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| Priya Shah |
Not all videos will go viral, but savvy PR pros know that video can be a great tool to generate media coverage and raise brand awareness. In the following Q&A, Priya Shah, social media manager for warranty provider SquareTrade Inc., says a well-crafted video can be a low-cost platform to create big results. Shah will elaborate on leveraging video, crafting content and more at PR News’ Digital PR Summit on Feb. 16 in San Francisco.


PR News: What are the business objectives for your video strategy at SquareTrade?


Priya Shah: Awareness, awareness and awareness. Our video campaign was built around the fact that people break things all the time. In today’s day and age our electronic gadgets are heavily integrated into our daily routine. At the same time, these gadgets are getting smaller and more fragile. The goal of our video strategy was to make people aware that things break, and getting a warranty to help reduce the cost of repair and reduce the heartache is a good investment.


So, SquareTrade set out to do drop tests, where we dropped and compared different tablets and phones to see which devices fare the best. Our videos have been viewed more than 11 million times.
PR News: What kinds of results have you seen from your video campaigns?


Shah: Our latest iPhone 4S vs. Samsung Drop Test Video got 7 million views in the first week. It brought a significant bump to our Web site traffic and also attracted great press. Our videos have been mentioned in The New York Times, Fox, NBC, TechCrunch, Gizmodo and All Things D, among many other news organizations. Our video campaigns have successfully helped us achieve our initial business goal: awareness.


PR News: What is one key tip you’ll offer attendees at the Digital PR Summit?


Shah: You can’t set out to make a viral video—there is no magic formula for creating viral videos. The most that you can do is make a video that has good content that is relevant and timely. Then you sit back and wait for the magic to unfold.


Attend PR News’ Digital PR Summit on February 16 in San Francisco and learn more from digital leaders like Priya Shah.