If you have been in the marketing business for long, you may recall industry experts sounding opinions on how prominent video will become. But the future is already here and as anticipated, video is being consumed at a staggering rate.
YouTube, which used to be a mere video-sharing platform, has now become the second largest search engine due to video’s soaring popularity. In fact, YouTube’s search volume surpasses the cumulative search volume of Yahoo, Bing, and AOL.
Here are some statistics studies have revealed about the prominence of video:
- According to YouTube, mobile video consumption increases by 100%
- 92% of viewers share videos on their social media.
- Video is 12 times more engaging than text or photo.
- 90% of customers are of the view that product videos are beneficial in the decision process.
In other news, according to HubSpot, 85% of companies have in-house resources for the facilitation of video production and on average 18 videos are published every month. With your competition leveraging video like never before, it should be your foray into promising content.
This goes to show that marketers, in this day and age, shouldn’t take video for granted.
So, if the above data has gone to show you the significance of video and you no longer want to take it for granted, then to get to grips, read on for a deep dive into video content marketing practices.
1. Put YouTube to good use
Like we stated above, YouTube is no longer an ordinary website, it is a content powerhouse which consumers use as a search engine. A study conducted by Mushroom Networks suggests that YouTube approximately has 3 billion searches a month, whereas 100 hours’ worth of videos is added to its database, each minute.
One of the reasons why YouTube has an edge over its competition such as Vimeo, Wix, DailyMotion, etc. is because YouTube is owned by Google. Due to this trait, YouTube’s videos are ranked on Google as well, helping creators garner twice as many viewers.
Here are some quick tips to optimize your video for YouTube:
- Create videos on trending topics.
- Have a keyword in your title.
- Leverage the first 2 – 3 lines of the description bar.
- Categorize your video.
- Have a customized thumbnail for your video.
2. Don’t over-rely on YouTube
Yes, we just talked about the prominence of YouTube for marketers under the previous heading, however, we also believe it’s imperative to address the fine line between using the platform smartly and going overboard with it.
To elucidate let’s talk about context first. Context is the environment that forms the setting of a piece of content. Getting the context spot-on is often the key to optimizing content. However, oftentimes YouTube fails to get the context in place.
Over YouTube, marketers can’t send viewers coded pixels for retargeting. This makes it a bit tricky to get prospects landed on the product’s page.
On the other hand, viewers don’t have the option to acquire products directly or subscribe to newsletters. Evidently, selling products becomes harder. I mean, to make the purchase, viewers must drop all they’re doing and leave YouTube – which according to studies, is done by only a mere 1% of the audience.
Remember, YouTube doesn’t want its users to go astray, however, for you to turn your lead into a sale, that is crucial.
Secondly, YouTube isn’t the only video-sharing platform out there. Yes, it’s way superior to Vimeo or DailyMotion but Facebook Video and IGTV are catching up. Harnessing several platforms makes a varied audience accessible. Even if all else fails, you will at least have your demographic expanded.
The bottom line is we are not suggesting against the usage of YouTube. It has fantastic disruptive capabilities when it comes to SEO. But what we advise is for you to not put all your eggs in the same basket. So, leave the over-reliance on YouTube to noobs.
3. Don’t wager all your money on one video
To some, it may seem like a good idea to dive headfirst into one video with all your resources in hopes of it reaching over-achiever-level success that reforms your brand’s outlook, surges sale and helps you surpass your competitors in terms of revenue.
While this isn’t completely unattainable, the scarcity of viewer attention suggests against this huge gamble. It is highly unlikely that only one video will succeed at pleasing a mass of your prospects. So instead, your video marketing campaign should entail a consistent stream of content to suit the target market.
The first time you create a video, you will most likely get it wrong. So, to fine-tune your initial effort, you need resources on hand. Therefore, going all out on one video will be a bad decision.
Read more: 5 Types of Videos Every Business Should Make to Prosper
4. Use context correctly
With video sharing options such as YouTube, social media and your website available at hand, now that the worst is over – the video is created – where do you upload it to achieve the maximum results? Well, as we mentioned earlier, to achieve this, knowing the context of your visual content is key to stack the odds in your favor.
Bear in mind that when we talked about YouTube harming a brand’s video content marketing strategy earlier, we didn’t mean there aren’t the right ways to leverage the disruptive video sharing platform.
Take the example of ASOS. Its YouTube channel has a consistent stream of videos coming in, which are not directed towards sales but towards maintaining the already well-established brand image. Therefore, spend some time thinking about which video goes where.
5. Build in regular analysis
The key to sustainable growth is regular metric tracking. Keep KPIs close and delve into regular weekly analysis to devise a strategy the most optimal for your content.
Remember, even if your video does exceptionally well and garners tons of views, the view count is not the correct metric to measure if you’re looking to drive sales.
You need to pay close attention to the percentage of people taking the desired actions. Metrics such as engagement (i.e., percentage of the video watched), play rate, social shares, interaction, and conversions are key metrics to analyze to perfect your video content marketing.
The takeaway
Delivering video should not be your end goal. You want to devise a cutting-edge marketing strategy that helps ensure that your message reaches out to your target audience. The above tips will help you take on video content marketing more holistically, meeting your goals, along with your audience’s, while striking that win-win balance.
