You’ve
made your video and it’s finally up — but now you need the votes.
Getting
them may not be as hard as you think. The key is using existing social networks
and encouraging others to pass your video along. It’s called viral marketing and
companies are increasing using it for all types of promotions. You can use the
same concepts to help you win video contests — and get a crash course in online
marketing at the same time.
Adrianna Bayer, the first Why
I Deserve a Scholarship video contest winner said the key to her success
was getting over her shyness and spreading the word about her video in every way
she could. Bayer, a grad student at Humboldt State University,
came from behind in a matter of weeks to win the contest.
"I
asked my family and friends from all over the country to vote and to tell
everyone they know… some distributed messages to hundreds of their
coworkers," Bayer said. "I posted bulletins on MySpace, journals, my online book clubs and
I got on two radio stations."
What’s
most important is making sure as many people view your video as possible — and
distributing it via several mediums. Here are a few tips you can use to make
sure your video gets the most exposure.
- Embed the video on your existing social networking pages like Myspace, Facebook or Friendster. Most video hosting sites and contests
will provide you with an embed code that will easily allow you to post your
video on other sites and link back to the original posting.
- Once the video is
embedded, post bulletins, send messages and write emails to friends and family encouraging them to check out your video and vote. Tell them to forward the messages
on to others in their social and professional networks. Remember to clearly
explain where to go and how to cast a vote. If voters can cast ballots
frequently, send out reminder emails encouraging them to continue to vote for
you regularly.
- Post your video to other
video hosting sites where strangers can view your video by searching for
related topics. For example, post your video to Youtube, make the video
accessible to everyone and explain how to vote.
- Use local media
outlets to get the word out like calling your local radio station or
newspaper and getting them to feature you.
- Use social
bookmarking sites like del.icio.us, digg and StumbleUpon to link web
surfers back to your video. Social bookmarking allows users to save links to
webpages to share with groups or the public. For example, if your local paper
runs an article about you, bookmark that page with a link to the article and your
video entry. Other members searching the site will come across it and be led
back to your video to vote.
- Use traditional
methods such as your church, school list serves, bulletins boards,
professional groups and anything else you can think of.
- Cast a wide net by
distributing your video through as many sources as possible, getting friends
and family to use their networks to promote your video and encouraging voters
to participate in voting as often as possible.
The key to a winning a video contest is encouraging people
to circulate your video voluntarily. Following these steps will help you get
started— having a great video will keep the ball rolling. Find out how to create a professional quality video here and brainstorm for awesome ideas.
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