Are you thinking about adding videos to your marketing strategy? If so, you’re not alone. Business owners and marketers around the globe have quickly figured out that videos are one of the best ways to grow their brand. More people watch videos online than ever before, and that isn’t going to change any time soon. In fact, a whopping of shoppers say they want to see even more video content from their favorite companies. There are plenty of advantages that come with creating videos to promote your business. For starters, you’ll have more opportunities to spread brand awareness and convince first-time visitors to engage with your content. You’ll also get the chance to learn about your target audience’s goals and pain points, which can lead to more opportunities to shine a light on your product or service. Today, I want to share several powerful ways you can take your video content to the next level. The following tips can help you curate your video marketing strategy and boost sales, engagement, and website traffic. Ready? Let’s dive in!
Determine Your Marketing Goals
The very first thing you need to consider before creating a new video is your marketing goals. In other words, what do you hope to achieve through your video strategy? Ideally, you should create videos that line up with the various stages of your marketing funnel. For instance, if your goal is to enhance brand awareness, you may want to consider creating a video series that talks about common industry pain points. If someone is looking for advice and types in keywords relevant to the problems discussed in your videos, there’s an excellent chance they will find your content.
You can now create a follow-up video that shows visitors how investing in your product or service can help them solve their pain points or reach a specific goal. This type of content is excellent for bringing in visitors in the consideration stage of the funnel. In other words, these people understand their problem but need to find a solution.
It’s also possible to create videos with user-generated content to build loyalty among existing subscribers and customers. You could choose to interview a well-known industry expert or read testimonials from people who’ve bought and used your product. These strategies will inspire loyalty and advocacy, both of which are crucial for forming a successful video marketing strategy.Believe it or not, of internet users watch video content at least once a month. If you hope to convert some of these people into customers, you have to establish the strategies you’ll use to boost engagement, subscriptions, and conversions.
Create Eye-Catching Thumbnails and Titles
You’ve likely heard people say that a picture is worth a thousand words. This statement is not just applicable to old-school photographs and paintings; it also applies to video thumbnails. Most people will decide if they want to hear what you have to say based on your title and thumbnail alone. There are a few “golden rules” I follow when creating video thumbnails and titles. First, avoid clickbait at all costs. Your video preview should accurately represent the content. We’ve all seen over-the-top headlines like, “Make $1,000,000 in one week while you sleep!” While clickbait titles do tend to get more traffic, they very rarely result in sales. In fact, many people refuse to click on future videos if they feel like they were manipulated by a previous post. Your cover image should also stand out from everyone else making similar videos. So, if you intend to upload your video to YouTube, you may want to type in your keyword first and see what other people are doing. If everyone has a green background in their thumbnail, you can make your video pop by using a red backdrop.
Once you upload a few videos, don’t be afraid to test different titles and images. You may find that a small change can have a significant impact on your traffic and overall visibility.
Don’t Neglect Video SEO
Now, let’s talk about how search engine optimization (SEO) can directly impact your video marketing ROI. If people cannot find your videos, you’re going to have a hard time generating traffic and engagement on your content.
The first thing you’ll want to do is decide what keywords you want to use in your video. I suggest using Google’s Keyword Planner to determine popular keywords and phrases with medium to low competition. The goal is to rank for these words so your videos will appear in relevant search results.Include these keywords in your title, video description, and throughout your content. If you’re uploading your video to YouTube, you’ll also want to add relevant tags so people can easily find your videos. It’s also important to write a transcript for each video. You may be tempted to use an automated tool to write a transcript for closed captions. But the truth is, you could disrupt your SEO strategy by skipping this step. Voice recognition software has come a long way over the last several years, but it’s far from perfect. An automated tool might get most of what you’re saying right, but if it misinterprets your keywords, search crawlers will have a difficult time ranking your videos. You may be shocked to learn that only optimize their videos for searchability. When you consider the impact of SEO on brand awareness, it’s clear that this is one step no marketer should skip.
Engage with Your Audience
Finally, I want to discuss why you should always engage with your viewers before and after publishing a video. The number one reason why engagement is meaningful is it helps build rapport with your audience, which leads to more views, traffic, and conversions. Research shows that of people are more likely to continue engaging with a brand if they offer a personalized experience. When you respond to what your viewers say on your video, you create unique interactions and encourage further engagement. I recommend posting your video to the social media channels of your choice and encourage your audience to share it if they found it helpful or interesting. When you consider that the average person spends on social media every day, it’s easy to see how this strategy can enhance awareness and build social proof. You can take this tip a step further by hosting video premieres and live presentations. Use this time to interact with your audience in real-time. You’ll find that plenty of people are interested in your product or service, but they likely have a few questions. If you’re there to answer their questions through a Q&A session at the end of your live video, you could see a higher conversion rate on your call-to-action.
Back to You
As you can see, there are plenty of ways to maximize the value of your video marketing ROI. The tips presented today can help you climb through the search results, turn more first-time visitors into subscribers, and grow your business. Like all marketing strategies, you have to spend some time discovering what works best for your brand based on your budget, goals, and target audience. I believe that these tips are helpful for online business owners or marketers looking to take their video marketing strategy to the next level.