3 Tips For Better Social Music Video Marketing

An ongoing series of posts at REELSEO explains how to move beyond an obsession with clicks and impressions to focus on building relationships between one's brand (or band) and video viewers. Given the hype surrounding music video impressions, numbers that don't indicate real views and are often gamed, the series is definitely worth reading with an eye towards Social Music Video Marketing.

REELSEO Editor-in-Chief Jeremy Scott is partway through a 10 post series titled "The Social Video Blueprint." He begins with an explanation of Branded Social Video Marketing which emphasizes that a video going viral is a great outcome but that:

"Social video seeks more than views, it seeks shares. It seeks interaction and discussion. Most of all, social video seeks a long-term relationship with consumers over a short-term sale."

Though music videos can certainly serve to promote a single, album or related tour, they have an extended life beyond such sales campaigns and should also be considered tools for long-term relationship building.

With that in mind, here are 3 top tips for Social Music Video Marketing:

(1) Create content that entertains rather than content that promotes.

(2) Focus on viewers choosing to watch your video rather than boosting numbers through autoplays.

(3) Use shares rather than clicks to judge success.

The iamamiwhoami project is an example of social music video marketing that emphasizes engagement and shares over pushing a product. And whatever you may think of Greyson Chance Singing Paparazzi, it struck me as a great video introducing a young musician that went viral because it engaged viewers. It stands in sharp contrast to subsequent videos like Unfriend You that present a slick appropriation of youth culture and social media to promote Greyson Chance as a product.

Scott goes on to offer case studies and social video strategies with more to come. But if you've made the historical shift from "promo videos" to music videos as a part of your art, you're already on target!

Hypebot contributor Clyde Smith is a freelance writer and blogger. He is currently relaunching Flux Research to pursue his long-standing obsession with web business models. To suggest music services and related topics for review at Hypebot, please contact: clyde(at)fluxresearch(dot)com.