Importance Of Video content:
Video content has increased in the recent past; it is a powerful medium of conveying a message in a storytelling way.
Most marketers are using it because of its big impact it has when it comes to content marketing and promotional campaigns.
Video also helps you to connect with your target audience and build deeper and more satisfying relationships with them.
Here are a few statistics that prove that video is an important aspect of content marketing strategy;
- By 2019, more than 80% of total consumer traffic online will be watching video
- Videos posted on social media generates 1200% more shares than text and image content combined
- 87% of internet marketers use video content to market their offerings and brand
- The volume of video content consumed by mobile users increases by 100% every year
What I’m trying to say is that, if you are not using videos in your marketing, it is time to come up with a winning video content strategy.
The content in the videos you create is up to you.
However, today we will discuss how to promote your videos better and make them reach your audience.
Videos are great assets to your business, and thus you have to make sure they reach the right people.
Therefore, without further ado, let’s get down to the main business.
7 Vital Tips To Create A Perfect Video Content Strategy:
[1] Create a Simple Video SEO Strategy:
When coming up with your SEO strategy, it is good to go beyond your blog posts and text content on your website; videos too need to rank. In fact, YouTube, which is owned by Google, is the 2nd largest search engine today.
People not only use it to look for answers to their questions in this network same as they do on Google but also entertain themselves on this platform.
There are billions of videos on YouTube and thus for yours to get noticed, you will need to optimized it to increase its visibility.
Here are few Video SEO tips you can use;
=> Get creative with the titles:
- Titles grab people’s attention. Keep them short, precise, and informative.
=> Make sure to use keywords:
- Just like blog posts, videos too should be optimized with popular keywords.
- There are various keyword tools you can use including YouTube keyword tools.
- These tools will help you find relevant keywords to integrate into your videos
- Ensure to add the main keywords to all of your video description
- Keep your video description less than 70 characters
- Include a link of your website in your videos
=> Make use of tags and make sure to use different keyword variations:
- Brainstorm different tags people who are looking for your video may use and include them in your video
=> Link building matters as well:
- The number of links pointing to your video also help with keyword ranking as well
=> Thumbnails also make users watch your videos:
- Make sure to create colorful, high-quality, eye-catching, and branded thumbnails
- Make sure to optimize your videos for mobile devices since most people will use mobile devices to watch videos on YouTube
=> Also, ensure to have a video sitemap to help your videos rank:
- A video sitemap provide all the details about your videos that search engines need to know
The above tips will make your videos rank high both on YouTube and other search engines.
[2] Provide Enough Information on What Your Video Is All About:
If you want your videos to garner more views, you need to make it clear what a video is all about. Provide enough information for people to decide if the video is relevant to them or no. Most people skin the titles before watching a video, which makes sense.
However, aside from the description and the title, you cannot skim through a video easily. Therefore, don’t expect that your viewers will choose to watch the first few minutes of your video to know what it is all about the way they do with a piece of text.
Therefore, ensure that you write an informative and accurate synopsis highlighting 3-4 benefits your viewers will derive from watching your video.
If it is a narrative, you can plot the major points. Also. You can try transcribing your videos. This will give your viewers text content they can skim read first. Besides, a transcribed video will help search engines crawl your video content easily.
[3] Use Social Proof:
To increase your video conversion and also build credibility and trust between you and your audience, you can use social proof.
Most people find testimonial videos useful. You can do this easily by showing likes, views, comments, votes, and anything a customer has said about your video to showcase that other people find your video content valuable and informative.
If you offer products or services, show them case studies or video testimonials from your customers, celebrities, friends, or experts.
[4] Optimize Your Videos to Boost Conversions:
After encouraging people to watch your video and boosting viewership, it is time to focus on converting them to take your desired action. To boost conversion, all you need to do is to focus on conversions.
How can you optimize videos for conversion?
=> Have a clear call to action:
- If you are serious with only marketing, you know how important call to action buttons are and why they matter a lot when it comes to conversion.
- Your call to action depends on whether you want sales, leads, or dialogue. You can also include a direct message from the speaker, add share buttons, add a link at some point in your video leading your viewers to a landing page with your offering, or any other call to action.
- Don’t leave your viewer confused at the end of your video; direct them to where you want them to go.
=> Know the best time to publish or share your video:
- Understand your audience and know the time they are mostly online.
- Your video garners the most views in the first 48 hours after you publish it.
- YouTube uses views and the engagement your video gets to rank it; the more views it gets, the more YouTube will see its importance and make it available to other viewers.
=> Present your content creatively:
- Come up with a better way of presenting your video content in an interactive and entertaining way. This will help boost conversions.
=> Give more options:
- People have varying tastes. Some may prefer emails; others may prefer video calls, or receive texts. Give your viewers 2-3 options to choose from.
=> Create short videos:
- There are many studies conducted on the best length of videos and why short videos perform better than lengthy ones. Find the best length for your videos and stick to that.
=> Remember to show gratitude:
- Show sincere emotions by thanking your customers for watching your video. This increase the retention rate.
[5] Find the Right Distribution Outlets:
You need to find the best distribution outlets so that you can reach out to the right audience. This means sharing your video to as many outlets as possible.
Here are some of the avenues you can exploit;
- Share your video on your website. It doesn’t matter whether you have a lot of traffic or not, sharing your video to your website will encourage new visitors to watch and improve visitors to your site. This will, in turn, boost your ranking
- Upload it to Vimeo and YouTube
- Share it on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Google+, LinkedIn, and Pinterest
- Embed it in your emails
- Introduce video presentations on SlideShare
- Find more ways to share your video through other renowned channels. There plenty of options you can exploit.
[6] Maximize the Reach of Your Videos:
Maximizing the reach of your videos should be one of the aspects of your video marketing strategy.
Here are several ways to maximize the impact and reach of your videos:
=> Engage your audience:
- Ask your viewer’s opinions and respond to their comments in your video.
- If you are running live videos, make sure to have instant notification feature so that you can respond to comments as soon as possible.
=> Pay to have your video promoted:
- YouTube and Facebook are a great advertising platform you can use to reach out to a larger audience, you don’t need a huge budget to grow your subscribers.
- You only need to know your target audience and customize your videos to suit them. Also, remember to have a great, compelling introduction.
=> Make it an ongoing thing:
- You should see videos as another format of presenting information you have in web pages, blog posts, white papers, podcasts, etc.
[7] Analyze Your Video Performance:
An online marketing campaign cannot be successful without analytics. If you create videos now and then, you need to measure your investments and make a decision on how to improve them. Some of the tools you can use include Google Analytics and YouTube Analytics.
These will help you track your video performance in terms of views, total watch time, conversion rate, and other video metrics you may be interested in.
Measure your rankings by using a ranking Tool. Other metrics to use to measure your video performance include the number of views, shares, brand recollection, and number of mentions. Always have a clear method of measurement in your video marketing strategy.
It takes time to create high-performing videos. However, if you have a good video content plan, and be creative enough, you can harness the power of videos. Videos can boost your brand awareness and increase conversion.
Now that you have understood how and why you need a video content strategy,
Here are a few tips on how to craft great video content that draws attention;
[+] Tell a Story:
- People love stories, and you should capture their attention by telling a good story in your video.
- Most companies concentrate on coming with videos that tick all the marketing boxes, but they forget about the viewer. Be different, tell a story.
[+] Maintain Relevancy:
- You can be humorous and informative in your videos, but if you are not relevant to your customers and audience, you will fall flat.
[+] Split Test For Better Results:
- Video content is just like any other type of content; it needs to offer value to your viewers and be engaging. Therefore, split test by doing several videos in one subject.
- The video with many views is the best, and thus you should use it for best results.
[+] Be Creative With Your Content:
- The information you give should be unique and useful.
- This will encourage people to share it or feel like they have learned something new. For instance, instead of saying ‘Buy our trips ticket to go to Dubai’ say, “Here is the information you need to see Dubai skyscrapers by yourself.”
[+] Make Use of YouTube Thumbnails:
- Most people do not utilize custom YouTube thumbnails.
- A custom YouTube thumbnail can make a big difference when it comes to drawing people’s attention. Also, keep your videos short.
- If you have a lengthy video, break down into 1 minute and 30 seconds clips.
[+] Your First 3 Seconds Matters a Lot:
- Most people take less than three seconds to decide whether or not to watch your video. If you fail to capture their attention in this step, they will scroll to the next video.
- For this reason, be sure to use catchy titles and description to hook your viewers.
[+] Create Anticipation By Developing a Video Series:
- If you have an interesting, lengthy video, break it down into series and ensure to break it at a point that leaves your viewers with anticipation.
- Your first video can highlight the problems people face while the second part talks about how your product will solve these problems (pain points).
[+] Use Emotions:
- We are all emotional beings, and that is what makes us human. Therefore, instead of telling your customers about features, have them talk about the small victories they have had and the battles they have won.
- Then look for a way to integrate that with your product by telling them it will help them win another battle or get another victory.
[+] Use the Right Video At the Right Place and Time:
- Timing is everything when it comes to online marketing.
- Short product explainer videos will be great on channels where people are looking for product information.
- Storytelling videos are great on channels where people are looking for purposeful, entertainment videos.
- Therefore, know the right places to share your videos.
When a great, interesting, informative video is coupled with an excellent video content marketing strategy, you will definitely be successful in your video marketing.
Therefore, make sure to come up with a video content marketing strategy and a great video as well.