• by Daisy Whitney , Op-Ed Contributor, November 15, 2011

Online video, branding and social media have become inextricably linked. Facebook and Twitter are among the first places online video viewers hear about a new video, and traffic referred to videos from those sources is often the most engaged of a brand’s video viewers. Online video technology provider Brightcove recently released a report analyzing trends in the first two quarters of 2011, underscoring just how vital social media is for discovery and interest in a video whether from a broadcaster, a news source or a brand.

At first blush, this finding should not be surprising. On social channels, we often hear about videos from friends or colleagues whose opinion we trust, making us more likely to both tune in and to finish watching. We also may follow brands in those venues, and therefore will be more interested and keen on the videos that are shared by a brand. That’s why Facebook and Twitter powered the longest viewing times in the first half of the year for most videos. Facebook took the lead in all categories of video except broadcast video in terms of driving viewing time among discovery sources for video. Brands also saw a higher engagement level on Facebook compared to other sources. By and large, Facebook users watched more video regardless of whether the video came from a broadcaster, magazine, brand, newspaper or online media than consumers who found video through Google, Yahoo, Bing or Twitter.

The upshot is that video clearly powers engagement for a brand. As such, marketers should take advantage of the feedback loop that exists between social channels and video. Brands need to make sure video is feeding social media and social media is feeding video. Make sure your two channels are tightly connected and serving each other, with each one bolstering the other.