Feed Company has released the results of a new study that shows brand advertisers and their advertising agencies are continuing to add “social video marketing” to their list of service offerings. The report also details what Feed Company is calling “best practices”. Feed Company is a video view optimization firm.

Feed Company defines social video as “video content that is viral in nature and embraced and shared by users within social video networks such as YouTube and MySpace Video.”

According to the report, interest in social video marketing seems to be building among advertisers following the success of high-profile, video-driven campaigns such as Volkswagen “Un-Pimp My Ride” and Dove “Evolution.”

In the report, Feed Company includes best practices for advertisers considering social video marketing, which specifically includes these points:

- Choose what should be viral carefully.
- Strive for integration across media and budget for it.
- Have your video content and campaign creative be consistent with each other.
- Commit to being a part of the social conversation.
- Establish your metrics upfront.

Feed Company says that a social video campaign is different than a traditional media buy:

“Social video is not bought. It’s not pre-roll. It’s not a banner. It’s video content that’s distributed by a service to social video networks where users of the networks pass the content on to others. This creates the potential for exponential exposure of your brand message, delivering more ROI for your integrated media campaign.”

Video sharing websites are growing exponentially:
- Overall unique visitors for the month of December 2005 on top 20 video share sites: 23,468,000
- Overall unique visitors for the month of December 2006 on top 20 video share sites: 58,000,000

And since these video sharing websites are growing, there are five main reasons why a brand campaign should include social video:
1. It’s a large audience.
2. It’s growing.
3. It’s a two-way conversation.
4. It’s immediate.
5. It’s where your consumers are.

As a marketer, it’s very important to understand the audience of these video sharing websites. The users are very savvy to corporate marketing. They would rather be a part of the campaign then be marketed to. They also have quick attention spans but will embrace thematic content and compelling storylines.

What are the consequences? Advertisers are now including social video in their interactive thinking and planning. ROI on social video is high compared to other media. Social video is one of the important drivers for the next major growth in brand advertising.

The complete report, titled “Social Video 101: A Primer,” is available here.

Feed Company (www.feedcompany.com) is a video view optimization company based in Los Angeles, CA that helps advertisers and entertainment companies get their video exposed on popular blogs, social video networks, and P2P services. Feed Company is leading the field of optimizing views of video content for major brands on emerging social video networks through innovative tools and marketing practices. Feed Company has executed social video campaigns for major brands and their advertising agencies including General Motors, Warner Bros. Records, and the Democratic National Committee.