In this episode of Actionable Marketing In Minutes we give some quick and easy YouTube video tips!
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Problem
We’ve already discussed the vast opportunities videos provide to promote your brand on previous segments of Actionable Marketing in Minutes. Are you still a little intimidated when it comes to creating videos? Let me tell you a little about why you might want to be brave, create a few videos and upload to a YouTube account.
YouTube is by far the largest video-sharing site. In fact, it is considered the second largest search engine on the internet. Believe it or not, YouTube has over 1-billion viewers! And those viewers watch over 4-billion videos EACH DAY! And video viewing is still one of the most rapid growth areas of the internet.
Because there is every conceivable type of audience searching for good videos, any business can benefit from marketing on this platform. Why not you?
Solution
Before we get to more specifics about how to use video effectively, I’d like to point out: Social media marketing is important for all businesses. It is no longer optional. While this podcast will touch on one aspect of it, I encourage you to download our Social Media Marketing Best Practices Guide for more insights and tips on how to effectively execute social media marketing programs. This ebook provides general guidelines as well as best practices by platform. Click the link in the podcast description to download DirectiveGroup’s actionable guide to social media marketing.
Ok, back to YouTube best practices. We know you want to take the plunge. Why not begin preparations today? Let’s take a look at a few best practices to guarantee success on YouTube.
1. Know your audience: You should be speaking to someone who is representative of who your target audience is, a ‘persona’ or even keep a specific person in mind as you record your video.
2. Vary the nature of your videos: there are many types you can produce, such as: demonstrations, presentations, interviews, testimonials, or how-to’s. Get creative with what you think your audience will respond to.
3. Think ‘share-ability’: consider why and how your followers will share your video before you even begin creating content. Many times, telling a compelling story is central to videos that are well received.
4. Create a quality channel header in YouTube: make sure it represents your company, telling your visitors what they might expect. Also, make sure there is contact information for company, specifically links to your website in your ‘about us’ material and associated with every video.
5. Include a call-to-action: No matter how compelling your video, your viewers won’t usually take action unless you tell them what you want them to do, whether it be subscribe or to check out your other social media channels, blogs or website.
Now, for some practical tips for video creation:
6. Short – 30 seconds is good, and the maximum you’ll want is about 10 minutes unless you are teaching something. If your videos are longer, think about ways to break them apart into separate videos.
7. People should know the point of your video within the first five seconds of watching it.
8. Write a script and ‘write for the ear’ since people will be listening vs reading, which means it will be more informal.
9. If you stumble while recording, just stop, wait about five seconds and start the last paragraph again.
10. Save in MP4, which is most universally viewable across multiple devices.
Benefits
So what is the value to you? Well, YouTube has the potential to help you build your brand through video social networking. After we tell you why, we think you’ll have no hesitation at all to jump right in.
1. It’s Free.
2. People would rather watch than read.
3. It gives you a 24/7 selling opportunity even though you must be careful to be more engaging than salesy.
4. You are showing viewers the ‘face’ of your company which makes the interaction personal. There is nothing more intimate than eye-to-eye contact, so be sure to include that in your video.
5. People would rather watch videos than read content when they are on mobile devices.
6. Finally – and this is HUGE! – video will help with your SEO efforts.
We hope you’ve found this information helpful. Please connect with us on Twitter @DirectiveGroup or on LinkedIn and be sure to share it with in your networks using hashtag #actionablemarketing. Join us next time for more actionable marketing in minutes.
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