Amidst the hubbub surrounding social media, online video continues its ascent as force in viral marketing. The brands using video successfully now are those that have created content that either reflects the interests of the audience or has an emotional impact. It won't surprise you to learn that videos that use music, humor, and pranks are the most popular, followed closely by "how-to" demonstrations. Remember, the most successful video isn't always professionally produced; user-generated content has never been more popular, and production values have never been less important.
Think it can't work for you? Consider Approva, a continuous controls monitoring software company. It's not a very exciting company, but it made a humorous music video for the fifth anniversary of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act that sent blog traffic through the roof. Also check out the famous Greg the Architect video series, a brilliant example of B2B humor.
If you are planning how you will use video, are producing video, or have the final product already online, this article was written to help you get more value out of it. Read on for some proven methods for accelerating your viral marketing and word-of-mouth results, without breaking the bank.
Use popular online video sites to get a viral pop
The biggest online video sites, like YouTube and Dailymotion, provide great tools for distributing professional and user-generated content (UGC). These sites also optimize extremely well and will get your video into organic results on the major search engines. To maximize their value, however, you must learn how these sites operate and complete the basic steps.
First, build your own channel. Then tag your videos well. Finally, encourage viewers to send comments and feedback. If you create a really clever or funny video, YouTube and Dailymotion can potentially give you a huge lift with their "Spotlight" and "Featured Videos" sections. And of course, these websites are free to use.
Seizing the search, bettering the blog to improve organic results
Consider adding online video to your company blog on a regular basis. It's a great way to break up the monotony of text and will increase the time that users spend with your content. With each video you post, provide a full description (maybe even a transcript) and add tags to your site, making the video an important element in your SEO efforts.
Search engines like Google, Yahoo, and Bing, as well as dedicated video engines like CastTV, blinkx, and VideoSurf, have gotten really good at cataloging and delivering video for organic results, and you already know that organic results are among the most valuable marketing tools available at any cost.
Social networks help spread video to a valuable audience
If you are looking for new users, adding video to your page on Facebook or MySpace is a great place to go. Thousands of new people sign up every day and arrive at these networks to share what they like.
You can maximize this opportunity by choosing video content that is appropriate to each network; for example, use music or humor to reach teens and young adults on MySpace; share a "how-to" demonstration with members of a professional group on Facebook; or use Twitter to share a breaking news video about your company/issue. Use common sense and consider how your desired audience is using the service.
The audience that you earn from social media is valuable because they go to these services looking to connect with people they know around topics that interest them. For this reason, they come back often and stay longer than a typical website visitor. They also watch more video.
Lastly, consider sharing all your video content through a browser add-on. Platforms like Conduit allow you to syndicate everything from your website, blogs, and social media sites in one location.
Leverage content distribution channels to get new users
More than 1 billion people use the internet every day, and they are congregating on some key technologies and websites, like Google. This is where you need to be. Each of them provides free opportunities for you to distribute your videos in a shareable web gadget. Use a site like Widgetbox to create a widget with your video, give it a catchy and relevant name, and submit it for inclusion on iGoogle, Netvibes, or the Conduit Marketplace. Millions of users search these channels everyday looking for new browser tools and add-ons, and syndicating your content is simple, free, and doesn't require technical skills.
Don't forget to add a sharing component, like ShareThis or Retweet, to your video player so viewers can share it with friends with only one click. It's the easiest viral distribution method available.
Making online video a part of your marketing efforts can establish your business as a savvy operation that's truly connected to your customers.
Adam Boyden is president of Conduit.
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