Video advertising is a powerful component of online marketing. YouTube touts reaching more fans with their popular videos than similar shows on cable networks, amounting to one billion unique users per month, with daily watchtime growing at 50 percent annually.
Stories of videos driving hundreds of thousands of visits a year to company websites from YouTube are becoming increasingly common, yet many marketers continue to view video as simply commercials. They also still tend to measure ROI in terms of views. But video is much more than promos and views. Here are five tips to make sure you get video right.
1. Don't Be a One-Hit Wonder
YouTube is evolving from a video-based site to a channel-based site driven by subscriptions, notes KISSmetrics. You should have a channel that's regularly updated with new content to stay fresh and engaging, increase your YouTube presence and build your audience.
Since you're using video to promote your brand, make sure you use an identifiable logo for your channel and add a compelling channel listing — complete with catchy descriptions, thumbnails to your other videos and, of course, a great headline.
2. It's All in the Script
If you want to really grab people's attention and give them an incentive to buy your product, it's a mistake to think you can make a pretty video and disregard the actual content.
KISSmetrics reports a study that indicates that viewers decide within 15 seconds of a video whether they're going to watch or bounce, so start off with a great intro that piques viewers' curiosity and keeps them engaged. For new visitors, upload a trailer that showcases your channel and encourages them to subscribe.
3. Be Relevant
Think of video less like a commercial that's trying to sell something and more like a blog that's going to set you up as a credible expert who's offering something useful. For example, if you run a furniture store, upload decorating ideas and how-tos.
4. Be Engaging
YouTube's algorithms place value on interaction. Once you've grabbed the user's attention with your relevance, great script and constant channel updates, you can introduce a few annotations (text overlays) that include information, links and hot spots to inform and encourage engagement.
Use the video descriptions to promote your website, and place icons to like, favorite and share your video. And just like your blog, encourage comments and feedback by posting a question to spark discussion.
5. Learn to Measure
Many marketers think that a video must go viral to be successful. Lisa Green, head of industry for fashion and luxury at Google, told Business News Daily that the "true metric for success on YouTube is engagement." Views may drive brand awareness, but for better success with the site's algorithms, users watching your full video and driving them to your website is the metric for success.
Think about the big picture when it comes to video advertising if you want to use it to its fullest potential in your digital marketing strategy.
