Social Media Marketing and Videos
We used to be a society that had to communicate person to person, whether
face to face, voice to voice, or letter to letter. Now because of the internet,
the way we communicate has evolved. We have e-mail, texting, websites,
FaceBook, Twitter, blogs, and more. This new social media is not only faster but
brings us in contact with more people than ever possible before.
Today, we can have friends, perhaps thousands of friends, that we have never
seen face to face. People are called our friends although we have never been in
the same room, or the same city, or the same state, or even the same country
with them. We can have friends who actually live around the corner or down the
street, but never met in person. But, although we have never shook their hands
or had a cup of coffee with them, we may have shared interests, discussed
likes and dislikes, wished each other happy birthday, talked about parenting,
marriage, business, sports, entertainment, art, and even politics and religion.
We share our glee and our sorrows with these “friends.” We are cheered up
and cheered on, give and take advise, and are even consoled and comforted by
these virtual friends of today’s social networks. It is a new way to communicate
for sure. And, it has become significant not just for friends, but communication
for business as well.
Social media is the umbrella term that covers the activities around web social
interaction and all its contents, videos, images and audio exposure.
Incorporating this new communication approach for business, Social media
marketing, on the Internet has become more and more key to achieving
branding and marketing goals by using social networks.
How can videos work with social media marketing? Videos are an optimal way to
reach a variety of business and marketing goals and social media is the optimal
way to get your videos seen. Videos are the perfect marketing tool because
they can be used in your office, trade shows, presentations, websites and more.
Videos incorporate a person to person feel and allow customers to see you
in your element and experience your company’s environment. Videos are an
exceptional way to showcase new products and services, educate customers
about each facet of your business, provide assurance of good customer service
and see testimonials from your customers.
Social networks are not only fast communication but mass communication. What
better way for your company to be seen by the masses than in a video. On
social communities like FaceBook, a simple discussion about hedge trimming
could lead to a share or link to your landscaping company video. An appearance
of your video by one customer can result in referrals by his friends etc. etc.
Videos are easily shared from page to page. A great way to get referrals from
people you don’t know.
It has always been said that the best advertisement is word of mouth. People
trust it more than paid ads. Social networks are the new word of mouth because
the referral does not come from the company but from a “friend.” The new
difference is each word of mouth referral on a social network site reaches many
people not just one. Videos play an important part in this most trusted word of
mouth approach because although the referral comes from a third party, videos
allow you to show your stuff.
Videos play an important part in direct social media marketing also. For example,
your company can have its own FaceBook page, Twitter account, YouTube
channel, or company blog. You can belong to a micro-community related to your
industry or a professional networking and resource community such as Linkedin.
With 750 million members a company page on the social network Facebook is
the best way to get your branding out front and connect with customers and
prospective customers. FaceBook allows multiple pages with photos, videos and
comments for instant customer feedback. Videos on your page attract attention
and encourage sharing. As your “likes” increase so will your business exposure
and website traffic.
Setting up a blog on a business website has been proven to be an important
resource people now look to for information on products and services. Blogs
generate traffic from search engines and linking to other blogs result in return
links to your blog. Videos regarding company history, product info, “how to”
tips, community projects your company is involved in, and just fun stuff will
generate links, referrals and sales.
Having a Twitter account for your business allows communication with your
customers in real time like FaceBook but on a smaller scale. Twitter’s word of
mouth is fast and far reaching. A Tweeted recommendation for your company
can have immediate benefits. A tweeted link to your video can move through
social media with lightning speed.
Videos reign on YouTube! A well crafted, appealing video production can
have an astounding impact for your brand and traffic. You can have your own
channel with multiple videos so customers can become knowledgeable about
each service you offer. If you have a law firm, there could be a video on wills
and estates, taxes, divorce, real estate, corporate law, and criminal defense.
All together on your own video channel. Video sharing with other social media
like FaceBook and blogs is too easy on YouTube. So your company video could
spread across Facebook, link to Twitter, and multiple blogs and beyond and it’s
all free.
Social media is accessible to anyone with Internet access. Social media
marketing is an inexpensive and yet far reaching and effective way to promote
and interact with thousands of people or target a small demographic. FaceBook,
YouTube, Twitter, blogs and many more all allow easy linkage from you to them
and between each other. This interaction creates a loyal connection between
product and customer. A video on YouTube can generate a Tweet on Twitter
that can also be posted as a status update on FaceBook to posts on blogs. Now
your company’s message has reached thousands of customers and prospective
customers all over the world.
This kind of promotion is priceless! If your message is going global a well
produced video can make sure it has the content, pizzazz, and look your
company wants the world to see. Your company presentation on social networks
can bring in the leads, generate referrals, and showcase your brand.
Good videos result in “Likes”, links and Tweets. “Likes” links and Tweets result
in sales.
Here's a client that wanted to do some videos for the internet to show the passion they have about what they do! To do this on TV would cost a fortune.
