Social Media Marketing: Video Examples Of Corporate Uses And Applications

If you want to get some ideas and inspiration about how you could use online video to significantly increase your company social media marketing impact, look no further. I have collected here for you the very best video marketing examples of some popular corporate brands.

Photo credit: Elizabeth Engle

Video marketing on the web is positively one of the most effective ways in which companies of all sizes are taking up the social Web as their preferred marketing channel.

Though, there is not an official set of categories for videos used as social media marketing vehicles, I have divided the set of video examples I have selected here for you, in three different categories that differentiate the video format and typology of use:

a) Video Tutorials: Tutorials explain in a short video what your company / service / tool is about, and how it works. There is nothing like a short, immediate video to communicate effectively with your customers.

b) Viral Videos: Maybe these should be labeled, "wanna-be viral videos", as there is no way to tell if a video is going to get "viral" before having published it. These are generally funny, spectacular or ironic videos that rapidly gain a huge popularity on the Internet by the sheer power of word of mouth and linking from other sites.

c) Commercials: These are the classical video ads, sometimes with a sprinkle of new ideas and designed to have a long shelf life on both traditional TV and the Web.

d) YouTube Channels: These are video company channels to collect all their TV commercials and any user-generated videos or feedback from passionate customers.

Media analyst and social media marketing expert Peter Kim has grouped on his own web site a terrific collection of social media marketing examples, providing a list of companies that use social media marketing to sell their products and services on the Web.

Among the many cool examples available in Peter Kim's huge list, I have personally selected the very best online video examples that have been recently used by commercial companies.

Social Media Marketing: Best Online Videos

(Hand-picked and extracted from Peter Kim's Social Media Marketing Examples)

Video Tutorial: Alltop Online Magazine

Alltop is a web magazine that aggregates RSS feeds on different topics and and allows its users to check them in an easy-to-use interface without registration or subscriptions of any kind. In this short video tutorial the company explains how Alltop works, and which topics you can find inside the web magazine. Very simple and straightforward.

 

Video Commercial: Big Rock Beer Ad Contest

Every year, Canadian beer Big Rock
launches a contest where its consumers compete to create commercials promoting Big Rock beer. The video above is the 3rd place winner in this year "Television Commercial" category, showcasing an Indiana Jones-inspired cartoon.

 

Viral Videos: Coca-Cola "Can's Professional"

Have you ever tried to toss a Coca-Cola inside a trash can? The "Coca- Cola Can Professional" guys sure had. The Coca-Cola Company shot a series of three videos where 5 young guys toss a can of coke into trash in any way. Why is it so clever? Because it is user-generated, and of course because before tossing a can, you have to buy one.

 

Video Commercial: Dove Evolution

In this video commercial, beauty company Dove promotes its Real Beauty Campaign. The strategy is to record a video of the girl next door while preparing to star in a printed ad. The make-up, the hair-styling, and all the photo retouching procedures which completely change the girl's appearance, are filmed in fast-motion to let the viewers immediately glance the before / after differences. The message: so-called real beauty is not always so real.

 

YouTube Commercial: EA Spore and Youtube Integration

The popular video game Spore from Electronic Arts and Maxis, lets you create and evolve life, establish tribes, build civilizations, sculpt entire worlds and explore universe created by other gamers. A unique feature of Spore is to create your own character and then upload the videos of your creations to The Official Spore Channel on YouTube to let other players watch it.

 

YouTube Channel: Intuit QuickBooks Video Ad

Intuit QuickBooks is a provider of business and financial management software for small and mid-sized businesses. The company has a YouTube channel with all their TV commercials and offerings. Above an example of a QuickBooks television commercial showcasing why you have to pay greater attention on how you manage your business sales.

 

Video Commercial: Microsoft "Inspiration, Anyone?"

"Inspiration, Anyone?" belongs to a series of viral marketing videos created by Microsoft Advertising. Microsoft shot these videos to promote the launch of an online marketing community aimed at bringing together marketers and advertisers. The goal of the community is to overcome the difficulties of creating marketing campaigns that consumers feel distant and annoying.

 

Video Sharing: National Geographic Everyday Explorers

Everyday Explorers is a section of National Geographic Online web site that contains user-generated videos. After you register to the site, you can upload and share your videos showcasing how you see the World around you. You can then share your videos with other users, leave comments, and rate the videos you like most.

 

Viral Videos: Girlfriend on Nintendo Wii Fit

Don't be fooled by the amateur rendering of this video: Nintendo hired Tinsley Advertising agency to promote the Nintendo Wii Fit, a work-out accessory for their popular Wii video game console. The great idea is that you never see a Wii or a Wii Fit in the video, but just a girl using it and his supposed boyfriend enjoying the scene. Simple and effective.

 

YouTube Channel: Quicken Loans User-generated Video Commercial

Instead of creating a classic advertising campaign to highlight the benefit of their mortgage company, Quicken Loans has chosen to let its clients tell the whole story. The company has a YouTube channel where satisfied families can upload their videos telling their own experience. Isn't reality the better form of advertisement?

 

YouTube Channel: UK Government - Number 10

The UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown has a YouTube channel where UK citizens can upload a video with questions for the Prime Minister. Gordon Brown in person will then provide a public video answer that all the YouTube community can watch.

If you enjoyed this collection of videos based on Peter Kim's list of social media marketing examples, I suggest you also check out this other article on MasterNewMedia: "Social Media Marketing: Widget Examples Of Corporate Uses And Applications", where I personally hand-picked the best widget applications among those selected by Peter Kim.

This resource list has been put together by Daniele Bazzano of MasterNewMedia - Original resource list of social media marketing examples prepared by Peter Kim for Being Peter Kim and published on November 23rd 2008 as "A List of Social Media Marketing Examples".

About the author

Peter Kim is a former analyst at Forrester Research and international marketing manager at Puma AG. A well-known personality in the fields of social media and marketing, Peter Kim currently working to build a start-up to help clients formulate social computing strategies.