When you hear the word “social”, you immediately think of social media. But there’s more to being social than what you post on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter. There is a social component to video marketing as well, and it relates to the way you emotionally connect with your audience by artfully telling the story of your brand. The branding itself may be extremely subtle, so the power of the video lies in the emotional response that it creates.

Where viral videos are all about numbers, social videos are all about connections and conversations.

Why is this important? Emotional connections drive brand loyalty and motivate purchasing decisions. The combination of minimal branding with a powerful social message creates trust. And connecting your business to the types of conversations that are sparked by videos related to social issues or public good is ultimately a good reflection on your brand.

This Entrepreneur piece gives a few examples of successful social video marketing campaigns, including the Dove “Real Beauty” series that we’ve written about before. It also highlights a remarkable campaign produced by AT&T in 2013 to address the issue of texting and driving. The video “From One Second to the Next” is not an advertisement at all; it is a 35-minute short film directed by renowned filmmaker Werner Herzog, and it has absolutely no branding other than a one-second screenshot at the end that says “Presented by AT&T, Verizon, Sprint and; T-Mobile”. It has over 3 million views on YouTube and made AT&T part of an important conversation about the dangers of using products like theirs to text while driving.

You don’t have to be a big business to tie your brand to a powerful story or a timely social message. Keep this in mind when you’re trying to create a video campaign that will create an emotional connection with your audience.

3 Ways Social Video Marketing Can Propel Your Brand  |  Entrepreneur