Video marketing is an art and the success of any marketing depends on the promotion and distribution of your content.
The 80/20 rule applies to video marketing as well where we produce videos 20% of the time and optimize the videos, distribute or repurpose them 80% of the time.
Today I am going to give you the exact tips which will help you get the video marketing success that your brand deserves. All you need to do here is to start using the tips below and you will see a drastic change in your engagement and conversions.
This will include tips on how to create videos, which platforms to leverage your video content on and best ways to optimize your videos even if you are just starting.
Let’s dive in:
Having subscribers on YouTube means having a loyal following who like you and what you are doing. It’s your job to ask the viewers to subscribe and share your video. This can be at the start of the video or at the end of the video. Easiest thing is to show them how to do it. Here are the steps:
a. Create a YouTube channel if you do not have one
b. Here is a screenshot of how to ask your audience to subscribe:
After subscribing to your channel, a bell will appear as shown in the image below so ask your audience to press that to get notified when you publish a new video
c. Many times, you will share your channel with your prospects so here is a sneaky little trick to get them to subscribe. But first get your channel id as marked in the red box below. It is after the “/ “ sign and includes the “?”
After this create your own link as below:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/(YOUR CHANNEL ID)sub_confirmation=1
When you create this new link and pass it to any of your prospects, they will see a pop-up box as seen in the screenshot below:
BOOM! There you have it!
Your prospects receive proposals daily and you need to stand out from the entire crowd. What better way than using a video in the proposal. Check out this tool called Better Proposal which helps you create amazing proposals and embed video inside it. A simple personalized video to go along the written agreement will help you stand out from your competition.
The dashboard of Better proposals looks like follows:
You have different templates to choose from as shown in the image below:
Once you choose a template from the step above then you can customize the template as shown in the image below or create a completely new template if you wish to
To start creating your proposal see the screenshot below
Then make your choice…
Enter the details on the next page as shown in the screenshot below and press the next button in the top right corner:
Edit the existing the tabs and add/delete pages according to your needs
After pressing the ‘Add to Page’ button on the upper right-hand side of the screenshot above, you will see various blocks that you can add to the specific pages of the proposal including videos and here is your chance to create a great impression
I personally use a video that repeats the benefits that they will be getting by using our services. Also, please make sure to have case studies because in your proposal along with testimonials (preferably video) to create that extra impact.
After filling out the template, press the button as shown in the screenshot below
And then comes the last step where you send the proposal as shown below:
Now before you start using better proposals, I would recommend that you take a tour of the application by yourself to fix the minute details like uploading your logo, payment settings, etc.
If you are not making use of social media platforms and repurposing your video content then you are missing out BIG time. Here are a few ways that you can repurpose your video content.
a. Create blogs: A simple video can be transcribed using services like Rev and after removing the “umms” and “aaas” you can actually have a blog post. If you are too busy then you can hire someone from Upwork or Fiverr to do this for you and create some graphics.
b. Create a LinkedIn article out of the video as seen in the screenshot below:
c. Post the article on Medium
d. Find the relevant question on Quora and make sure to post it in the form of an answer by searching the keywords from your video
e. Upload the video to YouTube
f. Upload the video to Facebook (Facebook Business Page, Profile)
Go to your Facebook Page and press the button as shown in the red box below:
g. Use Instagram to post the most crucial part of the video as a new post. Post the link to the video in your bio and ask your audience to check it out.
Also, use Instagram stories to ask your audience to check the link to your video. Check this link to see how to embed video link into Instagram stories.
h. Use Snapchat to tell your viewers about the new video and also add the link to your snaps. Check out this article on how to do it
In this way, if you produce 1 piece of content each week, then you can post it on different channels preferably on different days then you have an influx of traffic coming in. Make sure to use a Bitly link to see which channels are working the best for you for driving traffic and double down on them.
I have a few tips coming up later in the post about how to optimize the videos on social platforms later in the report.
The script is the heart of the project for any kind of video so you can have the most amazing graphic or a Hollywood production but without a compelling script, the video is destined to fail. A good script positions your audience as the hero of the story and you are the guide that helps them achieve their end destination. Here is a video that explains about storytelling with amazing breakdown of each aspect: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hDp9hVDL49Y
Below are the exact components which you can use as a guide if you are just starting off:
Here is a video example which incorporates the above script structure: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RGUXEPjeFoM
As a rule of thumb, 150 words correspond to 1 minute of a video always make your video precise and make sure that they are talking directly to your audience.
When you know that the person has gone an extra mile and taken the time and effort to send a video to you then it matters. Especially on Twitter where there is so much action and so many tweets going up each second. Please remember that you need to have Twitter App for sending these personalized messages.
Here is an article which exactly describes how to use twitter video and show your connections that you really care and value them.
Gary V explains it in the following video in an amazing way: https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1&v=AzNw1vymcBQ
Now I know that this can be a challenge and many people are camera shy and not confident. I will explain you in a bit how to make sure that you create an amazing video in spite of the camera shyness. But before that, you have to understand that when people see you and hear you then it is much easier for them to trust you. Using explainer videos when you have a service based business or just have a product demo video when you have a product based business can do most of the heavy lifting for you. But if you want to go the extra mile then videos which showcases you, your company culture and client testimonials is a MUST.
If you have the budget, then a professional team with the latest equipment will definitely do wonders.
But how do you create these videos when you are on low or limited budget?
Here are the exact steps:
With all these information at hand, you have no excuse to start creating your videos right now!
According to Digiday, 85% of Facebook videos are watched without sound. This means people who are commuting or scrolling their feeds while doing some other activities like gym, walking their dogs, working in the office, etc. are watching videos on silent. Now you might argue that these people have headphone but I am making an educated guess here depending on my own habits.
Alternatively, you can make the case that people love more graphically engaging content.
Now we don’t want to keep anything on chance so why not simply have subtitles for your videos so irrespective of how people prefer to watch their videos, your message almost always gets through.
So let’s see how can you add subtitles to your Facebook videos:
a. The easiest way here is to use a company like Rev who can give you a .srt file which you can upload to Facebook. So here is how you do it:
Once you have the video ready, upload it to your personal Facebook profile or business page as below:
After this, the following screen will pop up:
Now the file you have got will have its own naming convention but Facebook requires you to upload the .srt file using the naming convention “Filename.EN_US.srt” so make sure to edit your file name accordingly or you will get an error
And, that’s it!
There you have your subtitles ready for your video on Facebook.
b. Now if you don’t want to pay then there is another quick fix to get your .srt file and for this, you need to take the help of YouTube so let’s see, how it works.
Upload your video as taught to you in Tip 2, point E
After this Go to Creative Studio as shown below:
After this follow the 3 steps mentioned in the image below:
Now YouTube will do it’s magic and auto voice transcribe as shown below:
Chances are that there might be errors so check it and make sure to sync all the frames which is pretty easy.
After this, press the Save Changes button in blue as seen in the top right corner of the image above.
Then download the .srt file as shown in the screenshot below:
Save the .srt file on your desktop or any other location you prefer to have it saved
Log in to Facebook personal or business page and follow the steps mentioned in point A above
Now go and have some fun with the subtitles and see the power of silent videos doing the magic for you
This is a very simple tip but a high converting video always takes branding into consideration.
The message, colors, and feel of your video should match that of your website, landing pages, emails and social media.
Any deviation from your branding and the user senses a disconnect and you are most likely lose your prospect
Your audience is bombarded by so many videos every day on their social media feeds. Let it be Facebook or YouTube, it’s your responsibility to make your prospect wait in their tracks and see what you got to offer. This means that your first impressions can make or break your entire video marketing campaign
Now how do you create intriguing headlines?
It’s almost similar to the scripting of a video and should mention a benefit that your audience can expect after watching a video. It should also mention the time span if possible to show how fast the viewer could expect the results
Here are a few ways to create amazing headlines for your videos:
I actually wrote an article with this title in the screenshot above about explainer videos.
Believe it or not, video testimonial from your clients works way better than a simply written testimonial. Make sure to give your clients an incentive so that they are more than happy to create a video for you. If you have the capacity to visit the clients in their office and create a short video then definitely make sure to use this opportunity.
The video testimonials should mainly answer these three questions below:
Always have case studies on your website with these videos so that it establishes you as an authority in the mind of your prospect.
You can also use these videos in your advertisements and your proposals to give you the extra edge over your competition
Let’s be honest – Wouldn’t you like it if someone can show you how to do things than just tell them?
Now imagine having someone from the custom success team, sending you a video explaining things and solving your issue.
Won’t this make you feel that someone really cares about you and is ready to go the extra mile to give you such an amazing personalized experience?
This is the exactly what a video does.
Chances are that there is a question that comes up more often than others. So why not just create a video and put it on your website in the form of FAQ or then send this video via email when this question pops up.
Imagine the amount of time that you can save and your customer service can spend more time solving the critical issues.
Think about the last time when you were sitting down and watching your favorite Game of Thrones season. At the end of each episode, you will have a small teaser for the next week’s episode. The sole purpose behind this is to create curiosity in your viewers’ mind.
Now you may or may not like Game of Thrones as much as me but you get where I am pointing.
As mentioned in tip number 6, Techsmith has some amazing editing products like Camtasia, which you can use to create these teasers.
Just make sure to put the most interesting parts of the video in the teaser and plan it in advance. You can use these small teasers on all your social media platforms to increase the anticipation in your customers’ mind.
After creating the video funnel, it is time to optimize the videos. You should check which videos are doing well and which videos need adjustments so that you can get maximum conversions.
To check the performance of each video in your funnel, you should consider metrics like engagement, video views, bounce rate, conversions, etc.
Our friends at Wistia has come up with this amazing article to define the video metrics. This article gives you all the information you need to know to analyze and optimize the videos along the entire funnel.
For improving the metrics of videos across various social media channels, you can check out this precise article from our friends at Buffer.
To conclude this point, everything is about testing and you should test each video for optimization. After testing and tweaking, you will realize that some videos are working better than others. The more you test, the better formula you will come up with to create videos that are best suited for your business.
To explain this point, I am going to give you an analogy of a movie.
Imagine that you saw a movie trailer on YouTube and you became curious about what you saw. The next thing you know is that you are watching the movie in the cinemas with your friends or family. You then watch the making of a particular scene that you really loved in the movie. You feel emotionally involved and connected and this really leaves a long last impression on you. So much so that you tell all your friends how awesome the movie was and buy it to watch it once again.
Your customer’s sale cycle is similar and I am going to describe it below:
photo from: SevenGMedia
a. Make the first contact with your audience with the help of an advertising a teaser video as a part of your marketing campaign. This video should be a very high-level teaser video talking about an ideal situation that your audience can achieve or the possibilities that your target audience can achieve working with you. Don’t keep this video more than 30 seconds in length. The only reason for this video is to create enough intrigue to get your audience to your website or landing page.
b. Once the prospect is on your website or landing page, you should have a more specific explainer video talking about the detailed benefits that your product/service can help your prospect with this. This video can be around the 90-second mark and can extend up to 2 minutes at most. The purpose of this video is to create further intrigue and ask the audience to take a call to action like booking a demo call or download any lead magnet that your prospect might be interested in exchange for their emails.
c. After knowing what they can exactly expect after working with you, the prospect might want to know your process and here is where you have a ‘How to video’ which mainly talks about the process of how you help them. This video can be a bit longer but keep it to the point.
d. Once you have the prospect thoroughly intrigued and they know enough about your business, build an emotional connection with the ‘About Us’ video. This video should mainly show them your company culture and should ideally feature some employees. Your company’s story and how it was formed makes for a great topic and is very interesting for most of the prospects. Remember, stories are 22x more memorable than facts according to MarketingProfs
e. Solidify your credibility with customer testimonial videos
f. Create a video which answers the most frequently asked questions to clear any further doubts in the mind of your prospects
g. If you have done everything right till now you have a well-qualified prospect. With the combination of email marketing and/or Facebook retargeting campaigns, you can further influence the buying decision of your prospect until they become your customer. The videos that you can use in these campaigns is the detailed description of each benefit that you hammer the point home. Remember, not all prospects will buy immediately and therefore you have to keep on proving them free value. When they see you everywhere and when you are relevant in their lives, there will be a point in the future that they WILL buy from you.
h. Once they buy from you then you should implement detailed walkthrough videos which help them navigate through your products/services.
i. Beyond this, your customer success team can also use videos to help your customers solve their issues and create an awesome experience for your customer.
Now the funnel I have mentioned above is a generalized funnel and you need to test everything to see what is working well for you. You can use a mix of videos to make them fun. Remember, that engagement is the key to have a successful video and this brings us to the next point about testing your videos.
This is big. You must be sure that the content that you create will appeal to your audience.
There is no point just hitting mud against the wall and see what sticks.
Here is how you find proven to work content:
b. Put your keyword in the search box as shown below and apply various filters as you wish:
As you can see above, we get a detailed list for the particular keyword along with the number of times the content has been shared across social media.
Clearly, people like this content so your job is to go and check the content and see what you can do better.
DO NOT copy the content but see what can be improved and put your own twist on it and create videos accordingly.
You now have all the tools that you can start implementing to create a winning video marketing strategy. If done properly, these tips can take you far ahead of your competition. Even if you are just starting up, you can implement these simple tips to take your business to the next level.
Do try these tips and let me know in the comments below if you find them useful.
This trick is hardly being used by anyone and is therefore very special.
Most of the time, people have their contact information, company address and social media icons in the email signature.
Imagine using a video here!
I promise you that everyone who pays attention to the email signature will definitely press the video link since it is intriguing.
There are various email signature software out there but I love Wisestamp because its free version is pretty awesome as well. So here are the steps that you can follow to include videos in the email signature
a. Login to the Wiststamp website using your Facebook or Gmail account or any other email you use
b. Now I used my Google for business email to sign up and here is how the screen looks like:
c. Fill in the details, and upload your image as shown in the image below:
d. Then, scroll a bit below and choose the social tab and select the ‘Watch my YouTube video’ tab
e. Follow the steps as shown in the image below to add the YouTube video
f. Similarly, you can choose the other social media items or various available options offered by WiseStamp and then press the Ok, I am done button as shown below
And that’s it!
In general, I would recommend having your own video here talking about your story or about your company culture to create that emotional attachment with your prospect.