The recent study, State of Social Media Marketing, conducted with more that 3300 social media marketers revealed many interesting facts.  One of the most fascinating is the finding that YouTube and Video Marketing was cited as the top area of focus for social media marketers in 2011 with 77% of marketers saying they planned on increasing their YouTube and/or video marketing this year.

At GigCoin we were intrigued by these results and wanted to hear from social media marketers who are currently using video marketing as part of their marketing strategy. We spoke about why it’s important to them, how they are  shooting and producing videos, typical lengths and what led to successful videos. Their experiences will be helpful for marketers who are looking to expand their video use.

“Videos are very important for my social media marketing. They offer another great level of depth to an otherwise saturated medium, that is rife with short URL’s and monotone pitches.” Jason Williams, Soaring Web Design

“Videos are an especially exceptional tool…Most people won’t take the time to read an article but they will take the time for a three minute video providing them with the same content.”Alexandra Guzik, One Social Media

“Video is an extremely compelling and powerful way to tell a story.” Nicholas DeGrazia, Bitter Jester Creative

“Videos play an extremely important role in distributing our messages to our demographic.  Our customers consist of deaf and hard-of-hearing individuals…Creating videos using their primary language, American Sign Language (ASL), creates more effective messaging than print campaigns.” Theresa Hong, Purple Communications

Bage Anderson, E.H. Anderson Public Relations & Cut Pro Video, says “Videos are important to our social media efforts because with increasingly short attention spans, they are an avenue to quickly and succinctly get your controlled message across to a target audience of “watchers” as opposed to those who prefer to read.  Videos are important from a search engine optimization (SEO) standpoint because Google who bought YouTube in 2006 recently announced they would put more emphasis on the videos posted on YouTube for search results.  Naming and tagging of videos are now key to having results show up under the video tab of google search results.”

How businesses shoot and produce videos
A number of the social media marketers we spoke with told us they were producing short videos at live events and using inexpensive video cameras such as flip cams (Cisco recently announced closing down its Flip business) Others were using professionals for their marketing videos. Some were taking another approach such as Shaun Fisher of Raw Talent Guitar who told me that after spending too much money using vendors for their commercials that they decided to buy their own equipment and shoot the videos themselves. “We budgeted $7,000 for equipment, including training for myself, and now produce all videos in-house. There has been a learning curve, but every new video turns out a little better than the last and we are saving a ton of money.”

Bage Anderson from E.H. Anderson Public Relations & Cut Pro Video, points out that producing videos can be done in a number of ways that “doesn’t necessarily involve shooting. Images can be taken from existing materials that use only PDFs from a marketing brochure. Other avenues are Camtasia screen captures of live action on video screen, mouse cursor moves as opposed to screenshots to capture ‘go-to-meetings’. Interviews captured over Skype can be conducted and businesses can save on travel expenses for a production crew.  Just about anyone with a web cam on their computer can produce a video blog.  As a producer, I have clients that use both my services and have produced internal employee communications through video podcasts as well.”

Zachary Sniderman describes four innovative ways to use web video for small business in his post:
1. Request user submissions—ask your fans or customers to send in videos of themselves using your product, 2. Replace content—try making a video instead of writing out your business updates 3. Teach them and they will come—think of ways to teach and give back to your customers while also using your product, 4. Make some face time with video services like Skype or even video calling on Gmail. (Apple/Mac users can now Use Apple’s FaceTime)

When asked about the typical lengths for videos many people we spoke with suggested on the average a length of 1 minute, and as short as 30 seconds or as long as 5 minutes. Unanimously, people were creating YouTube channels and many were advocating too for posting videos on Facebook, LinkedIn and corporate websites. Derrick Guest, Griot’s Roll Film Production & Services, says they also use Vimeo, Viddler, Tube-Mogul video sharing and analytic sites.

What contributes to a video’s success?
Nicholas DeGrazia, Bitter Jester Creative, told us about one of their videos. “Oddly enough, our most successful video was something goofy we did during the recent blizzard. It was our “Open for Blizzard Sale” where we shot out in the storm and then, overnight, edited the piece together. Anyone who came in during the blizzard got 20% off. We didn’t get any takers, but man–that was seriously the most watched and commented-on video we’ve ever done. The key? Have a sense of humour and find an editor who understands comic timing. Beyond that, find a good story and you’re off to the races!”

Michael Di Pippo, Pen Fishing Rods, shared the formula for one of his successful videos. “I created a viral video marketing program by asking customers to create similar videos of themselves using my products and uploading them to YouTube, as well. Before I knew it there was over 100 videos showcasing my miniature fishing rods and reels made by happy customers from all over the globe. This endeavor also gave me free advertisement for the life of my product and produced a successful viral video marketing  campaign which led to the growing success of my products throughout the world.”

What about you? Why do you like video for social media marketing, and do you plan to use more video this year than you did in 2010? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

Photo by matsukawa1971