by Charles River Interactive | January 20, 2014 | Uncategorized, YouTube Marketing
The proliferation of online video content, combined with improvements in mobile technology and user demand has created a huge opportunity for video marketing. Since human beings are so visual and are used to receiving information from TV, movies, etc. it only makes sense that marketing via and alongside online video content is the next new frontier. And, let’s face it, wouldn’t you rather watch a video on about an exciting new product vs. reading a user manual?
Organic Search and Video Marketing
As with any online marketing, there are best practices to ensure that your online video content is getting the most relevant eyeballs. While video is a fantastic vehicle to encourage user engagement, it’s important to keep in mind that search engines can’t crawl the actual content of a web video. Certain optimizations must be made to have an effective video content strategy and drive organic searchers to videos. These organic search optimizations include proper tagging – both on YouTube and on your website, as well as dedicated landing pages for each video.
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by Charles River Interactive | August 19, 2013 | Paid Social, YouTube Marketing
Having an attractive and fully functional YouTube channel for your business is very important. A YouTube channel that contains quality videos and takes advantage of all of the features YouTube offers can make a significant difference in page views and conversions. Below, we have compiled a list of suggestions that can drastically help improve the look and functionality of your YouTube channel.
Step 1: Use annotations to build subscribers
YouTube gives you the ability to add annotations to your YouTube videos that incorporate clickable calls to action. These annotations appear on your videos for a specified length of time and they can include links to other videos and playlists, or even a subscribe option. Any administrators to the specific channel will have complete control of the annotations including what they look like as well as where and when they will appear in the video. By adding annotations to certain videos, you may be able to quickly convert casual viewers who saw your video indirectly, into subscribers of the channel. Strategically placing annotations at the right time and in the right place on the video will give you the best opportunity to funnel viewers to various parts of your channel where they have the highest chance of donating.
Creating annotations can also be helpful if you have created a video with out-of-date information. Instead of deleting the video, you can direct people to the newer and more relevant video by using a simple annotation.
Here is a simple tutorial on how to add annotations to videos: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3qZmGDN30PI
Step 2: Leverage other social media platforms
YouTube is a great social media platform that allows you to easily extend the reach of your videos through sharing tools that automatically share new videos with other popular social media sites like Facebook and Twitter. In the socially connected world that we live in today, it is critical to have every one of your social platforms connected to one another as it will give you the best opportunity to reach the most interested audience.
Every time you release a new video, you should create a blog post around it. Create keyword-rich title and fill your post with complementary content to describe and support the video. This will deliver your video to your blog subscribers and increase its chances of being found in a search. Plus, you can add your own sharing buttons on your blog, making it easier for other people to share your content.
Every time you release a new video, you need to put it on your Facebook page. By connecting your YouTube channel with your Facebook page, you will ensure that your Facebook audience has direct access to your YouTube channel. Followers will receive updates when a new video is released and they can even watch newly posted YouTube videos directly on the Facebook platform. By linking the two social media platforms together, your YouTube channel will see a rise in views, visits and subscribers.
Newly released YouTube videos should also be posted to your Twitter page. Similar to Facebook, a Twitter page has a significant amount of followers that can easily be notified when a new video is released. By connecting your YouTube channel to Twitter, followers of your business will know when a new video gets posted and can have instant access to it.
StumbleUpon is a social bookmarking site has always been a powerful referrer. It drives a significant amount of traffic to social media sites including YouTube. This is a very simple way to gain exposure for your YouTube channel.
Step 3: Analyze YouTube Analytics
YouTube has very powerful analytics that give you insight into who is watching your videos and how they discovered them. Analytics are vital to regularly review because it will indirectly tell you what your channel has done well, what things need to improve and where new potential opportunities lie.
Don’t take a chance on creating wonderful content and letting it go unnoticed. Try these easy steps to get your channel noticed today!
