Video marketing impacts everyone from the YouTube obsessed troll to your Facebook using momma. More social media websites are starting to build video right into their API, and each website has its own little tweak on video marketing to better suit their platform.
Because of these tweaks, you’ll need to know how to best use each site that you are trying to video market on. Properly understanding the little nuances can be the difference between getting noticed, and getting ignored - even with the same great content being shared across platforms!
2015: The Year of Video Marketing
Infographic courtesy of: Highq.
YouTube is the leader: Beware the Ides of March
YouTube is on top of the video marketing throne, but as many leaders have known before this can’t last forever. Many websites have seen the 300 hours of video being uploaded to YouTube every minute and thought, quite rightly, that there’s some room for them to grow into that.The way things were in the past was these websites would just sit back and let people share YouTube videos over their platform. This lead to:
- People leaving their website to watch the video on YouTube
- Ad revenue being sucked out of their wallets
- Audiences migrating to YouTube on a more permanent basis
Who would sit back and watch someone else drink their milkshake?
Two websites stepped up and said ‘We’re getting in on this video marketing’ with new video hosting services, while one has built it from the ground up. Read more about:
There are even rumours going around that Pinterest will get in on video hosting soon. The three bullet pointed websites, plus the possibility of Pinterest joining in, will further dilute YouTube’s video marketing dominance over the next year. Being prepared to stop investing 100% of your efforts into YouTube will keep you flexible and with the times.
140 characters or less + Video = ...
Uploading a YouTube video to Twitter is a common task amongst Twitter marketers looking to stretch their 140 characters. Twitter’s newest in-app features, allow you to capture and upload 30 seconds worth of video. Their newest app, called Periscope, allows users to live stream videos directly in the app:
Introducing @periscopeco, a new app to share & experience live video from your mobile phone: http://t.co/Vl3S6SWsIC pic.twitter.com/suYRezE5pb
— Twitter (@twitter) March 26, 2015
Periscope can be tremendous for those who like to use live events in their industry to build their audience. Just point, shoot, and tweet! Using it should be part of your overall viral video marketing plan as you look to use Twitter’s greatest strength - real time marketing - to it’s fullest viral video potential.
Facebook’s video marketing strategy
Your video marketing efforts must be aware of Facebook Page’s new Featured Video option. The first aspect is that you can have a video featured in your “About” section, something you can’t do with YouTube videos. The second aspect is having a Video tab on your profile. Here’s The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon’s Video tab on Facebook:
This serves as a permanent place for your videos on Facebook, rather than sharing them in a post and having them disappear eventually.
Your About section video on your Facebook Page is a great opportunity to create a video which explains something about your company. Think of it as similar to the Channel Trailer on YouTube for ideas on what you can do.
Vine and Instagram get caught in loops
Vine started their video service with the looping feature they’re now famous for. Something you may not know, and that will help you cross-promote videos, is that Instagram videos now do this as well. Marketers have come see the value of a video that loops as it immediately hammers home the brand message one more time.The always trendy Gap saw this potential with their Instagram micro-series:
Tricia Nichols, Gap’s global leader of consumer engagement, says the looping videos were built to loop:
"The nature of the videos is that you get something different every time you play them. The story twists and turns, and there are little Easter eggs. So it's the perfect opportunity for video loops."
Getting more video marketing plays than one involves building dense content like this which is worth a second, third, fourth, and onward viewing.
Great, more videos to create... #budgetstretchedthin
If you read the content above and now think that you have to create different videos for YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram/Vine, it isn’t that bleak:- A little bit of editing can go a long way to making your videos work on any platform. Shoot your YouTube video with a loop in mind - think of it as shooting the teaser trailer for a movie.
- Uploading a video to YouTube is no different than uploading it to Facebook. To make it easy, tweak your status update from your YouTube video description and add hashtags where needed.
- Your Twitter videos will be a good length for Vine and Instagram. Share them between all three.
The other aspect of the video marketing jungle is where will you get all of this content and these ideas? Start looking at content repurposing. This is where you take a well received blog post and turn it into a video. It doesn’t have to be a high-production affair - you can get away with a webcam and a person talking in most cases when it comes to turning a blog into a vlog. You can go a bit further and have it animated:
Either way, effective video marketing doesn’t require a fancy celebrity and a huge writing team. The most intimate and effective video marketing may take place right in your office with the talents of your current team.
Author's Bio:
Ernest works on digital marketing projects in a primarily behind the scenes capacity. You can check out more of his YouTube views review website for more video marketing ideas, or comment in the section below to pick his brain. For the record, his favorite YouTube video marketing channel is Red Bull - they go so hard.
