Remember the days when advertisements used to be shown on billboards and black-and-white television screens? When coupons were as popular as using cash to pay for groceries, and men and women came knocking on your door, selling you a new refrigerator or air conditioner? No?
I don’t either. That’s because it’s long gone.
Advertising has undergone a revolution. And there’s no turning back.
Welcome to the social video – the fastest, freest way for companies to catch, and target, the largest growing body of clientele. It’s all online, and it’s the new wave of advertising. Users don’t have to move from their computer screens, and you can catch their attention faster than any newspaper or magazine: you just need to create a video. More importantly, you need to figure out how to keep it.
Online media has won the battle against old-fashioned advertising.
It all comes down to one small factor: the ability to retain attention spans. Very rarely do customers choose a paper advertisement over a Twitter post nowadays. This is not news for marketing and media companies who are finding creative ways to hook their audiences’ attention. But it is creating a new challenge for businesses: how to keep audiences entertained, interested and up-to-date with their companies’ latest products when attention spans continue to dwindle in the wake of social media.
Advertising online via videos is simple, creative, interesting, and most importantly for customers, free and easy to use. Sites like Youtube, Vimeo, Google Hangouts, Vine and Instagram are some of the most popular amongst new age audiences looking for quick entertainment. But every site comes with different user conditions and a unique language to learn if you want to get a leg up against your competition.
Here’s everything you need to know to “get ahead” on your social video game:
This is a guest post by Ivan Serrano. Ivan is a social media and business journalist living comfortably in the Bay Area of California. For more information about Ivan you can follow him on Twitter @ivanserrano55