Have you shared or “liked”
a video on a social media site recently? Chances are you have. Across the
world, people are spending more time on social media sites to catch up with
friends, read news, play games and follow topics that interest them. In fact,
social media now accounts for a whopping 22.5 percent of all time people spend
online!
As an online business owner or marketer, you can leverage
the growing popularity of social media by using it as a vehicle to share online
videos and drive traffic to your website. Videos can be shared readily on all
major social media networks, including Facebook, Twitter and Google+.
Why You Need to be
Utilizing Social Media Video Sharing
Simply put, social media sharing is easy, free(!) and
effective. One of the factors that make social media such an effective
marketing medium is that it relies heavily on friends’ referrals – and people
tend to trust their friends. Therefore, a video you share, “like” or comment on
will have a greater chance of being viewed by your friends or followers, as
well. Why? Because they like you, they trust your opinions and probably share
many of your interests.
Another benefit of sharing videos on social media sites is
that they stay online forever. This means that in weeks, months or even years
from now, that same video can be generating views and directing visitors to
your website.
Here’s what you need to know about sharing on the various
social media sites:
- Facebook:
This popular network allows users to embed and watch videos directly on
their Facebook news feeds. Because videos can be watched directly in Facebook,
users are more apt to watch videos – and watch them in their entirety. In
addition, all it takes is a simple comment or “like” to make your video visible
to even more Facebook users and increase its virality.
- Twitter:
Although videos can’t be embedded directly into Twitter, users are accustomed
to clicking outside links to access articles, videos and other content. Because
Twitter limits the number of characters you can use to construct your Tweets,
it’s wise to use a URL shortener instead of the full video URL. This will give
you more space to sell your video and entice users to click your link. Once
your tweet is live, it can generate a global reach in no time – retweets by
followers will catapult the video around the world, generating views quickly
and effectively.
- Google+:
On Google+, you can share video URLs or embed videos directly to your account –
just as you would on Facebook. Once posted, your video will be shared with
those circles you’ve selected. From there it can be re-shared over and over
again.
If you’re considering using promotional videos to generate
interest in your brand, there are some important tips to keep in mind. First,
spend time working with professional video developers to ensure your video is
engaging, effective and worth watching. The better your video is, the more
views it will garner. Secondly, don’t forget the importance of giving your
video a powerful title. Not only will this help grab the attention of viewers,
it will help improve
its search engine ranking.
Solly Labs
www.sollylabs.com
Channels
http://vimeo.com/channels/sollylabs
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http://youtube.com/sollylabs
