• by Laurie Sullivan , Staff Writer @lauriesullivan, September 13, 2013

Think of short-form social videos produced in platforms like Instagram and Vine as content marketing.

For search marketers, these short-form social snippets range from informative, quirky, or amusing tabletop productions to repurposed, high-quality content, according to Forrester Research Analysts James McDavid, Luca S. Paderni, and Emily Kwan.

In the Forrester report "Delivering Brand Engagement With Short-Form Social Videos," the analysts explain the role these platforms play in a brand's marketing plan and how marketers need to rethink native and brand-focused content strategies to succeed.

The idea is centered around the increasing amount of time that consumers spend watching video on mobile devices. Each week, 14% of U.S. online adults with mobile phones use their devices to stream and watch video content. More specifically, for consumers between the ages of 18 and 24, this number rises to 31%. In Europe, 26% of online adults with mobile phones use their devices to stream video content each month, while for the 18 to 24 age group, that number jumps to 45%.

The Forrester report suggests using the passion of potential and existing consumers to create content. It points to a campaign by Honda that taps Vine to respond directly to consumers as part of its #HondaLove and #WantNewCar campaigns. Honda saw 32 million impressions and 11,000 mentions on hashtags associated with the campaign, resulting in 4,000 new followers on its social accounts.

While Instagram and Vine create benefits, it's important for search marketers to understand the platforms' limitations. Marketers need to redefine what high-quality content looks like, begin integrating the clips with search engine marketing campaigns, and create clear objectives.

Even with all the hoopla social media creates, some CMOs are not sold on the concept. While CMOs continue to allocate more resources to social media, many don't see concrete return on investments, according to The CMO Survey from Duke University's Fuqua School of Business. In fact, only 15% of the 410 CMOs surveyed by Professor Christine Moorman have proven the quantitative impact on their social media marketing expenditures.

Another 36% responded they have a sense of the qualitative but not the quantitative impact. Some 49% of CMOs have not been able to show that their company's social media activities have made a difference. Despite this, marketers are expected to increase social media budgets from 6.6% to 15.8% during the next five years.