Blog Consulting, LLC - as is becoming more, and more normal, I was busy working at my desk when up pops a notification that REI had just sent me an e-mail.
Being a member, and a fan of REI, I was curious to see what they might trying to communicate to me.
Here is a copy of the e-mail that they sent me, which, as you might expect, was full of ideas for fall outdoor gear.
The pleasant surprise, if you look down to the very bottom of the e-mail, was an invitation, through the use of social media icons, to their social media sites.
Here you will find their Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and flickr outposts.
If you poke around in these outposts, you will find that they have collected quit an active, and passionate audience.
The social media outpost that most captured my attention, and therefore about 20 minutes of my time, was their YouTube site.
REI is famous for teaching its patrons how to safely enjoy the outdoors, and how to properly use the right equipment to aid in that enjoyment.
To that end, they have uploaded over 105 videos to bring that information right to your home computer. What a marvelous use of technology. It makes me appreciate them more, and it also makes me more inclined to tell others about them, which I am doing right now.
Clearly they have determined that instructional video is a powerful, and valuable tool for them.
Marketing take-away: might your organization bring great value to your patrons through short, instructional videos? Take a peek through REI's social media sights, and glean what you might learn from them.
Here is a sample video, from REI, on Geocaching:
