Contests are great for brand recognition. A brand can run a number of different contests, but the most popular type of competition today comes in the form of video. With Vine, Instagram, and MixBit all offering amateur videographers a chance to make a video and share that video, it makes sense for companies to cash in on this craze.

Only, tracking a video competition on Vine, Instagram, or MixBit isn't as simple as it might seem. That's where a new company called Pitch'd comes into play. Pitch'd helps companies running video contests with analytics through a simple platform that's user-friendly.

Using the Pitch'd Site

Logging into the Pitch'd site requires a Twitter account. If you don't have a Twitter account, you can't use Pitch'd, so make sure to sign up for Twitter first. Once that's done, Pitch'd will ask for access to your Twitter account (read more about this below). After that, Pitch'd goes to work tracking the video contests that you currently have running on your site.

Contest participants can send in a video by @mentioning a brand, and using a specific hashtag to take part in a competition. Pitch'd uses this information to gather analytics about a competition. Companies will have direct access to a leader board that can be customized to fit a company's overall look and feel.

Brands will also be able to see a real-time analytics dashboard showcasing entries; voting status information; details about a contest's reach; and the ability to moderate entries. All of these things will provide brands with a better look at the way video competitions are working, how they function, and whether or not these types of contests are beneficial.

A Solid Marketing Tool

Pitch'd provides a great marketing tool for any brand looking to get in on the video craze. Vine, Instagram, and other video social networks are widely popular right now, and building a video contest within these networks is a great way to get in on that action. After taking a look through Pitch'd, I can see the appeal. However, I do have one problem with this platform.

Setting up an account through Twitter means providing Pitch'd to read tweets, which is a necessary part of gathering information. Pitch'd must also be authorized to:

Follow new people on your behalf
Update your profile
Post tweets for you

I can see why Pitch'd would have to gather details about the people you follow, and, perhaps, follow new people that take part in your video contest. What I can't see granting authorization for is a change to a profile or automated tweets sent out by Pitch'd. That said, Pitch'd does provide a good way to track video contest information.

Costs

If you like the idea of Pitch'd, you can purchase a Pitch'd monthly subscription for 749 GBP (UK-based) per month - that includes "subscription packages." If you want to go the pay per contest route, pricing starts around 1,795 GBP. That's some steep pricing, but Pitch'd promises the rewards will be worth the price - would you pay for this service?