Marketers know their target audiences use up-and-coming social networks like Instagram, Vine and Snapchat. (If any of that is news, read more about the rise of Instagram video and its battle with Vine.) Membership counts are still climbing, which means there are growing pools of untapped prospects. However, marketers may be moving forward with caution, worried their brand content won’t be welcome on the sites that primarily host to user-generated visuals. Data recently published by Unruly debunks this idea, proving there is a place for entertaining social media marketing on new platforms and that users are embracing it.
According to Unruly, brands were behind 40 percent of 1,000 videos that received the most shares on Instagram last month. While most of the companies scoring clicks and prospects have an entertainment focus, creative marketers across industries should use this as inspiration (and motivation) to determine how their core offerings can be presented through video content. Campaigns advised by social listening, revised around results and positioned to captivate viewers can elicits the same degree of interest and engagement as those already being created by sectors that are a shoe-in for video marketing success.
There were over 80 companies included in the group of Unruly’s top performers, with the Peanuts’ Snoopygram video earning the most shares (26,962 between the October 9, 2013 and September 9, 2013 reporting period).
Other brands that earned high volumes of shares include EA Sport’s FIFA 14 with 16,499 shares and HBO, which received 15,376 shares for its videos promoting the TV show, Girls. General Electric, Red Bull, Disney, Nike and BMW were also among the top 80.
Rather than displacing user-generated content on the social sharing sites, Unruly’s Phil Townend sees that brand collateral enhancing the landscape – assuming it’s just as, or more entertaining, than organic posts.
“By engaging consumers in their native environments across today’s complex and fragmented media landscape … brands can maximize the effectiveness of their content marketing strategies to drive sharing and ultimately increase their market share,” Townend added.
However, social video marketing success is not a guarantee. Brands must carefully craft videos that ring true to each platform’s genre if they’re to be accepted, embraced and shared by consumers. Marketers should note what top performing brands do best – entertain their audiences – and figure out how their products and services can be presented in highly engaging ways.
