With 139.2 million unique users viewing an average of 4.25 hours of video online per month, the market is huge for video marketing. However, as competition ramps up, marketers are looking for new ways to get the attention of consumers. By adding this competition to your video marketing strategy through a contest, you’ll be able to engage users, which, after all, is what video marketing and social media is all about!

BENEFITS OF HOSTING A VIDEO CONTEST:

Excitement. Whether you open judging to the public or have a panel of judges who will determine the final winner, video contents easily stir excitement and get the public involved. Participants will be extremely likely to share their video entries with their family and friends, who are likely to engage the video through likes, comments, and shares, which inadvertently grows the reach of your brand.

Long-term name recognition. Because contests usually run for a period of a few weeks, you brand’s name is consistently being repeated into the minds of consumers. Furthermore, with so much crowdsourced video content for your contest, your brand’s name is being repeated over and over throughout the internet. This keeps your brand fresh in the minds of consumers, who will think of you the next time that they need a service or product in your niche.

Website growth. Whether you host the video on YouTube or your own website, the increased attention of a video contest is going to give you the opportunity to link to your website and social media pages. This increased growth will help you gain incredible exposure for your existing web presence and boost your current marketing efforts.

Regardless of all the benefits that a video contest provides, there’s still unlimited creativity that your brand can engage in for video marketing. For instance, are you going to announce the contest via a highly produced web video that explains the contest rules and procedures? Or are you going to compile the video entries into a compelling web ad for your brand? With so many creative ideas available, there are limitless opportunities to engage in fascinating marketing.

If you want to take advantage of crowdsourcing but don’t want to host a video contest, then consider implementing the video marketing strategy that GoPro implements. By encouraging customers to upload footage from what they’re doing using their equipment, GoPro has received fantastic free marketing from thousands of satisfied consumers throughout the world. Since 2012, GoPro has focused on video marketing by not only hosting a video contest of its own, but by encouraging users to consistently upload their own footage.

However you design your video contest or video marketing strategy, remember that exposure is crucial. You’ll want to blast your video content out through a wide variety of social media platforms to get the ball rolling. While we can’t guarantee you’ll be the next GoPro success story, we’re confident that by implementing these tips, your brand will benefit greatly from incorporating a contest into your video marketing strategy!