Using Facebook Video for Marketing

If you're logged in to Facebook, click the image to go see the video

A buddy of mine in the UK recently did something interesting with Facebook video.

He crafted a message to the thank people he had been working with and tell them how much he appreciated them.  To make sure that they knew he was giving them a shout out, he tagged them on the video.

Normally when you tag someone in a photo or video that person would have appeared in the photo or video and it would help to identify who they were to others.  But in this case it's a very clever use of a built-in tool.

Why is it so clever?

Because when you tag someone in a photo or video it shows up in that person's "news feed" and their notifications that they've been tagged.  And most people, out of curiosity, will go and check it out when they are being talked about.

The result is that the people you tag feel special because they were mentioned by someone that they know, and that they feel in exclusive company because there are only a limited number people you can tag at one time.

Even if there is no enforced limit, it would still make sense to only tag a limited number of people.  That's because you want people to feel special and feel like they are in exclusive group.

People like that.

When you build camaraderie in your team like this it makes working towards a common goal so much more efficient and effective.

And this is what is so cool about marketing using online social networks.

You can't fake it!

And frankly I really don't want to.  I have never liked the idea of trying to trick people into buying something from me or working with me.  The transparency, honesty and accountability of online social networks suits me just fine.

This change in online marketing means that your customers and clients expect you to take more time with them to build a relationship.  It's reinforcing the notion that people buy from people they trust.  So if you are marketing a product or service, or trying to build a team of like-minded professionals, your audience is going to expect you to interact with them because it is becoming so much easier to do so.

And so if you're not doing it they're going to think you're lazy and don't really care about their time or interests.