How to Promote Your Video Content across Social, Email & Websites

Social channels are your best friends when it comes to distribution, they’re the yin to your video marketing yang, the Kim to your Kanye. Internet users all around the world are members of at least one social channel, the most popular being Facebook with 2 billion users.

Social channels are the best way to get noticed by different audiences, but you can’t make one video and share it on all social channels, you’ll have to tweak and tailor it to fit the channel.

This doesn’t mean you have to make a new video for every channel, unless you can’t contain your excitement, then go right ahead video trooper!

We’ll help you in the right direction by giving best practices for some of the most important channels for brands.

Facebook & Twitter

Facebook might be a little less social (less engaging - posting less, commenting less) than it used to be, but it’s still king of social content. On this platform, most people consume bitesize nuggets of content so don’t make your video too long and aim for 15 - 60 seconds. Videos on Facebook and Twitter autoplay, which means your video has to hit the ground running and grab the viewer’s attention immediately.

Most videos are also watched without sound, so make sure to do this visually on Facebook and Twitter and most importantly, use captions.

Facebook is a little passive aggressive and will punish you for linking to a YouTube video, making its organic reach drop drastically. So don’t be lazy and upload your video to Facebook natively.

Also important, if you have longer videos you want to share with the world through Facebook or Twitter: create a teaser / GIF / thumbnail linking to YouTube, home of longer video content.

>> Best on Facebook: social awareness / brand awareness / ads / explainer / news

>> Best on Twitter: event updates / brand awareness / news

YouTube

With one third of internet users worldwide spending time on YouTube, it’s safe to say YouTube is the godfather of video. This platform is mostly audial and basically works as a search engine, meaning good SEO and good content go a long way. YouTube works especially well for a series of marketing videos and content that will forever be relevant (e.g. Trump’s weird ‘tug-of-war’ handshakes). Use great thumbnails and titles that inspire viewers to stop and watch the video (anything with ‘cute’ or ‘fluffy’ in the title will do the trick).

>> Best on YouTube: music video / vlog / interview / how - to’s / educational series

LinkedIn

Video on LinkedIn is not as common yet as on other platforms, meaning they don’t offer the same SEO, tracking and boosting opportunities. Make sure the content is relevant and appeals to your network so they will share it, allowing you to reach a wider audience.

>> Best on LinkedIn: HR recruitment videos / explainer / business event updates

Instagram

Instagram, home of the influencers, foodies and travel bloggers, is mainly a visual platform. People give you a peek into their everyday lives (some a little more exciting than others), take you behind the scenes and share touching moments. Videos on instagram should be between 5 - 60 seconds, preferably with text-on-screen and with one clear message. Instagram works best for brands trying to communicate with communities on a more personal level, or brands trying to build an image.

>> Best on Instagram: behind the scenes / teaser videos (for events / aftermovies) / ads / brand awareness (with or without influencers)

Tips and Tricks to Keep in Mind

When looking for the best distribution results, you also can’t forget these tips and tricks!

1. Test, test again and then test some more! - The digital landscape is ever evolving, so keep testing new tools that each platform makes available for video creators. Facebook has been investing in video for a while now, allowing creators to natively upload to Facebook, use livestreams and boost posts. So test and see what works best on each platform for your brand.
2. Measure! - A lot of platforms offer ways to measure the results of your video. Don’t skip this technical side of the story but use it to get insight on your video’s performance.
3. Drive traffic! - If you have a bigger audience on Facebook, drive them to your YouTube channel for longer videos. If you have an awesome blog, put a link in your YouTube videos to drive them to your blog. This way you’ll generate more traffic and increase conversion rates - music to any marketer’s ears.
4. One CTA! - Don’t stuff your video like a Christmas turkey and make sure the message is clear and simple. This will drive better results on whatever channel your video is on.

Other Places to Incorporate Your Video

• EMAIL - Yes, good old fashioned email marketing with personalised video works wonders. When you need to bring home the bacon or help a customer out or really just want to show your face, it helps to include video. Only problem being that email doesn’t actually support video (ugh). No worries though, there’s a workaround; upload your video on a platform like Wistia, include the word video in your subject line and add a clickable GIF or thumbnail to the video.
• BLOG - People like to change it up, so boost your blog by using more than one format type. Vidyard advises to ‘use surrounding text to transcribe your video’s key phrases’. This way the blogpost will be indexed by search engines and be found faster.
• WEBSITES - People spend more time on websites with video, making websites with video rise in Google’s ranking, allowing companies that have website with video to be found faster. It’s the circle of website-with-video life! Buyers also go through nearly 70% of the buying process independently before reaching out to a business. So it’s important to guide these buyers through your website and help them as much as you can with…you guessed it, VIDEO! 

Hopefully this post will help you navigate through the world of video and know where to drop it like it’s hot.

However, when in doubt, you can always contact me for help and advice.

Happy video distributing! 

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