Mediaboss Marketing

Kristina: We're hearing more and more about social video - what is social video and how can it be used by businesses and retailers?

Cyndi Knapic, Head of Animoto for Business: In the simplest terms, social video is any kind of video content shared over social channels -- Facebook, Instagram, Twitter. It's important for businesses and retailers to stand out and be aware of how and where their next customers are spending their time, and that's on social media sites watching videos.

Kristina: What are the benefits to this kind of advertising?

Cyndi: There are two primary benefits to sharing marketing content via social video. First, by focusing content sharing on social networks, you are "fishing where the fish are"--making content available on channels where your customers already spend a lot of their time. Nearly 20% of total time spent online in the US, across both desktop and mobile devices, is on social platforms-- on mobile alone, US consumers are opening social applications 17 times a day.

And second, you're interacting with your customers in the medium they prefer. In fact, 60 percent of consumers would rather watch content than read it. Videos offer richer content and a more engaging viewing experience for consumers than text or images alone.

Kristina: Looking ahead through 2017, do you believe social video will continue to grow?

Cyndi: Absolutely -- we're already seen the number of SMBs utilizing social video to engage with their customers reach new heights in 2016, and expect that trend to continue. On a recent Facebook earnings called, they reported that 1.5 million businesses uploaded at least one video to their Facebook Business page per month; this number has doubled since then, and will only continue to grow as more SMBs understand the power of video and begin to implement it into their ongoing marketing strategies.

More from Knapic and Animoto later this week, including three keys to better social video use.

Tags: Animoto, social marketing, social video, video content, viral marketing

See the article here:
Expert: Why brands need to start social video - BizReport