Videos can be created for just about any type of marketing strategy, regardless of industry.
Whether they are introductory videos, instructional videos, product demos, client testimonials, employee interviews, office tours, etc., videos help businesses drive home their messages and create brand awareness like nothing else.
Many brands are discovering the potential that video marketing gives them for creating higher levels of engagement and sales than written blog posts alone.
51.9% of marketing professionals worldwide cite video as the type of content with the best ROI. ~ eMarketer, 2013
Are you ready to learn more about using videos in your marketing strategy?
To start, here are a few places you may consider for marketing your online videos and increasing their reach – and potentially, your ROI.
Using multi-platform promotion for your video content
YouTube: After you have embedded your video on your site, make sure to add it to YouTube.
One important thing to remember is to give the video a different title in YouTube. Since YouTube and Google are both search engines, you don’t want to “cannibalize” your SEO efforts.
Tweaking your content, even slightly, allows you to take advantage of the powerful search capabilities for videos. Click To TweetAs part of your YouTube video marketing strategy, you should always include a URL in the description that guides viewers back to your website. This is especially important for product and service landing pages.
Example:
The following social media channels are also great outlets for maximizing the exposure of optimized videos:
Facebook: Drive engagement and traffic to your website by creating Facebook posts with your videos’ links. Facebook allows you to either upload a video directly from your computer or by copying/pasting the URL. Create a catchy headline for the video which both entices your viewers and encourages them to share. If you manage a Facebook page, you also have the option to display your video as a call to action (CTA).
Twitter: Since you only have 140 characters to work with for a “tweet,” or Twitter post (for now!), you want to be brief and to-the-point with your message. Just like Facebook, you can create posts which include your video’s link back to your website. Consider a link-shortener, such as bit.ly, so you have more room for a brief headline. You’ll want to implement strategic and relevant hashtags, which help further designate your video for specific audiences.
LinkedIn: LinkedIn an often underutilized social media network, but should be considered seriously. It is a powerful search engine with a lot of authority on Google, as well as other search engines. Update your profile with video links, links to your virtual tour, and/or presentations which point back to your website to boost SEO.
Note: Be sure each video on your website includes social media buttons to encourage sharing by its viewers.
Other ways to market your video content
Email Marketing: The open rates for email marketing campaigns with video is high. A study by the Relevancy Group with U.S. marketing executives in February, 2013, revealed the following: “55% of marketers who used video in email campaigns saw a higher click through rate, 44% saw a spike in time spent, and 41% witnessed an increase in sharing.”
Per Lindsay Kolowich in her article for HubSpot, “research has found that using the word “video” in an email subject line boosts open rates by a whopping 19%.”
Blog: Create and/or repurpose blog posts around your video content. This is a great way to boost your site’s SEO, as well as gain and keep traffic on your website.
Reminders:
- Be relevant and make sure you’re using the right content and tone for channel participants.
- Don’t rule out humor, but always remember that you are representing your brand.
- A “behind-the-scenes” video can be great but probably works better for Facebook and Twitter rather than your website. Once again, be mindful of your brand’s image.
Do you need more convincing that video marketing is growing? Check out these statistics from 2015:
- 92% of mobile video viewers share videos with others. – Invodo
- 65% of executives have visited a vendor’s site after watching a video. – Forbes
- (39% have called a vendor after watching a video)
- 70% of marketing professionals report that video converts better than any other medium. – MarketingProfs
- When marketers included a video in an email, the click-through rate increased by 200% – 300% – Forrester
- The average internet user spends 88% more time on a website with video. – Mist Media
- 300 hours of video are uploaded to YouTube every minute. – YouTube
- 64% of consumers are more likely to buy a product after watching a video about it. – comScore
- Visitors who view videos stay on websites an average of 2 minutes longer than those who don’t view videos – comScore
- 59% of senior executives prefer to watch video instead of reading text, if both are available on the same page. – Forbes Insight
- Homepage videos are shown to increase conversion rates by 20% or more. – ReelSEO
- Using video on landing pages can increase conversion by 80% – Unbounce
- Mobile makes up almost 40% of global watch time on YouTube. – YouTube (6 billion hours of video are watched monthly on YouTube)
- 1.8 Million Words is the value of one minute of video. – Dr. James McQuivey, Forrester
Source: Adelie Studios
Keep the conversation going
Your video is just one customer touch point.
The best content marketing strategies encourage continued conversations long after the video ends.Click To TweetDon’t be afraid to ask for viewers to engage – whether it is clicking through the rooms of an interactive tour, or to view a “how-to” video on measuring for the use of their product — then showing the user how to order it right there on the website.
At a bare minimum, encourage users to access more information on your website, by including a relevant link in both the video itself as well as in its description.
Are you using video marketing, or do you have plans to do so in 2016? I’d love to hear your thoughts about using videos. Please feel free to leave a comment below.
Jennifer Hanford
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12 Comments. Leave new
“When marketers included a video in an email, the click-through rate increased by 200% – 300% – Forrester” Those are some big numbers. Video isn’t going anywhere. I love all the stats you covered on how important video is in 2016. One thing I’ve learned recently is sometimes people are not in a place where they can watch a video, such as while they are at work. The catch is they still want to watch the video with limited sound so by adding text to the video, the video still receives high views.
The stats are definitely convincing, Carol, and I agree with you that video isn’t going anywhere. I really like that suggestion about using text with the video for increasing the views. Thank you for your comment and insights. ~ Jenn
I totally agree with Carol! When I create videos, I prefer to display my message through text rather than using voice over. Only soothing background music is required to cut the boredom and engage audiences. One more thing I want to add is that the length of a video must be less than 1 minute, if you posting on your own site or on social media sites. Lengthy videos face more bounce rates. If you have a long message, try to break it and create two to three short videos. It will bring more engagement.
Those are terrific tips for successful video content – thank you for sharing them!
Videos will definitely play a big part in the continuous growth of social media and how marketers use it. Especially now that each platforms has a feature of video seconder, which appeals to the audience because the attention of media users are definitely shrinking these days.
Yes, agreed. It will certainly be interesting, Angel!
I believe B2B customers still want the value that they received from white papers just in smaller bites and easy to understand. Integrate videos, infographics and pictures.
Visual content is also very important, and indeed the MOST important content there can be. If you want to know exactly why this is, and why it works, I have some of the important reasons here on my blog: “The Importance of powerful Visuals in Communication”
Elise Forsyth Mort recently posted…Six Reasons You Really Need to Purge Your Social Media Accounts
Thanks for your insights, Elise!
I totally agree with Elise! When I present a strategy via videos for B2B customer, I prefer to display my message through text rather than using voice over. Only light background music is required to cut the boredom and engage B2B audiences. One more thing I want to add is that the length of a video must be less than 1 minute,If you have a long message, try to break it and present via Images or infographics.
Great advice; thanks for sharing!
Videos will undoubtedly play an important role in the further expansion of social media and how marketers use it. Especially now that each platform has a video seconder tool that appeals to the audience because media consumers’ attention spans are undoubtedly decreasing these days.
Thanks for your insights, Usama! It’s scary how quickly our attention spams diminish!