At the SMX East there was a special session on YouTube optimization and listeners got a wealth of information from this interactive session. Marketers that missed this session don’t really know what they missed as some of the tips, advice, and tricks could have made their video marketing campaigns leap frog into the next league.
Needless to say there was a lot of pep talk and storytelling that went on in this session, but overall the session was worth it many times over.
Here are some of the tips and tricks for those of you that missed this wonderful session:
Your video is essentially digital storytelling. Therefore the narrative of the story has to be interesting and should not necessarily over-focus on the product itself. The way you tell your story via video counts for more than product descriptions.
Your YouTube video campaigns should be integrated with all your marketing efforts. Key performance indicators, goals, and objectives should be clearly defined. Measuring the success of your campaign then becomes much easier.
Your video has to engage with your target audience and impart information in an entertaining way. This obviously means your content should be top of the line and in tune with your audience tastes.
A connected user-base is of utmost importance as it guarantees viewership. Apart from that you could also spend small amounts on some of Google’s paid tools to make your video discoverable.
As for content you have to make sure it establishes you as a thought leader. Three types of videos are generally doing well – tutorials, how to videos, and thematic series that address audience issues. All these can be fine tuned by undertaking extensive competitor and audience analysis.
Some key point you need to remember:
- Ensure your channel icon has a high resolution image as it will appear in different sizes depending on user device.
- Your channel name should be short so that it is easy to recall.
- Carefully select a video title, just like you would write an email subject line. You want people to read the title and click on it and not ignore it.
- Make sure your core keywords are at the beginning of the title and your brand name at the end of it.
- Give brief description about your video and add links to it.
- Test your video title as you would do with a PPC ad.
- Do not add tags that are misleading.
- Your video thumbnail is your calling card. Pay attention to this aspect.
An ideal video is a mix of 60% entertainment, 30% inspiration, and 10% brand advocacy. Also make sure you are uploading fresh videos at regular intervals, that way you can retain customer interest.
As for measuring the success of your video campaign, you can always link your YouTube channel to Google Analytics. However, make a new account otherwise reports will be combined. Carefully analyze the reports to understand your viewer demographics, desires, and needs. Keep a track of where your viewers are finding your videos and how much time they are spending watching it. The best way to know if your video has achieved its purpose is by reading viewer comments. All this information can be gleaned from Analytics.
Some key signals that you need to be aware of:
- Keep a track of likes and dislikes. Your content has to stimulate your audiences and not bore them to death.
- Are people debating about the content? If yes, you are on the right track
- Are people sharing your videos on social networks?
- Are you adding subscribers on a daily basis?
These are some of the things you need to focus on when running a marketing campaign via YouTube. Therefore roll up your sleeves and get going!