There are varying definitions and ideas on what social video is. In its simplest form it’s a piece of video content that is shared via social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter. However, this is a rather empty assumption for the marketing tool as it doesn’t depict the end result; a conversation with relevant consumers and interaction with the brand itself. Many opinions of social video is that all you need is a really entertaining video that people will share everywhere and with everyone – effectively receiving a ‘social outcome’. But it is the engagement layer of social video with real people that truly embraces its usefulness for brands.

There is a common misconception that brands sell brands; it is in actual fact people that sell brands. Statistics from Brightcove supports the sharing of videos via social media platforms; every auto-share tweet from YouTube results in roughly 6 new YouTube views and consumers who find new videos to watch via friends or influencers on social networks are more likely to view and complete watching an entire video. It’s obvious that content that gets shared is significantly more powerful than content that is just broadcast. The site, Viral Video Chart, in collaboration with Unruly Media and Contagious ranks viral videos based on the amount of times they’ve been shared, rather than simply viewed.

But while the call-to-action for a viral video is its share-ability, for social video it is the resulting brand engagement. A list of the Top 10 YouTube videos of all time listed them by the number of views, but there is no Top 10 list of videos with the most comments or greatest conversation. The Britdoc Foundation released a report into the impact of documentary films. Researchers calculated that for every person who saw “The End of the Line”, a film expose into over-fishing in our oceans, 510 people knew about it. This level of conversation, rather than simply sharing a trailer for the film, encouraged a greater influence over consumer purchasing habits and thoughts about sustainability.

There is never going to be a clear definition between social video and viral video. Both use entertaining videos to drive consumers to share across social media. But while brands can potentially lose control of a viral campaign, or even lose sight of the objective behind it, a social video provides a foundation for conversation with the brand across multiple platforms, including connected TVs. As Luke said in his Campaign article, “viral was about awareness and harnessing the social web. Video is about communicating meaningfully to consumers and making the social the ordinary, rather than the exception.” The industry must recognise that it’s not about viral campaigns, it’s about maintaining conversations.

Chris Gorell Barnes is CEO of Adjust Your Set