Imagine garnering one of the best sales teams in the country, having them refer new clients to you every day without having to pay them one red cent. By incorporating the power of video in your digital strategy, you can increase your brand awareness and sales significantly. Recently, Twitter acquired a new mobile video service called Vine. Vine lets you create and share short-form videos (6 seconds or less) just like tweets (140 characters or less), the brevity of videos created on this platform allows users to get more creative with content. Here are several ways you can use Vine to increase online engagement:
Convince
Videos are more persuasive than written content. In fact, studies conducted at Harvard have shown that videos can increase behavioral changes significantly. By shooting a customer testimonial showing how they have personally benefited from your product or service may be more effective than you running a sales promotion.
Get Personal
Supporters want to know the people behind your brand. By personalizing your brand using video, you are able to build relationships with your target audience and ultimately convert more business. Create short content clips at team meetings, corporate announcements and events.
Inform
When you create video content that educates your target audience about aspects of your business, you become the face of the industry. Keep in mind, Dr. Oz may not be the best surgeon in the world, but he has established himself as a medical thought leader by engaging with his audience on video.
Compel
Do not miss the opportunity to ask your viewers to take some type of action at the end of your video. Ask that they visit your website; share the video or sign up for your newsletter. If your video is persuasive, you’ll most likely have their undivided attention so take full advantage of it!
Exhibit
To stand out from the crowd, think beyond a single video. To increase your visibility, create a series of short content videos that are published regularly. You can showcase your products individually or  ask your internal team entertaining questions. Not only will this create synergy around your content, it will also allow you to build brand identity.
S. Lynn Cooper is a Washington, DC-based digital strategist and communications expert. Cooper is the founder and director of Socially Ahead, a strategic communications agency that specializes in the creation of social and digital strategies and campaign management. Follow her on Twitter at @sociallyahead .