According to a new study from Levels Beyond, 61% of people are more likely to watch company videos that friends have shared, 45% are more likely to share branded videos and 38% think a brand’s video is worth watching when it’s trending on social sites.
And yet, 75% of brands rarely or never produce videos for social media followers.
Okay, obviously there’s a problem here. It’s a fact: people are constantly sharing branded video content across social media sites. Unruly reports that its Viral Video Chart is now tracking 500,000 shares of branded content every 24 hours. So why have a majority of brands failed to embrace social video?
A. Video marketing is not a priority for their business
75% of marketers claim producing and delivering video for consumers is not a top priority
B. Marketers don’t think consumers want branded video content
53% of marketers don’t think consumers want to see videos from their company
C. Marketing budgets do not allow for it
49% of marketers fail to dedicate enough of their budget to video and 47% don’t plan to increase their video production this year
Brands and marketers should allocate advertising dollars to online video while also making it a high-priority marketing channel. Why? Because consumers are demanding branded video content. Take a look.
Okay, so people want companies to provide them with online video content, but why should you focus on social video in particular? Well, it’s one of the most shareable forms of video—and when people share, the results are more impressive than you think.
According to Nielsen’s 2012 Global Trust in Advertising Survey, 92% of global consumers say they trust earned media, such as word-of-mouth and recommendations from friends and family, above all other forms of advertising.
When consumers share your content across their social networks, they’re not only building trust in your brand, but they’re also affecting purchase decisions. Research from McKinsey found that peer recommendations are 50X more likely to trigger a purchase than a passive ad.
Once you’ve decided to incorporate social video into your marketing mix, you’ll need to determine the type of content you want to create. Here’s what consumers want to watch:
Along with these three categories, brands are also using social video for announcements and to build up hype around events, new product launches, etc. We’ll take a look at these five types of content and present relevant branded examples to help you form the foundation of your social video marketing strategy.
1. Tutorials
As displayed in the image above, 67% of consumers want to watch how-to, instructional and tutorial videos from brands. Give viewers a clear takeaway!
2. Entertain
When it comes to branded online videos, viewers crave entertainment, especially if it’s humorous. The Levels Beyond survey found that 42% of consumers want to watch comedy/spoof videos. Humorous videos are also the most shared videos. According to Animoto, 94% of people share this type of content.
3. Educate
Present viewers with a new idea they can experiment with at home. It’s all about creating a value exchange with your social video efforts.
4. Announcements
Short, sweet and to the point, social video will allow your exciting announcements to reach larger audiences quickly.
5. Build Hype
What better way to build hype than with short video teasers? Keep viewers excited about product launches and events, and they’ll come back for more.
There is no longer any excuse for why you’re not investing in social video. Brands that fail to meet consumers’ video demands are missing out on viewership, engagement and ultimately sales. Any company, no matter the size, has the opportunity to engage content-hungry consumers across social media sites. In order to maximize valuable social sharing and peer-to-peer recommendations, start providing socially active consumers with video content.