Video isn’t the future – it’s the now. More and more companies (like Instagram) are jumping on the video bandwagon to promote a new product, feature, or just themselves. So, want to get a lot of video content to your site? Creating a video contest for your company is one way to do this.
We’re all, for better or worse, attached to our smartphones. We’re constantly snapping videos and pictures to share with family and friends. You can even see a company video shot from a smartphone every once in awhile to show a behind-the-scenes glimpse. So, you want to get on this trend and showcase your product? Then make a video contest.
There are many ideas you can start with such as: Feature our product in a creative way, Describe our product in 5 words or less, Tell us the best part about our company, etc. Even inspire others to create a video on a topic of choice, such as mobile or tech. Here is a great example of a video contest hosted by the Smithsonian. The best part is that you’re hosting interaction between users and your brand, creating an experience for both!
These days with crowdsourcing sites like Zooppa, your business can also host video contests to inspire people to make a professional video for your company. The competition is between the creator’s trying to create the best video for your site.
For either style contest, It’s always nice to give users a little incentive to put a video up. Even though it’s really easy to do, sometimes we all need a little push to create that wonderful web video. Offer a coupon, offer code, etc to those who load videos, and, of course, a prize to the winner.
To get things going, have your company create the first video. An even better idea is to highlight the instructions in an explanatory video. Watch this great example from Dish4Kids:
A clever instructional video will give users an inspiring example to refer to, followed by making their own video. People can be intimidated to be the first submission, so ask friends and family to also participate in order to get the contest moving.
Hosting a promotional video contest will not only add creative video content for you site, but is also a great way to gain more coverage of your new product or simply your brand. Since we are always attached to our smartphones, companies might as well take advantage of it!
