Video content has become an essential part of any marketing strategy. With the rise of platforms like YouTube and TikTok, video content has become more popular than ever before. However, creating great video content is only the first step in the process. To ensure that your video reaches its intended audience, it is crucial to promote it effectively.

Not only can your customers watch videos, movies, photos, or any other content online, they can do so for free.

So what does all of this mean for your business?

It means not only do you need to know what your target audience wants, but you also need to have a video content marketing plan that grabs their attention. 

So what are the key points you need to remember to design a successful video marketing plan, and is it challenging?

Create Platform-Oriented Content

To optimize content, you need to ask the question, ‘where will the video be viewed?’ Most of your customers will be viewing your video on a smartphone. Is your video compatible with a mobile phone platform? 

Considering a smaller screen size, a mobile phone viewing experience is different from watching a video on a television, desktop, or laptop. The video should be designed to play without any interruption on a mobile phone, considering its display and volume. The user would be viewing your video on the go, and they should have hassle-free viewing. 

Edit your video using an online video editor so the images, music, and animation can be viewed in an optimal manner. This way you can gain the attention of your target audience. 

Design Catchy Thumbnails

Just like the cover of a book is what attracts a reader, thumbnails on YouTube are what drive up user engagement. Thumbnails are a great business promotion tool since the likelihood of your video being watched depends on them. 

So how do you grab viewer attention using a thumbnail? Here are some ways to create effective thumbnails:

• Size: The ideal size for a YouTube thumbnail would be 1280 x 720 pixels with a file size of less than 2MB. 
• Attractive Visuals: The image should not only be attractive, but it should also give the viewer a sneak peek into what they can see in the video
• Relevant Text: While an image can attract the viewer, the text provides the viewer with greater clarity about what they will get from your video. 
• Font: The font you choose should not only be simple yet effective; it should be presented in bold
• Brand colors: Consistency in brand colors in all your videos is important to help viewers recognize your product

Get Your SEO Right

Your success depends on your ranking when people search for products or services your company produces. The higher your ranking is on SERP (Search Engine Results Page) or the page users see when they search for a product, the more likely they are to check your video. 

Here are some ways to improve your SEO or Search Engine Optimization:

• Choose the Right Keywords: Look for keywords that are less competitive but are high volume (searched more by users). 
• Video Title Keywords: Match the search keywords with your video title for the best results
• Keywords in Video File Name: Your video rankings improve when the file name has the most searched keyword
• Video Description: Your video is re-evaluated by YouTube when you update video descriptions, closed captions, or subtitles
• Add Hashtags: The right hashtags help viewers find your video easily
• Choose a Category: Clearly stating the category of your videos, like films or sports, helps viewers find it 

Know Your Social Media Platform

Promoting your video on social media is effective only if you choose the right platform. Knowledge of social media demographics is important. While Facebook caters to an older demographic, Instagram is the choice of much younger Gen Z.

Follow these steps to get the right social media platform:

• Identify Your Audience: For the highest return on investment for video marketing, know the social media platform preferred by your target audience. Your customers and leads spend more time viewing your video, and you also get better results.
• Know Your Company: The best social media channel would depend on your products, type of business, and brand personality. 
• Competitor Analysis: Check your competitor strategies to know what platform would work best for you in terms of audience engagement. 
• Social Media Goal: Are you looking at branding or lead generation? Decide your social media goal and create video content accordingly using video editor tools.
• Spend Time To Create the Following: It will take time for your video to get mileage on social media, and you need to ensure you have an employee monitoring the performance of the video. This is a full-time engagement, and you need to respond to comments made by viewers. 

Provide Multiple Sharing Options

Users like to share content they find interesting, so you must ensure that your video has multiple sharing options. When the viewer has the flexibility of choosing a social media platform, your video is more likely to get shared. 

You could post your video on various social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Protocol for embedding videos varies from platform to platform, so you need to make sure your team follows it. 

When your existing customers share these videos, they help you reach out to new customers. This leads to an increase in market share and a higher conversion rate. Your brand awareness also goes up. 

Combine With Other Content Marketing Campaigns

To get a higher ROI or return on investment from your video marketing campaign, integrate it with your other marketing efforts.

Adding a giveaway to your video on social media would generate higher interest among the target audience. A ‘watch and win’ combination can yield impressive results since everybody likes to win a prize or a gift. 

You can incorporate your video with your email marketing campaigns. A video ensures a higher engagement compared to text or an infographic.

There should be a CTA or call to action in your video to ensure that the viewer does not move away without visiting your website. This helps in converting leads and generating higher revenues. 

Conclusion

Video marketing can be an excellent promotional tool if you follow the tips discussed here. Like any other form of digital marketing, you need to provide relevant content to the user that adds value to the customer. The viewer is not only looking at the quality of your video but how it is helping them solve a problem or make their lives easier. 

Still have a few questions about adding video to your marketing strategy?

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