Marketing with Video

To quote online video blogger Gary Vaynechuk, “If a picture is worth a thousand words, then video is worth a million!” With 72 hours of video being uploaded to YouTube every minute and with more than 4 billion hours of video being watched by consumers every month, it’s pretty safe to say that people love watching online video.

It’s tough to ignore the impact online videos have had on the marketing world, then, considering YouTube has emerged as the #2 place people turn in their quest for information, just behind Google.

So why do videos work so well?

1. Video is impactful, especially for things like training and product demos.
2. It’s easier and quicker to understand information by watching video than by reading.
3. Video builds trust with consumers, engaging those six times longer on the web than text-only sites.

It’s clear that video helps brands connect with consumers, but is video a waste of time for connecting in the business world? Forbes Magazine studied the video habits of more than 10,000 business execs and found:

• 50% watch business-related videos on YouTube
• 65% visit that brand’s website after viewing a video
• 1 in 2 found a business’ video using search
• An eComm webpage with video increases conversion by 12%

And with most video sharing sites being free, including the superpower YouTube, it’s cost-effective to test many video types and stay in front of a large user audience (in fact, 800 million unique visitors per month for YouTube alone). If you need a final argument as to how video helps brands grow, let’s look at video’s impact of delivering new visitors to your site using search. Forrester Research found that videos were 50 times more likely to receive a page one organic ranking than traditional text pages.

YouTube is definitely the place to be if you want your videos to be part of Google’s search results – which isn’t surprising since Google owns YouTube. In fact, not only do videos have their own search category on Google’s ranking pages, they show up in blended search results pages, too. The videos that show in search aren’t just there to look pretty, either. Ranked videos that show have a 41% higher click-through rate than their plain text counterparts. (Thanks ReelSEO, for that stat.) That’s right; video helps your company attract new audiences, engages them on your site, and helps drive conversion.

So, convinced that video works, you’re ready to try video, right? Here are some mission critical tips:

Decide Your Style. Are your videos corporate, polished, informal or funny? Pick what’s right for your brand and customers. Thinking of your audience before you press RECORD will help you avoid creating videos that don’t connect, or worse, embarrasses your brand.

Provide Valuable Content. What do your customers want to know about your brand? How to use your products? What benefits your product offers? How your products are made? These topics are all video-worthy. Offer valuable content to your viewer and showcase your knowledge and skill, positioning yourself as the expert. This is critical to brand growth.

Start At The End. In the beginning, give your viewers a reason why they need to keep watching. If you take too long to get to the point, you will lose their interest. Today’s consumers have a drive-thru mentality and they want answers now!

Make The Video Interesting. Although this seems obvious, YouTube is littered with videos of people standing in front of a video camera, droning on and on. Don’t be boring!

Keep It Brief. Viewers typically stop videos longer than 60 seconds before they are done. Sometimes a longer video is warranted (a plant tour, a detailed demo, etc.). If this is the case, make sure it isn’t boring!

Tag It. After you upload your video to YouTube, be sure to tag your videos properly. Do not use words like “free” or “special offer”. Search engines hate these words. Tag your video with keywords that describe what the video is about. Keep in mind the words that people search for, too.

Make Your Title Count. Just like a headline to a blog post, video titles can pull powerful traffic. There are two main reasons why the title is so important. One, a great title can instantly grab a viewer’s attention. Two, when you use the appropriate keywords in your title, you are more likely to show up on search engines when people are searching for your topic.

Link It. Include a link to your website at the end of your video description. This will direct more viewers directly to your site once they’ve finished watching. You can also add a text box to your video to display your web address and gain more exposure while your video is playing.

Promote It. Post the video to YouTube or the video-sharing platform of your choice. Optimize it for search. Embed it into your website and place a contact form right next to it. Add it to your video tab on your brand’s Facebook page and promote it to your fans and their friends. Launch an email or direct mail marketing campaign to promote it to your prospects. Add video into banner ads and include it in your PPC ads. Anything you can do to use that video content to drive traffic to your website will help stretch your video marketing investment.

Measure It. Use analytics to measure how well your video is performing. YouTube Analytics, for instance, shows key metrics like views, likes, shares, time watched, click-throughs, user demographics and more. Compare your video assets to each other to learn what works (and what doesn’t) when it comes to your brand, your audience, your content and your video marketing.

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Video works for marketers. You need video. Don’t have one? Talk to us. Synapse offers complete video services, from commercials and corporate overviews to training, demo and viral video marketing. Start a conversation with us today or leave a comment and we’ll show you how you can get the most out of online video marketing.