The key to distributing your video content successfully is knowing your audience. Sports fans, for example, may prefer to watch live sporting feeds on social media while news consumers want to view edited highlights packages on a branded portal or website.
Major hosting platforms like Gumlet give users engagement metrics, latency metrics, and other analytics to help them stay on top of their video distribution strategies. Read on to learn which of the following is a key strategy for distributing your video content?
Pick one primary place to share your videos.
Choosing where to host your videos is a key step in determining how you will distribute them. It is important to consider your goals, where your audience primarily hangs out, and how much effort you are willing to put into promoting each video. This will help you decide which distribution channels are best for your video.
Each channel has its own algorithm that dictates how your content is displayed, recommended, and discovered by users. Repurposing the same video across multiple platforms may not align with these algorithms, limiting its reach and impact. By selecting one primary platform for your videos, you can optimize and promote them to get the most out of each opportunity.
Your own website is the ideal place to host your video content. Embedding videos on your homepage, about page, product pages, and support channels can boost engagement and lead generation. You can also use videos as a way to showcase customer success stories and highlight new product features. For example, advocate marketing solution Influitive uses videos throughout their website to educate visitors about their service and highlight happy customers. Each video opens in a lightbox, which makes it easy to navigate and focus on the content.
Another option is to host a dedicated video hub on your website. This is a great way to organize your video content, provide links for downloads and embedding, and improve SEO by utilizing structured data. A dedicated video hub is a great choice for branded content, employee training, and even internal communications.
You can also use a video hosting platform like YouTube or Vimeo to distribute your videos. These sites have the benefit of a built-in search functionality, allowing your viewers to find your content quickly and easily. They also allow you to add relevant keywords and tags, which will increase your visibility on the platform and on other channels that use those same platforms.
Don’t be afraid to try out new platforms. Some will fail, but fortune favors the bold, and you might find an audience that your competitors are missing out on.
Optimize your videos for each platform.
Social media platforms introduce new features and trends on a regular basis, so it’s essential to stay up to date with changes in how they treat video content. This allows you to create videos that are relevant and optimized for the platform on which they’re posted, ensuring that they’re seen by your target audience.
Different distribution channels also have their own algorithms that dictate how videos are displayed, recommended, and discovered by users. Repurposing a single video across multiple channels may not align with these algorithms, potentially resulting in fewer views and less engagement.
Each platform has its own set of specifications that you must adhere to when creating your video content. For example, Facebook’s algorithm favors video with captions and text to help viewers access content, while YouTube requires video metadata to be properly formatted for search and promotion.
Additionally, each platform has its own set of guidelines and best practices for how videos should be presented to their audience. For example, Facebook prefers videos that are uploaded natively as opposed to third-party platforms. YouTube recommends using its built-in video editor for the best results. YouTube also recommends using a closed captioning tool for videos that contain audio. This is because many mobile devices, such as phones, play videos with the sound mute.
Once you’ve posted your video, it’s important to track its performance. This includes measuring view counts, unique visitors, and other key metrics such as brand awareness and recall lift. These metrics will inform future video production and distribution efforts, helping you to improve upon what works and what doesn’t.
The goal is to make your business stand out in a crowded digital space, while connecting with your customers on a personal level. This is why you need to consider which type of distribution strategy will provide the most benefit for your business, taking into account your resources, budget, and desired relationship with your audience. Choosing the right type of distribution will ensure that your videos can reach as many potential customers as possible and help you build a strong, thriving online community.
Promote your videos on social media.
Your YouTube video is likely the best piece of marketing content you have, and you want to make sure that it gets the attention it deserves. This can be done by boosting the video through paid ads, using social media promotions and even using your website to drive traffic to your YouTube video.
It’s also a good idea to add social links to your YouTube videos, so people can subscribe and interact with them on other platforms. This can increase your reach and lead to more conversions. Lastly, don’t forget to use the platform’s features, like end cards and description text, to maximize engagement.
Facebook and Instagram are powerful channels for video promotion. You can create ads that appear on the news feed and the video feed of a targeted audience. Instagram also has a Stories feature that can be used to promote your video. Snapchat is another great option, and can be particularly effective if you’re targeting a younger demographic.
Once you’ve finished promoting your videos, it’s important to keep track of the results. View count and unique users are the most obvious metrics to watch, but it’s also helpful to measure lifts in brand awareness and recall. Most video hosting platforms will give you these metrics, and they can help you determine whether or not your video has been successful.
Don’t neglect your owned distribution channels, which include your website, email lists, PDFs, apps and more. These are your primary ways of reaching your audiences, and it’s important to distribute your videos across all of them intelligently.
For example, if you have a branded product video, you should host it on your website, as well as any pages that are relevant to the topic. This will allow you to build a narrative around the video, and help you rank higher in search results.
User-generated videos are a great way to engage your audience and show them that your business is real. You can create your own videos or share existing ones. For example, if you have a video of a customer who loves your product, you can share it on your social media channels to spread the word.
Promote your videos on your website.
Rather than relying on social media or other platforms to host and distribute your videos, you can use your website as your primary hub. This allows you to control the narrative around your content and take a more direct approach in reaching and engaging your audience. However, this strategy requires technical expertise and a financial investment in creating and hosting your website.
If you’re serious about owning the traffic and leads generated from your video content, it’s worth the investment in building a website dedicated to your videos. This includes investing in a high-quality video player, optimizing videos for search engines (by adding relevant keywords and including a transcript), and incorporating your videos throughout your site. This is also an excellent opportunity to include an interactive call-to-action on your videos, which can be as simple as a “Click Here” button or a more advanced video that lets viewers subscribe to your YouTube channel or other social media channels.
Video is also a great addition to your blog, where it can help readers gain a better understanding of your product or service. A quick, educational video can boost reader engagement and drive more conversions than a text-based blog post.
For brands with existing email lists, a well-optimized video is an excellent way to promote new content and engage with your subscribers. A video can be a perfect supplement to newsletters, drip campaigns, and automated emails. You can also create an interactive experience by embedding a video in your email signature, which can be an effective way to drive click-throughs and engagement.
Another way to promote your video content is through paid advertising on social media and Google. These types of ads are targeted to specific demographics and interests and can be a cost-effective way to increase your reach. However, it’s important to understand that a poorly produced video will not delight your audience, so don’t be afraid to test a few different approaches when trying out this type of promotion.
Whatever distribution strategy you choose, don’t forget to track and analyze the data from your marketing videos. This information will allow you to adjust your strategies for future content and continue to drive more engagement and conversions from your audience.