Online video is taking over the internet and becoming bigger than TV. Its pattern of growth has consistently expanded and is projected to dominate more than 80% of all web traffic by 2019, according to the Cisco’s Visual Networking Index. YouTube, Facebook, and Snapchat have been major drivers in this growth with their video posting capabilities, making it easier for business and consumers to share videos and live streams.
Video is one of the most effective forms of digital communication. If a picture is worth a thousand words, then thousands of moving images are worth much more. The message communicated in a one minute video can leave a lasting impression, entertain, educate, or inspire. It is a great way to generate interest, ultimately sending a viewer to a website seeking more information about you, your business or product offering. When the video is shared, it ultimately converts to a sale from several of the viewers in the sharer’s social network.
Here are six great tips to help you with your video campaigns:
Keep it short.
A Microsoft study released this year revealed that people have shorter attention spans than goldfish: eight seconds. Yet it is surprising how much information is communicated in a short video. Studies have shown that videos in the 2-3 minute range are ideal, so get your message across quickly.
Quality matters
Poorly produced videos that lack compelling content get lost in the ocean of mediocre content. Consumers are more sophisticated than they used to be. Don’t let poor production undermine the value of the product or service you are promoting. Create videos that connect with your target audience and encourage viewers to share.
Even the best video is useless unless it can be found.
The title, keyword labels, descriptions, and tags provide more information to search engines to help identify your videos as relevant to search results. Ensures that the relevance of your video to search results is clear to viewers and search engines. It has been suggested that 15 tag keywords should be used to describe each of your videos.
Also be sure to host your video on multiple social platforms, including YouTube.
Include transcripts and enable closed caption settings.
Many videos are watched without sound. Including a transcript of the audio portion of your video improves the viewers’ ability to catch your message. It also increases the findability and adds further support for search engines. Does your target audience speak more than one language? Consider adding language translations.
Create backlinks to your website.
Insert links to your website in the description and in the title cards to create backlinks and to give viewers easy access to find your website. It is also a good idea to invite them to visit your site and subscribe to your channel so they are notified about future videos.
Offer free advice.
The best way to gain followers is to create a relationship with your audience. Share the knowledge that you possess openly and freely. Be sincere and honest, people will not subscribe or watch your complete video are only out to convert leads to customers. Be open and honest with your message and make sure you are energetic and enthusiastic.
Use video for the marketing power it brings and to increase the value of your content.
When more people view, like and share your videos it is a positive signal to search engines of the value of your content. Your content will only continue to grow in popularity and accessibility. Those are all great components to a successful marketing strategy.
By Josh Russell, Graphic Design & Video Production at American Name Services
