Why Your Business Needs YouTube Videos

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The familiar YouTube logo and Vimeo name attract attention on the web – in 2010 alone, YouTube reached 2 billion video views per day. Consumers are comfortable clicking their computers, tapping their tablets and swiping their smartphones to access videos that provide meaningful or entertaining information.

So whether you’re involved in B2C or B2B marketing, an audience – or even a community of viewers – likely exists for your online video advertising.

The Advantages
While a blog imparts information, video adds color, movement, sound and immediacy to your message.

• Imagine the impact of showing how your product works instead of just telling how it works.
  
  
• Web-based videos are “share”-ready, and the best or most unusual can go viral, giving you more online exposure.
  
  
• And in a media-friendly marketplace, you can create videos for the fraction of the cost of shooting a broadcast commercial or placing a radio ad.

If you spend any time on the web, you’ve likely downloaded YouTube or Vimeo videos for professional or personal viewing. If you take a moment to remember the best and worst you saw, how would you draw that distinction? It likely involves criteria like…

• Relevancy. When you see the title and description of a video, you have certain expectations when you click through to it. A video that doesn’t fulfill the promise of the title is likely to generate ill will (and negative comments).
  
  
• Length. The average viewer’s attention span is short. How short? According to the Tubemogul tracking service, about 10 percent of viewers click off the video after just 10 seconds, and more than half leave after one minute. Online video advertising that exceeds two minutes is at risk for losing viewership.
  
  
• Production values. Viewers can spot in an instant the difference between a grainy, shaky-cam video and one that runs smoothly, with a polished look and sound.

Getting the Most from Your Video

• Watch YouTube and Vimeo. Before you shoot, watch the kinds of videos your peers, competitors and customers are posting. Web videos often differ in style and tone from broadcast commercials.
  
  
• Create a series. Keeping each video short and to-the-point can help hold attention spans; YouTube limits video runs to 10 minutes. So rather than a lengthy product demonstration, cut the long presentation into a series of video clips that will load more quickly and impart the same information.
  
  
• Stress the benefits. This advice applies to all marketing, not just online video advertising. People respond better to benefits over features.
  
  
• Get close up. Your product or service deserves the star treatment. Use close angles and voiceover to help viewers understand what your company offers.

Getting Noticed Online

• Tag with care. Your video tags help search engines and visitors identify your video’s content. Use the same SEO keywords you’d use in your blogs and website.
  
  
• Upload to your social networks. Promote your video by providing a link on your Facebook, Twitter, Google + or LinkedIn page. In some cases, you can embed the video right on the page, saving the viewer a step.
  
  
• Create links from your website. A button on your homepage should draw attention to your video.

Videos Work!
Google recognizes the power of videos, and so do Google’s users. You can boost your search rankings, engage customers and enhance your credibility – that’s a lot of ROI for the price of a simple product demonstration.