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Table of Contents What is Video Marketing and Why Should You Care?
what is video marketing and what makes it so successful? Advantages of Video Marketing
Video Marketing Statistics
Creating Highly Effective and Professional Videos on a Budget
Video Quality Setting the Scene Presentation Editing
Types of Marketing Videos
Where to Distribute Your Videos for Maximum Views
Using Your Videos as Ads on Other Sites and Videos
Choosing the Right Platform and Type of Video for Your Business
A Quick Guide to YouTube Marketing
SEO for YouTube
Working With Other Publishers
How to Make Sure Your Videos Make Conversions
Measuring Results and Honing Your Strategy
Conclusion
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Chapter 1: What is Video Marketing and Why Should You Care?
If your business or blog isn't using video marketing, then you are missing out on one of the most engaging, influential and potentially profitable forms of marketing of them all. Video marketing has the ability to grab attention and to help you establish authority in ways that no other form of marketing can approach; so it's absolutely vital that you start leveraging this type of marketing in your strategy as soon as possible. In fact, video marketing is so powerful that it could very well be all that you need in order to get word out about your business.
If you are already using video marketing though, then just as important is ensuring that you are doing so in the most highly effective way possible. Video marketing when done well is incredibly powerful but if your videos don't have the professional sheen that your viewers expect then they could actually harm your business.
It is thus essential that you are not just incorporating video into your marketing but that you are also doing so in the best way possible. By downloading this e-book, you have taken the first step towards doing just that and throughout the course of the following chapters we will be looking in depth at how to create and share fantastic, high-quality videos that will accelerate sales and catapult your business into the stratosphere.
But what is video marketing and what makes it so successful?
Video marketing is marketing via the medium of video on the web. In many cases, this means creating videos and uploading them to YouTube, though that is only one option.
Once you have created a great quality video for your marketing campaign that helps to promote your message and sell your product or service, the next step is to make sure it is seen by as many people as possible. Uploading to YouTube is one way to do this and YouTube has many advantages for marketers that make it a great asset. At the same time though, you might also want to use other platforms such as Vine and Vimeo and you might want to consider embedding your video on your own site. 
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Advantages of Video Marketing
There are several things that make video marketing particularly effective and more so than many other alternate options.
The most obvious advantage of video marketing is that it's so highly engaging. The human brain has evolved in order to pay attention to moving images and sounds and this is why we are naturally inclined to stop and watch the television when it's on in the background. Have you ever been talking to someone when there's a television in the room only to notice that they're actually looking straight past you and at the screen? The sound could be off and it could even be playing adverts but still some people will be almost unable to turn away. This isn't anything personal (usually), it's just a perfect example of how moving images hold our attention.
Another great example is a classroom. Do you remember when the teacher would say they were going to put on a video for a particular lesson? Even the noisiest of classes would fall silent and become very well behaved at this point – even when the topic of the video wasn't anything particularly interesting. Video has an almost hypnotic quality and this is an excellent trait for any internet marketer.
Another advantage of video is that it's passive. What this means is that your visitors don't need to 'actively' read anything or really put any effort in at all. As soon as someone lands on your page/finds the video on YouTube, it will start playing right away and they'll start absorbing that information. As we've already established, video is very hard to look away from so once you've caught their attention, chances are they'll watch to the end of the video.
In fact, because video is multi-sensory, your visitors don't even need to be looking at the page in order for it to be effective.
But more importantly: video is a fantastic opportunity for you to establish authority and create a relationship.
The key thing to realize about videos is that not every business or blogger has them and that means they can be used to set you apart from the crowd. Compared with written content or banner ads, creating videos requires a much bigger investment in time, a larger budget and more skill. All this means that simply having a video on your website will make your business look considerably more professional.
This is also why it's so incredibly important that you maintain high production values in your video marketing though. If your video consists of you sitting in your living room, stuttering and coughing while delivering your message, then you will turn people away from doing business with you. On the other hand though, if you have a video that has crisp HD imagery, amazing editing and professional narration then this will communicate to the viewer that your business is professional and worth taking seriously. Don't worry – this e-book will teach you how to create these types of video
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even without spending a fortune or spending years to become a professional video editor.
Finally, video lets you put your message across in a highly persuasive and engaging manner.
Once you have caught the attention of your viewers and dazzled them with your incredibly professional production values, you will then have the chance to put your message across in a vastly more persuasive manner than is possible through any other medium. This is because it will let you speak directly to your audience and to demonstrate them your passion for the products or services you provide. With the right video you can lend personality to your organization and build up a relationship of trust and authority. Music can help you to sell emotional points (great for putting across that value proposition) while the chance to actually speak and gesticulate on what it is you do will lend much more power to everything you say.
Video Marketing Statistics
In case you're still not sold on the sheer power of video marketing, take a moment to consider some of these statistics.
- One minute of video is worth 1.8 million words based on research conducted by Forrester Research.
- 100 million internet users watch online video Every Single Day.
- 90% of online shoppers say that video helped them with their buying decisions...
- YouTube is the second largest search engine in the world after Google!
So, with all that in mind, are you ready to start creating compelling and engaging videos to market your business? Read on...
Chapter 2: Creating Highly Effective and Professional Videos on a Budget
The first and most important aspect of video marketing is being able to create high quality and professional-looking videos. If you can't do this, then you won't be able to engage your audience and you won't be able to show yourself as a business that they can trust to provide great quality work.
Remember, the aim here is to show that your organization is highly capable and has great attention to detail. The presumption will be that
the quality of your video is indicative of the quality of your service or products, so you need to ensure that your viewers are blown away by your production values.
The only problem is that most of us aren't Steven Spielberg and if you have a small business or run a blog, you might not have the resources or the skills to create videos that can compete with larger organizations.
Don't worry: with the right strategy it's possible for anyone to create a video that evokes quality and has the desired effect. Read on and we will look at some strategies you can use to instantly increase the production values of your videos and impress your audience. Bear in mind that not all of these tips are going to be relevant in every case – different types of marketing video have different requirements which we'll come to later.
Video Quality
If you're filming the video yourself and you need it to contain footage rather than static images, then you need to make sure that it uses high quality footage. This means you need to think about the resolution, the framerate and the sound quality.
The first step to achieving this is to film at a high resolution with a camera that produces crisp, well-lit images. This will generally come down to the quality of your video camera and of course you are likely to be limited by your budget in this regard.
That said, there are some surprisingly high quality cameras you can get for a relatively small initial investment. The GoPro for instance records in 1080p (at least) and offers a wide-angle lens for capturing a lot in shot at once.
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Likewise, many smartphones these days actually offer incredibly high-res cameras. A great example of this is the Galaxy Note 4 which actually is capable of recording in 4K resolution.
If you don't have a high end phone though and you aren't able to shell out for a GoPro, then remember you can always ask others to use their devices. Most people should have at least one friend who has a camera that can record in 1080p – just ask if you can use it for a little while. Over time, as you start to see return on your video marketing, you will then be able to invest in more and more expensive equipment to increase the quality of your footage. Note that if you want to do things like blur out the background (macros) then you will need a more high-tech camera.
In terms of sound, the ideal situation is to have a separate microphone that you can attach to your collar or elsewhere to capture the sound clearly. If you don't have this option, then make sure that you aren't too far away from the camera and that the acoustics are good in the room that you're filming in. A high ceiling in an empty room can create echoes while a busy road outside will drown you out and can again make your video feel far less professional.
Setting the Scene
Video quality isn't just about the camera though. Just as important is making sure that you set the scene and the lighting will play a big part here. Essentially, you need to ensure that your room is well-lit so that your viewers can make you out well. This will also impact on the professionalism of the final product.
If you are willing to invest a bit more money into your video marketing, then you can always get hold of some professional lighting equipment (called light boxes). If not, then a desk lamp with an adjustable angle can actually do a surprisingly good job. Failing that, positioning yourself correctly by a window even is find. To create the most professional look you should aim to use 'Rembrandt lighting' which means that half your face will be light from a 90 degree angle. This is a little more dramatic and creates depth and contrast in your footage. You also need to avoid filming with any light sources directly behind the camera which can create glare and even damage the lens.
Next, consider the surroundings and what else is in the shot with you. As we mentioned earlier, a video films in your bedroom is hardly going to inspire confidence in your brand so you need to make certain that you have maintained a professional looking surrounding that one might expect to see a professional video filmed in.
The easiest way to do this is with a completely white backdrop. A white wall doesn't quite do the trick here though as it will have shadows and won't be completely white – instead you're trying to create the effect of 'infinite white' which should look like you're standing in the middle of a void (like that scene in the Matrix). It is possible to get professional white backdrops but in the interests of keeping your budget low, you can also actually use a bed sheet (pulled taught with some tape or some pegs) or a large
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piece of white paper. As long as the light is bright enough and you decrease shadows/contrast in post-production this can look surprisingly effective (and remember to iron that sheet!). The great thing about filming on infinite white backdrops is that they also give you most options in your editing, as you'll be able to move the subject around, introduce new elements etc.
Alternatively, you can just choose somewhere 'neutral' for your filming. This could be out in a park somewhere, or it could walking through town. These sorts of settings again remove the DIY element by taking you into a setting where people aren't going to see your dirty laundry in the background.
Finally, you can try creating your own backdrop using other materials. This might mean organizing some books in the background that are about your industry, or it might mean printing out a large poster with your logo on it. If you're fortunate enough to have a professional looking store or office, then it is acceptable to film from that environment but make sure you tidy up and choose the spot with the best lighting and the most interesting (without being distracting) background. Try to avoid using software that cuts you out of the image and creates fake backgrounds though as this tends not to look particularly professional, especially when your arm starts disappearing.
Presentation
Unfortunately the majority of us are not natural-born presenters and when you put yourself in-front of the camera you will quickly see just how hard the job of a television presenter really is. Not only do you need to look the part but you also need to deliver your lines confidently and professionally in a way that's engaging and without stuttering. If you are making lots of takes and find yourself stumbling over your lines, then a few things can help. The first is to write yourself a script first that you can read. Reading your lines will help you to speak much more fluently and with fewer errors but make sure it doesn't sound like you're just reading – you need to engage with the audience by sounding natural and enthusiastic as though you were talking to your friend about an amazing new deal you just learned about.
Another way to avoid stuttering is to film in multiple takes. Rather than trying to deliver an entire five sides of A4 in one perfect take, break it down into small chunks and then edit in between each one. If you watch back any professional video on YouTube you'll see that they do the same thing and that this constant stopping and starting actually aids the overall professional feel. This can be used to create better emphasis, to add to comic timing and more.
Remember to speak more slowly than you normally would (particularly because we tend to speed up when we're nervous), to enunciate and to make sure you are projecting your voice. And if you're unfortunate to be someone who doesn't have a particularly clear or professional sounding speaking voice, you may want to consider hiring someone who does. Alternatively, you could try slightly editing the pitch of your voice in post-production.
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Make sure as well that you are looking your best and wearing attire that is suitable for your video production. That might sound like a no-brainer but if you'd be surprised how many business owners think it's okay to record their video marketing in their old jumper. Remember that if things go well, you are going to be seen by thousands of people, many of whom might become important clients. Imagine you're going to your most important business meeting and dress accordingly. A little makeup can go a long way too but ask someone who knows what you're doing – no-one wants to buy from Ronald McDonald!
Editing
Once you have all your footage, the next step is to edit that into something cohesive and engaging. Editing can go a long way to making your video much more professional, even if the footage you've given yourself to work with is a little lacking.
The most important thing to keep in mind with your editing is that you want to remove pauses and silences. Try to ensure that your video has a 'flow' so there's no point where it feels lingering or awkward or where it might lose your viewers' attention. This is another reason you want to break long speeches down and then edit them together to remove the gaps. Generally speaking, the more you can cut away from the video, the better it will be. As we'll discuss more later, shorter videos tend to be more effective from a marketing point of view, so the more information you can get across in a short amount of time, the more efficient your video will be at helping you to sell.
As mentioned, cutting out a pause in your speech can also be useful for comic timing and for adding to the flow of your video. While this is true though, this kind of editing where you are almost 'cutting yourself off' tends to work better for less professional videos that are aimed at a younger audience. For B2B videos, or adverts, you may want to use a different approach to your editing.
Here, a professional looking technique is to film your script using two or more cameras running at once and set up from different angles. This way you can cut to a different shot and this means you can create the illusion of a continuous flow of dialogue (rather than having that awkward cut where your position changes just slightly). Changing angle like this also creates more movement in your videos and makes them feel more dynamic as a result. And by using more dramatic angles (say an upshot for instance) you can inject more emotion into your footage. You'll notice that this is how television documentaries and even new broadcasts work – they will switch to feeds from different cameras and even turn to face those cameras sometimes. In other cases, different angles might come with different effects – you might switch to a portrait shot for instance that is filmed in black and white. Don't do this on a whim though – think about what it is you're trying to communicate by adding the effect or switching the angle. In this case you might be trying to create more 'distance', class or nostalgia.
Of course in order to switch between angles you would normally use multiple cameras set up in different positions around the room. This is a good strategy but it does require
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a bigger investment and means you'll spend more time editing and uploading your footage. A more budget approach is to use a single camera and simply to change its position between takes.
The best way to get a feel for how to edit yourself in videos is to watch how others do it. Normally, if a video has been well edited we won't consciously notice what the camera is doing. Watch a video you like then that is in a style similar to what you're going for and then pay close attention to how the angles are changing, where the speaker is being cut off and what transitions are being used (see below). You can even try drawing up a story board and then emulating this yourself.
Effects and Transitions
The editing process is also where you will begin to add things like transitions and effects. This can also go a long way to increasing the feel of professionalism as long as you are using it well. Try to avoid 'gimmicky' effects that distract from the content and instead only use effects like slide-ins as transitions between edits. These should be subtle and more importantly consistent so that they're hardly noticeable. At the very least you want to add a 'fade in' and 'fade out' effect at the beginning and end of the video, with the only exception to that rule being videos that have been purposefully designed to look amateurish.
To do all this you are going to need a good piece of video editing software. Windows comes with Windows Movie Maker which is a free piece of software capable of very basic editing. While this might be enough for your needs, you'd be much better off using something a bit more premium such as Adobe Premier and After Effects. Premier is a much more feature rich piece of software that will also save you a lot of time when you're making your videos. It is a fair bit more expensive but it's worth it. What's more, you'll get the first month free as a trial through Creative Cloud, so you can make your first few videos for free. From there on it's subscription based service, so you only need to pay when you actually need it for that month. With a Creative Cloud account you'll also get access to PhotoShop and Illustrator, both of which can be useful for creating videos as we'll see, so it should provide a good ROI overall.
Extra Touches
Now you have a piece of well-edited footage featuring you speaking about your product/service/industry filmed on a high quality camera in a professional-looking setting. So far so good.
But you might find that your video is still missing a few touches that make the most professional videos really look professional. One of these is a video 'opener'. This may not be necessary for a video that is an out-and-out advert but if you have a YouTube channel with tutorials, instructions and other videos, then an opener can help you to build brand awareness and really add an extra level of professional quality.
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Of course you can make your own opener and if you're confident with video editing software this is a good strategy. You don't need to do anything fancy – simply creating a montage of your own footage with a logo over the top can do the trick as can a static 'splash page' with a jingle. Better though is to pay someone to do it and you can do this fairly easily using a service like Fiverr. Fiverr is a website where users sell a range of services all for five dollars and you might be surprised at the quality of work you can get here for that price. Pay someone on Fiverr to create a professional introduction for you and it will likely be far superior than anything you'd create yourself. Some users will also provide you with the option of getting the original file which you can then edit yourself for further customization and flexibility.
Likewise, you should also look into adding your logo onto the video itself. You can do this in most good video editing software – certainly in Premier – and simply adding your logo in one of the corners can go a long way towards making the video look more professional and further enhancing your brand awareness (this also prevents anyone from steeling your footage and claiming it as their own). If you don't already have a good logo then this is something else you should look into arranging immediately. Again you can get this cheaply from various sites, 99Designs being a good choice.
Another addition that may or may not be useful for your videos is to have screens with text. These can be used to 'introduce' the next scene (in a video that's a list of points for instance), to state questions to be answered in an interview or to share extra information such as a link to your website/pricing. Make sure to use a unique font – you can find plenty of free ones at Font Squirrel.
Finally, perhaps the most important 'extra touch' is your music. Music can go a long way to increasing the professionalism of your videos and making your viewers more emotionally involved in what's happening. Again this is something that is worth paying for, though you can get a lot of stock music from sites like 'Fiverr' relatively cheaply. The only thing to avoid is the music provided by YouTube as that is used on so many videos as to have become rather generic. If you can pay someone on Fiverr or another service to make you an original composition then this will be far preferable. Make sure that when you add this music, it doesn't drown out your voice and that you are careful to set the levels correctly. The best backing music should fade out slightly as and when you talk and rise in volume again during silent parts. Make sure it fits the tone and pace of your video and try a few different tracks to find the right one.
With all these tips you'll find that it's perfectly possible to create a highly professional looking and sounding video on a budget, even if you wouldn't consider yourself to be a 'pro' when it comes to video editing or presenting. If you do have more money to invest though, then of course another option is to hire a professional to create your videos for you or to design your video to avoid some of the challenges associated with the process. As we'll see, there are various different types of videos and not all of them will require you to go in-front of the camera.
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Chapter 3: Types of Marketing Videos
If you are concerned about going in-front of the camera for your video and you can't hire someone to take your place, then the good news is that there are some types of videos that you don't need to feature yourself in at all.
Some marketing videos for instance can work well just using images that move across the page like a PowerPoint presentation with speaking or subtitles over the top. Alternatively, you might want to get creative with your video content and do something completely unique and quirky. Here are some examples of the different types of video involved in video marketing. For your first video, it's smart to choose one of these that will help with your specific goals but that will also be relatively easy for you to create while you're still learning.
Adverts
A great television commercial can be incredibly effective at selling a product and increasing brand awareness and an ad that will go online is no different. As we'll see later there are plenty of uses for a video advertisement on the web and this is a very useful tool in any video marketing strategy.
The format of an advert interestingly can be incredibly varied. You can try to emulate a TV ad by giving your video a narrative or making it humorous with a 'hook'. Alternatively, you can make an advert a highlight reel of testimonials (short interviews) and shots of your product or service set to inspiring music. Finally, an advert can be you talking about your product and why you think people should buy into your business. Note that the latter two options are certainly easier for beginners and are probably the recommended strategy unless you're a particularly creative type.
Another type of advertisement video that is particularly useful for use online is to create a PowerPoint presentation style slide-show with you speaking over the top. You will see this kind of video used regularly on landing pages selling informational products for instance. These are the kinds of videos that show images of spreadsheets with someone talking over the top of them about how you can 'be earning thousands of dollars a day by selling e-books on Kindle'.
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The great thing about this type of video is that it is very easy to make because you can use static images (you don't even need a camera) and yet it looks professional and is highly effective at generating conversions. Of course it works very well too and that's the reason that so many internet marketers continue to use it (they also have a knack for persuasive pros, which we will come to later).
Viral Videos
Viral videos are adverts for the digital age that take full advantage of social media and other modern technologies. The idea of a viral video is essentially that you create something that is so highly sharable, that it will get spread around the internet naturally without you having to give it any marketing push, eventually resulting in a million+ views.
Whether or not a video 'goes viral' is something that will ultimately boil down to luck and even the funniest and most creative video in the world is not guaranteed to go viral if it's not seen by the right people. That said, you can increase your chances of getting a video to go viral by making sure that it's:
- Short – ensuring that the maximum number of people will watch through to the end
- Self-explanatory (the title alone should say what it is)
- Either very funny, very cute, very clever/creative or very 'unusual' in that it
normally wouldn't be seen - Topical
- Well-made (obviously)
- The kind of thing that people want to share
Of course these are rough guidelines and again certainly not set in stone. Gangnam Style was neither short nor self-explanatory.
Ultimately, think about the kind of content that would prompt you to run next door to show your partner. That's the kind of response your video needs to illicit. If that means spending hours setting up dominos so that they will fall over and spell your company name, so be it.
Vlog/Video Series
A vlog is a 'video blog' (and you might call a more professional version of this a 'video series'). In other words, this is the video equivalent of a blog post which means you'll be posting regular videos of you talking on a subject somehow related to your industry or niche. This is the option that certainly takes the most time and effort but it also has perhaps the best pay-off when it comes to making leads and conversions and building a relationship with your viewers.
Essentially, your objective with a vlog is to regularly deliver quality either in the form of useful information, or in the form of entertainment. Thus you will hopefully gain long-
term viewers who subscribe to you on YouTube/Vimeo or bookmark your blog. This will then give you the chance to demonstrate over time that you know what you're talking about and that you care about quality. Thus, when someone eventually finds themselves needing something you provide, they might be more likely to become a customer. At the very least they should sign up to your mailing list, thus becoming a lead that you can market to in other ways subsequently. This is the essence of 'content marketing' – content marketing doesn't just mean written blog posts.
This is when creating things like video openers and logos can come in particularly useful and the main challenge will be coming up with lots of unique video ideas. While this option takes a lot of work though, it also results in the best conversions – especially if you also have a blog.
Tutorials
A tutorial can be an instructional video relating to your industry/niche or it can be specifically describing your product or service. If you're selling a piece of software for instance, then your tutorial might just be a screen capture of you using that software and demonstrating all the features etc. This is an example of a video that's relatively easy to make, even when you don't have a camera. Good examples of screen capture software are Tiny Take or CamStudio, though there are many more besides.
Interviews
Interviews can be with your clients and customers, or they can be with you and the members of your team. These have a very professional vibe and are great for B2B services, especially if you are using them to get testimonials.
There are specific ways to film interviews that will make them look more professional. For instance, it is more common here to use shots from multiple angles and the background will often tend to be something related to your business (or perhaps the interviewee in their place of work). Small captions at the bottom of the screen should state the name of the person being interviewed and their job position and normally the questions and answers will be phrased in such a way that the question doesn't need to be heard and the answer is still self-explanatory.
So if you were to ask 'how long have you been using X product', their answer would not be '5 years' but rather 'I have been using X for five years now and I'm very happy with it'.
Events
Video marketing can work incredibly well in synergy with other marketing strategies – especially if you're throwing some kind of event in which case you can simply use footage of that event to help promote your business. This footage can be collected by you or you can hire a film crew to do it. How effective it ultimately ends up being will likely be a matter of your editing.
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Presentations
If you are giving any kind of talk or presentation for your business, then this will create the perfect opportunity for a marketing video. These talks are highly popular right now, which is owed at least in part to the popularity of the TED talks.
What's more, being seen giving some kind of presentation will help to establish you as a thought leader and authority in your industry. If you're hoping to be hired for conferences then this will obviously make even more sense as it will demonstrate what value you can provide.
Animation
An animated video can be used as an advert, a tutorial or an informative blog post. Often animations using simple colored outlines will be used for instance to explain what a business does or what their product does. This is essentially used in a similar way to a slideshow, except that the animation adds an extra layer of polish and professionalism on top. They can also be extra useful if your product is difficult to explain.
These sorts of animations can be made with video editing software, with Flash, with free software like PowToon or by hiring a professional. There are many other types of animated video you can create too – such as stop motion animations which are great for Vine (Vine is made up of 6-second videos) and which can feature your own products moving around, or such as 'whiteboard' animations which have the effect of someone drawing on a whiteboard. You can also get creative and combine these types of video and this can be useful for overcoming potential limitations in creative ways.
This brings to mind the 'indie game' industry. Indie games are computer games that are made by individuals or very small teams and that then go up against huge companies. These types of games of course don't have the huge budgets or human resources in order to create photo-realistic graphics and so instead they will often rely on 'artistic' styles instead. Perhaps that might be a purposefully retro looking game, or maybe it will be an artistic game that uses just two colors and silhouettes. This stands out and looks just as beautiful as the blockbuster games but doesn't require anywhere near the man- power to create. You can similarly compete with bigger budget companies by injecting some creativity into your videos and thinking of ways to overcome your shortcomings in terms of budget or expertise.
Of course this is just the tip of the ice berg when it comes to the many, many different types of video content you can create. There's no limit in fact and other options include amalgamations of all the above ideas, CGI videos, videos that users have submitted, montages, spoofs and more.
As a general rule though, the above list should cover you for the vast majority of scenarios and in the next chapter we'll look at when to use each type of video.
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Chapter 4: Where to Distribute Your Videos for Maximum Views
YouTube
Of course it's not much use making a stunning, professional looking video if no-one is going to see it. The right video marketing strategy means thinking about creating professional looking videos and then sharing them with your target audience.
The way you do this will depend on your resources, the type of video you've created and the nature of your business. Next then we will take a look at the various different options available to you for getting your video seen by the right people.
When it comes to video sharing, one name springs to mind: YouTube. YouTube is the single biggest video sharing platform out there, bar none. In fact it's so big that it's also the second largest search engine of any kind behind Google – bigger even than Bing or Yahoo!.
If you want to get your videos seen by the maximum number of people then, uploading your videos to YouTube is a great strategy. At the same time, this will allow you to build a list of subscribers who will be more likely to see subsequent videos as you upload them and it will give you a number of flexible options – enabling you to embed your YouTube videos elsewhere for instance. It is integrated with Google+ and YouTube videos that show up on Google's SERPs (Search Engine Ranking Pages) will have a thumbnail next to them which greatly increases CTR (click through rate).
YouTube even has its own in-built video editor, free music you can use and many other options like annotations and more.
YouTube is the number one place that people go when they're looking for video content, so if your video is part of a video series, it's a vlog or it's designed as entertainment that you hope to go viral, then it belongs on YouTube.
Vimeo
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Vimeo is the number one competition to YouTube and although it isn't quite as big, it does have some advantages. Firstly, Vimeo is generally considered slightly more 'professional' in that the videos that get uploaded are made by enthusiasts and are generally better quality – there are fewer cat videos and few kids reviewing their favorite games. This is useful from a marketing perspective because it can help you to give yourself a more professional impression by association.
Secondly, the fact that Vimeo is smaller can also be considered a good thing – basically because it means there's less competition. Here the question is whether you want to be a small fish in a big pond or... the opposite. Vimeo still has around 70 million monthly visitors, so it's still worth your time. Ultimately, if you have the resources, it can be useful to market yourself on both channels.
Vine
Vine is a service from Twitter where users upload six second videos. From the viewers' perspective this enables scrolling through a large amount of dynamic content and it tends to encourage very creative videos. This is the perfect platform for a stop-motion video or something else to that effect and it's currently very popular. From a business sense it also offers good ROI as it's very easy and cheap to make a six second video compared to a ten minute one.
Embedded in Your Content
If you have a website or a blog of your own (which you definitely should do), then you can also use your videos by embedding them here alongside your other content. Which pages you use your videos on and how they relate to your content will depend on the type of video, type of website and type of business you have.
A few common options though include the following:
Home Page
If you are a small business and your website is entirely about promoting and selling your product, then it's important to make sure that any visitors who land on your website learn instantly what it is that you're selling and how it works. Having a video right on your home page is a great way to do this. So for instance, if you have an EPOS system (Electronic Point of Sale – digital cash register) then you might incorporate a video right on your home page showing your visitors what an EPOS is and how it would benefit them as well as what sets your option apart from the rest. This would work very well with an animated video.
Landing Page
A 'landing page' is a page on a website designed entirely with the purpose of selling products. This will consist of persuasive text with no distractions and a big 'BUY' or 'ORDER' button at the bottom. The whole objective here is to sell and a video can help you to do this. Often these pages will be used by affiliate marketers (who make a
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commission on selling someone else's product) as well as bloggers with informational products. Either way, you can use a video featuring yourself or another PowerPoint- style video and use it to really sell your value proposition. It's quite common on these pages to put your videos on 'autoplay' so that they start the minute someone lands there.
In Your Blog Posts
If you're running a blog then you can use a video series or vlog to populate those posts. If you're trying to market a blog, then having a YouTube channel that can work with that synergistically is a very effective strategy. Likewise, you should make sure that your YouTube videos are linking back to your blog and if your YouTube channel is popular, then this is a great way to actually increase your 'page rank' (the perceived authority that your site has in the eyes of Google).
In a Widget
If you have a WordPress site or blog then another place to put your YouTube video is in a widget in one of the side menus. You can do this with a plugin and that will then allow people to see your videos no matter which one of your pages they land on. This is a very good way to quickly increase the views of your YouTube videos if you have a popular blog.
Social Media
Social media marketing and video marketing are two more forms of web marketing that go together very well. It's actually possible to publish your videos directly to Facebook, Google+ and other social media sites, or alternatively you can have your videos hosted on YouTube and post them that way. Finally, you can host your videos on your site or somewhere else entirely and then simply link to the video through social media.
Social media is an incredibly powerful tool for helping you to gain more exposure for your video and this is especially true when it comes to videos that have been designed specifically to be viral in nature. If you've made a viral video and it isn't on Facebook then you're severely neutering its potential power.
Other Uses of Marketing Videos
Of course there are once again many more options when it comes to hosting and distributing your videos and it can be used in a variety of other ways and in conjunction with multiple other marketing strategies. One less obvious example of a way to use video marketing for instance is to help with a Kickstarter campaign. Kickstarter is a crowdfunding site where you can promote an idea for a new product or service and gain financial backing from the general public – and an effective video selling the virtues of your plan is undoubtedly the single most important aspect in determining your success or failure here. You can also link to videos from e-mail marketing campaigns, or you can use your e-mails to increase the value for your existing customers. Pat Flynn of
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'SmartPassiveIncome.com' recommends sending your customers a tailor made video thanking them personally for ordering your products as a great way to demonstrate that you care about providing value and to help ensure they have a positive experience with you.
Using Your Videos as Ads on Other Sites and Videos
Of course you can also go the more conventional 'advertising' route by creating videos and having them play on the content created by other publishers. There are a number of ways you can accomplish this...
YouTube/AdWords
If you link your AdWords account with your YouTube account for instance, then you can have your videos play at the start of their videos.
This system uses a pay-per-view system whereby you only pay if a user watches your video to the end. You might have noticed that when you load a YouTube video, that video will often be preceded by a short ad that you can click to 'skip' after five seconds. This is where your video will go if you choose to go down this route but you'll only pay if the viewer doesn't click skip. This means that potentially you can increase your brand awareness to a large degree without spending very much money.
You also get to pick how much you pay per view, but it's important to remember here that a bidding system is used meaning that the more you pay, the more often your video will show. Normally the typical spend is around $0.1 to $0.23. You'll probably want to hover around the $0.10-$0.20 mark.
This system also allows you to choose where your ads will show up by location and what types of videos they will show on. This is very useful for ensuring that you are promoting yourself to a targeted audience that is within your target demographic. If you have a local business then you need to ensure that only local residents are seeing your content.
Other Ad Networks
When browsing the web, you might also have noticed that some websites have video ads embedded into them. If you would like to go that route then you can use an ad network that will distribute your videos across tons of other sites and likely charge you per impression (view). Popular choices include BrightRoll, SpotXchange, Auditude, AdoTube and more. Each has different terms and conditions and different advantages, so you might want to consider browsing around a few of them in order to find the one that best suits you.
Sponsoring
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Alternatively, if you find a website or a blog that you enjoy, then you can simply pay them to display your video on your page. Normally this will involve a set monthly rate which you'll negotiate, but it means you'll be able to decide precisely where you want your video to go and precisely who gets to see it. This way you can choose a site that is right in your niche/industry by not a direct competitor and that you know has a large and highly receptive audience.
Is it Worth Paying to Distribute Your Videos?
The question though, is whether or not it's worth it for you to pay to distribute your videos. Should you work on creating your own YouTube video and promoting it, or should you pay to have your videos shown at the start of other videos that are already popular?
As a general rule, for most people, the better strategy is to invest time and energy into developing your own YouTube channel or blog. This way you will be able to control your relationship with the viewers and you'll be able to benefit from much longer-term trust and authority-building.
Of course this also takes longer to get results however and so paying for an ad on YouTube can be a quick way to get an immediate boost. Likewise, if you are a large organization and you're more interested in increasing brand awareness, then this can also be a useful strategy (especially as you can get some free views if people don't watch all the way through).
Lastly, if your videos have a very high conversion rate and you're getting a very clear return on all the traffic you send to your site, then videos can be used to scale an existing business model. This might be useful for an e-commerce store for instance or a blogger selling a popular e-book (you'll notice that SixPackShortcuts.com uses a lot of YouTube advertising which is because they make so much money from each visitor).
Still though, it is usually better to build your own audience whenever possible. For most people reading this – especially small businesses – that should be the focus and the priority.
Choosing the Right Platform and Type of Video for Your Business
Depending on what you're selling and who you're selling to, the platform you choose and the type of video you create will vary. For instance, PowerPoint-style videos and animations are very popular for corporate B2B organizations because they remove the 'personal' element and help to maintain distance and a sense of professionalism. On the other hand, such content might be considered a little bland if you're a company selling a 'hip' energy drink commercially.
We've gone over a number of different types of videos and we've looked at the different methods available to you for getting word out and spreading your video. Now then we'll look at how each platform and each type of video can be combined to benefit various
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specific types of business. Consult the table below if you're struggling to choose the best type of video to focus on initially.
Type of Video
Form of Distribution
Type of Product
Type of Business
| Animation explaining how to use a business or service | Embedded on the homepage of a business site | Technical product | B2B/Corporate business |
| Video series explaining a range of topics relating to a specific niche or industry | YouTube/Embedded into blog posts | Information product/Service | Small business/Blog |
| PowerPoint- style video talking about the merits of the product in a professional voiceover | Embedded onto a landing page | Informational product/Affiliate product | Affiliate marketer/Blog |
| Short stop motion animation showing the product in a creative way | Vine/Vimeo | Clothing/Accessorie s/Other smaller commercial product | Creative small business |
| Event video showing | YouTube | Service or more premium product | Larger commercial business |
| Talk/Presentatio n | YouTube/Vimeo/Social media | Service/Information al Product/B2B service | Larger organization/Cons ultants |
Social media/YouTube/On site
Commercial products/Blog
Commercial business
| Traditional advert | YouTube/Social Media/Vimeo/Vine/Embed ded/Paid advertising | Commercial products | Commercial businesses/E- commerce stores |
| Video tutorial | YouTube/On site | Software/technical product | Software companies/comm ercial businesses |
| Customer Interview/Testim onials | YouTube/On site | Services/Premium products | Service providers/Commer cial businesses |
Chapter 5: A Quick Guide to YouTube Marketing
Despite the myriad different options available when you're looking for a distribution platform for your videos, YouTube is likely to be the most popular choice for the vast majority of businesses and entrepreneurs. Thus it is useful to have a basic understanding of how to gain exposure of YouTube and how to stand out among the crowd. Here we'll look at some effective ways you can do that.
SEO for YouTube
SEO stands for 'Search Engine Optimization' and generally refers to the way that websites can ensure that they show up in Google searches. As we've already discussed though, YouTube is effectively a search engine too and when someone is looking for your content here they will do so by going on to YouTube and searching for related topics.
Fortunately, a few things can help you to encourage your video to show up...
Title
The single most important thing is to choose a good title for your YouTube video. If your video has a long obscure name then no one is going to search for it. At the same time though, if your video is called 'Fitness' then it is hardly going to be able to compete with the millions of other videos with that word in the title.
Your aim here then is to use a name that people are likely to be looking for while at the same time being distinct and descriptive. You can find keyword tools for YouTube that help you to identify these kinds of titles but unfortunately they often charge and aren't always reliable. The easier method is to use a little common sense, as well as to keep a careful eye on what suggestions come up when you start typing into the search box on YouTube, then take a look at the other videos there and try to see how many you'll be going up against.
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Description
When you upload a video to YouTube you will have the option to add a description where you'll write what your video is about. This is another opportunity to include your keywords and while the precise weighting/algorithm is unknown, it's generally agreed that the more content you can provide here, the more likely you video is to show up high on the lists (and this makes a lot of sense). A good description will also encourage more people to watch your videos.
Tags
Finally, you can also use tags which will further help YouTube to index and categorize your video and to make it more likely to show up as a suggested video. Here you can literally select the keywords you want to target and there's no limit – so add a few different ones that will help to describe your video.
Note that all these SEO techniques – the title, description and tags – will also play a role in helping your videos to show up in other search engines like Google.
Thumbnails
The thumbnail is the small image that shows when your video is listed after a search or suggested next to other videos. If you want your video to get as many clicks as possible then you should create a custom thumbnail you can upload that will make your video look enticing. YouTube will likely also view this as a sign of quality and be more likely to help you promote the video.
In fact this is particularly important seeing as your thumbnail will also show up when your videos show up on Google as well as on social media and encourage CTR here as well.
Quality
YouTube is able to detect various measures of your video's quality. For instance, it can tell if your video is low or high res, if it's shaky or if it doesn't fill the screen. The better quality your video is, the better chance it has of ranking highly and this is only going to become more the case as YouTube's algorithms improve and it gets smarter at telling which videos are the highest quality.
Note as well, that YouTube will take into account factors such as how long your visitors watch your visitors for and this will obviously be greatly impacted by the quality of what you upload.
Engagement
If you want to create a legion of loyal YouTube subscribers and get lots of likes (which you do), then you need to make sure that you respond to their comments and that you actively engage with them. Showing that there are real, living, breathing people behind
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your account will help to build loyalty and will make them much more likely to watch and to listen to your future content.
If you have a comment then, try to make sure that you take the time to respond personally as far as possible. If you start getting hundreds of comments a day, this is the sort of thing you may eventually need to outsource to a virtual assistant.
Social Sharing
Sharing your videos on social media is an important way to encourage more views and to help your videos spread. Fortunately, YouTube has a number of buttons ready to help you share quickly to Facebook, Twitter and other channels. Likewise, you can use tools like IFTTT (If This, Then That) to share your videos through even more platforms automatically as soon as they're uploaded.
Your YouTube Channel
When you become a publisher on YouTube you will get your own 'channel' which will act as a page where your visitors can view all your videos, learn more about you and find your links. This is similar to a Facebook page in that you can add a profile picture, a cover image and information to help sell yourself and this is important from both an SEO perspective and a general marketing one. Some things to do here including writing a detailed description about your channel, uploading attractive high-res images, having a 'channel trailer' (a video that welcomes new viewers to your channel and explains what your business is all about) and creating playlists to show curated content in categories on the page. You should also make sure that you link to your website from your YouTube account (and that you connect your Google+ account, your YouTube account and your website) and that you include links to your other social media channels too. When you view your channel you'll see you have a range of 'Channel Tips' shown on the far right and if you go through these then you can help to improve your ranking.
Working With Other Publishers
One of the ways that the very biggest YouTube vloggers like 'VSauce' manage to increase their viewership is by partnering up with other channels on the platform. For instance, if you have a video series on a subject that is similar to another channel you enjoy, then you can give that channel a plug at the end of one of your videos and you can get them to do the same. Likewise, on your channel page you have the option to add 'Featured Channels'. If you add a few channels you enjoy here, then you can ask for them to do the same and that way you'll again help to promote one another. You can even take this further and do interviews with other YouTubers or joint videos. Don't be afraid to reach out to other creators – networking is a big part of any marketing strategy and video marketing is no different.
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Chapter 6: How to Make Sure Your Videos Make Conversions
No matter how well made your video is or how many people see it, thatstill won't guarantee that you'll get conversions. In order to get conversions you need to make sure that you're measuring the effectiveness of your videos and that you're hitting home with a persuasive message. This is the last piece in the video marketing puzzle, so read
on to start turning your viewers into paying customers.
Scripting the Right Message
When you create your 'script' for your video, it's crucial that you are persuasive in your call-to-actions and in trying to get people to part with their cash/contact details. Persuasive writing means writing in such a way that people will want to follow advice (which in a marketing/sales
context normally means: buy your things) and this is the exact same for a video, except you will be delivering the message in a different way.
This changes a few things while a few other things that stay the same. Some universal tips that apply to any kind of persuasion include:
- Appealing to facts, statistics and authorities. The more you throw in, the more credible your statements will seem.
- Likewise, use testimonials (or interviews in the case of a video and case studies)
- Building your arguments on agreed facts and obvious statements. Everyone likes money right? That's a good place to start if your product offers to make your buyers cash.
- Give something away free – a little taster can go a long way to whetting the appetite as long as what you're offering is high quality.
- Use social cues (for instance 'find our why everyone who is anyone uses...')
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- Use repetition to keep returning to the key points in your message
- Bear in mind that listeners will remember the first and last statements you make more than what goes in-between. This is what psychologists call the 'primacy and recency effect'.
- Be personable and include a personal story – people love narratives
- Sell the 'value proposition'. Remember, you don't sell hats, you sell warm heads. What is the ultimate end result of someone using your product or service? How can you appeal to this on an emotional level and get them to visualize it?
Meanwhile, one of the things that change will be the opening which you will want to really hit home right away with an engaging statement. Keep in mind that you don't have 'headers' as in written content and your viewers can't 'skim read' the content. Remember what we said about removing the pauses and maintaining flow? Make sure each point leaves your listeners wanting to know what's next.
You might also want to consider 'building to a crescendo' throughout the course of the video and you can use swelling music to try and capitalize on this emotional build-up. This can help to create a call-to-action at the end that will have even more of a sense of urgency about it.
The specific wording will also change slightly between the written and spoken word. You can get away with user longer sentences, you can play more with emphasis and generally you will want to be slightly more colloquial. You can also take advantage of images in order to 'fill in the gaps' meaning that not everything needs to be explicitly explained.
And most important of all? Keep marketing videos short. People are generally in a rush and don't have time to watch hours of video. The faster you can deliver your message, the more likely the whole thing will actually get listened to.
When you create adverts or a video series, chances are that you won't want to be 'persuasive' all the way through. Instead then, focus on being engaging and entertaining and then include your call to action right at the end.If your video is design to be shared, remember what types of things get shared and why. Remember, people share videos to express themselves and as a means of communication – ensure your content facilitates those things.
Measuring Results and Honing Your Strategy
The best way to make sure your videos are doing what they're supposed to is to measure whether or not they're working.
One way to do this is by looking at your YouTube Analytics page which is one of the advantages of using YouTube. Here you can see which videos are the most effective and popular at holding people's retention (the 'Audience Retention' tab shows you how long people are watching for), you can see how people are getting to your videos (traffic sources) and you can see when you have spikes and troughs in views. Pay careful attention to what's working in terms of promoting your videos and to which videos are more popular. Learn from this.
Note: Don't be too alarmed if your retention rate seems very low, generally 50% is considered very good and 30-40% isn't too unusual. That doesn't mean there's not room for improvement there!
Additionally, in some cases your videos might have a singular 'purpose', as is the case for a promotional video on a landing page. In this case you can test the effectiveness of your video by looking at your sales before and after the video. From here you can then try tweaking elements of your video – anything from the colors, to the length to the music and seeing how this impacts on your sales. You can even use split testing software to test two different versions of your page and see which one generates the most sales- you then keep the most successful version.
This is the excellent thing about video marketing and really any kind of marketing. If you keep learning on the job and you keep improving and tweaking your strategy then eventually you'll drive your conversion rates up. This way, you literally can't fail as long as you have enough time to keep trying!
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Chapter 7: Conclusion
So there you have it – that's a rather in-depth primer on getting started and succeeded with video marketing. To recap, here's what we've learned:
- Video marketing is really important
- You can create very effective videos on a relative budget if you can find a good
camera/cobble together a good environment - A few tricks like a bed sheet and desk lamp can go a long way to making your videos look more professional
- Speak slowly and edit into small chunks
- Alternatively, with a little creativity you can actually side step the need for high
production values - Use a good piece of editing software like Premier
- Outsource video openers/music and other elements if possible
- Find the right platform to share your videos – this will depend on the purpose of the video and the nature of your video
- Don't forget social media and synergy with your other marketing strategies
- Consider using your videos in an advertising campaign but only if you have the
budget and the right business model - Perform basic SEO for your YouTube account and videos
- Partner with other YouTubers to gain extra exposure
- Use the basics of persuasive writing to make your videos highly effective and to add calls to action
- Keep your videos SHORT
- Monitor their effectiveness through YouTube analytics and split testing
- Keep trying and keep improving!
It's a lot to take in, so don't worry if you're currently feeling a little lost. Just start out by identifying the kind of video you want to begin with (maybe just an overview of your business) and then slowly go through the process of putting something together. You have to start somewhere and the best way to learn is 'on the job'. In no time you'll find
you're creating highly professional videos and generating a lot more sales and subscriptions. Congratulations, you just became a video marketer!
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