Tips to Boost Your Video Marketing

A video is, by far, the most effective marketing tool you can work with. However, most businesses end up leveraging it improperly. You see, video marketing doesn’t end with putting up a video on your homepage. There’s a lot more that goes into a good video marketing campaign.

If you’re wondering what that could be, you’ve come to the right place. We’ve created just the perfect list for you. Take a look and make the most of the suggestions we have for you.

Use Thumbnails

We all know YouTube is the biggest and most popular video sharing platform out there. So, it makes obvious sense for you to market your videos on it. However, there are a few rules you need to follow to make your videos as effective as possible.

In this case, we’re specifically referring to the use of thumbnails. You see, thumbnails are important. This might sound ridiculous, but, the truth is the truth. People often judge a video based on what they see in the thumbnail. Your click rate depends on it.

Thumbnails are the digital equivalent of product packaging. They communicate a lot about what viewers can expect to see once they click on the video. So, your thumbnails need to be effective in that they need to draw in viewers.

So, what can you do to make your thumbnails attractive and clickable?
Well, here are a few ideas.

• Make sure your thumbnail is in line with what people expect to see in the video. We humans aren’t known for our attention spans. The idea is to offer a seamless experience. You don’t want people to start doubting whether or not they’ve clicked on the right video.So, make sure it’s all in order. For instance, if there is a special character, product, person, or service that the video is going to discuss, make sure that’s the first thing people see on the thumbnail. In fact, if there are extremely interesting images that can be captured from the video, you can use them in the thumbnails too. This can serve as a teaser or preview as well.
• Use images of people. You see, we humans are an emotional lot and that means we can be manipulated on an emotional level. There’s a reason why some of the most popular videos on YouTube also happen to be feel-good videos of animals, babies, and all things that put a smile on our faces or even bring a tear of joy to our eye.So, take advantage of this fact. Studies have shown that humans will often mirror the emotional state of the people they engage with. Add compelling close-up shots or appropriate screen captures to draw in people’s attention to the video.
• Be consistent with the branding. Look at some of the famous YouTube channels that you follow and then, take a look at their video thumbnails. Do you see certain elements being repeated in all of the thumbnails? Well, we’re going to assume that you do and we’re going to answer why.Those elements just didn’t end up being repeated by default. The creators put them there to ensure brand consistency. That’s how some videos are just instantly recognizable as having been produced by a particular creator or channel.However, make sure there’s some variation as well. Adding the same background or other design elements can confuse the viewer. He/she might end up assuming that they’ve already viewed the video. In other words, be consistent; not repetitive. There’s a huge difference between the two.
• Don’t add text at the bottom right corner. It can be tempting to do so as part of your branding effort, but any image or logo over there just ends up being hidden by the YouTube video time-stamp. So, there’s no point.Now, you don’t have to follow these rules just for YouTube. These are applicable to all video platforms. Wherever you find the need to use thumbnails, follow these tips. Now, that brings us to the second topic.

Post Your Videos on Multiple Platforms

If you aren’t seeing a good response rate with your videos, there’s a good chance that you aren’t distributing them wide enough. For all you know, your audience could be on a completely different platform or network. For instance, there’s no point of posting your videos on YouTube if your actual audience is on Twitter or Facebook.

So, distribute widely.

Write a Compelling Headline

Attractive headlines aren’t just for articles and blogs. They make your videos noticeable too. As the great David Ogilvy once said, the number of people who read headlines is 5 times higher than the number of people who actually read the content.

So, what can you do to make your headlines more “catchy”?

Well, start by using searchable keywords. Think of words that are directly related to the content. For instance, consider titles that make a promise or trigger certain positive emotions. Think of headlines that connect with the viewer on an emotional and intellectual level.

Also, don’t just settle for the first few options. You need to come up with at least 30 headlines before you can choose the best one.

Now, you’re probably going “how do I know if I’ve got a searchable headline?”. Well, there are a few things you can do to determine this. For starters, just use the search bar on whichever video platform you’re targeting. This should give you a rough idea of whether or not similar headlines have already been used.

The next step is to check if the headline sounds like it makes a promise. In other words, does it sound like the viewer is going to find answers once he/she clicks the video? Generally, headlines with “How to…” or “that will…” tend to sound the most promising.

Now, just add the subject and the solution part, i.e. How to [subject] that will [solve problem] and you’re done.

So, there you have it, some tips to make your video marketing campaign more effective. If you’re interested to know more about effectively marketing your videos, get in touch with Crafted.