top video marketing tips - 16 top video marketing tips from vidsummit 2015
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16 Top Video Marketing Tips and Takeaways from Vidsummit 2015
Vidsummit was this year's premiere event for video marketing and my heart aches for those of you who
missed it. Seriously! Vidcon might be the perfect place to see some great keynotes and network with your
favorite YouTube stars but vidsummit is more like a college-level course taught by the biggest action takers
in YouTube marketing.
From Jeffrey Harmon’s behind the scenes on the wildly successful Poo-Pourri campaign to Derral Eves’
step-by-step on Google tag manager for analytic data and paid campaigns, you couldn't help but walk away
from this event without a handful of actionable nuggets. My Evernote is bursting at the proverbial seams
with copious notes and while I’d love to share them all with you, I’ve decided to spill the beans on just the
top 16 takeaways from this years Vidsummit Event . I’ve provided the tip in BOLD and following I've
included a brief that explains my perspective. You can thank me later (preferably with candy).
16 Video Marketing Tips from the Experts!
#1 Every successful YouTube campaign has 3 components: attract, retain, and monetize.
Essentially a video view is worthless unless it’s attached to some time of business objective. Make sure
each of your videos is connected to a measurable objective. Otherwise, you’re just sort of throwing
spaghetti on the wall. (Derral Eves, Creatus)
#2 Pre-roll and in-display ads are the cheapest way to earn massive views from a highly targeted
audience.
In other words, virality requires a business plan. Marketers are leveraging the power of paid ads to achieve
virality and there’s nothing wrong with that. That viral videos are placed online and mysteriously seen by
millions of people is a myth. It’s marketing, people! (Jake Larsen, VideoPower)
#3 Deleting a poorly performing video can dramatically improve your channel’s overall ability to
rank.
You might have an anchor on board. Videos with poor watch time, thumb downs, or negative comments
might indicate you’ve got a channel killer. Deleting it might help your good vids perform even better! (Matt
Ballek, VidiSEO)
#4 Translate your main tags into foreign languages for increased international viewership
Then, pitch your video to related websites that curate content, actively seek out media opportunities, &
build a promotion strategy centered around a major event (i.e. tent-pole events). Look at your audience to
understand where you can increase your views and subscribers. Avoid trying to get views by pleasing
everyone. (Shaun McKnight, cutegirlhairstyles)
#5 Every video platform is unique and requires different storytelling techniques.
Repurposing content across platforms is not a good idea. Do what works on YouTube for your YouTube
videos and do what works on Facebook for Facebook videos. A multi-platform video strategy is essential if
you want to target the right audience. (Allison Stern, Tubular Labs)
#6 Videos on Facebook receive a much faster POP in view counts while videos uploaded to
YouTube receive much higher view counts over a longer period of time (long tail).
Consider your business objectives when deciding to launch your videos. Facebook and YouTube will serve
different needs at different times. (Allison Stern, Tubular Labs)
#7 Set up remarketing lists based on who watched, liked, commented, and shared.
This list will be your SuperFans. Remarketing happens when you’re able to push ads to people who have
taken certain actions on your videos. Creators and brands will build amazing communities when they’re
able to get in front of the right people. Leverage a paid strategy to reach people who already love you so
you don’t have to rely on YouTube’s algorithm. (Derral Eves, Creatus)
#8 Of the top 10 celebrities voted by millennial, half are YouTubers. Audiences today have moved
beyond traditional media.
If you’re serving an audience of millennials (20-somethings to 30-somethings), than YouTube influencers
are an excellent way to reach them. Staying relevant to this generation has a lot do with knowing who is
performing well in the online space. (Ricky Ray Butler, Plaid Social)
#9 YouTube is able to provide much more actionable data than TV.
Epic Rap Battles received 24.5 millions views on YouTube and outperformed the hugely popular TV show
Big Bang Theory which received only 18.5 million views (on TV). What’s even more interesting is that
Nielsen ratings (like the one used to measure views from the Big Bang Theory) tell us more about
impressions rather than views. (Ricky Ray Butler, Plaid Social)
#10 There are two main campaign strategies in working with YouTubers.
A qualitative campaign works with one key influencer channel while a quantitative campaign works with
multiple channels. Before you start trying to connect your brand to a YouTuber, invest time learning the
language of the playing field. Have a plan in place (see tip #1) with clearly identified metrics connected to
business objective. (Ricky Ray Butler, Plaid Social)
#11 Take time to write a script as a team.
The Poo-pouri commercial took threes days to write. The Harmon Brothers agency sits atop some of the
most successful viral videos in the world and they know what works. Take time to write a script as a team
and consider having your team come to the table each with a script or concept proposal.
#12 Use paid ads instead of focus groups.
In other words, test everything. If you can’t decide between two hooks- shoot them both
and test! Using a paid ad strategy, it’s much easier to get 1000 views and gauge results
than trying to gather a focus group. The analytic data connected to video ads will far
outweigh the value of subjective feedback. (Jeffrey Harmon, TheHarmonBrothers)
#13 Consistency & branding are the biggest factor in success on YouTube.
Use iconic symbols and catch phrases in your videos to build community. Using an
example from one of his clients, Derral showed how to use recurring jokes (or “bits”) into
your channel to create familiarity and intimacy with your audience. This codified
approach to channel building develops a tight-knit community of engaged fans. (Derral
Eves, Creatus)
#14 Consumers have rated YouTubers “as trustworthy” as people they already
know.Celebrities tend to endorse any product that pays them whereas YouTubers are
more selective and specialized. YouTubers are not actors or models. They’ve built a
career being transparent with their audiences and this authenticity makes YouTube a
great place for brands to build trust within those audiences. (Dane Golden, Octoly)
#15 User satisfaction is the key to SEO.
I love a good link wheel as much as the next guy but SEO is changing. The winners in
search marketing will be those who build video pages that actually satisfy the user.
Think beyond mobile optimization and social share buttons (then read the next tip!)
(Mark Robertson, ReelSEO)
#16 Videos on a web page need contextual elements to increase on page
engagement.While your video might keep them on page, don’t forget to add links to
internal content (to reduce bounce rates), create on-page engagement tools like
comments and “read more” links. Don’t publish thin pages- add content to add context
and avoid the urge to copy/paste from video description boxes.
Real Insights from Reel Video Marketers
In summarizing the event, three major themes began to appear: having a paid strategy,
how to connect Brands with YouTubers (and vice versa) and monitoring the success of
your video campaigns with Google products. Having left the event already working on
some new techniques for my channel, you can’t deny the actionability of the content
provided. Not only did each speaker provide a wealth of information, all of those
speakers are actively in the field doing actual work with real clients. While many events
on the new media space feature speakers with a celebrity appeal, Vidsummit is
something special.