An Expert's Quick Video Tips To Make Your YouTube, Google, Facebook and Pinterest Video Marketing More Professional
My Top 8 Video Tips In Short
- Personalize your videos when you can.
- Include interaction and engagement tools when possible based on content purpose.
- Don’t guess what content people want, use these tools to know.
- Know your video duration lengths and alter based on the video type and purpose.
- Involve someone else through a partnership, review or unboxing.
- Always include captions in your videos, or more than 80% of people won’t know what they’re watching.
- Keep the sound off. Let the viewer decide if he or she wants to listen to your video or watch the captions. Don’t auto-start sound.
Personalize Your Videos
You’ve seen personalized videos before, without considering the interactive magic behind it. People are enchanted with customized content – seeing their own name or likeness easily pulled from their social media profile creates a unique experience. In a world full of content, people crave unique.
Personalization allows the relationship between the brand and the public to develop into a more intimate affair. One with content designed for engagement. Toss in someone’s name, and you’re far more likely to get and hold their attention.
A good example are the celebratory videos that Facebook creates automatically to commemorate friendship anniversaries or as a retrospective at the end of the year. The base is the same for all users, but people’s photos and names are embedded according to their own profile.
Include Engagement Tools
Not every video requires engagement. If you’re in the real estate development, customization or personalization niche you may already be using an engagement tool embedded on your website.
These such tools allow viewers to become doers, giving them the impression of interactivity and involvement, and who doesn’t like to feel involved. A quick video with a clickable quiz at the end in a Name Your Own Adventure style that takes the viewers to a specific content or reaction based on his or her choice.
Of course, as your brand grows, you may consider extending your reach into virtual or augmented reality. Give your viewers and customers a sense of really experiencing your product or service.
As a company you can use these interactive embedded tools to present new ideas, products, and services and even work on building or rebranding your brand persona.
Know What Content People Want
If you work in marketing or have experience marketing on social networks, you probably already know that there’s little room for speculation on what people want. You guess wrong, and you alienate a viewer of your video ad and most likely won’t get back their set of eyes and wallet.
It’s imperative that you take full advantage of the many online tools available to learn what your buyer person is currently watching and wants to see and/or learn. Google Keyword Planner, YouTube Statistics and following the social media accounts of your top competitors are great places to start.
After all, getting to know your target audience well includes knowing which platforms your content is most consumed on. It’s important to know what time to launch your message, on what days and in what format. Two easy ways to do this is to invite a select group of customers to join in the process by creating a group to preview and provide constructive insights, or incentivizing a quick poll directed to your top customers before you release your next video.
Know The Best Video Duration
For a long time, marketers have invested in shorter productions, after all, no one has the patience or time for long videos. Although easier to consume, short videos cannot be as informative and detailed, nor do they create an emotional connection. You’re building a brand, not trying to sell a quick $17 product. If you want your viewers to become long-term customers they need to get to know you, your products and your brand and that takes more than 35 seconds.
Longer videos full of quality content helps keep people interested in what your company has to say, and they more open to developing a relationship with the brand.
With longer timestamps on your videos of up to 11 minutes, you have the luxury of making a real connection by sharing engaging stories of real people. Real customers of your products or services will always sell better. Avoid accidentally creating an infomercial, though. You want to tell stories, educate your buyer persona, and showcase your personality. Let viewers get to know you.
Involving A Third Party In Your Video Content
Real people and experiences matter. Think of this as a referral to help build the credibility of your brand by allowing someone else to talk about it.
You can include a marketing partner or ask a current customer to take out his or her smartphone and film a quick product review, or even hire a YouTuber to give your product the unboxing experience.
Captions In Videos Are Necessary
Most people watching your videos whether on YouTube or as an ad across the Google Discovery Network is going to view your video on a mobile device with the sound off.
Without bold captions on your videos, only about 20% of viewers will know what they’re saying and promoting. Caption your videos and make sure the captions are set to ON in your video marketing campaign settings.
Keep The Sound On Mute
Facebook Users Prefer No Sound
80% of viewers are annoyed when videos auto-play sound. While 85% watch videos with the sound off.
Remember when Facebook launched the autoplay feature? The videos played along as the user ran the timeline. This started the need for auto-mute as users watched on their phone in public places. No one wants everyone on the subway to know what hilarious but embarrassing video they’re watching.
Across all video-delivery platforms from YouTube, Facebook and Instagram, people are overwhelmingly choosing to watch videos with the sound off. I highly recommend you caption your videos while setting each to begin with no sound. Sound set to autoplay will leave a negative impression of your brand to the viewers.
YouTube isn’t the only video marketing platform in town. Here’s a list of other options you may find more profitable. Keep Learning >
Struggling to seize the video market for your brand? Consider outsourcing your video creation to experts. I’ll tell you how and where. Keep Learning >