Looking for a way to boost your small business brand in less than a minute? Use your mobile device to create a short video for social media sharing using Twitter’s Vine or the new video app from Instagram.
Marketers have jumped on the short video-sharing bandwagon as a new way to get out their brand message to customers and prospects; and it’s not surprising considering the power of video. Social Times offers these statistics from about the value of video:
- Customers that watch videos of products or services are 85 percent more likely to make a purchase.
- 68 percent of viewers share video links
- The average user’s visit to a text and image-based website lasts only 43 seconds; for a website with video, the average visit lasts 5 minutes and 50 seconds.
Whether you opt to use the six-second video loop offered by Vine or the longer 15-second clip from Instagram, you have a new way to make a lasting impression among your small business buyers about your brand. Here are some ideas for using Vine and Instagram for your brand building and marketing efforts. Once you get started, you and your small business team probably will come up with many other ideas:
Launch a product: Create a short video showcasing your new product; or if you have a service offering, highlight one of its features. You also can create demos of your current or new offerings,
Go behind the scenes: Invite customers and prospects into your small business offices or manufacturing facility and introduce some of your team. Vine and Instagram videos are a great way to show who’s behind the scenes and the creative process at work at your small business.
Create customer testimonials: Customer testimonials of your small business products or services are powerful endorsements for your offerings. Create Vine or Instagram videos showcasing a client using your product or employing your service offerings.
Announce a promotion: Use a short video to announce a new promotion or special sale and include a link to the promotional landing page on your website.
Entertain and amuse: Create a short video to tie in with a special holiday or just post something you know your followers will enjoy that ties in with your brand. Here’s a cute video from Tropicana that sends a happy Valentine’s Day Greeting: https://vine.co/v/brh6j0Lprn3
Educate: Create quick tips or how to videos related to aspects of your products or services or the market you are in. You also can answer customer questions about your offerings that commonly come up.
Run a contest: Use a short video to announce a contest – maybe a contest asking customers and prospects to create their own Vine or Instagram video about your offerings.
Get behind the camera and create a fun and interesting video and encourage your small business social media followers to share – then watch it go viral.
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It’s an honor to be among the nominees for the 2013 Small Business Influencer Awards. Voting is underway and continues until September 9. You can vote daily until then. We appreciate your vote!