So, you’ve created a product video that is, quite simply, breathtaking. But who’s going to see it? Sure, you’ve placed it front-and-centre on your website’s homepage, but is relying on the people who drop by enough to achieve maximum return on investment (ROI)?
Unfortunately, it isn’t. You’ll need to do quite a bit more than that if you’re to put your masterpiece in front of as many eyes as possible.
Thankfully, you have a tool at your disposal that can help you reach a potentially massive audience: social media. That means Twitter, Facebook and Instagram(to name but three platforms) could become your most loyal of friends during your video marketing campaign.
For the unadventurous, the role social media plays in video marketing is simply a channel through which to publish the content. You create the video, host it somewhere and then share it occasionally on Twitter with a couple of relevant hashtags.
In reality, that’ll achieve little more than the odd click-through from a small bunch of loyal followers. And that simply isn’t good enough.
You need to do more to maximise the reach of your video on social media, and in this post, we’ve compiled 12 strategic ways you can do just that:
1. Chop it up
Hollywood knows how to build suspense, and marketers can certainly take a leaf out of Hollywood’s book when it comes to creating a sense of anticipation.
It doesn’t matter how long your video is (be it a thirty second product overview or two minute behind-the-scenes piece), you can chop it up into little chunks that can be used to tease your audience on social media. Consider each chunk a teaser trailer for your video and share them all individually and judiciously.
2. Spend time on the words
The wording you use in your social media posts is of paramount importance. Let’s say you’ve created a video that provides an overview of your new smartphone game. Which of the following pieces of text do you think will get your followers most excited?
“Our new game will be released on 19th February. Here’s a clip from level 17.”
Or…
“Everything will change on 19thFebruary: get lost in a world like no other.”
The words you use to introduce your video are as important as the footage itself. Create a sense of anticipation and avoid bland descriptions.
3. Reach out to influencers
It’s important not to simply share your video with your followers – you need to proactively reach out to the people who make waves in your industry, too. If you can get them on board (again, by building a sense of anticipation), they’re likely to share your hard work and put it in front of an audience you could only dream of.
4. Pick your time wisely
Social media is a fast-moving entity. People’s Twitter feeds and Facebook walls are rapidly filled with content. Your video therefore needs to stand out, but it also needs to arrive at the right time.
You should know the demographics of your target audience, so spend some time researching the times of the day they’re most likely to be on social media. Look at past engagement you’ve had to get a feel for when people are online and schedule your video shares within those time periods.
5. Create a corresponding blog post
Video and written content work brilliantly together. For example: “A rare behind-the-scenes look at what goes into making a great horror game” would be a fantastic tweet if it links to a blog post that breaks down each scene within your video.
Blogs are great ways to build suspense, too. Those chunks of video you chopped up in tip 1 could each be embedded within their own short blog post, thus expanding the content and creating a story people will feel compelled to read.
6. Don’t use the video as the cover image
Imagery is powerful on social media. According to studies, tweets that contain images enjoy up to 18% more clicks and around 150% more retweets than their text-based brethren.
However, you should avoid falling into the trap of simply using a still from your video as the image. Instead, create a unique ‘cover’ for the video using a free service like Canva. Give the video a title, source a relevant image (free sites like Pixabay are great for this) and think of an attention-grabbing strap line before gluing it all together.
A great cover image will get people clicking; an indecipherable still from the video, won’t.
7. Use Instagram
We’ve referred quite a bit to Twitter in this post, but Instagram should absolutely be on your list of social media platforms when it comes to publicising your video. It is, after all, one of the most popular image- and video-based social media sites out there.
Recent changes to the service have enabled users to upload videos that are as long as 60 seconds in duration. However, if your video is longer than that, you can simply create a special Instagram version that features the best bits.
Lastly, be judicious in your use of hashtags – they’re the best way to get noticed on Instagram.
8. Create a contest
People love competitions. Think of a prize that will be of high value to your followers, yet represents a minimal investment on your behalf and create a contest around it.
The kicker is that, in order to enter the contest, people have to watch your video from start to finish. You can achieve this by making sure the last frame of the video provides a web link enabling people to take part.
Simple and hugely effective.
9. Don’t be afraid to repost – a lot
Social media isn’t like email – it’s a lot harder to get on people’s nerves. Users of social media can quickly and easily dismiss content, and, unlike growing inboxes, news feeds only require a quick swipe of one’s finger to remove unwanted content from view.
The key to sharing your video multiple times is to make each post as unique as possible. So, play with the wording and the imagery and adjust the times at which you press ‘post’. It’s a noisy digital world on social media, and you have to repeat yourself in order to be heard.
10. Get employees on board
Chances are, most of your employees will have a presence on at least one social media service, and getting just one or two of them to regularly share your marketing video is a great way to further its reach.
Provide those who are willing to get involved with a few guidelines on what (and what not) to say, and leave the rest to them – they know how to share good content, after all.
11. Try paid promotion
Social media is rapidly becoming a ‘pay-to-play’ platform; you can’t get by on organic posting and follower engagement alone.
Most social media services offer some form of paid promotion, be it the ability to boost posts or gain more space within follower’s feeds. Those that retain detailed information on their users (such as Facebook) also enable you to target specific demographics, therefore if your video is aimed squarely at a male audience aged between 18 and 25 that shows a consistent interest in horror films, you can pick that exact group and pay for the privilege of reaching them.
12. Check your analytics
Most social media platforms offer some form of analytics capability that enables you to measure engagement and assess the effectiveness of your posts. Ignore these reports at your peril; how will you ever know if your video is being viewed and shared if you simply post your updates and assume they’ll do the job intended of them?
Check your analytics carefully. What was the reach of your post? Are people clicking on your video links? Such feedback will enable you to fine tune your social media campaign to achieve better engagement with your video.
Wrapping up
Social media marketing is inherently fun and a great way to experiment with video promotion. Combine it with your video marketing efforts and you’ll benefit from two of modern society’s most powerful forms of content. The results can be absolutely staggering.