The world of social media is a busy one. Seriously, think of the last time you hopped on Twitter and gave your feed a bit of a browse. More than likely, your feelings were mixed on what you saw. From the funny and enlightening to the overly promotional and just plain offensive, there are many competing forces out in the social sphere.
Truthfully, regardless of whether it's Facebook, Pinterest or LinkedIn, cutting through the noise to get to what consumers actually want to engage with can be a trying matter. If you're looking to do just that and are tired of pushing memes and photos of kittens, the solution to your all-too-common dilemma might very well be found in mobile video sharing.
In fact, back in 2013-truly a prophetic prediction, seeing as how quickly things become outdated with social media marketing-Ekaterina Walter, an experienced social media strategist with Intel, was quoted as saying, "2013 will be the year of visual marketing." Her reasoning? "Visuals and video done right are highly effective in cutting through the noise."
Fortunately, if Walter's counsel is to be heeded in 2015, there are already a host of mobile video tools out there to facilitate this kind of social strategy. From Meerkat and Periscope to Vine and Snapchat, mobile phones are currently streaming more video than ever before.
However, getting back to that whole crowded thing, in large part, each of the aforementioned is already home a to a host of industry-specific influencers and poorly-crafted videos. Is there really room for more? Of course there is. After all, it's social media and great content is always going to work.
Oh, if only the answer were really that simple.
It's not that great content can't perform well. Without a doubt, when promoted properly with just the right amount of audience engagement, anything is possible. But, it never hurts to be the first on the scene to build a reputation and make a splash, right?
While nobody is denying the power of YouTube or Instagram's video-sharing capabilities, there are other outlets-though substantially less popular or commonplace-worthy of not only being made mention, but actually being used to make real mobile video marketing happen. Still a bit lost? Here are three apps that deserve more credit than they're currently getting:
1) Videolicious
Marketing and advertising are important sectors for any brand looking to step into the limelight. However, at the core of social mastery is a heavy emphasis on public relations. People don't follow, like or subscribe to a company's content because they're ready to be force-fed overly advertorial subject matter; moreover, they're looking to connect with a business on a deeper, more profound level.
Essentially, what's wanted is a meaningful relationship. Videolicious is an excellent platform for building the aforementioned relationship type. As reported by Meaghan Edelstein of Social Media Examiner, "Videolicious is an extensive app with a variety of business-focused plans. You can edit videos and photos and turn them into film, use built-in video ideas and share across multiple platforms all at once."
Even more exciting, Videolicious comes with an array of instructional features to help you take advantage of the app's ability to create product reviews, news reports and even digital thank-you notes. Simply put, because of videolicious' capacity to do more, it's easier to both attract and keep video-viewing followers.
2) Magistro
Sure, Videolicious is great for the creation of viral content, but what about a hardcore community of devotees who'd be interested in actual interaction? No worries-Magistro has just what you're looking for.
With an ever-present audience on Magistro-or any one of the app's connected social channels, for that matter-"Mass Appeal" and "Ease of Use" are the names by which this video-centric channel should be known. As such, Magistro's production and publication formula can be entirely summed up in only three steps:
- Choose Videos - rarely does just one take get the job done
- Select a Theme - allows for beautiful videos to be created in a matter of seconds
- Add Music - audio stimulation adds to the innate visual appeal of video
Seeing as how many social strategists are limited in the ways of complex video production techniques, this is pure gold. It shouldn't take weeks to get a beautiful video up and running for an audience. In reality, as far as Magistro is concerned, it should only take a matter of minutes.
3) Socialcam
The real beauty of social media marketing comes from the tactic's widespread impact. The more eyes you can get on your brand's material, the better. It's this exact mentality that's helped Socialcam build and maintain an impressive level of prestige amongst the world's finest social video marketers.
Much like Videolicious, though also coming with its own committed community, videos can be uploaded and automatically shared to other social sites through SMS or even email. That being said, what separates this app from many others is the lack of length restriction. Combined with numerous editing options and filters, it's possible that Socialcam is the best mobile video app on the market.
Needless to say, video is important for any social media marketing strategy hoping to deal with the ever-changing demands of consumers. Through the video apps presented here, along with those with which you're already familiar, effective mobile video marketing can become a staple of your social strategy and not just another one of those great marketing ideas which feels painfully out of reach.
* Image Credit: Shutterstock