Statistically, the presence of video on a social media platform is a big part in creating a world class brand. Online video is growing by leaps and bounds in popularity each day. Each day more people are searching the Web looking for video content. This creates a great opportunity for marketers as they try to create world class brands. New audiences exist looking for online content. Supply high quality video creates the opportunity for the development of world class brands. Many people spend as much time watching online video as they do reading online content. Creating a video is an important thing because material that is placed on a social platform has to be visual and it has to grab your audience’s attention. I think that the best social media campaigns that I have seen have been The Fiesta Movement (the Ford Fiesta), The Obama Campaign of 2008, and Rihanna’s Facebook Page. In each video was a prominent part of the posting strategy.
Video involves an entire strategy. If you do it, it has to be done well. In social media a brand has to play to their strengths. If you post things, it has to look good, it has to resonate with your audience. One of the most important items that the Obama campaign did was to have a video from a man who explained why the candidacy was so important to him. He said that before Barack ran, he could not honestly tell his daughter that she could be anything that she wanted to be. With Barack’s candidacy now he could say something like that.
A Page is created to create brand with your customers. The best way to create brand is have friends recommend the brand to other friends. One of the strongest means of recommendation is through a video. The video has to have high quality and done well to have the impact that a marketer wants in creating brand awareness. A marketer has to make a decision in their video strategy. Does the marketer make the video, or does the individual customer or supporter. Friends like to receive things from their friends, but if the video is poor, this is not good for the brand’s reputation. Personalized video were an important part of the Ford Fiesta Campaign, and the Obama campaign. Rihanna does both. On her page, she has videos from her concerts taken by individual fans that are not high quality. In social media branding, a marketer wants the customer to take possession of the brand. This creates brand. On the other hand, you want your page to have a high quality to it. Rihanna has other video that is professionally done to offset the poor videos.
The beauty of online video is that it is an important tool in creating a modern brand and yet it is simple, nowadays, to create a high quality video. As author Susan Guelius tells us, the process of creating videos for the social platforms has become less overwhelming thanks to technological advancements.
Preinstalled computer tools which are basic to any new modern computer can create great videos. Mac users can create videos with the microphone, camera, and software that come preinstalled. PC users can purchase an inexpensive webcam and digital microphone or a Flip Video camera for under $150 and start creating videos the same day. What was once an intimidating and expensive process is now so easy a child can do it—and if you search YouTube for video content, you can find many videos created and uploaded by kids.
Marketers can upload and share their video content through video sites such as YouTube, TubeMogul, and others. This content is immediately available to wide audiences which make immediate brand creation a real possibility. This is why the Ford Fiesta and Barack Obama became strong brands very quickly. Video also provides a new way to connect with your existing and potential audience in a way that written text cannot because video is an innately interactive medium.
Creating video on a social media platform is a ground floor opportunity for a modern marketer to create strong long-term brands. Online video is still in its growth stage. By creating brands now, with this medium, a marketer can create long-term customer loyalty, for new brands. This is a great medium, but the right person has to do it. A poor video can have a negative effect on a brand.
Dean Hambleton