You recently made a great video and posted it online (YouTube or some other popular video website). He took great care to make sure the video was the most effective length, the subject matter was incredibly compelling, and the quality of his overall video was top notch. The only problem is that no one is looking at it. What is your job?

Preparing your video for success
When you first start shooting your video, you have no way of knowing if a large number of people will see it. All you can do is make your video the best it can be based on what you understand makes a video effective. Well, if you have done everything that you were supposed to do, the only thing left for you is to promote your video effectively. Of course, that may be easier said than done.

  • Make sure your video title grabs attention: As with the written word (blogs, longer articles, etc.), people first look at the title. If your viewers aren’t drawn to the title, they probably won’t make the effort to watch the video. Your title should give a potential viewer a clear understanding of the content of the video beyond the title. Nowadays, people don’t have time (or patience), so they want to understand what your video is about right away. Your title should be clear and concise and should include strong keywords or key phrases.

  • Create revealing thumbnails of your video: Your thumbnail is also extremely important when it comes to promotion. The thumbnail should strongly connect with your title. After all, you want the thumbnail to elicit the same reaction as the title – you want the viewer to want to see the full video. There are a few simple guidelines you should consider following, such as making sure the thumbnail is large (you want it to be easy to see in preview), has a high resolution, is uploaded as an image (jpg, gif, bmp, or png). It is important for you to remember that the thumbnail is extremely important and if you do it the right way, it will go a long way in promoting your video.

  • Make sure your profile on the social media channel where you post the video is complete: Your profiles on all the social media channels of your choice are extremely important and it is absolutely needed to complete each. The same goes for profiles on sites where you can post videos. If you’re using YouTube, for example, you’ll want to make sure the following closely matches your brand when it comes to color, background, logos, social media buttons and banners, and layout. Considering that this is content that is visual in nature, aesthetics are obviously extremely important. In essence, you are bookmarking that particular social media channel.

  • Search Engine Optimization (SEO): SEO is extremely important to the success of your brand and no matter what type of content you are posting, the need for effective SEO is the same. There are several things you need to keep in mind when it comes to SEO, including audience retention (memorability), title tag information, effective keywords and keyword phrases, the length of your video, tags, number of viewers, likes, etc. and comments and questions. After all, you want people to be able to find your video easily. This is why you want to do everything you can to make sure your SEO is up to scratch. Some of the information you might consider including is detailed descriptions of your video, strong keywords and key phrases, strong choice of where to post your video, links, etc.

  • Create a buzz about your video: Even though you’ve created an amazing video and tried your best to promote it properly and effectively, you still need to engage people. Commitment is critical to your success. That means you’re not only going to encourage people to leave comments, questions, etc. on your video, but you’re also going to engage people by offering your opinion(s) about other people’s videos. That’s a really good idea because you want to solidify your position as an active and interested member of your online social circle(s). When you speak, other people will listen to you and value your contribution. Also, while sharing other content, don’t forget to mention your video. Just make sure you don’t seem too overtly promotional.

  • Promote valuable interactions with members of your target audience: The fact is, no matter what type of content you’re promoting, you need to engage with your target audience. Additionally, your content should also resonate with them. If you are not able to establish the emotional connection, you will not have the opportunity to continue the relationship that you have established with the other person. There are several different ways you can interact, and a video automatically lends itself to interactions with other people online.

  • Never forget to include a call to action CTA): Undoubtedly, as effective as your content is, without a CTA, the relationship will be dead before it has a chance to live. The CTA is the only way for the viewer to be able to connect with you one on one. Remember that your CTA can be customized and each CTA can be different for each new piece of content. You might want to include a question, run a contest, ask your viewer to vote for something, offer a free trial, fill out a form, or watch a second video. All of these possibilities can be included in your CTA.

conclusion

Creating an amazing video is extremely important, but it’s only half the battle. The other half is promoting that video effectively so that many people see it and want to share it with others they know and respect.