Daily Grommet is an online retailer that tells remarkable stories about its products through video. "I see what we do more as active curation," said Jesse Buckley, Video Director at the Daily Grommet. "We are selecting features ("Grommets") from a vast array of submissions (and relentless scouting), and then helping the people behind the products tell their brand stories."

HubSpot had the opportunity to catch up with Jesse and learn more about Daily Grommet's remarkable video marketing. Here are seven video marketing lessons that emerged from our interview:

1. Put the People First

"In today's discount culture, the people behind the products can be overshadowed by our collective desire to get the best deal," said Jesse. "Daily Grommet is different because we try to put the people first: our team, the founders we feature, the people who discover them, and the community that we are introducing them to."

So if you are brainstorming ideas for remarkable content creation, think about ways to showcase other people and tell human-interest stories. Video presents a good platform to convey such messages. As Jesse said, "The videos are a catalyst for deeper engagement—the medium still supersedes other forms of content in terms of emotional connection."

2. Crowdsource Video In Simple Ways

In online marketing the authenticity of a story exceeds that of its production. Don't seek perfection because that is difficult to accomplish for any business with limited resources. Instead, start small and embrace simple solutions.

"We encourage our partners to take the easiest possible path in recording their insights—whether it's recording on their mobile, a point and shoot camera, or a semi-disposable device like Flip or Kodak make," said Jesse. "The ability to record and share video is really ubiquitous at this point. So we make it as easy as possible—give our partners some simple direction and highlight the 'shining lights' in their story. Authentic participation is the most important part—the quality of the recording really doesn't matter as much (within reason!)."

3. Use Social Media to Engage the Community

Always be on the lookout for ways in which you can engage the community in your video production. Consider using forums and social media to bring in new faces and create some buzz around your project. Daily Grommet not only has an active email list, but also a vibrant Facebook page and Twitter presence.

4. Stay Cost-effective

Video marketing doesn't require large investments. Your marketing goal is to create content quickly and efficiently. "One of the things I personally enjoy about Web content is how forgiving it is compared to traditional broadcast models," said Jesse. "I'm mixing content from multiple sources with an aesthetic that is at once polished and lo-fi. It is easy to get hung up on quality when it's content that is really most important. That approach makes it much easier to keep costs down."

5. Optimize for SEO

One of the most effective ways to spread your video online is to optimize it well for search engines. When uploading your content to video-sharing platforms, make sure to include keyword-rich titles, tags and descriptions. "I do think it is relatively easy to spread videos on the Web, in part because of the way search engines give them priority over other types of content & the fact that people gravitate to videos in search results faster than other types of content," said Jesse.

6. Allow Others to "Own" Your Videos

Another way to encourage sharing is to make the videos social-media friendly and offer them under a Creative Commons license. In that way, you will allow others to edit them and create interesting remixes. "We make all our videos embed codes freely available, and I've sent the actual videos to partners who wanted to do something special with them," said Jesse. "That's an interesting twist, because while they now 'own' the video they have also become a proponent of our site, linking back to us and sharing the love."

7. Keep It Short

With the rapid growth of information on the Web, our attention has become a limited resource and we struggle to stay focused on the same page for longer than a few seconds. That is why you need to keep your videos short and to the point.

How have you used video for marketing your company?