Although I have only been working in Cisco Social Media for several months, I have discovered much about its impact and the strategies for leveraging it at both the corporate and personal level.

With the growing popularity of video services such as YouTube, Vine, and Instagram, it was only a matter of time before video content became a standard for all social media channels. Users want content delivered to them in the easiest, most effective manner that maximizes their time and capitalizes upon their interests. A video is often a great way to do this, but how it should be implemented is pivotal to it being successful in garnering attention.

Fortunately there are numerous mediums available today that allow for delivering video content specific to your needs, and the needs of your audience. But before choosing which of these to use, the user must consider the attention span of their audience, who their audience is, and what the learning goals are (if any). Vine, Instagram, and YouTube, are three different video hosting sites that integrate with all forms of social media, and all have different uses, advantages, and disadvantages.

                                                       

Vine:Owned by Twitter, these 6 Second looping clips can be informative, funny, or creative. Vine videos are great for delivering content in the quickest possible manner. Due to their short durations, viewers are much more likely to click through and watch a vine video than a full blown YouTube video. In deciding to use a Vine video, the user must decide if it delivers the message they need in such a short time frame, or if they should upload using a longer video service. Below is a Vine taken at the Cisco Live (#clus) event, awaiting the press announcement. 

Click image to watch a video from Cisco's Vine channel.

Instagram:A popular photo sharing service owned by Facebook, Instagram recently added a video capturing feature as of June 20, allowing users to take up to 15 seconds of film. Users can then easily implement creative filters to change the color hues of the video, allowing for a unique artistic effect. Instagram is great for quickly creating content and adding visual editing capabilities.  An important thing to consider in your use of Instagram is that it does not embed on Twitter, only displays a link due to their third-party policies.

Click image to watch a video from Cisco's Instagram channel.YouTube:The most popular video sharing service. YouTube has over 1 billion monthly users. Videos can be any length, embedded on most sites without issue, and edited with in-house features. YouTube is ideal for posting videos greater than 15 seconds. Some users tend to overlook embedded YouTube videos however, as the website is known for being saturated with content (72 hours every hour), as well as the inclusion of ads in many videos. If using a YouTube video, make sure it is relevant to your topic and engaging enough to make viewers willing to risk going through ads to watch your video.

A great example of a video perfect for YouTube can be viewed below, where Cisco's Chief Futurist Dave Evans discusses the future of technology, and the Internet of Everything #IOE.   

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zCNNTtaVVLE

All three of these services have a function to share directly to popular social media websites such as Twitter and Facebook. Keeping the functionality of these apps, their timeliness, and your audience in mind, you are well on your way to successfully integrating a video that demands attention across social media platforms.