How many times have you seen a YouTube video in the last week? How many times did you see that video without being on YouTube? In other words how many times did you see a YouTube video either as the subject of a news broadcast or embedded our website. Face it, they’re everywhere.
Did you know that YouTube gets over 2 billion views each and every day? That’s 60 billion views each month and that my friend is a lot of eyeballs. With that kind of an audience there absolutely has to be a group that is interested in whatever product or service you sell.
So why don’t you have a video on YouTube?
Maybe it’s because you simply don’t know how to make a video or you think that the process is expensive. Or maybe you think your niche just isn’t suited for video marketing.
Well for starters, creating a video is simple and inexpensive. You don’t need any special skills or expensive cameras or professional lighting, all you need is a good story. And as far as not having an audience for your niche, with 60 billion views a month, trust me there are people who are interested in whatever you’re selling .
It doesn’t matter what you are promoting or selling on your website whether it is a wood routers, kitchen bar stools, TV stands, auto insurance, digital cameras, sports memorabilia or exotic travel … there is a viable audience waiting for your video.
Creating a video – video marketing 101
As I mentioned you don’t need a fancy camera. If you don’t already have a video camera you can pick up a flip camera on Amazon.com for less than $175 and it will actually be more camera then you need. If you’re new to video, play with the camera until you’re comfortable with all the functions and features.
The real secret to creating engaging video is to have an interesting story to tell and to tell it in an organized fashion. When I do videos I know in advance what I’m going to shoot and in what sequence I’m going to shoot it. Shooting in sequence minimizes the amount of time I have to spend editing the video.
Steven Spielberg said that there are really only three kinds of shots in a film and I follow his formula. The first shot is establishing shot that sets the tone for the rest of the video. The mid-shot invites the viewer into the action. And the close-up is where you get to the nuts and bolts.
For example if you are doing a promotional video about a Hillsdale barstool, your establishing shot may be a wide shot of your retail store. The mid-shot would probably be your showroom which included a bar and barstools. The close-up then would be the barstool itself explaining its features.
Organizing your story
The real key to creating a video this going to hold the interest of the viewer is having a plan. Know before you start shooting just what it is you’re going to shoot and in what order. By having this storyboard prepared you’ll be able to focus on shooting rather than wondering what to do next.
My first video experiment on YouTube
Back in 2007 I decided to test the waters of video marketing by putting up a little two minute video about my Shelby Cobra replica that I absolutely love. The idea was to drive a little traffic to my Shelby Cobra kit car site and I was really uncertain about just how much traffic I could expect.
I was surprised!
If you check out the attached chart you’ll see that that little 2 minute video that I put up 3 1/2 years ago has had in excess of 300,000 views. That was a shocker I had no idea we would get that kind of views on a car that is really kind of a sub sub niche. But it just goes to show how big the YouTube audience really is.
Getting your video ranked on YouTube
Of course the success of that first video was helped along by the fact that it appears on the first page of the YouTube search results for Shelby Cobra. In order for your video to have similar results you’re going to have to know how to optimize.
Here’s a quick list of optimization tips that will give you a boost in your ranking on YouTube:
– The first thing to understand is that YouTube pays attention to keywords. Unlike Google where on page optimization is important, on YouTube it’s almost all on-page optimization. In fact most of the optimization will be done on the upload page when you’re getting ready to post your video.
– Like any other piece of content you have to have a headline that grabs the visitor’s attention. Your headline for your video should have your targeted keyword phrase included. The headline still has to be an eye grabber and it has to flow naturally.
– On the upload form you’ll find a field for video description. Unlike Google, YouTube is not so much concerned about keyword density. This video description should include obviously your targeted keyword phrase but then as many related keyword phrases as you can fit naturally.
– This one is pretty obvious but sometimes forgotten; make sure that you classify your video in the correct category.
– On the upload form you’ll have an opportunity to enter tags. Make sure you enter as many related tags as you can think of to help YouTube to find your video.
– The key staying ranked for your keyword phrase is having a video that holds the attention of the viewer all the way through. If you have viewers bailing after 10 or 15 seconds YouTube will assume that your video is not the most appropriate for the viewer’s search. When viewers bail early it’s a negative vote for your video.
– Make sure that you allow viewers to comment and rate the video. The more buzz you get going about the video the greater number of those viewers will be converted into visitors.
Why video marketing makes so much sense
I strongly recommend that every business owner include video marketing in your marketing mix. Think about it for a moment. Creating and posting a video takes minimal time and very little expense and puts you in a position to receive a continuous flow of traffic without any additional maintenance. How much easier doesn’t get?
In addition by creating a series of videos you are contributing to your branding and you can develop relationships with the viewers by having them subscribe to your postings. Videos are great way to get your message out to your target audience in a non-salesy manner. The more you do the more proficient become and the more traffic you’ll generate. Give it a try, your website will thank you for it.
This is a guest post by James Martell, you can check out the guideline to guest post here.
Image Credit: ijustine
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