Video keeps growing and growing

  • The future of marketing is online indeed. And video on your website sets you apart. Video is sticky – it engages your audience. And it boosts your Google ranking.
  • Most web traffic today is video. Cisco Systems predicts video data will make up 84% of all Internet traffic by 2018.
  • Watching video on smartphones and tablets is doubling and tripling. Mobile video is a rising trend.

First, craft a strategy for your video

  • Science has proven the effectiveness of video, yet video is no silver bullet. You need to be smart and plan your message. What’s your objective? And your call to action?
  • Integrate the video into your branding. Video, as with any communication from your company, needs to reinforce your branding message.
  • Just getting people to click on your YouTube video is not enough. Do people watch the entire video? YouTube has changed its algorithm to emphasize how much of the video is watched instead of just the number of clicks. Completion rate (“retention”) is a better judge of effectiveness.
  • Once your beautiful video is posted on a site like YouTube, your job isn’t over. Do the rest of the work to make sure it gets viewed. Add a good 150 word description (very important for search) that includes links in the text to social media and your websites, and add keywords to the filename, title and tags. And remember there’s still more to do: market and promote your video.

Understand why you’re using video

  • Visuals obviously help viewers understand your products. But with video something deeper goes on. Video not only grabs attention, but also transmits large amounts of information. Images, sound, storytelling and emotion connect the viewer’s heart and mind to your product.
  • Posting videos at your website boosts your ranking. Google and other search engines place a higher ranking-value on videos. You could get a 50% increase compared to a site without video.
  • Video improves customer engagement and boosts conversion rates. Video engages people because the human eye is drawn to motion and to faces. And the longer your viewers stay engaged on your sight, the more likely they’ll be drawn to what you have to offer.

Length?

  • It depends. But keep it as short as you can. People surfing the web have a ten second attention span.
  • A 30-second video has an 88% completion rate — that means the longer your video, the greater the odds someone won’t finish it. Get to the main point right away. Limit your points. Be entertaining. And be merciless in cutting out anything extraneous.
  • The ideal length for web videos keeps getting shorter. Now it’s between 60 seconds and two minutes. But again, it depends. A video can go longer if it’s shown to a group in a room and is not meant for the web, or will be watched on the web by people with a strong personal interest. And if  you’re doing content marketing on the web – providing relevant, helpful information and value to the viewer – it can go longer.

Do-it-yourself video production vs. using a professional

Sometimes DIY works, but not often. A less than professional job can reflect poorly on your company’s image, products and services. And you never get a second chance to make a good first impression.

 

Mary is a freelance video producer in Seattle. She creates videos for you that help your business or nonprofit grow. Visit her LinkedIn page, and see her videos on Vimeo. You can reach her at Mary@MaryJPeterson.com.
Mary