Is your video simple and clean or has it taken on Spielberg-like proportions? Either way, you can still benefit from some tweaks. Making a few small changes can make a world of difference!
- Brand, brand and brand – ALWAYS place your logo and company name (tastefully) throughout your videos. Stay true to your brand – people have an expectation that you need to meet, but that doesn’t mean you can’t have FUN with it! Remember the early days of MTV? They had a person called Director of Logo Abuse, who’s job was to make the IDs and short bumps memorable. It was definitely a way to create a fun brand!
- Answer questions – Think of the most frequently asked questions your customers or other professionals ask. Build your script around answering these questions. For longer issues, make one video and for shorter answers- combine two similar issues together. Stay on-topic and focused in your answer. People appreciate good answers as much as they do FINDING the answers in the first place.
- Describe a case study – A great way to show off what your business can do is through case studies. Showcase ways you help clients solve a problem through your service and/or product. Include results, testimonials and show some graphs/charts- that will keep interest as well and give viewers something to download, later!
- Pay attention to the details – Does your music support the feel of your website? Are your graphics easy to read? You want your video to appeal to the widest range of potential customers; take that into consideration before you get started. Even when your video IS found, viewers expect a good reason to watch it to the end. Speaking of that, keep your videos as short as possible- the average YouTube video right now is a bout two minutes. Cardinal rule: shorter is better!
- Place your website address on the video – Runing it discreetly across the bottom of the frame; bring it full-screen at the end of the video; begin your description of the video with your complete URL (including the http://) – whichever way you do it, help your audience connect and interact with you.
- Come up with a great title – Not only will a great title attract eyeballs, but using keywords in your title will help your rankings on search engines (especially since YouTube is owned by Google!) Here is a link to SEO Blogger, a free keyword research tool that works with WordPress and Firefox. Bottom line here, is that a great video – with high production value- means very little if no one ever finds it!
- Post it in different formats – You cannot know what software people have on their PCs, and if it is current and up-to-date. Many people don’t bother to download updates just to play one video, (how long did your last JAVA update take?) so make sure to post your video in different formats (.mov, .avi. fla) and sizes (high quality for broadband, lower quality for slow connections and remember mobile phones – most can not play FLASH.)
- Tag your videos – much like using proper titles, great tags and keywords will help your audience find your video. Do you KNOW your keywords? Use them in the title, in the tags but most-importantly, use them in your video!
- Post a summary or transcript– People really do want to know more about your product, but for sometimes they can’t play your video. Have a text summary or transcript available to download for those who can’t watch your video. And for goodness sakes, ALWAYS make your slides available- try offering that for newsletter sign-ups!
- Measure results – After your video is live, you will want to see some results: what is your ROI, is video marketing right for you? The number of views, play counts, subscribers are easy to track on even the most basic video sites. There are more sophisticated tools available, too,that will give you a wealth of information on your viewers.
Join the Conversation:
What are some of your tips for rocking your video marketing? Comment on this article to share YOUR ideas and tips. Thanks!