Best Practices for Creating Videos for your Website
Cool Web Hosting Tools for Videos and Website Marketing
Use your web hosting account to make a blog or website destination for viewers, then create videos that can serve as traffic builders to your website. You can create professional videos even if you do not have a film background.
YouTube is the second largest search engine in the world. By dissecting all the elements that create persuasive videos that move viewers into action, you can increase sales for your business website.
YouTube Video Marketing
There are five important elements of persuasive videos that you can post on YouTube and by following these elements, your videos can better move your viewers into action.
Why is video so important?
At its most basic level, video is a communication tool that can be used in an unlimited number of ways. You can plug-in video into everything that people are teaching you for your business. You can have a video, for example, for testimonials, how to drive traffic to a website, a video that teaches your audience and educates them, even a video that encourages visitors at your website to opt-in to your e-mail list. Making a video is actually simple, quick and efficient that can be used in many ways such as networking on social networking sites. The ultimate goal is to use your web hosting account to create a destination website or blog to which you can drive traffic. Videos can be tremendous traffic builders to your website or blog.
YouTube videos are the most shared form of content inside of Facebook. Videos are a powerful tool to communicate your message. Business owners can use video as a "welcome" when people sign up for your product or service. Screen captures can be used to show people how to do something by implementing screenshots into video. And by physically putting yourself in front of the camera, something special happens. Viewers that watch your videos fell like they know you at a deeper level and a relationship happens. When this occurs with your audience, your subscribers and your visitors, it shifts the game for you. Instead of being a salesperson and constantly pitching your product or service, videos can move your relationship to a level which attracts the type of clients and business that you want. When you connect with people in a face-to-face interaction, it transcends what can happen online. There is something special about that feeling and videos are the closest you can get to that face-to-face contact. You do not have to get in front of the camera, but if you do it is very beneficial because when people watch your videos, there is a singular person out there watching that is connecting to you and receiving your message. It makes a dramatic impact.
Components of Videos that Move People to Action
So many people think that you need to concentrate on which software to use, which equipment, camera and tripod to use. All these things are important but they are secondary to strategy. Keep in mind that what is more important than the equipment you use is strategy. By developing a strategy and plan of action before video production, you can take an ordinary video project into one that is successful, gives value to the audience, and drives traffic back to your website, your community, and build your subscriber list, which generates new sales leads for your business. Be precise and detailed when presenting video content online. Keep your videos synced and avoid rambling.
Prior to Creating your Videos
Sit down and take the time up-front to script your videos. Write out a strategy, an outline, or plan in some way that details exactly what you plan for the video. The clarity improves and the traffic and effectiveness improves dramatically.
Five Elements of a Persuasive Video
- Attention Grabber is similar to a headline in an article or blog post. You want people to know exactly what your video is about as quickly as possible. Six to eight seconds is all this phase takes. Don't even waste time saying, "Hi, my name is Joe". Instead, jump right into the introduction by saying "In this video we are going to talk about xyz." or ask a question. Entertain as much as you can. The whole point is that by six to eight seconds, your viewer should have a very good idea of what the video is about. The viewer needs to know what they are going to gain by watching your video. Start your video with providing value for your audience, informing them, and educating them. This is how you will get views. YouTube is not the place for commercials. The attention rate is very low with videos because when a person is watching a video all three their major modalities are engaged: audio, visual and kinesthetic. Videos are like a mini-transformation. Podcasts, on the other hand, give people the opportunity to multi-task such as drive, for example, while listening. You can't do that with video. With videos you have a much more condensed amount of time to deliver your message and get people's attention. If you can keep the viewers' attention, you are connecting with that viewer and engaging them.
- Intro Bumper includes you’re branding, your logo, music, telling people what your video is about, what your show is about. As soon as you tell the listener what you have, this is where you can throw in a small commercial. This is the best way to brand your show. Call it a show because it raises your video to a higher level. It legitimizes you. The whole branding package is outlined in the Intro Bumper. Videoscribe.tv is software that offers an efficient way to create engaging videos. You can create amazing marketing videos, instructional talks, add a visual to your talk or story, bring illustrations to life, show text, logos or photos and keep any audience captivated. An example of this is a video with a hand drawing on the screen that captures the viewer's attention. This is a great place to put your logo, your tag line and some music. VideoHive.net is a website that sells royalty-free, pre-made templates ready for you to customize. They can be purchased for $5 to $15 dollars. They are actually just AfterEffects templates. After Effects is a digital motion graphics and composing software tool published by Adobe Systems. With a template from VideoHive.net, you have a head start with your video. Find someone with basic video experience to whom you can outsource this project and have that person customize your template. You can use Odesk.com to hire someone without spending a lot of money. Have them customize the template with your logo. For around $10 you can have someone plug-in your logo and tag line. Now, save it and use it again and again as a video template that you can plug into all your future videos. This will save you time and money on every video by adding an introduction that is professional and consistent. Sparkol.com is another very unique video production tool that allows you to create engaging and animated videos quickly and easily. Engaging is the key. It's a wow factor. This phase needs to be done in six seconds or less.
- Content includes the meat of your video and it's purpose is to deliver the value that you have promised. If you said at the beginning of the video that your video would provide value, this is where you need to deliver on that promise.
- You need to tell the viewer why your video is important otherwise the viewer might take your content for granted. You need to do this as fast as possible. Becoming a teacher and a marketer is important in this phase. Tell the viewer why your content is important. You need to sell the viewer on the importance of your content before you provide the actual content. Then, you can show the viewer what you do or the steps of your "how to" video, for example. Give the viewer a line or two about why your video is so valuable, and then provide the content. Make sure that you have conveyed the benefits and the results of your video. What is the end result? What is going to happen after the viewer does what your video outlines?
- The actual content can include tips, education, entertainment, or you can tell the viewer what to do in the content of your video. A video is a mini-transformation with one enclosed transformation that stands alone. One thing or one topic should be included in the content of your video. Keep your content precise and topic-oriented. Be unique; be entertaining. Re-set the viewers' attention span.
- Next, tell the viewer something that is coming up or tell them something that will be at the end of the video. Give the viewer a reason to stay. Teasing the viewer with something that is coming up keeps the viewer engaged and creates a higher perceived value.
- The call-to-action is critical to include in this phase. Tell the viewer exactly what to do and why they should do it. The last part of the content should include another instance of your call-to action. Tell them what, why, and how to do something. Move someone that is passive to become active. Thank people for watching your video. You can close out this phase of the video by saying something, for example, like "I'll see you on the next page when you click the link".
- Altro Bumper entails you signing off on your video. End videos the same way you opened them. You can even put the same Intro Bumper in this phase. It ties it all up. The consistent branding is catchy and it sticks. Use text to further enunciate what your call-to-action is. Make your video 'humanizing'. You can do this by throwing in a few bloopers which demonstrate to people that you are human capable of making mistakes. This does two things: it trains people to stay to the end of your video. The second thing this does is that it shows people that you are human and that you do make mistakes. It builds a rapport and helps the viewer understand you and connect with you. People want to be entertained and this part of the Altro Bumper shows people that when you make mistakes, you laugh it off, which then creates a deeper connection between you and the viewer. After all, this is the ultimate goal of video because we all know that people buy from those who they like, know and trust.
- Out Takes include a video directory, such as a simple card that gives people the option of what they want to do next. When the video ends, a video directory can provide a link to your website, the option to watch additional videos, join your opt-in e-mail list, watch more bloopers, subscribe to your YouTube channel, etc. It gives people the opportunity to take the next step and provides options to do so.
By dissecting the principles of video production and defining a strategy before you leap into your next video project, the end result will be a more professional and effective video.
Marketing Your Website with Video
Embed your videos into your blog or web site. Be sure to put your URL and keywords in the video description. Google owns YouTube so keywords in the video's description will help your SEO efforts.
Connect Twitter to your YouTube channel by logging into your YouTube account and clicking your user name, "settings", then on the left of the screen, click "sharing". You can connect Facebook and Twitter accounts into your YouTube channel to further market your videos and increase distribution. From within your YouTube "sharing" screen, you will have choices of activities. Good settings within your "sharing" options are "like" and/ or "favorite". If you "like" a video, it will automatically post onto your Twitter account that you liked that video and also onto your Facebook profile with the player so people can easily watch the video and hopefully they will like, comment or share your video.
