The way we communicate and learn from each other is constantly evolving and traditional marketing strategies need to change with it on order to keep up.
Sometimes we don’t want to read about how your product or service can benefit us, but rather watch and listen you present it to us. How many times have you ‘YouTubed’ something that you were interested in learning about? Simply because it was easier to watch rather than read about? Hence why video and ‘vlogs’ (video blogs) are becoming more and more and more popular in attracting potential customers.
We all know that Google is the largest internet search engine, but did you know the second biggest search engine?
YouTube has now surpassed Yahoo! as the second largest search engine.
How does video help your marketing campaign?
It takes the right equipment and time making a video, so why bother putting videos on your website when you can just write content instead? Below are some reasons as to why.
- Videos provide a human face to the company. This creates a sense of familiarity and also helps your clients develop a relationship with you. It’s better for them to feel that they are dealing with a person and not just another ‘company’ or ‘website’. Videos are also a great way to introduce your staff to add that ‘human’ factor to your marketing.
- It keeps visitors on your site longer. This will keep them interested in what you have to offer and will make them more likely to visit other areas of your website.
- Videos are popular on search engines so your content will rank higher.
- A lot of people simply prefer watching videos. Some find them more engaging and videos are more likely to keep their attention.
- It’s an easy way to demonstrate your product and service, especially if what you are selling is complicated or technical. If you’re in an industry that’s not that well known about, having a ‘friendly face’ demonstrate and explain it to you can make a big difference. If a customer understands what you do and what makes you special, then you are likely to make a sale.
Some tips to make your videos stand out
- Be as engaging as you can in the first few seconds so to not lose the interest of your audience. You want to keep them watching after all and research proves that after the first 10 seconds, viewers can get bored and click away.
- What makes video so special is that you can imbue them with your own personality and spark. Be positive and, if appropriate, add some sense of humour.
- You can really show off what makes you unique to your competitors. If your content isn’t that distinctive, then add your own viewpoint to it or discuss topics from a different angle, to distinguish yourself from others in your industry.
- To optimise your video so that search engines can find it, use keywords in the description, tags and the title. Use thorough descriptions about what your video is about.
- Make use of your branding here. Include your company logo at the beginning and end of each video.
- Use a good screenshot of the video when promoting it on channels. Use a shot that looks most relevant to the title of the video, so that viewers are more likely to click on it.
- Videos are an excellent way to interview experts in your industry and thus keep your content ‘fresh.’
- You can have testimonial interviews from clients. This makes your customer feedback seem more reliable and believable to the audience.
- Videos are another great way to grow your email list. Offer the viewer something in exchange for their name and email address, such as a free e-book.
- Promote your videos on your social media channels. Social media is an excellent way of creating a community. For example, you can create a Facebook group for all your videos, allowing your viewers to connect, share and provide feedback.
- Engage with viewers when they comment so that you create a feeling of connection. People feel valued when you acknowledge their viewpoints and will be more likely to view your content again.
What platforms to use?
YouTube is obviously the most popular, however because it’s so well known, there will need to be a lot of filtering due to the large amount of uploads from all over the world. So your video may not be seen due to the huge amount of content already on there. If you’re concerned about this, don’t worry. There are other platforms you can use such as Blip.tv, Vimeo, Daily Motion and Veoh.
Going international: Attracting a multilingual audience
If you want to seek a global audience to launch your international marketing campaign, and want more engagement on your site, then the easiest thing you can do is add multilingual voice overs or subtitles to your videos. By doing this, you are opening yourself to expanding your audience. So aim to have the subtitles or voice overs in the languages of the countries you are targeting for business.
With voice overs, choose a style of voice that resonates most with your target audience. Make sure the translation of the script is accurate and that you have professional translators that understand the importance of translation for voice overs.
If you choose to use subtitles aim to have the subtitles in the languages of the countries you are targeting for business. You will have to upload captions (subtitles) to the video meaning you need the use of a qualified subtitling translator that not only understands languages but also about the complexities of subtitling. If done wrong, not only is it damaging to your brand but it has been proven to disengage the audience, so making sure that you have experienced professionals is essential.
Videos are a new way of attracting people, so why not keep up with what people want and see what happens?