With all the resources we have today, creating new videos can be quick and fairly easy. Sharing them with the public is just a click away. Everybody’s doing it… but is everyone doing it effectively? How can you make your content stand out? What’s the secret?
Recently, ReelSEO wrote about 16 of their top takeaways from Vidsummit 2015, on how to market your video content to reach optimal SEO. Though we can relate to almost everything they were saying, we decided to delve deeper into four strategies that we found the most important in overall video marketing.
Quality Over Quantity
You’ve heard it all your life that quality surpasses quantity in many facets. This would be one of those examples of where quality takes the reigns. One great video makes a massive footprint in the realm of SEO; much more so than having multiple “so-so” videos on a web page will.
Many companies believe that they need to be putting out a new video weekly to engage viewers and to keep them returning to their website. What they don’t realize is that rushing to create new content without thoroughly planning its development and placement, only hurts them in reaching their intended audience.
Multi-Platform Compatibility
Most videos can, and should be, shared on pretty much every digital and social media platform there is. What you really need to pay attention to though is whether or not your content is relevant and appeals to audiences on every platform. Make sure your video translates correctly across all media platforms to grow the right audience.
Social media is tricky because different social media platforms appeal to different audiences. With this in mind, a fun and quirky video that works on Facebook may not translate well with your more professional network on LinkedIn.
Although creating different types of content for each platform does seem like the natural solution, it’s not a consistent message. Consumers like consistency, because with consistency comes credibility.
Make sure you script your video content so that it appeals to all audiences across all digital platforms. That will make your video successful.
Planning and Evaluating
The pre-production, planning and scripting stages of any video creation are key. The actual filming of a video should require the least amount of time for your video project.
The majority of time should be spent in the planning stages, analyzing the audience you’re intending to reach and the message you are trying to send. You also want to define the purpose of the video prior to the actual filming. Then you can begin writing a script that will appeal to your target audience. If a video is misunderstood by your audience it could end up hurting you rather than helping.
With this in mind, it’s just as important to re-visit the planning process with the results of the video once a video is complete. The evaluating stage of video production lets you know that you created the right content for your audience. Did it engage the viewers you hoped it would? How was your video portrayed? What kind of results did you get? More sales, more opt-ins? Tumbleweeds and crickets?
Evaluating how successful your video was, is a great way to revamp your strategy for next time and get the results you want.
Call to Action
Content is essential in creating an effective video marketing strategy – We cannot stress this enough. However, content goes beyond the concept of the video itself. You want prospects and consumers to engage with you. After all, the reason you spent your marketing dollars on a high-quality video was to get more sales and ultimately make more money. Right? One of the biggest errors I see in video design today is the lack of a “Call to Action” for the consumer. The biggest mistake you can do with video marketing is to assume your audience knows what to do. You have to guide them.
So what exactly is a“Call to Action”? A Call to Action, or CTA, simply means, instructing your audience to partake in a suggested response, usually immediately. You may have seen a CTA before and not even known what it was. Some examples of CTA are: “Follow us on facebook,” “Visit our website,” “Request a demo today,” or “Fill out the form on this page.” CTA’s are generally short and simple, but essential to take your viewer from prospect to customer.
An effective CTA generally follows the rule of three S’s: short, simple, and strong.
Remember: your goal is to easily instruct your audience to take part in a behavior that will benefit both of you. Few people will take part in any action unless it poses some value to themselves. A great example of a company who does this well is Progressive. They have a section at the top of their website that lets you receive a quote. It’s out of the way and simply states, “You could save over $548.” It’s a short and simple CTA that is truly impactful.
The short and simple rule of thumb is ideal because nobody wants to waste their time sorting through an excess of content. The best way to utilize this strategy is at the end of your video. You can use simple CTAs such as: “Check out our website for more information”, or “Find us on Social Media.”
The bottom line is, you want to get new business from your marketing videos. You can have a great product, make a killer explainer video on how your product will help people and get the viewer super excited about it, but if you don’t tell them what to do next, you may lose them.
Millions of people are creating new video content daily. But how many videos have you seen versus how many are out there on the web? Without a strategic marketing tactic to get it noticed and stay relevant, there is little purpose behind creating a video that will just take up space on your web page. Using these four key marketing tips to improve your video strategy will elevate your video from the rest.
