How to successfully include Video in your content?strategy
We all read these reports on how including more non-static or video content helped a company boost engagement and traffic — I have seen this come to life! All metrics from followers, engagement, cost per view, brand search volume — are impacted positively with more video content. Here are a few things that are my key takeaways for video content marketing:
- A/B test the first slate — The first 3 seconds are critical across channels, specially Facebook. On YouTube typically it is better to start with the brand. One practice is to add a search bar and logo right upfront for high recall. On Facebook however the completion rates are much lower and so the first 3 seconds should be a very catchy visual. Try two variations of the slates for the first day with a small budget and then invest in the version that is working well. When you look at metrics, do not simply focus on cost per view, instead look at the number of shares, 100% views, number of comments and reach as metrics . On YouTube if you are promoting the video then start with a 5 second brand push so that even if people skip the video, the brand recall is high.
2. Understand the channel consumption style — People on Facebook typically watch videos with their phone straight vs. on YT where the phone is often horizontal — keep this in mind while shooting videos and do not forgot about the 1:1 aspect ratio for Facebook (specially for video carousals). A lot of video content on FB is on mute when it starts so it might be a good idea to add supers. If you are adapting your TV content on digital, then you have to optimize in the following ways:
- Capture attention quickly by putting the key messages right in the front
- Make the video shorter in duration — 15–30 seconds is ideal
- Change the ratio of the creative like in the Old Spice example below
3. Optimize for YouTube search — While companies focus on SEO for Google, it is also important to optimize for YouTube search. The first basic is to ensure that the title is based on google search volumes so that your videos can eventually start ranking on search. For example use keywords like "product review" in the title if you think prospects are searching for video reviews of your product. Have long description of 100 words minimum about your video and add the relevant tags. Also, If you have multiple videos then create a playlist out of there and boost them together. This way YouTube can optimize the best performing videos and improve your overall campaign metrics
4. Run a brand lift on both YouTube and Facebook — A brand lift survey typically helps you understand how the video has helped improve recall and search for your brand. On both the platforms this is done via asking a set of questions about things like brand recall, sentiment towards the brand, purchase intent etc. — this is an indication of how well your audience reacted to your video campaign. The only catch is that you have to be spending almost 50–70K on a daily basis on each platform to enable this.
5. Have a powerful Call to action — Clearly define what you want a viewer to do once he/she watches your video and ensure they the CTA is highlighted. For example if you want them to search for your brand then have a frame with a search bar. Also with features like YouTube for action you can directly take people to a landing page to fill a lead or even purchase a product. This can be used seamlessly as the video creates brand awareness along with purchase intent and the lead form helps them find out more about your product
With marketing teams investing almost 30% of their budgets on video, it is important that video marketing has a strategy on its own where you focus on the strength of each channel. Now even LinkedIn has a native video option and therefore right from video creation to distribution each channel needs to have a different objective. We will explore channel wise strategies in the next blog.