VMIX' CEO takes a look at what makes a video campaign click with users.

Getting involved in online video is about a lot more than just uploading content to one of the myriad of internet video sites. One online video site alone sees more than 65,000 new video uploads per day, and it's difficult to stand out in the crowd, particularly if you're trying to build and promote a brand. Today, having an online presence, means making online video part of the mix, but just being there isn't enough.

More people than ever are watching online video today, and not just Generation X and Y'ers. A recent eMarketer survey suggests that internet video viewing is not confined as much by age as previously thought. Moreover, another eMarketer survey shows that roughly 37 percent of marketers questioned suggest that viral campaigns (such as those involving web video) are highly successful promotional tactics and generate great results. Online video must address the needs of a broader audience, and what better way to do so than to pursue more appealing methods of video production and distribution.

Beyond great content
Great content alone doesn't cut it. Marketers need to put their online video content to work across a number of different channels. With promotional campaigns, high-quality destination sites and custom channel branding, marketers can increase user interaction and participation while communicating their message to a wider and more engaged audience than ever before.

The real challenge of online video is about what (as in what makes good video content, if you don't have good content then you're toast anyways) and it's about where: figuring out how and where to use online video, while still maintaining the integrity of brand. If done right, there are a variety of ways for companies to distribute and display online video to grab an audience and retain their attention.

The "new" video
User-generated content (UGC) is certainly a new thing, or one of the new things that companies are eager to figure out how to harness its potential and navigate its murky waters. Today's disruptors are interacting directly with customers by encouraging them to submit content through promotional vehicles that embrace community and creativity. Television and media companies today are faced with an unprecedented chance to embrace niche social networks and take advantage of vibrant online communities through branded custom channels, cross-platform campaigns and creative out-of-the-box thinking.

But UGC is just a piece of the puzzle. The real trick is finding a healthy mix of "real" content and user-generated content, and providing avenues to showcase both. For example, more and more companies, from traditional media companies with lots of video assets, to the world's largest consumer goods companies are setting up custom online channels to provide consumers with a place to interact with both homegrown and commercial content.

Many of these companies are turning to third-party video sharing sites to showcase branded, interactive landing pages and custom channels that allow for sponsor site links, targeted banner ads, all the while encouraging online traffic and viewer retention through contest features like video entry submission and user reviews of the submitted videos. By encouraging users to get involved in the media as active content creators, companies can spread their message by speaking with the consumer, as opposed to talking at them.

JVC goes viral
Promotional campaigns involving online video are a new and promising marketing option that can result in national print and web publicity, viral distribution and new viewers and customers. Moreover, they can provide invaluable insight into an online marketing campaign by garnering analytics and statistics about a company's channel, contest or particular landing page, including demographics and activity.

A great example of a recent successful promotional contest is the collaboration JVC developed with VMIX. VMIX provided a platform and a JVC custom channel for the "Create Our Commercial Contest," which asked individuals to submit self-produced ads that they filmed with their new JVC Everio camera to the VMIX JVC channel.

The online video contest produced more than 80 quality entries for JVC, garnered national print and web publicity for JVC and the winner, and ultimately provided a major grassroots marketing campaign for JVC, targeting lifestyle, college, retail and events. The winner of the online promotional contest received $2,500 and saw his commercial aired on Spike TV.

Creative campaigns can build a user community that lasts in more ways than one. VMIX also recently worked with the Documentary Channel to garner submissions of user-created documentaries, one of which will be aired during primetime. Thus, there is no lack in the creative potential of online marketing campaigns that incorporate customer interaction, online video, broadcast television and the building of a trustworthy consumer/company relationship.

We believe that video campaigns such as these are the next phase of marketing. If marketers begin to embrace these sorts of online marketing opportunities, they can take advantage of the growing wave and influence of social media.

Giving companies and their customers a place to connect online is a win-win: the company wins because they increase its customer base, brand interest and visibility; and the creative consumer is ultimately rewarded by gaining exposure for his/her work.

Greg Kostello is CEO of VMIX Media. Read full bio.