Businesses should consider video as a great way to engage viewer attention, drive brand awareness and boost SEO.
It seems everywhere I go people are talking about online video as the new and effective way to communicate with their audience. And I can see why.
Video is changing the way we communicate by allowing the power of sound and vision to deliver key messages quickly, clearly and in a way never seen before. Simply, video is the closest medium to real life we have. Video’s success is mirrored in the success of YouTube where close to four billion people watch a video each day. As a result, YouTube is now the second largest search engine in the world.
Not all video is created equally. To make sure your video drives people to your business here are some key tips:
Scripting your video
Scripting a video is not unlike writing a company brochure. It must be engaging in order to work. Ensure you know what your key message is, before you start.
- The attention –grabbing opening. Grab the viewer’s attention with an interesting and powerful opening line. Make them want to hear more. Try to think of something a little more exciting than “Hi. My name is Bob. I represent company X”.
- Hold the viewer’s interest. Your video body should be engaging enough to hold the viewer’s interest for the remainder of the video. Make sure it is relevant to your business such as a product review, a how-to guide or an interview. Remember to keep the video short and to the point. Anything longer than five minutes and you risk losing your audience.
- The Call to Action. Give your viewer enough information so they can take action. Be specific and tell them exactly what they need to do. For example “like our Facebook page and we will keep you up-to-date with our latest offers”.
- Consider a series. If you need more than 5 minutes to deliver your content, consider breaking it up into 5-minute (or less) bites and create a series.
Filming your video
While it is possible to film your own video, consider using a specialist videographer who will professionally film, cut and edit your video. Remember, your video’s professionalism will reflect that of your business so it is best to get it done right.
Optimising your video for search engines
When creating your content and video, remember to optimise your video for key words and phrases:
- Put keywords in your title
- Start the description with your URL then provide a description that includes your key words. You may even consider a transcript of your video in the description.
- Add tags to your video with up to 20 key phrases
Uploading your video
YouTube is only one of many video hosting sites. Others include Metacafe, Blip.TV, Vimeo and Google TV. For maximum exposure, I recommend video syndication. Video syndication is where you take a single video and distribute it across as many video hosting sites as possible.
Publicising your video
Don’t forget to let people know your video is there. Tweeting it, emailing the link to your database and posting it directly to a blog or social network are just some of the ways you can let people know about it.
Engage your audience
Where possible, encourage participation and get your viewers to engage with you. Consider allowing and encouraging user ratings and comments, questions and feedback.
In today’s competitive market, if you’re not posting video content, you run the risk of losing those customers who prefer to receive their information online. Video is anything but a passing trend. It is time to jump on-board.
