How to Build a Great Video on a Budget

Your Business Needs to be on YouTube

If you’re selling a branded product, you will find that incorporating video into your marketing mix will pay off for the extra effort. Virtually all the major social network platforms support video. YouTube, the grandaddy of them all, is arguably the world’s second-largest search engine (it helps to be owned by the No. 1 search engine, Google) and in spite of younger, hipper entrants like Vimeo and Vine, it’s still very relevant.

Mashable recently reported on a study that suggests YouTube is more popular than television. MajorGeeks reports that YouTube beats even Netflix and Hulu for online streaming. With statistics like this, anyone who’s been resisting video marketing should take a second look at YouTube.

 

Video Supports Overall Marketing Messages in a Livelier Manner

For starters, it doesn’t cost anything to open a YouTube channel. All you need is a Google account, which is free.

If your current marketing is going well—you have the engagement you want on various social media like Facebook and Twitter—use it as a jumping-off point to create a video ad. Like any other marketing, a video must be relevant to your customers and potential customers so your content must be relevant, too.

This doesn’t mean it can’t take a different tone; in fact, video is expected to be livelier and more engaging than the usual marketing messages. Google offers these tips to drive your content:

• Announce your message quickly, within the first 10 seconds.
• Entertain your audience as much as you inform them.
• Make sure images and words are relevant to your message and product.
• Most videos should be 45 seconds long; anything longer risks a drop-off in viewership.

YouTube Features Ads in 3 Distinct Ways

YouTube offers three advertising avenues.

1. In-stream ads appear within other content. YouTube says this is good for branding—the image remains—but not so great for conversion (clicking).
2. Click-to-play ads appear as soon as a new page loads.
3. In-display TrueView ads appear for several seconds to give viewers the option to click on them.

You are only charged for ads that people click on. They still see the ad impression, a metric that’s just starting to get some notice. Search Engine Land reports that “viewability” is starting to get recognized and tracked by large brands. For this reason, be sure the image that appears on the video is still interesting and will capture a casual viewer’s attention.

While you are not required to purchase advertising, keep in mind that ads will increase your organic (unpaid) reach. Our experience has been that this is reflected throughout social media (and not just Facebook) because advertising lets you pinpoint the audience you’re seeking. Your name becomes a familiar one and not just another title out there.

Enhance Your Video with Music

Keep in mind that video is not only viewed but listened to.

The right music—background or otherwise—provides a strong complement to video. Music stimulates the brain and that’s exactly what you want to happen when someone is watching your video. According to Buffer, music stokes several areas of the brain, including the visual cortex which observes performance.

In general, you want music that evokes a feeling, whether it’s inspirational, soothing, or action-oriented. Uplifting music is a pretty good bet for a short video ad and it comes in lots of different genres.

Unless you’re using your own, original music, you must be 100 percent certain that you are using it with permission from the composer or performer. Save yourself from potential cease-and-desist orders and go to a music site like Shutterstock, which sells clips alongside graphics and video that you can, incidentally, also purchase for your own commercial use. Clips are long enough that they can be edited to use for different parts of a video.

Use SEO to Boost Your Video’s Reach

Treat your marketing or advertising videos as you would a blog. Search Engine Watch recommends these SEO-enhancing steps specifically for YouTube:

1. Write long descriptions. Google and YouTube robots can’t watch a video so they rely on what you’re writing in the description piece. Go ahead and use keywords and keyword phrases or long-tail keywords. At the very least, make sure you have 200 words, preferably more.
2. Optimize the title with keywords that are relevant and successful on YouTube. Google AdWords can be very helpful tool to use and is free.
3. Share your video on sites like Facebook and Twitter. Ask your fans to watch it.
4. Invite people to subscribe and provide a link to your channel.

Above all, respond to comments. Nothing makes a viewer feel appreciated like a timely response to a thoughtful comment.

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Interested in video services for your business? Dream Local Digital can help. Our custom business video services will help your business reach new customers where they are spending their time online. Contact us today for a quote.

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