Six ways to maximize the value of your company’s videos
Every once in a while, I remember the Depression-era stories of my grandmother, whose family struggled to make ends meet. She would share how her father prepared the Christmas goose and how nothing went to waste. Even the grease from roasting was saved for later and used as a balm for whatever ailed them throughout the cold Indiana winters. The moral of the story? Nothing goes to waste – ever.
One of the biggest wastes I see in advertising and marketing is video. Make no mistake: Video has incredible value, but after all the time, money, and energy to produce it, its marketing promise is often never fully realized.
Take a moment to evaluate your business’s marketing efforts. Are you using video? If so, where and how are you using it?
The online communications world is changing so often. It is hard to determine where, how, and when to place your video to get the most views. For example, should you shoot a long video horizontally or vertically? You can then create a variety of other videos on the same subject. Cut them into shorter video clips to be used for teaser ads – and Instagram stories – that can lead viewers to the longer video.
1. One idea – many versions.
There are teasers, short, medium, long, vertical, and more versions of videos. For example, if you are targeting audiences with a new product release, you’ll want to create a series of videos with various time lengths and visual orientations. Each version will fit better on certain social or online platforms than others.
2. Save the scraps.
When making videos, a lot of footage ends on the cutting room floor. Don’t throw it out. Categorize key interviews or B-roll by name, and place the video files on a hard drive or cloud storage like iCloud or Dropbox for future use.
3. Place on many channels or platforms.
The biggest mistake made with online videos is placing them on YouTube and forgetting about them. Your videos can run on many social media channels, among other places. Upload your videos natively to Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn. Some videos can also be posted on Google My Business, Yelp, eBay, and Amazon product pages, but each platform may have some restrictions.
4. Describe your videos.
Wherever you post your video, take every opportunity to write out its descriptions. That goes for the video title, description section, tags, and more. You can even add your video to a playlist, but first, make time to create playlists on your channel so you can then organize videos by type. This last tip is important for video channels like YouTube and Vimeo, as well as for Facebook and LinkedIn.
5. Show your videos over the course of business.
Share your videos in PowerPoint or Google Slides presentations. Include product or testimonial videos in emails to prospective clients. If you have TV displays up in your office, roll your videos as silent movies with captions. Next time you are at a business conference and hosting a booth, you can use a large-screen TV or video projector to share your latest corporate videos or case studies related to the conference industry’s needs.
6. Rerun your videos.
Post your social videos to run repeatedly over the weeks, months or years to come, as long as the content is still relevant. If reruns can work for The Brady Bunch and Gilligan’s Island, they can also work for you on social media!
Like with most successful business outcomes, maximizing the value of your video marketing will take better planning and a little more effort. But the success you will realize will far outdo what you could achieve otherwise.
Keith Woods is Founder & CEO of KB Woods, specializing in PR, Video, and Digital Marketing for growing businesses, and Board Director at Salt River Project.
