Videos are quickly becoming the most effective and popular type of content for mobile marketing campaigns. Mobile users are more likely to watch and share videos than laptop or desktop users. By the last quarter of 2012, 92% of mobile video viewers were sharing videos through social media, SMS messages, email, or simply letting other people watch the video on their devices.

A study conducted by Harris Interactive in 2013 revealed that social sharing is what drives mobile video discovery. The majority of viewers search for videos using mobile video apps such as YouTube and Vimeo, or discovered videos through shared posts on social network apps like Facebook and Twitter. Another study reveals that a video is viewed about 25 more times each time it’s shared.

Social sharing is the online equivalent of word-of-mouth marketing, and is effective because it’s user-initiated and highly targeted. Viewers only share videos that are interesting to them and are relevant to their contacts on social networks. People are also more likely to buy a product after watching a branded video their friends shared on social networks. 49% of viewers purchased the products advertised in a branded video, while the rest talked to someone about the product or visited the brand’s homepage.

With mobile devices becoming more available and more mobile users discovering videos through apps and social networks, it’s important to gear any video marketing efforts toward mobile and social sharing. This can be accomplished by incorporating these steps into a video marketing campaign.

Create Relevant and Valuable Videos

The most important step in creating shareable videos is to know the target audience well. Go beyond looking at statistics such as age group and location and determine what the audience’s interests are. Find out what they like to discuss with their friends, and what other types of content they often share on social networks. A video that is relevant to the viewers’ interests triggers an emotional response, and encourages them to share it or act on its call to action.

Provide Incentive

Mobile users share video content more often than desktop or laptop users do, but giving them additional incentive always helps. Give loyal fans or followers something exclusive in return for frequently sharing a brand’s video content. For example, some record labels encourage social sharing by providing early access to music videos or full song tracks in exchange for shares. Rewarding fans with recognition on a brand’s own social profiles can also be a good sharing incentive.

Distribute and Integrate

Knowing where to distribute a video maximizes its exposure on the right social networks. Using mobile apps such as Vine, Instagram Video, Socialcam, and Viddy to create and post short videos can help establish a brand’s online identity and improve user engagement.

If the company creates its own long-format videos, upload them to a hosting and sharing site like YouTube or Vimeo. Make sure they have catchy titles and that their descriptions have company website’s URL and an additional call to action in them. Integrate the video into the rest of the brand’s social marketing efforts by featuring it on the brand’s blog, or sharing it on other networks like Facebook, Twitter, and Tumblr.

Getting your audience’s attention through creative videos is an important step toward online success and improved brand recognition.