Jayson Bryant of Wine Vault TV was the speaker at the inaugural Social Media Club event at 42Below Bar on Commerce Street in downtown Auckland last night. Bullet PR is a founding member of the Social Media Club committee and Account Manager Alex Erasmus hosted this event.

With video set to be a key topic in media circle in the coming months, Jayson spoke about what he has learnt in 179 episodes of Wine Vault TV and how incorporating video blogging into his business has helped drive extra revenue.

By being one of the first businesses in New Zealand to start using Social Media, The Wine Vault has helped to increase online sales by 4000% (20% of overall sales); Jayson admitted this figure originated from relatively humble beginnings, but it is still a huge game-changer for how his company operates.

One key insight to take away from the evening was that video (and not just YouTube) are significantly underappreciated and underutilized in New Zealand. The chances of a video ‘going viral’ are incredibly slim (you would be better off with a Lotto ticket), but if you keep the content interesting and digestible, people will soon start to follow what you are doing and a fan base will build.

Another factor people must remember is that Social Media is time consuming. Jayson reminded us that although many of the tools are free or relatively cheap, time is the biggest cost to factor in. With video, it is really important to use intelligent tagging. This is particularly true with YouTube, where there is an incredible amount of white noise (approximately 20 hours uploaded every minute).

However, the most important point is that content is king. Social Media is not an essential part of your business model and the tools, especially video, should only be used if you have something interesting to say. As Jayson alluded to, if you have something interesting to say and the market is not crowded by other people trying to say the same thing, there’s a great chance you can build a trusting following, brand equity and extra revenue from home and abroad.

Bullet PR has secured the public relations account for HooHaa, the unique permission-based mobile advertising channel. Bullet PR will assist HooHaa with both online and offline communications, as the company looks to consolidate its leadership in Australia and New Zealand, and expand into Europe.

The Warehouse has selected Bullet PR to assist with online and offline communications around its industry-leading employer branding programme. As part of a new recruitment strategy, The Warehouse, one of the country’s largest employers, has launched this innovative recruitment website.