If you want to increase site traffic, digital video marketing is key. With a 100 percent year-over-year growth rate, the highest click-thru rate of all digital ad formats, and ad revenue increasing from $2.8 billion in 2013 to an expected $5 billion in 2016, according to Business Insider, this is a must-have component of any successful digital marketing campaign.
But with YouTube touting one billion unique visitors each month and Facebook reporting an average of one billion video views per day, the video market is pretty crowded. How can you leverage video advertising to increase site traffic? Here are four strategies for success:
Search Engine Optimization
YouTube's videos are indexed on Google and usually come up first in search engine results pages. For effective SEO, remember that spiders and bots can't see your video. Make sure you're optimized by including title tag information, long video descriptions and keywords that identify your link as visual content and make it more likely to climb to the top of search results.
Create a Video Channel
To increase your share of users' attention, capitalize on YouTube's evolution from a video-based site to a channel-based site driven by subscriptions. Having a channel that's regularly updated with relevant, engaging content encourages return visits. Building rapport builds loyalty, so when viewers do visit your site, they're ready to convert. Organize your videos into a keyword-rich playlist, which makes your content easier for bots and your audience to find.
Engage With Your Audience
Subscribing, liking and sharing videos tells other users — and social media sites — that you're producing great content. Adobe's Social Intelligence Report for Q1 2014 shows that engagement with video posts is up 25 percent year-over-year, which makes maximizing your engagement and encouraging audience interaction critical for visits and conversions.
Design a Seamless Experience
Make sure you integrate your brand across channels for a positive, effective and seamless user experience. Remember to include a clear call-to-action at the end of your video, add a content description with a short call-to-action and your website's URL, and use the YouTube overlay option to include a banner ad that sits on the lower third of your video.
These days, it's about quality visitors, not about going viral. Capitalize on the video content explosion to build brand awareness, engage with viewers and benefit from customer evangelism — all of which will ultimately drive traffic to your site.
