Right now Social Media feels more like the Wild West — no solid rules and everyone is out for himself. Some are afraid to embrace this new generation of marketing, satisfied with the status quo of marketing and sales. However, there’s no ignoring the power of Social Media and Web 2.0. Someone shared this blog post with me a few days ago and the statistics are pretty amazing. The article is titled “20 Reasons Why You Can’t Ignore Social Media.” I want to share the number one reason with you, “394 million people watch video clips online.”
Let that one sink in for a moment. That’s a lot of people watching video, and those are people that you could be reaching with an online video campaign. And the wonderful thing about Social Media is that you can track who watches your videos and learn a lot more about them than traditional TV advertising. And if you can get them talking about your video, then the audience grows exponentially and you can turn that audience into buyers.
Consider the case of the “Will It Blend” video series where the owner of a blender company demonstrates the power of his product by shoving all kinds of objects into the blender. On this 9-minute video, one member of the marketing team discusses the genesis of this campaign and its impact on blender sales. It’s obvious that online video worked for them, and it can work for any business if they’re open to the new frontier of Social Media.
Great post! I see so much value in tying online video and social media to traditional marketing and public relations. Thanks for sharing.