Is video a core component of your marketing strategy? It should be. Video can boost your search engine rankings and is an effective way to increase customer engagement. Check out these stats:
- 82 percent of Twitter users watch video content on Twitter.
- 45 percent of people watch more than an hour of Facebook or YouTube videos every week.
- More than 500 million hours of videos are watched on YouTube each day.
- More video content is uploaded in 30 days than the major U.S. television networks have created in 30 years.
In this issue of Promotional Consultant Today, we’ll dig past the video posts of cute kittens, funny memes and recipes, and share these tips from U.K.-based marketer Sarah Orchard on how you can incorporate video in simple ways to promote your business.
Orchard gives the following example of the effectiveness of video in marketing a product or service:
A person she knew decided to buy a new tent. She was going to buy a modestly-priced tent, but found herself veering towards the Outwell brand, which is a higher-end brand of camping gear. Outwell’s website had videos that showed the ease of use and durability of the tent, which persuaded her to pay more than she originally budgeted. The video convinced this consumer why it was worth buying the Outwell brand over a lesser-priced competitor.
YouTube isn’t the only platform to share video. There are many video platform services, including Vimeo and Brightcove, that make it easy to share videos on websites, other social media platforms like Facebook or LinkedIn, and through email campaigns.
What can I put in my videos? How you use video will depend on your type of business and the services or products you offer. Here are a few ideas to get you started:
- Show off a product. If you sell a physical product, video is a powerful way to give people a sense of what the product is like, how it feels and what it’s made of. A video can help convey the product’s quality.
- Explain how to do something. How-to videos are a good way to give people useful information, while also reminding them of your product.
- Feature customer testimonials. Many companies use written testimonials on their websites. But you can create more interest and authenticity if you interview people or invite customers to upload videos of them using your products.
- Add a personal touch. Welcome visitors to your site, introduce your staff or film a “day in the life.” This type of content will add personality and bring your business to life. This could help someone decide they’d like to do business with you.
- Incorporate music. You can buy sound clips from websites like Shutterstock and iStockPhoto. Ricall is a site that offers well-known songs by popular artists and emerging acts that are ready for use by small businesses and nonprofit organizations.
- Share industry expertise. Provide commentary on industry news, or offer details or a new perspective.
Make sure your video gets viewed. Once you’ve created your video, upload it to video-sharing websites such as YouTube and Vimeo as well as social media sites.
- Facebook allows you to post videos of up to 45 minutes in length (1GB max file size), but bear in mind that the average video on Facebook is only 44 seconds long, and popular videos are often even shorter.
- Twitter allows you to record videos (using its camera icon); these can be up to two minutes and 20 seconds long. You can also upload videos you have already created.
- Instagram allows you to record videos of up to 60 seconds in length (150MB file limit). You can add filters, captions and details of your location. You can also upload videos onto Instagram from your phone.
Make sure you add interesting titles and clear descriptions to your videos to give them the best chance of getting found and watched. Finally, encourage viewers to share and embed your video so they spread it for you.
Source: Sarah Orchard has more than 15 years of top-level marketing experience on leading UK and global service sector brands.