Yagua Piru

More than 35 hours of video content is uploaded to YouTube every minute. This means 2,100 hours of video is uploaded every hour, or 50,400 hours of content is uploaded to YouTube every day.

"If we were to measure that in movie terms (assuming the average Hollywood film is around 120 minutes long), 35 hours a minute is the equivalent of over 176,000 full-length Hollywood releases every week." according to Hunter Walk, YouTube's Director of product management. "Another way to think about it is: if three of the major U.S. networks were broadcasting 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year for the last 60 years, they still wouldn't have broadcast as much content as is uploaded to YouTube every 30 days."

So, you will need to learn how to optimize your video for YouTube. Otherwise, the odds that a critical mass of viewers will discover it are slim to nil.

Choose Relevant Keywords

The first step in this process is to think about the words users would type into the YouTube search box to find your video. Choosing relevant keywords can help you get your video content in front of interested users.

You can use the YouTube keyword tool to get new keyword ideas. It gives you a couple of options. You can enter a few descriptive words or phrases, or you can type in a YouTube video's ID or watch page URL. Results can be tailored to more than 40 languages and more than 230 countries.

In addition, the YouTube keyword tool lets you choose the demographic you wish to target. This includes male or female, ages 13 to 65+, applicable countries, and 24 interests from animals to travel.

Although you can use these keywords for advertizing if you want, you don't need to. The YouTube keyword tool can be used to optimize your video for YouTube search, too.

Remember, users are searching for video content, so they're less likely to look for something to buy on YouTube than they are on a search engine. Users search for topics related to what entertains them, so choose your keywords accordingly:

• Names (celebrities)
• Titles (movies, shows)
• Quotes
• Actions/verbs
• Objects in the video (cars, etc.)
• Emotions (funny, hilarious)

When choosing your keywords, think about the trends in online video overall, plus trends on YouTube (hot topics, political awareness, celebrity gossip, and popular videos).

Optimize Your Video Title

The second step is to make sure that your titles, video descriptions and tags actually include your keywords. This will help your videos be discovered in YouTube search results and related videos.

Your video's title can be up to 100 characters long, including the spaces between words. This means your title can be up to 16 words long, depending on the number of characters in each word.

Although you can think of your title as a headline, don't use puns or other word play in this important element of your video's metadata. As Steve Lohr of The New York Times once observed, "There are no algorithms for wit, irony, humor or stylish writing." So, your title should be straightforward enough to be indexed properly and should contain the keyword phrases most important to the message of your video.

If you want to include your brand name in the title, it should always go last. You brand name faces less competition, so put the keywords that face more competition at the beginning of the title, which appears to help in YouTube search ranking.

Your description should be as detailed as possible -- short of offering an entire transcript. It can be up to 5,000 characters, including spaces. This means your video's description can be up to 800 words long.

Include URLs with http:// to other videos, playlists, or your website in your description. This will turn the URLs into a hyperlink.

Optimize Your Tags

Finally, your tags should be as detailed as possible within the 120-character limit. They can include your brand, city, and topics. Consider using your current tags or another user's tags.

If you want to see an example of how this works, examine the video above, "Optimize YouTube videos and 3 key steps on how to do it." It has been found in YouTube searches for the terms "how to optimize YouTube video" and "optimize video for YouTube." It has also been found in Google searches for the term "optimize video for YouTube."

In addition, it has been found after YouTubers watched two related videos, "YouTube Optimization techniques from Greg Jarboe, SEO-PR" and "Optimize YouTube videos and how to share them with Greg Jarboe."

The above video also provides a hint at what I'll cover in upcoming columns. Stay tuned.

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Described as “Google Analytics for Online Video” byTechCrunch (ultra-creative, I know) InPlay, TubeMogul’s video player analytics package has now gone free-to-use. All that it requires is some account sign ups and some configuration.The process consists of three steps.

Well, not actually below here but below at TubeMogul. It really is a bit more complicated that this three step diagram. First, sign up for TubeMogul, then activate InPlay. To do that you have to add a site, add a tracker, add a player and then… well, they don’t exactly tell you. I mean they do, but it’s different for each player and there are lengthy tutorials that you have to manage. I even spied some video tutorials which would make sense, since we’re talking about online video here.

Over at Gamers Daily News, we use trusty old JWplayer, which is in that list mentioned above. Oddly, not an option in the pull down menu, but I’m guessing it’s listed as LongTail from what I see in the code because really, they’re sort of the same thing if you know what I mean.

However, if we were up to speed and using HTML 5, they say to contact them (not sure if that means yes they can do it or no not yet) or Silverlight (that one is all ready to go they say) that support is available upon request.

Now, I’m going to set it up and run it over at GDN and then get back to you and let you know how easy/difficult I found it, what kind of problems I’ve encountered and what kind of analytics I’m seeing.

However, before I go I can give you some notes on what’s available. You’ve got two options, publisher reports and video reports.

Publisher Reports

The first category of video metrics features is connected to your video sharing accounts on a variety of place like YouTube, DailyMotion, MySpace, MetaCafe, Veoh and more. This will then allow you to track how videos you’ve uploaded to those places are doing.

Video Reports

There are also video reports, which is where InPlay really comes in handy. It offers everything and the kitchen sink including real-time statistics for views, viewed minutes, audience geography, embeds, referring sites and search terms, video delivery metrics (i.e. rebuffers) and more. If you’re using it on more than one site you can get some cross-site data as well as track the metrics per player (for those using multiple players).

You can also export all of that data and share it with others (no more fearing that dreaded question from the flappy heads at the top of the company ‘What’s the ROI on that?”)

The reports can include customized segments and can be shared with TubeMogul users, customers, advertisers and yes, those aforementioned flappy heads. As a bonus, you get to lock them out of whatever you don’t want them to see (like the metrics you’re tracking for your online porn collection). Or you can simply export it and give it to them in Excel (and other ways far more complex).

It all sounds really grand and I’m hoping it works as advertised. I’ll get back to you on that when I know more. That translates into – After I find time to push some stuff to the side of my desk and get it all implemented which I’m guessing will be a couple days. I am after all, one of the flappy heads over at GDN ironically.

Personally, I would call InPlay the best online video metrics you can hope to get…free or otherwise. OK, not as creative as Google Analytics for online video, but certainly more descriptive right? (No offense meant to my friends over at TechCrunch. I’m still waiting for the next meeting in Prague gents…)

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I don’t get very excited about many things that are touted as innovation in the Internet marketing space. Why? It’s because everyone wants to hype the newest and freshest updates to their service as a “game changer!” or some other form of hyperbole that always easily out runs the reality of the service. In other words, I am tired of being hyped (am I the only one here on this one?).

This time, however, I am pretty interested in the Google Moderator integration into YouTube that is being introduced. At first glance this looks like it gives the world of video a new level of interactivity that can actually create a better experience for the end user. How about that! The YouTube blog tells us more:

That’s why, starting today, we’ve integrated the ability to use Google Moderator into every single YouTube channel. Moderator is a versatile, social platform that allows you to solicit ideas or questions on any topic, and have the community vote the best ones up to the top in real-time. We previously used Google Moderator as part of our interviews with President Obama and Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

Here’s how it works: You set the parameters for the dialogue, including the topic, the type of submissions, and the length of the conversation. Watch as submissions get voted up or down by your audience, and then respond to the top-voted submissions by posting a video on your channel. The platform operates in real-time, and you can remove any content that you or your audience flag as inappropriate. You can also embed the platform on your own website or blog.

Nice. Features like this help everyone from a content development standpoint because now you can get feedback and input from your users. As any good marketer will tell you, the longer (or dare I say, more intelligently) you can engage your customer or prospect the more likely they are to see you in the kind of light you wish: the kind that makes them want your product or service.

Here’s an example of the YouTube and Google Moderator that come from the post and features the New York Times’ Nick Kristof.

So what’s your take? Is this a real “game-changer” or is it just another hyped feature that will gather dust in the future?

marketingpilgrim

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Bold statement: If you’re not using video in your social media, you’re

• Making a huge mistake
• Being penny wise and pound foolish
• Not truly understanding where social media is, and where it’s going.

Choose any two.

First there was the radio, an experience that was eventually improved and  enhanced (some say) by the invention of television. Fast forward about 50-60 years and the personal computer begins to emerge. Then came modems – linking them all together. Soon there’s there BBS method of communication, then the ‘world wide web’ and then email. Email soon is improved and enhanced (some say!) by social media and chat.

So where are we now? We live in the age of Social Media. People have settled in and now tweet and update their statuses all very comfortably. But don’t get too cozy.  Because the next enhancement and improvement to your social media efforts is already here. It’s called video.

These days if you’re only using text in your status updates, or DMs, or tweets  – you’re really missing an opportunity to grab your customers and prospects attention.  You need to get good at incorporating video in your social media.  To do anything less and you might look like the rotary phone of the internet!

Here are 5 reasons to embrace video in your social media campaigns:

• It’s intimate. Videos give you a chance to really let your customer get to know you. Even if you balk at the idea of you yourself being on camera, you can still get so much more of your brand across via a video than you ever can via text.

• It’s fun! Putting a video together using Animoto or iMovie is far more fun than staring at blank screen with writer’s block.

• It’s educational for them. If you are trying to teach your clients or prospects anything complex, a video can do in 2 minutes what might take you 1000 well written words to achieve. And, btw, that’s assuming they’d bother to ever READ 1000 words.

• It’s educational…for you. Creating video is the perfect reason to really think about how you really want to come across to your clients. What tone of voice you want your brand to convey, what kind of music you might choose. It all goes to strengthening your brand. So if you never thought of these things before – videos will force you to take this very important step.

• It works! Video sells better than text ever could. In fact, Internet Retailer “reports that visitors who view product videos are 85% more likely to buy than visitors who do not, based on OnlineGolf.com results.” (Internet Retailer, April 2010)

That alone should convince you. But if it doesn’t, I’ll soon be posting 5 more reasons. I’ll have you using online video if it’s the last thing I do! 

Are you using video in your social media? Is it working? Not working? Share your thoughts by posting a comment below.

doncrowther

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There’s no doubt that online video marketing is on the rise.  Numerous studies and statistics prove that video works.  In fact, Forrester Research found that videos were 50 times more likely to receive an organic first page ranking than traditional text pages.  That’s a pretty impressive stat!

Online video marketing is attractive to many businesses today for numerous reasons.  Making videos and posting them online is fairly inexpensive.  Plus, online videos stay online forever.  If you spend the money to record once, your video could still be getting views a year from now.

In addition, social media sites and video go hand in hand and most sites encourage video posting and sharing. The viral video opportunities are endless when you use the right strategies to create and post your videos online.

If you’re new to video, or have been thinking about flipping on your camera for the first time, here are some tips and strategies to get you going.

Six Quick Tips to Optimize Your Videos

Once you record your video, follow these tips to make sure it reaches your core audience and gets the views it deserves.

Make your title count

Just like a headline to a blog post, video titles can pull powerful traffic.  There are two main reasons why the title is so important.  One, a great title can instantly grab a viewer’s attention.  Two, when you use the appropriate keywords in your title, you are more likely to show up on search engines when people are searching for your topic.  And remember Google owns YouTube, so there’s a story connection between video and searching.

Provide excellent content

Take some time to think about your ideal viewer.  What do you know that they’ll find valuable?  What can you teach them?  “How-to” videos are extremely successful because not only do they offer great value to your viewer, but also you’re able to showcase your knowledge and skill, thus positioning yourself as an expert.  This is key as you continue to grow your brand.

Also, no matter how good your content is, it won’t matter if your video is too long and you lose your viewer’s attention.  Try to keep them short.

In late 2009, ComScore reported that the average video was 3.8 minutes in length.

Include your URL in your video

When you edit your video, take advantage of the different editing features.  One easy feature is to add a text box to your video.  This is where you can display your website address and it’s a great way to get exposure.

Here’s a screen shot of Mari Smith’s YouTube channel.  Notice how she used a text box in her video to display key information, including her website URL at the end of her video.  Smart move!

Take advantage of video’s branding opportunities

For branding purposes, have your company logo displayed prominently somewhere on the screen.  You can do this at all times, or during key times in your video.

In the image below, notice how the company logo is displayed in the upper-left corner.  You can display your logo throughout your video or only at key times.

Always provide an HTML link

When you post on YouTube, you have the option to write a short description of your video.  Always start with the link you want to drive your viewers to so you don’t miss this key opportunity.

Here’s a snapshot of the description boxes from one of my YouTube videos.  Notice the placement of my website URL (it’s the first thing you want to put in the box!) and the keywords I used in my title as well as the description.

Go beyond YouTube

Most people post their videos on YouTube.  In addition to this, make sure to always embed your video on your own website.  This will increase the amount of time people spend on your website and help grow a captive audience.

Also, Google’s algorithms consider how many times a video is viewed, and embedded video views you receive get added to the ‘views’ tally on YouTube.  This is important for showing up in Google search results!

How to Supercharge Your Videos

To make sure your video stands out above all the clutter on the web, here are a few strategies that will give your videos an extra boost.

Create a Campaign: To get noticed, think beyond stand-alone videos.  For greater reach and exposure, create a series of content-rich videos that you publish regularly.  Not only will this create a great synergy around your content, but it will also allow you to build upon your brand identity as each video is released.

Always Include a Call to Action: Never miss the opportunity to ask your viewers to take some type of action at the end of your video.  You can ask them to sign up for your newsletter, go to a specific website, leave a comment about your video or visit your blog.  If your video is good, you’ll likely have their full attention; make sure to take advantage of it!

Don’t Make a Sales Pitch: There is a lot of sales clutter on the web and you want to make sure you come out above this.  There is nothing wrong with selling your products or services, but use your video to define a problem, discuss solutions and support others—when you combine the three, your video will attract the right following.

Basic Keyword Strategies

There’s no shortage of information online for keyword strategies.  Here are some of the basics you will want to pay attention to as you create your videos:

To optimize your YouTube videos, make sure to use keywords in your videos’ titles, descriptions, and tags.

Use your website’s text pages as a kind of “map” for Google. To help the search engines figure out what your videos are about, embed videos into text pages on your site that are relevant to your video.

Target specific search phrases, not just search words.  For example, instead of using “cupcakes” as a keyword for an organic bakery, use “cupcakes with organic frosting” for a better chance of showing up on the front of search results.

Ten Ideas to Spark Your Video Creativity

Educate

Tell people about your product or services.  Give the details on features and benefits.  Tell them everything they’ll receive once they make the purchase.

Answer questions

What do you get asked most about your product or services?  Most of us can think of a list of at least 5 to 10 questions we get asked often.  Make short 2- to 3-minute videos clips where you state the question and then the answer.  These are easy to make and extremely valuable to your prospects.

Do a product review

Find a product or service that would be of interest to your niche and your audience and do a review on its benefits and features.

Grow your list

If you have a business, you need a list of potential clients.  Make a video to encourage your prospects to give you their name and email in exchange for something you will give them.  You can give away an ebook, an article (tips, strategies and how-tos are always popular), a tutorial video, a free consultation, a type of assessment, etc.  Figure out what your prospects would find most valuable and create a giveaway around that. (Here’s a hint:  give away your best stuff.  Don’t hold back.)

Talk about your case studies and results

Make a video about the results you were able to achieve while working with a client or talk about a case study and show what you did for them and how you can do the same for the viewer.  You can also show a case study of someone who did not follow your guidance or use the method you teach and failed. Another similar idea is to read testimonials from your most satisfied customers while weaving in key examples.

Tell a story

People can relate to you when you tell a compelling story.  Weave a lesson into your story as a takeaway.  You can also tell about an event from your past that has shaped who you are or how you do business today.

Debunk myths

Talk about the top three myths in your industry and give real examples to show why they are truly myths.

Take your viewers behind the scenes

Take your viewers outside of your office and show yourself in your “natural surroundings.”  If appropriate, introduce your family and show things that are meaningful to you.  Tie in some of your business secrets—how you organize your business, what type of setup you use to get things done, etc.  Pull back the curtains and give tips on how you do business.

Ask questions and answer them

Ask your viewers some key questions that will spark conversation about their wants and needs as they relate to your niche.  Personally answer the question yourself and then ask your viewers to leave their answers below in the comments section.  This will start discussion.

Additional video opportunities

There is so much you can do with video.  Besides filming yourself, you can also do screen captures (ScreenFlow for Macs and Camtasia for PCs are great options), slideshows, and use Keynote or PowerPoint slides to tell your story.

One more piece of advice:  Don’t try to be perfect! I can guarantee that you will not like your first take of any video you record.  And it is of course fine to redo it a few times.  But don’t let multiple video takes slow you down.  Make a promise to yourself that you will do your best, and then move on.  With each video you publish, your confidence will increase and you will get better with time.

Here’s my challenge to you. If you are new at video, make the commitment that you will record a video in the next 24 hours.  Just dive in and try it!  The longer you wait, the faster your competition will claim their video space and run with it.

Give it a try and report back to let us know about your successes.

What’s been your experience with video? Share your video making tips and experiences in the comment box below.

socialmediaexaminer

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