In case you hadn’t noticed, we’re in the midst of a revolution. The hype surrounding newer formats such as Vine (now more popular than Instagram), Instagram video (like, totally overtaking Vine) and YouTube/Twitter blend, Keek (now boasting some 50m users) has led to an explosion in consumer-generated content. If yours is a customer-focused business that isn’t already creating videos, the chances are that your customers may be doing it for you, thanks to a historic shift in consumer behaviour led by booming smartphone ownership.

Social video is growing fast, with O2 reporting that making calls is in only fifth place among the things we spent time doing with our smartphones. Customer-created content can offer value to a business (it’s authentic, trustworthy and shareable), yet that same viral quality can also be potentially very dangerous to brands. Here are four tips for brands seeking to regain some control while tapping into the social video phenomenon:

1. Engage, don’t push

There is a time and a place for push advertising, and social media is not it – as many marketers discovered in the early days of Facebook marketing. Unfortunately, the creative potential of new video formats like Vine and Instagram are too tempting for many marketers, who are having to re-learn how to engage their fans rather than just push content at them all over again. Your customers are already busy creating videos; your job is to get them to create and share their viral videos about your brand.

2. Think authenticity over “quality”

One of the biggest barriers to many brands having a stab at user-generated video content is that the quality is going to be naff and therefore useless, or worse still, detrimental to brand values. Yet social video has evolved way beyond the shaky, grainy first attempts of video marketing on YouTube. This is largely down the proliferation of tablets and smartphones with high quality in-built cameras. But more important still is that people have gained experience on creating, editing and uploading video. Incorporating video into your content marketing plan needn’t mean high production costs or picture-perfect images – an authentic message delivered with just enough style and panache to resonate with your prospects and customers can yield excellent results.

3. Offer guidelines

The reality is that the majority of user-generated footage on Viddy or Instagram is far from Oscar-worthy. Let’s be honest; it largely sucks. Without a script or brief, most people when faced with a camera either clam up, giggle or spout meaningless drivel. But ask them a question and give them a time limit, and you’re on target for punchier, more meaningful content. Provide context when inviting users to create video, and the resulting content will be more watchable, more useful and more shareable.

4. Invite customer video reviews

It’s common knowledge that consumers prefer to hear from other consumers than from advertisers, however ‘down the people’ a brand sets out to appear online. Indeed, consumers trust user reviews three times more than professional reviews (source: Weber Shandwick, Jan 2013). Your clients and potential customers are already probably viewing and possibly even creating online reviews and testimonials, uploading short videos on their phones and uploading them to Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. Why not leverage customer-created videos by inviting them to create content about their experience with your brand. Once shared and uploaded across social media, this becomes a powerful and authentic piece of user-generated marketing collateral.

You can take this a step further by identifying your most loyal customers and influential social media followers and inviting them to showcase how they feel about your brand. A clothing brand, for instance, could invite people to upload a video showing how they adapt its clothes to their own individual style, or wear them on a night out on the town. The only limit to a loyalty programme such as this is your own or your customers’ creative boundaries, so use contests and incentives to encourage the most innovative content.

Over to you

Has your business taken any steps to encourage user-generated video content – or would you rather stick to professional testimonials?

Photo: Dave Lawler