So you’ve got a video. You’ve likely spent a fair amount of time planning / producing / reviewing / revising and have budgeted accordingly for the production of it. Now what? Did pre-production preoccupy your plans for post-production (say that 5 times fast!)? Did you underestimate the resources required to broadcast your newest audiovisual wonder to the world?
Video is (literally) in our name and production is our game. We’ve put together some tried and true methods to up your post-post-production game that will help ensure as many – and the most important – eyeballs are tuned into your video as possible.
Uploading 101
First things first, upload your video to a streaming platform. YouTube, Wistia, Vidyard and Vimeo are among our top recommendations with each serving a slightly different purpose and benefit. You’ll find distinctions among all platforms and it’s a best practice to continually evaluate your metrics and the success of your video on each.
It may seem like a no-brainer but the subsequent suggestions in this post hinge on this one simple step. Don’t have an account? It’s free to create basic accounts on most streaming platforms and with your first professionally produced video in the can, there’s no better time to start.
With YouTube owning the largest slice of the streaming pie (read: over 1 billion users and 1 billion hours of content streamed daily), be sure to take full advantage of their features when uploading your video, including:
- Tagging; at least 10, as many as 500. Keeping tags relevant to your subject matter helps the metadata for your video, making it easier to find.
- A Description that is concise but compelling while striving to include your top search terms for ease of searchability. Hot tip: the first 150 characters are visible before clicking “more”.
- A Thumbnail that is catchy and customized. Remember that high resolution is best with your branding and/or logo incorporated.
- A clever Title; 70 characters is optimal, 100 characters is the maximum. Prioritize the inclusion of a primary search term or phrase in your title.
Utilizing these features will optimize your chances of being found – and standing out – among the crowd on the popular video network.
Other sites to consider…
In addition to, or instead of uploading your video to YouTube, several other video hosting platforms have our attention and are worthy of yours too:
Wistia. A service dedicated to video marketing for businesses knows a thing or two about connecting brands and businesses with their desired audience. Seamless integrations connect your content to a variety of CRM programs, analytics software and more. Their reporting tool provides micro-data on viewers, including their level of engagement, playbacks and what they ate for breakfast! Depending on how much you value data as well as the other features Wistia has to offer, their tiered pricing works with your needs. A basic account is free which opens your budget up for breakfast sandwiches for the team from the cafe you frequent around the corner 😉
Vidyard. This Canadian based online video platform goes way beyond video hosting. Specializing in interactive and personalized video experiences, Vidyard aims to transform the way businesses use video. With similar integration and analytic capabilities as Wistia, Vidyard is focused on converting your views into action and your viewers into customers. Unlike Wistia, Vidyard offers customized pricing solutions based on your needs. -
Vimeo. The self-proclaimed “highest quality video player on the planet” is committed to display quality, with 4K video sharing capabilities across all devices; TV to tablet and everything in between. Social sharing to popular networks (Facebook and YouTube to name a few) appear as native uploads with stat tracking capabilities within Vimeo. Advanced stats for video views are available within Vimeo but the integration into your CRM tool is lacking. If the highest quality visuals are your priority, look no further than Vimeo. Like Wistia, tiered pricing is available based on your business needs.
The Benefits of Embedding
Once your video is live on a streaming site, go ahead and embed it onto your website. Depending on the nature of your video and website, embedding on your homepage versus a dedicated landing page will yield different results. Regardless of which page on your website you choose, the conversion and SEO benefits will be reaped. Because video is more likely to keep a captive audience on your website, search engines recognize this and improve your rank in searches. Likewise, conversion rates can increase up to 80% when video is featured on a landing page. Win, win!
Prepare for Video Liftoff
Now, make a plan to integrate the video into your email marketing campaigns. With a call to action (CTA) that links directly to the page you embedded your video on (thanks to the previous step!), you’ll now have a web visitor as well as a highly engaged email subscriber. This is the stuff retargeting dreams are made of! According to Precision Marketing Group, the inclusion of video in an email can increase click-through (CTR) rates 200-300%! Additionally, incorporating the word “video” into your subject line can increase opens and decrease unsubscribes.
Now, you may be wondering, “But is video a supported medium in email?”. Select few email clients support HTML5 video playback (in HTML5 format) within an email and it’s got a long way to go before the medium is widely supported (i.e., email giants like gmail have yet to jump on board the HTML5 train). A static image from your video or a version of the custom thumbnail you created for YouTube would suffice as a preview to the full video subscribers can watch on your website. Alternatively, tools like Giphy allow you to convert your video into an animated gif (up to 15 seconds long), a format more widely supported in email.
Shout it from the Social Media Mountaintops
Last, but certainly not least, don’t forget to harness the power of social media. We’ve already covered the power of video on Facebook (hyperlink to previous blog re: success on Facebook) so you’ll recall the importance of uploading your video directly to the platform versus sharing it via an external link. Same goes for Instagram feed uploads but bear in mind that you’re limited to 60 second maximums on this platform. Conversely, sharing to social media channels such as LinkedIn and Twitter can be done via the YouTube share function without compromising views and reach.
By leveraging these tips, your polished video will garner the attention it deserves and the results you desire: greater CTR’s, increased conversions, better ranking on search engines, and overall higher viewership.
