Robert Moorman is a Video Strategist at Hunting With Pixels, a company that specializes in strategic social video campaigns. Robert has over 20 years of experience working as a video producer for media organizations like Fremantle Media and MTV in the UK, Australia and Europe.
Content is king but distribution is queen, says Robert. Content is now about ideas, not tech. For example, 8 year olds who use iPads don’t need to know interface design in order to use it. Video content must be engaging, authentic, simple and memorable.
Robert kicked off showing a corporate video that emphasizes the relationships formed by a business rather than the product they sell.
Video Content Optimization
There are a couple of major things to remember when optimizing your video content, says Robert:
- Highlight your branding early so people associate it with the visual message.
- Include your call to action early, in case people don’t view the entire video.
- Don’t forget audio quality. Poor audio will automatically reflect poorly on your brand. TEST it!
- Short videos generally perform better. If possible, keep your videos to 2-3 minutes.
- Use graphics and captions in your videos to highlight key points.
- Be engaging and relevant.
Video Distribution Channels
There are quite a few video distribution channels available – YouTube is not everything. So here are the options:
- YouTube – the obvious choice.
- Vimeo Pro – is an excellent HD quality hosting option.
- Vid.ly - is great for video transcoding and checking if your video is viewable on multiple platforms.
- Get your videos embedded by others. If you haven’t already read it, read The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell. It will give you some ideas for how to make your videos memorable and sharable.
- Make sure your videos are fully searchable. Fill out all the fields when uploading them to YouTube and other content placeholders. Put the http URL in the video title and/or video description so it becomes a clickable link.
- Use playlists to your advantage.
- When viewing YouTube, choose the right thumbnail, do keyword research to find popular related keywords.
- Turn on transcription / subtitles when uploading your videos to create an automatic text version of your content.
- Context matters – be wary of where your vid appears.
- Use seeding and video advertising platforms – eg. TubeMogul or YouTube advertising to auto distribute your video content via similar content.
- Be sharable – use video plugins that make it easy.
- Be easy to use.
- Make your video content easily navigable.
- Don’t use shortcuts – quality is key with video content.
- Use YouTube analytics to keep up with viewer statistics and tweak your videos based on viewer activity.
- If you need to create a video-based site, try Vidcaster – instant micro websites made for videos.
- For tips on how to SEO your videos, read Reelseo.com regularly.
Robert then showed a video that was a Flash video that entirely mimicked a YouTube page – A Hunter Shoots a Bear – with the word *shoots* able to be replaced by user chosen via keyboard [fun tip - type in *dances with*]. It was a clever ad for Tipp-Ex correction fluid. Apparently they shot over 100 different keyword scenarios. Robert showed another where the company had created an entire website just using video.
In summary, video marketing doesn’t have to be difficult or expensive. Just give it a go. Look into buying a mid range video camera, a cheapish background screen and a spotlight in order to DIY videos for your site. You can get an entire package for under $1,200.
Kalena Jordan is a search engine agony aunt, SEO blogger & co-founder of SearchEngineCollege.com.
