreneurs must adapt to the social media panorama if they’re to remain related with audiences and in enterprise. This means optimizing for folks first, and search engine algorithms second. Audiences are spending extra time participating with video content material and communities revolving round them, throughout many social media channels. That is precisely why SEM professionals can no lengthy wait. They want to begin studying methods to put collectively attention-grabbing movies — or collaborate with video professionals who know the way and have had success doing so. The movies want to really assist folks out and make them wish to share them with their friends, and construct conversations round these movies. Then and solely then, can one evolve from a search-only marketer right into a search-and-social-video marketer.

Social video advertising and marketing is what’s going to make search entrepreneurs spend much less time obsessing over Google’s newest search engine algorithm, and extra time on one thing way more personally rewarding — optimizing themselves and their companies.