A Quick Beginner’s Guide to Video Marketing and Optimization

The live video content audience is expected to reach 164.6 million viewers by 2024. That means you have a captive audience, and video is a great way to engage your prospects.

Plus, there are a lot of benefits to adding video to your marketing strategy, including the fact that:

• Eighty-seven percent (87%) of marketers say video has helped them increase traffic (Wyzowl)
• Eighty-two percent (82%) of marketers say video has helped them increase dwell time  (Wyzowl)
• Eighty-one percent (81%) of marketers say video has helped them directly increase sales (Wyzowl)

So let’s dive into some quick-and-dirty tips for video marketing and optimization to get you started on your journey:

• Create a content strategy 
• Choose the platform
• Format the video
• Optimize the video
• FAQ: What are the key optimization techniques to improve the visibility and performance of my marketing videos?

1. Create a Content Strategy

In SEO, we always establish the purpose of a webpage so it delivers on that purpose. The same is true for video content. Make sure you know what the purpose will be; how you create the video and where you publish it will follow.

At minimum, ask yourself these questions:

• What do you want the video to do for you? Is it to drive sales or help someone learn how to use a product, for example?
• What type of content will you create? Will it be a short film, interview, or maybe a product review?
• Which platform will you publish on? There are many choices. We recommend focusing on a small handful that is relevant to your brand. More on that next.

2. Choose the Platform

Where to publish your videos? From an SEO perspective, we think about driving traffic from the search results. Consider that more than 90% of videos in Google’s search results come from YouTube; the video-sharing platform is also ranked No. 2 in most popular social media networks.

So we recommend to our clients that they publish on YouTube and embed from there on their website. Most businesses agree, and according to HubSpot, 77% of marketers say their company uses YouTube to host marketing videos.

Of course, you can post on any platform beyond that, just make sure it makes sense for your brand. If you are a fun, consumer-focused brand, then consider TikTok, but if you lean toward the professional business community, then explore LinkedIn.

According to Wyzowl, 68% of video marketers plan to include LinkedIn and Instagram as part of their 2022 video marketing strategy after YouTube (up 5% and 10%, respectively).

3. Format the Video

Content Formatting

Once you know where you will publish, you will need to format your content in a way that is appropriate for the publishing platform and audience. This is about how you present the content.

For example, formatting the video content to grab a YouTube audience will be different than formatting the content on Facebook. On YouTube, one of the most important things will be an engaging title and thumbnail to grab the attention of viewers.

On the other hand, for Facebook, you have only a few seconds to capture a scrolling user, so the first few seconds of the video must be eye-catching.

Marketers agree: According to HubSpot, the most important factor for creating effective video content is capturing viewers’ attention in the first few seconds.

If you format the content in a way that is relevant to the social platform, it will perform better. That is why creating a video on YouTube and then sharing the link on Facebook is not as effective.

Technical Formatting

As you are putting the video together, you will consider things like the technical aspects:

• Length: Videos up to two minutes have the most engagement, according to Wistia.
• Orientation: This is tall versus wide. Remember that people watching videos from their mobile phones will prefer tall orientation. (And most video watchers are mobile. During Q3 2021, approximately eight in ten watched YouTube on their mobile devices.)
• Resolution: Most videos will only need a resolution of 1080p. This is considered full HD, is the industry standard and is a common resolution for smartphones.
• Sound: Poor sound quality in videos can deter people from engaging with a video even more than a poor picture. Invest in superior quality sound and you’ll be primed for engagement.

4. Optimize the Video

Regardless of where you upload your video, there is always a way to optimize it. In general, you will want to optimize the following fields when available:

• Title: The title should be engaging and have relevant keywords, preferably fewer than 60 characters long.
• Description: The description should be informative without being spammy and include a link to your website, other social media channels and more relevant videos.
• Keywords: Add keyword tags specific to the video’s topic.

Finally, follow the analytics to see what’s working and learn from what is not. The top metrics marketers use when measuring video content performance are view count (44%), watch time (43%) and engagement (41%), according to HubSpot.

For more video optimization tips, check out:

• A CMO’s Guide to YouTube SEO in Less Than Five Minutes
• How to Optimize Videos, Images and Other Multimedia
• SEOtraining.com for videos on video optimization

FAQ: What are the key optimization techniques to improve the visibility and performance of my marketing videos?

Video marketing has become a powerful tool to engage audiences and drive business success. Optimizing them is essential to ensure your marketing videos reach the right audience and deliver the desired impact. This article explores key video optimization techniques that will propel your videos to new heights of visibility and performance.

To kickstart your video marketing journey, start by crafting captivating video titles. An engaging title piques the viewers’ curiosity and improves search visibility. Incorporate relevant keywords that align with your target audience’s search intent, enabling your videos to rank higher in search engine results.

Another crucial aspect of video optimization is the video description. A well-crafted and informative description provides context to your video’s content, enticing viewers to click and watch. Strategically place relevant keywords in the description to improve the video’s chances of appearing in search results.

Pay special attention to the video’s thumbnail as it visually represents your content. A compelling thumbnail can significantly boost click-through rates and increase viewer engagement with your video. Choose an image that accurately represents the video’s content and sparks curiosity.

Video engagement is a vital factor in optimization. Encourage viewers to like, comment and share your videos to increase their visibility on various platforms. Social media platforms, in particular, reward engaging videos by promoting them to a broader audience.

Lastly, optimize your videos for mobile viewing, as mobile devices are becoming the primary medium for video consumption. Ensure your videos are responsive and load quickly on mobile devices to deliver a seamless viewing experience for your audience.

Step-by-Step Procedure: Key Optimization Techniques for Marketing Videos

1. Craft captivating video titles that incorporate relevant keywords.
2. Write informative video descriptions with strategically placed keywords.
3. Design compelling thumbnails that represent the video’s content effectively.
4. Encourage viewer engagement by prompting likes, comments, and shares.
5. Optimize videos for mobile viewing to cater to a mobile-first audience.

By implementing these expert video optimization techniques, you can amplify the visibility and performance of your marketing videos, ultimately reaching a broader audience and driving tangible results for your business.

Bruce Clay is founder and president of Bruce Clay Inc., a global digital marketing firm providing search engine optimization, pay-per-click, social media marketing, SEO-friendly web architecture, and SEO tools and education. Connect with him on LinkedIn or through the BruceClay.com website.

See Bruce's author page for links to connect on social media.