Hey. Watch this.
That phrase rarely fails to make someone look. And after you’ve spent marketing dollars on a brand video for your company, that’s exactly what you want people to do–look. Your brand video tells the world who you are, what you do and why you do it. It’s everything you want to convey about your business in two minutes or less. You’ve posted it to YouTube. It’s got thirty-two views. Twenty-five of them are you and your staff, and four of them are your mom. That leaves three views that might have been a prospect or just some rando dude channel-surfing at 4:00 a.m. It’s not quite the bang for your buck you were hoping for. So how do you get more eyeballs on your super cool brand video? Here are five fabulous tips:
- Judge your book by its cover. When you upload a video to YouTube, you can easily automatically select a thumbnail image. That single image is the invitation–the “Hey, watch this”–that your prospects will see. Does it make YOU want to watch the video? If not, take a minute to choose a custom thumbnail that has the most engaging and relevant frame from your video. If none of the thumbnails are compelling enough, upload a curated image to improve your watch rate. The more people you get to watch your video, the more likely it is to be shared.
- Give your kindest regards…How many emails do you send out in one day? If you are like most businesses, you communicate with a lot of people. Why not send your awesome video in your email signature to every person you reach out to every day? Again, make sure you have an engaging thumbnail image to link it to. Don’t forget to encourage folks to view and share your video!
- Thoroughly socialize it. After you posted your brand video to YouTube, you probably also shared it on Facebook. And it got some likes. (Thanks Mom.) But now it’s buried under all your other brilliant posts, so no one can see it anymore. What to do? A couple of things–pin it to the top of your Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter feeds and think about doing a sponsored post or an ad to promote it. Advertising on social media is great because you can control both your spend and your intended audience. You can also get more eyes on your brand video by adding it to your Facebook cover. Remember that “social” can still mean in person–if you’re headed to a trade show or doing a presentation. Make sure you show attendees your brand video!
- Make it push button easy. Is your brand video on your website? Great. Can viewers share your video to their own social pages with a single mouse click? If the answer is no, that’s a quick fix. In the editing process, you can embed share buttons so people can share the video without leaving your site.
- Just ask. This tip may seem like a no-brainer but, much like asking for the close when you’re trying to make a sale, even people who love you (you know who we’re talking about here) won’t think to share your video unless you ask. And beyond the obvious (family members and employees), think about asking your customers as well. If you do a monthly newsletter, make your brand video the “news” you share. Your existing customers might learn something new about you, and your prospects will be intrigued to learn more.
Of course, the ultimate key to having a shareable brand video is having a great brand video. So make sure you’re choosing a video production company that takes the time to listen and learn about your business. And if you already have a brand video, think about other videos your business needs now, like company culture and testimonial videos (to show how amazing your company is to work for), 360 videos and virtual tours (for things like training or showing off your facility), drone videos (to show the full scope of your facility), value videos (that show the world your expertise in your field), and motion graphics and animation videos (for explaining things that feel unexplainable).
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