FACT: YouTube has been bought out by Google. It now acts as a standalone search engine. Video advertising is very effective. Are you taking advantage of this?
You know those annoying video ads that run before and even in the middle of a specific video you have selected on YouTube? Have you noticed that most often they have nothing to do with what you are interested in seeing/viewing?
Lately, no matter what I am looking at, all I get are political ads.
THE REASON: Well somebody is paying more than others to run ads in front of your selected video! In spite of what your search terms are.
If you like funny animal videos, then pet products will be advertised, or nature lovers will see ads for landscaping and likely home improvement. If you are looking at videos of European cities you might see ads for airlines, travel gear, etc.
So... let's say you are trying to break into a market and have a few hundred dollars to spare. YouTube video advertising might catch you a deal!
I have posted the same video as a stand-alone and the same as a video ad.
The video ad is seen 1,000 times to 1. Yes. Has anyone contacted me yet? No. Ha. But I have faith! I am still trying to finesse this. The costs are not that high for many more hits than not advertising! At the risk of getting hypercriticized (oh, go ahead), here is something about 30 seconds long (I developed using Animoto) that does not have a voiceover:
TIPS:
1. Video length should be 15- 45 seconds. You want to spark an interest and do it by appealing to emotion and intellect. Be sure there is enough eye candy and attention-getting info/graphics during the first three or four seconds, otherwise, the viewer opts out.
2. The video should be interesting, fun, info-packed and compelling. That means script, images, and music or voiceover should work very well. A testimonial quote is good. Mix stills with quick video footage.
3. You should ask the viewer to contact you by "clicking below", etc.
Do not assume they will do that if you do not ask!
4. Product or service logo/branding should be evident at the beginning or end or possibly both. The voiceover amplifies the written word. Not necessary to do both but if you the voice script does not have to match the exact copy.
5. Use proper keywords so that your target viewer is likely to see YOUR ad amongst the video they are searching for. Remember, they don't know you but are looking for something similar to what you are offering or hopefully the EXACT product or service.
6. This is where your niche comes in. If you are representing properties on mountain view real estate then your keywords should be related to all aspects of mountain view homes: lifestyle, typical cold weather precautions, related information, etc. People looking at statistics in your area, for example, might also be looking for a house at the same time.
7. Think about keywords that might be present in searches for related business and services, even though they are not exactly yours. If you are a real estate agent why not use a keyword like 'appraiser' or 'title company'?
8. What should be your video ad theme?? Well, a direct appeal to contact you for services is the obvious thing to do. That is the example above. But if you read AR long enough you could post videos about things that you like about your market area: festivals, special events, weather even! Get creative... IDEA HINT: something that you blog about here on AR would work great! That is how I got the idea for the video about hurricane-resistant housing design. I blogged about it first!
9. So WHERE should your video advert take the viewer? Aha, this is where you may lose them! Since they are experiencing such amazing video stimulation I suggest sending them to a 2 to 5 minute comprehensive video about your services and company -- rather than to a static web page. THEN include a link or suggest clicking to a static guest form or some compelling web presentation.
The nuts and bolts of how to post your video on YouTube is explained here. As Debb Janes and Bernie Shea point out, you can add elements to a finished or posted video to emphasize or add more content.
(By the way you will note that I did not follow all my tips in building that video! Still working on things!)
As I've mentioned in the blog post about building your video on Animoto, there are preformatted clips that you simply drag and drop your photos and just rewrite the copy! Add an appropriate music track and you're done! Easy to begin, quick to learn and getting sophisticated is the icing on the cake.
Comments(15)