Are You Ready To Get Your Video Out To Consumers?

You’ve taken a dive into video marketing, and you have a solid segment that is the best of video: it’s authentic, it’s brand-consistent, and it has clearly defined goals. Best of all, it’s kind of charming. Funny, even.

Now it’s time to make sure your video is viewed, and that it achieves those goals you created in the early stages of planning.

There are three broad categories for distribution, and the most successful video campaigns tend to make use of more than one. Ideally, you’ll utilize all three. They are owned, paid, and earned channels. Each has its advantages and drawbacks, so let’s look at each one in a little more detail:

Owned

Posting your video on your owned channels is the bare minimum of video content distribution. Utilize your blog, your email newsletter, your social media profiles, and, of course, your own website to showcase your video. Make sure to include a call to action where appropriate to have your audience share your video on their platforms.

Paid

How much you’ll be able to utilize these channels is dependent on your budget, but even the smallest investment can yield improvements for the reach of your video. Even better, a paid ad on social media allows you to target specific audiences to view your video. If your target market is women ages 30 to 44, who are focused on fitness and clean eating, your paid ad can go directly to those feeds that fit that description.

Paid channels also include native advertising, which imbeds your video into another piece of content that’s a natural fit. Going back to your target audience that’s health-focused women, you may pay to have your video appear in a blog about the best fitness trackers.

Influencer marketing can also be a paid option. If you have a relationship with an influencer in your industry, they may agree to post your video and promote it. Even in cases where there’s no prior connection, many influencers will post your video for a price.

Earned

This is the most nuanced distribution channel, but the only thing you have to lose is time. While there’s no set formula you can follow to increase your success, there are some techniques you can use to push your video in the right direction:

• Include a CTA when you post your video, encouraging others to share it. Send a private message to your friends and brand advocates, asking them to share it on their pages.
• Tag a few influencers that you have relationships with, and it may lead them to share your video.
• Invite reviews. If it’s a product unboxing or a demonstration, ask customers to share their reactions to your video.

Which Channel is Best?

It depends on what you’re trying to accomplish, and whether you’re a B2C marketer, a B2B marketer, or one that specializes in an industry where there’s a large visual component. Here are a few quick stats that may help shape your strategy:

When in Doubt, Facebook

Facebook is the most popular site for watching branded videos and 83% of small and mid-size businesses post their videos on Facebook. Wonder whether it makes any difference? Sixty-two percent of consumers say that their interest in a product only increases after watching a video on Facebook Stories.

You Can’t Go Wrong with YouTube, Either

Many people forget that YouTube boasts a powerful search engine, and it’s a site people reflexively turn to when they want to look up information in video format. The time spent watching shopping-related videos increased more than five times between 2016 and 2018.

Email Marketing

Emails that include a video have a 60% higher open rate than emails with text alone.

Now that you have great video content and a few tips for how to distribute it, let’s make your job a lot easier. Contact us to learn more about automated video distribution as a part of an omnichannel automated marketing platform from DirectMail.io.