This post was initially published by Digital Marketing Magazine
The human race watches over 6 billion hours of video on YouTube every month – and that’s just YouTube! As you’ve probably noticed, video content moves eyeballs much more than words on a screen. But for many content managers, video is the last frontier of their marketing campaign.
In truth, video content is one of the best ways to maximise your social media marketing. In this article I’ll show you 5 ways you can increase sales, interaction and retention using video content.
1. Create Videos!
The first and obvious step is to actually create videos. There are so many ways you can create great video content these days that I’ll leave it up to you to decide on the best approach. But make sure to prioritise this powerful marketing tool. Don’t forget to align the video’s content with your organisation’s overall vision and strategy.
2. Hook viewers in the first 7 seconds
Market research demonstrates that the first 3-7 sectors are critical to hook your viewers (or lose them altogether). That’s why you need to double your efforts on the first few seconds of your video. This will determine whether your viewers will actually stick around to learn about your product or service or go on to something else. Focusing on great visuals can help you get a lot of traction and help your content really stand out. This will be sure to test your creativity.
3. Make sure your video is SEO friendly
Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) can be a tricky area to nail down considering Google changes its standards so frequently. But it should be obvious that people will only watch your video if they can actually find it. And unless you have 100,000+ followers on YouTube, there’s little guarantee that your video will be seen by your target market. That’s why you need to use important keywords, catchy titles and punchy descriptions when posting your video. It also helps to create a custom template. And if you’re posting your video to YouTube… PLEASE don’t forget to make it public!
4. Share, share, share
Have you spent days, perhaps even weeks, developing a great video? Great! Now it’s time to share it with the world. It should go out to your mailing list and disseminated across all social media channels. And don’t just post the video to your social media handles; actually create a description that is specially tailored for YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and any other social media platform you use.
In addition to sharing your video, you should also consider promoting it. This may not always be budget friendly, but can greatly enhance your reach. Platforms like Twitter and Facebook offer fairly affordable click rates, so be sure to check them out of your budget doesn’t allow for something bigger.
5. Use analytics to inform future marketing efforts
Are you proud of your video? That’s great, but chances are you can make an even better one next time. That’s why analytics are so important. Analytics can help you take a deep dive into your viewership numbers and help you understand the demographics of your audience, their time spent watching the video and, most importantly, the drop-off rate. By understanding these crucial areas, you can improve your video marketing efforts.
By Charli Day, writer and social media manager, Charli Says