An Introduction To Social Video Marketing

An Introduction To Social Video Marketing

What is social video marketing?  On the surface, it’s a way to get existing and potential customers to interact with your website.  It’s an entertaining way for you to get your message across.  At best, it’s a great way to improve your overall SEO picture.  Social video marketing is nothing like those old TV commercials – instead, it combines gripping images and motivational text or music to make your customers feel they need to do two things:  heed your call to action, and share your message with people they feel would appreciate what you have to offer.

What Social Video Marketing Is Not

Social video marketing is not a standard commercial.  A film crew does not come to your place of business and build a highly choreographed visual press release.  In fact, most social video marketing for small businesses takes place with the help of a good internet marketing specialist, and a few people who have the talent to put a quick, entertaining video together.  Quick cameras like the Flip and others like it make the process of producing and editing short films a snap!

Social video marketing is not spam.  Some businesses make the mistake of being overly forceful, which is something you definitely don’t want to do – the most effective social video marketing campaigns are those that people actually WANT to watch.

What Social Video Marketing Is

Putting out a black and white definition of social video marketing is nigh impossible.  It’s different things to different people.  The best social video marketing doesn’t really even look like marketing to most consumers, which is precisely why it is so effective.  Here are just a few things that define social video marketing:

• Social video marketing triggers a psychological response.  It creates a need, and a drive to interact.  You want your customers to see your videos and think, “Wow! I need to share this!”
• Social video marketing uses platforms that are already in place.  YouTube and Facebook are two examples of places where effective video campaigns enjoy red hot success.  People are always watching, sharing with friends, and taking action.
• Social video marketing is all about you and your business.  It is original, fresh, and often funny or gripping in some other way.

Can Social Video Marketing Work for Your Business?

Social Videos can literally give life to any product. Use of real people, messages, animations and music can prove to be a real motivational factor to induce a purchase decision. Not to forget the fact that video marketing can also prove to be instrumental in improving the search engine rankings of one’s website. 

Search engine optimization (SEO) is among the most critical facets of any Internet marketing campaign. SEO is so important since it determines the ranking of your website on common search engines. Internet users value these outcomes and are unlikely to search out websites that do not rank well with search engines. However, high ranking websites can enjoy a great deal of greater website traffic because of these rankings.

Inbound links aimed at your website are also essential in Internet marketing. Inbound links are links on other websites which direct users to your website. Platforms like Youtube and Facebook along with 250 other video sites that host your videos can provide valuable links back to your site.  These links are important in an Internet marketing campaign. First of all many search engines factor inbound links into their ranking algorithms which means backlinks can lead to higher search engines rankings. Also, these links may be used straight by website users to access your website. Therefore you can gain visitors straight from these links.

The use of good description with keywords, title etc can do the trick. Videos can convey the message like no other thing on the web. Chances are high that viewers will be able to connect themselves emotionally to a video message. Often a splendid video attached with a good product can increase the sale of a product by many folds. Whether its website videos Blackpool or website videos Preston, anyone can benefit through video marketing. After all, “Seeing is believing”. Therefore, one can’t really go wrong with video marketing. The increased use of video marketing by webmasters across the globe serve as a good testimony that video marketing is indeed a great promotional tool that can do wonders for one’s website.

Easy Video Marketing Tips You Can Use Right Now

I’ll be the first to admit it.

When video marketing started getting popular, I was NOT feeling it. Looking back, I can see it was because I was WAY over thinking it! (“What will I talk about?” “Don’t I need a lot of equipment?” “I’ve got to get cute every time I shoot a video!!”)

As I worked through my own reservations, I realized what a powerful tool video is and that video marketing is here to stay. It provides you with a way to create a much deeper connection with your audience and build strong relationships. By incorporating video into your marketing mix, your viewers will get to know your personality. They’ll get much more comfortable with who you are and what you have to offer.

For these reasons and more, it’s a good strategy to start incorporating video marketing into your service business. Don’t get caught up thinking that your videos have to be Hollywood quality! A less formal video will get much a better response from your audience than a perfectly polished production.

Here’s how to do it:

1. Use a simple script- You can keep your message simple by following this easy script.

A. Start off explaining EXACTLY what you will share (ie: “Today I’m going to share with you…”)

B. Next, offer 3-5 specific actionable tips that your audience can put to use right away.

C. Include a specific call to action (i.e. post a comment below, get my free ____ on my website, contact me at _____ for a consultation). Give      them something to do once they watch the video so they’ll take action.

Keep the video short and sweet (less than 5 minutes). People have a short attention span these days, so you don’t want to lose them.

2. Get the right equipment – I highly recommend the Kodak PlayTouch. It’s the newer version of the Zi8 that we have, REALLY easy to use and will seamlessly upload your videos to the web. You can even plug in an external microphone for great sound quality. I also suggest picking up a tripod (typically less than $20 at your favorite electronic store. You can also get your external mic there (again less than $20).

3. Get your web presence together – Setting up a YouTube channel branded with your name (or your company’s name) will help you easily publish your videos and embed them on your website.

4. Repurpose existing content to create your videos – You don’t need to reinvent the wheel to produce videos. You can easily turn an article or a blog post you’ve written into a video by speaking what you’ve typed. Alternatively, instead of shooting a video you can record a demonstration (like with Camtasia) on your computer or create PowerPoint slides and create an audio that you “lay over” it. (This is a bit of an advanced strategy, but very effective.)

5. Promote your video across the web – Once you’ve created your video, you’ll want to promote it across the web. At the very least, post it to YouTube and on your own blog. You can also post to your Facebook profile and/or Fan Page. You can post on site like TubeMogul which will send it out to video sites across the web. Finally, use your social media presence to drive people to the video and solicit their input.

We’ve just barely covered the tip of the iceberg in this introduction – With these steps, you can make a video a part of your marketing calendar and get more exposure for your unique business. Find out more by talking with your online marketing specialist.  He or she can give you even more specific insight about how to use this incredible tool to make your business more successful than you ever imagined it could be.