Whatâs the one thing people want aside from love and acceptance?
More web traffic, of course!
Okay, maybe thatâs overstating the case. But what marketers donât covet more qualified traffic to their blogs, landing pages, and websites?
None that I know.
Increasing blog traffic is something we CoSchedulers are always working on, as well. And weâve shared some strategies that work extremely well like nailing your personas and taking data-driven approaches.
Today, Iâll share another angle to attract the right folks at the right time: video marketing.
Why?
Well, some pretty big claims have been made about its effectiveness and future relevance.
For instance, research shows that:
- Video will be responsible for 80 percent of the worldâs internet traffic by 2019.
- 75 percent of mobile web traffic will be video by 2020.
- And today, 33 percent of all online activity is⌠you guessed it⌠watching video.
One thingâs for sure: with videoâs upward trend, we marketers better know how to use it well if weâre going to keep audiences engaged and coming back for more.
After all, your audience spends hours watching YouTube, too đ
Since creating video content takes real effort, Iâve assembled this list as a foolproof way to crush every video marketing campaignâevery time. And itâs focused on what you can do to drive traffic using your video after itâs been created.
The big question is, âHow can you ensure both you and your audience get as much value out of your video content as possible?â
From these actionable tips, youâll learn:
- How to skyrocket qualified traffic with your video marketing.
- How to extract every ounce of value from your video marketing efforts.
- How to ensure you donât miss a single tactic available to the savvy video marketer.
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First, Make Sure to Download Your Free, 7-Resource Video Marketing Kit
There are loads of details, tactics, and how-tos in the tips below. To make sure you get the most out of them, we bundled together some essential tools.
Your video marketing kit includes:
- Video Marketing Checklist Infographic:
A rundown for implementing the tactics in this action-packed post! - 180+ Power Words for Emotional Headlines:
Harness the power of emotions to drive traffic and viewers with your video marketing. - Catchy Blog Titles:
Want clicks? Write headlinesâand video titlesâthat stick. - Content Calendar Template:
Stay organized with all written, video, and visual content. - Social Media Editorial Calendar Template:
Keep your social media post organized so you know exactly howâand whenâvideo marketing should take center stage. - Best Times To Post Infographic:
Timing is everything! Learn to post during the ârush hourâ times when youâll have your audienceâs attention. - Micro-Influencer Marketing Checklist:
Reach out to thought leaders in your industry to promote your videos with authority.
Jump to a section:
- YouTube Video Marketing Tips
- Facebook Video Marketing Tips
- Twitter and Instagram Video Marketing Tips
- Tips to Use Video for Blogging + Email
Now, letâs get started with sixteen video marketing tips thatâll have your audience clicking like mad and coming back for more!
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- End the frustration of missed deadlines.
- Get total visibility into ALL of your marketing in one place.
- Save 20 hrs this week alone (and every week after).
If you've ever kicked the tires on CoSchedule, now's the time to see what it's really like.
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Clean up the chaos with your CoSchedule editorial calendar!
With CoSchedule, you'll:
- Save time with blogging, social, and email (think HOURS every week)
- Schedule your social posts in batches (and increase your posting frequency) super easily
- Get your sh*t together (and hold yourself accountable to publishing like the boss you are!)
Nowâs the perfect time to start your 14-day free trial to see for yourself!
YouTube Video Marketing Tips
Alright, letâs kick this off with the video juggernaut even our grandmas use: YouTube.
If youâre reading this, youâve probably heard the stat that YouTube is the second-largest search engine on the web. With our collective Google SERPÂ obsession, YouTube is an obvious choice for video marketing.
While you can take a deeper dive with YouTubeâs Creator Academy, weâll cut to the chase with seven actionable tips to help you grab views and generate web traffic with your video content.
1) Create Awesome YouTube Thumbnails
Even though theyâre a seemingly small detail, YouTube thumbnails can make or break your chances at getting clicks.
My favorite analogy comes from writer Maria Jose: âThe YouTube thumbnail is the 21st centuryâs book cover.â
Thumbnails are the small, clickable pics that visually represent each video.
They also have a job to do: click and stick.
Thumbnails need to attract people to click and then stick around to watch it.
Here are five rules of what makes a quality thumbnail:
- Pair well with the first 10â15 seconds of your video content. Peopleâs attention spans are tiny. So, your thumbnail should closely pair with the beginning of your video for a seamless experience that avoids disorienting viewers.Put simply, you donât want people scratching their heads wondering, âIs this the right video?âFor example, I love this thumbnail from Grant Cardone:
Not only does it show exactly who the viewer will see within the first four seconds of the video, it also evokes an emotional response with the pair facing off.Which leads us well into rule number two.Exception: If you have a super-duper interesting image from later on in your video, take a chance on using it. In that case, it could act as a teaser and/or reward to keep people watching. Just make sure itâs actually a frame from your video. - Use peopleâespecially closeups of their facesâwhenever possible. Because people are emotional, theyâre affected by emotions. Admit it, youâve teared up at least once watching a video of a soldier reuniting with his or her family (like this one đ).Psychological research shows that people will mirror both the emotional states and behavior of people theyâre positively engaged with.So take this opportunity to put human psychology to work for you by using appropriate, and compelling, close-ups from your video that showcase emotion.
Video Credit: Actualized.org - Think twice about using the same background for a video series and its thumbnails. Take this tip with a grain of salt and use them wisely.Using the same background in your videosâand thumbnailsâcan occasionally make viewers mistakenly think theyâre seeing the same video pop up in a feed or sidebar.Make sure your thumbnails look different enough to avoid missing valuable traffic from such a simple oversight.
- Be brand consistent. Like all of your content, video marketing is another opportunity to build brand awareness through consistent visuals.The Mental_Floss YouTube channel is an excellent example of this.
They use similar graphics with text treatments that tell you exactly what to expect in the video. Then, their incredible host, John Green, hangs out in the same eclectic mishmash-of-a-set for every video.This is a conscience brand decision that delivers consistency without feeling played out.
- Have no text in the bottom right-hand corner. Lastly, avoid adding any text to the bottom right-hand corner of your thumbnail. Thatâs where YouTube overlays your videoâs time stamp, which would obscure any text/info you put there!
Now that youâre armed with five rules for killer thumbnails, letâs take a look at how to create them.
Of course, you can always use pro software like Photoshop or CorelDraw. But what if you either donât have access to programs like these or your designer is swamped?
Never fear, Canva is here!
Canva is a freemium design app that helps anybody create pro-level graphics faster than this high-fiving puppy will make you smile.
To begin, go to Canvaâs custom YouTube thumbnail creator, which will land you at this screen:
Next, click the big green button to get started by creating a new account or signing in.
If itâs your first time using this tool, youâll be prompted to take a quick tourâwhich I highly recommend. It shows you the ins-and-outs of using their drag-and-drop editor.
After youâve seen how it works, itâs time to get started.
From here, there are two paths to take:
- Create a thumbnail image from a blank canvas,
- Or, customize one of their pre-designed templates.
In this example, weâll use one of their templates (which I highly recommend unless youâve got some design chops).
Choose a template from one of the left-hand columns.
As you hover over the options, youâll notice some are free, while others cost a dollar or two. Find the design that best represents your brand and video, then click on it.
This will auto-populate the template on your design canvas.
Next, double-click on the title text to add your videoâs title and subtitle.
If you need more text, you can add it by clicking on the text icon at the far left. Just make sure your thumbnail isnât too busyâyou donât have much real estate to work with, after all.
Now you will change the all-important background image. There are two ways to go about this.
First, you can click in the search field at the upper left-hand corner. There you can search through myriad stock photos that run the gamut of free to paid.
If you go the stock photo route, click on the image you like and itâll populate on your design canvas.
Once it does, drag it into place.
You may need to choose the âarrangeâ option in the upper right-hand corner if you want to send your image behind other layersâlike your title text, for instance.
The other way to set your background image is to use your ownâwhich I recommend.
Instead of searching through stock photos, youâll click on the âuploadâ icon at the bottom of the tools column at the far left.
Simply choose the image youâd like to use and upload it. Just make sure itâs sized at 1280x720 pixelsâor a 16:9 ratio. Thatâs YouTubeâs preferred thumbnail size.
(If you need help resizing a still image from your video, you can use an app like picresize or ResizeImage.net for free.)
Finally, the moment weâve all been waiting for... Itâs time to download your freshly-created YouTube thumbnail.
Do this by clicking on the âDownloadâ button on the top bar. Then, choose whether youâd like a JPG or PNG.
(Note that PDFs wonât work in this instance, as YouTube doesnât accept that file type for thumbnails.)
And voilaâyouâre all set!
Now itâs time to upload your custom thumbnail to YouTube.
This is an easy process that you can follow step-by-step via YouTubeâs video below:
One more thing...
However, there is a final snag you may run into if youâre new to this.
To use custom thumbnails, your YouTube channel must be verified, meaning you have confirmed ownership and liability of the account. And also, that you agree to follow their community guidelines.
With that, youâre all set to create awesome thumbnails for clicks that stick every single time.
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2) Write Compelling Titles/Headlines
Yes, killer titles and headlines are a thing for video marketing, too.
As marketing legend, David Ogilvy, said: âOn the average, five times as many people read the headline as read the body copy. When you have written your headline, you have spent eighty cents out of your dollar.â
Titlesâlike headlinesâhave big shoes to fill.
But whenever youâre looking for advice, youâll find tons of generic tips like: âMake it memorable and catchy!â
Advice like that usually leaves me thinking:
<sarcasm> âGee, thanks⌠I never wouldaâ thought of that on my own.â </sarcasm>
Instead, letâs chat about some less-obvious tips and tricks of writing traffic-driving headlines and emotionally-charged titles.
Be searchable:Â What keywords relate directly to your video content? To write freakinâ awesome titles, they must:
- Make a promise:Â What problem will your content help your viewer solve?
- Tickle the emotions: Are you connecting intellectually, empathetically, or spiritually?
- Be the cream of the crop:Â Have you written at least 20â30 headlines and chosen the best one?
Letâs tackle an example together, shall we?
Letâs say weâve just pressed export on a video about how to write great headlines. You know what I would be thinking?
âMy headline better be freakinâ awesomeâŚâ
To begin, letâs hit our mini-headline checklist above.
We need to make it searchable, which means using words that match our core subjectâheadline writingâwith other related phrases viewers are searching for.
Hereâs a dead-simple way to do this:Â Use YouTubeâs search bar for related title ideas.
Sometimes this little trick will surprise you. For instance, I didnât immediately think of a journalism angle or tie in.
Now that I see the related search, though, it makes sense. Journalists are writing headlines all of the time.
For our imaginary video, then, Iâm going to choose the following title, then unpack a few other reasons why:
âHow to Write Headlines That Will Make Journalists Jealousâ
Now that I know Iâm capitalizing on searchability without keyword-stuffing the daylights out of the titleâI need to ensure it makes a promise.
While there are plenty of ways to do this well, one of my favorites is to use the âHow to⌠That WillâŚâ formula.
If we break down the headline I wrote, itâs exactly that. Hereâs the skeleton:
âHow to [subject] That Will [promise made + pain solved]â
(âHow to Write Headlines That Will Make Journalists Jealousâ)
The predictable success of this headline is further backed up by the Headline Analyzer tool I mentioned above. (<<< Seriously, I use the peanuts outtaâ this thing.)
This title clocks in with a score of 81.
Notice also that it tickles the emotions with both the promise and the power word âjealous.â
However, in the spirit of full disclosure, I could arguably strengthen this headline by using more Emotional Marketing Value (EMV) words. But for the purposes of our video, Iâm satisfied with combining the âhow to + that willâ angle with the searchability hook of journalism.
Finally, always use the title/headline thatâs the cream of the cropâwhich is often easier said than done.
At CoSchedule, our go-to practice is to write at least 20â30 different headlines before we ever settle on one. As you write different headlines, youâll piece together what works, and what doesnât.
For example, if you read some of my headline examples in the screenshot above, youâll notice I thought better of using a phrase like âbeat a journalist.â
I happen to like journalists and would hate to be misunderstood :)
There you have it! If you follow the tips and use the tools above, youâre well on your way to writing titles that drive traffic all day long.
Whatâs also cool is that the headline analyzer is a baked in part of CoSchedule. So every headline you write is scored inside the tool like magic.
I use it for every post I writeâeven this one!
You can snag a free trial here to try including it in your content marketing workflow.
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3)Â Use YouTube Cards to Increase Engagement (R.I.P. Annotations)
If youâve spent any time on YouTube, youâve seen annotations littered across videos aplenty.
Theyâre the clickable boxes, bubbles, and blurbs that float above videos as they play. However, to the dismay of some content creatorsâbut the joy of many viewersâYouTube recently announced that annotations are a dying breed and destined for extinction.
The annotation is dead; long live the⌠âCardâ?
Yep. Thereâs a new sheriff in town. And this one is far less obnoxious.
Hereâs what you need to know about YouTube Cards how to start using them straight away.
The Cards feature shines while a video is playing. Especially because they can be launched on either desktop or mobile (which was a limitation to annotations).
To interact, the viewer will see a card indicated by a small âiâ icon at the top right of the video.
To date, there are five types of YouTube cards you can use to enhance your videos on both desktop and mobile.
- Video or playlist to promote your other videos.
- Channel to send traffic to another channel.
- Donation for encouraging donations to nonprofit organizations.
- Poll to ask your viewers a question, get their responses, and then provide the results instantly.
- Links to approved websites.
To add cards to your videos, first, login to YouTube Creator Studio. Then use the drop-down arrow next to âeditâ to add a card.
From here, you can choose both the timestamp for when youâd like the card to appear and the type of card youâd like to use.
Letâs say we wanted to add a âPollâ card to our video to discover answers to the most important question of all: What kind of bear does your audience think is best?
First, we click on the blue âAdd cardâ button and then select âPollâ as the type of card weâd like to add. Then we type in our question along with the answersâof which you can have up to five.
Once youâve filled out your poll questions and answers, click on the blue âCreate cardâ button at the bottom right.
Now youâve got yourself a card.
Then, when a viewer clicks on your card, theyâll see both the poll and the overall results.
As a bonus, polls can give you additional insights by asking your audience more about their pain points and what theyâd like to learn more about.
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4) Use YouTube End Screens to Drive Contextual Traffic
End Screens are a great way to drive contextual traffic to your related content.
Theyâre the part of a video that shows up at the last 5â20 seconds and can include one to four clickable elements. These elements can send people to other videos, your channel, your *approved* websites, or invite them to subscribe.
They also have a touch of interactivity.
On desktop, they can show additional info upon hover. And on mobile, they do so upon tap.
Pretty nifty.
Original photo: YouTube
Hereâs how you get started.
First, if youâre working with a video currently using annotations, youâll have to give them the axe. But donât worry, the system knows all. So itâll ask you to unpublish them automatically.
When youâre ready to start, here are the exact steps to take (source):
- âSign in to the your YouTube account.
- In the top right, click your account icon > Creator Studio.
- In the left menu, select Video Manager > Videos.
- For the video you want to add the end screen to, click Edit.
- In the top tab bar, click End screen.
- If the selected video contains annotations, follow the instructions to unpublish them. You can re-publish them at any time.
- Youâll see your video with the predefined grid and a timeline below that indicates the available part for the end screen. Click Add element. You can add up to four elements, and one of them must be a video or playlist.
- Choose how to build your end screen:
- Add element:Â You can add up to four elements to a video. At least one element must be a video or playlist. Select each element and fill in the required information, then click Create element.
- Copy from video: You can copy an end screen from another one of your videos and edit the elements.
- YouTube template: You can choose from predefined formats that show combinations of elements. You'll need to define the content for the elements in the end screen, such as add the channel to be featured.
- Adjust the placement and size of each element on the grid. Adjust the time for the element to show in the timeline below.
- Click Save.â
Then, once youâve wrapped up these steps, select Preview to grab a sneak peek and ensure things look the way you intended them to.
You can also check out this sweet how-to breakdown + explainer video:
Lastly, donât forget to take full advantage of analytics and data to incorporate into your ongoing content marketing efforts.
Checking out your end screen reports is easy.
Make sure youâre signed in to the right channel. Then hop into your Creator Studio and choose YouTube Analytics, then End Screens to check performance and find ways to optimize.
To do this, youâll want to pay attention to these metrics especially.
End screen element clicks.
This will show you how many total times an end screen element was clicked.
Clicks per end screen element.
This will tell the story of how often an end screen element was clicked when displayed.
End screen elements.
And these data show the number of times elements were actually shown. (Which is a good data-point to pair with view duration to see if people are sticking around to the endâfound in your Audience Retention Report.)
Maximizing Traffic Using End Screens
To maximize end screens (and even cards) for driving traffic, think about the related content you should link to beyond ârelated content.â
Instead, think about what additional or related problems your viewer might need to solve next, and what other pieces of content youâve created that can do that.
This will help you align with intent at just the right time.
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5) Tag It Up!
If youâve ever uploaded a video to YouTube before, itâs likely you know what tags are.
However, if youâre new to the idea, no sweat. Tags are a way of adding descriptive pieces of text to your video so YouTube understands what your video is about.
YouTube expert Derral Eaves breaks tags down further into four categories in this video (and he also shows step-by-step how to add them):
- Specific Tags (1:37): One word descriptions of the content.
- Compound Tags (2:12): Several words that form a single tag. (Much like a long-tail keywords for you SEO peeps.)
- Generic Tags (3:07): A higher-level descriptor of the type of content youâre offering.
- Misspellings (4:03): Very clever way to compensate for human error.
Now, outside of the obvious ways to tag your video (e.g., simply describing what your video content is about), Iâd like to share a nerdy insight with you.
When you watch YouTube videos, one thing youâll notice is that while the YouTube algorithm seems to know a what a video is tagged with, theyâre not visible to the viewers.
Unless you get all Sherlock Holmes and do some sleuthing, that is.
As you know, we at CoSchedule are all about researchâthe skyscraper technique in particular.
To apply this technique to your video marketing, youâre going to need to look underneath the hood. So, find a top-performing YouTube video in your niche and then use the following steps to snoop out the tags theyâre using to get some ideas.
Hereâs how to do it in Google Chrome in under 5 seconds:
First, simply prepend your competitorâs video URL with âview-source:â in Chrome.
Next, youâll notice you get taken to a screen that looks like a robotâs love letter. If youâre not a developer (like me), youâre first instinct may be to run away.
However, you donât need to worry about all the technical stuff. Our quarry is summoned with a simple search command.
Use the find keystroke (cmd + F on Mac; cntrl + F on PC) and type in âkeywordsâ in the search box.
Then, youâll find a list of all the keywords a given video is using.
Pretty stealthy, eh?
Congrats, youâre now ready to use tags to your advantage.
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6) Translate Tags into Foreign Languages (if aligned with business objectives)
Now that you know how to better use tags, hereâs another five-second hack.
If you have an existing audience in multilingual marketsâOR youâre trying to break into a foreign marketâuse Google Translate to tag your videos in the appropriate language(s).
Letâs tackle a quick example.
To begin, visit the Google Translate page.
You will see two boxes. On the left you will type your origin language words and phrases. And on the right, you will see the translated outputs.
In this example, I translated English â Spanish. However, you can choose any available language using the arrow drop-down selections.
While Google Translate isnât always 100 percent accurate, youâre pretty safe using it to translate simple words and phrases to use as tags for your video content.
ÂĄMuy bien!
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7) Use YouTube to Improve SEO
Everyone wants better search engine optimization, right?
Well, video is another opportunity to excel in this all-important marketing strategy. And for those in the know, YouTube has huge SEO potential.
Not convinced?
Just take a look at the screenshot below. Google loves YouTube and frequently gives it some prime real estate in search results.
So, if youâre going to maximize on YouTubeâs reach, a small but mighty tip is to optimize your videoâs description.
The Anatomy of a Winning YouTube Description
To see it in action, hereâs a great example of an optimized YouTube video description from genius SEO Brian Dean.
Original image credit: Backlinko
In his ultimate guide, Brian explains that the most effective video descriptions have these four things in common:
- The link you want to send traffic to at the top of your description to increase click-through-rates (CTRs).
- Your target keyword appears within the first twenty-five words of the description.
- Your videoâs description is at least 250 words long.
- Your keyword is included three to four times in the description.
To nail your video descriptions, then, make sure you know:
- What keyword youâre targeting via smart research.
- Know where you want to send traffic + why your audience would logically visit the link as a next-step from your video.
- Exactly what value your video adds to your viewers. This way you can write copy that marries the promise youâre making with how youâre going to deliver on it.
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While YouTube mastery is an art in itself, now you have seven solid video marketing tips to rock on the worldâs favorite video viewing platform and increase your traffic.
Now keep cruising⌠There are more video marketing tips where that came from!
Facebook Video Marketing Tips
According to research by Animoto, Facebook is the most impactful social channel for video content, outperforming all other channels 8.4x.
With the huge potential payoff of Facebook video marketing for driving engagement and traffic, letâs jump into some of our best tips.
8) Hack the Process With CoSchedule Best Time Scheduling + Social Video
One of the most common questions weâve encountered at CoSchedule is a simple one: âWhat are the best times to post on social media for the most traction?â
Thatâs a great question. And itâs answer is all about the numbers.
Fortunately, weâve got your back.
We took a deep dive and analyzed 20 studies to determine the exact answerâand for every major platform.
The result was our best time scheduling tool thatâs built right in to CoSchedule. Itâs fueled by all the latest data so there is zero guesswork about when to post on any given social channel.
Essentially, itâs the best way to harness the power of analytics + automation to increase your video marketing reach.
Hereâs a quick video about how it works:
Where this tool really goes to work for your video marketing efforts is when combined with one of my other fave marketing weapons: social video.
With social video, you can share and manage ALL of your social media videos in one place.
Introducing Social Video From CoSchedule - CoSchedule Blog
When used together, you simply need to upload your video(s) and select the networks youâd like them posted to using best time scheduling. And youâre done.
Simple as that.
Both features are part of CoSchedule.
However, if you prefer a method with a bit more elbow grease involved, you can use the Time to Post Kit that came in your free Video Marketing Kit (download it now if you havenât already!).
As you dig in, youâll notice some seriously interesting finds that bear huge implications for posting times.
For instance, did you know that 80 percent of the U.S. population is located in the Central and Eastern time zones?
From there, youâll see an infographic breakdown of:
- What days to post on every major social channel,
- What times to post on those channels,
- And what percentage of engagement you can expect.
Additionally, youâll find three custom Google Analytics reports to help you measure your own progress and video marketing success.
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9) How to Add Captions for Silent Viewing
Ready for a show-stopping stat?
85 percent of Facebook videos are watched with no sound.
Wowzers.
So letâs take a look at the easiest way to make your videos perform well even without sound.
In this tip, youâre going to learn how to create captions for your Facebook videos.
At first blush, the process seems pretty technical and tough. However, thereâs an easy, and economical, way to get the job done.
You can always use Facebookâs automatically generated captions feature. However, some folks have trouble with the system misunderstanding words or phrases and adding gibberish.
So, if you want to be in charge of quality control and accuracy, hereâs how it works.
First, understand that Facebook uses a special file called a SubRip that will have end with â.srtâ. To use captions, you will need to create a SubRip file with your videoâs transcription included.
There are many ways to create this kind of file. In this tip, Iâll give you two. One will cost a few bucks and the other is freeâthough itâll cost you some time.
Use a Professional Transcription Service
The quickest way to create this kind of file is by using a professional transcription service.
You can use a service like Rev for quick turnaround with low costs, starting at a buck per minute.
This option makes a lot of sense if youâre working with a short video because you donât have to spend the time transcribing.
You can simply upload a video or share a link to the published video if itâs on YouTube or Vimeo already.
Bam. Done.
Now, there is also a way to do this for free if youâre working on a super tight budget. So Iâll touch on that, too. Then, weâll cover how to upload your SubRip file to Facebook.
Use a YouTube Hack to Auto-Transcribe
The next way to create this kind of file is by using YouTube to hack the process.
Youâll need a YouTube channel to implement this tip, so if you donât have one, make sure to create one.
To start, login to Creator Studio by clicking on your profile pic in the upper right-hand corner of the screen.
Next, if youâve already uploaded the video, go ahead and select it. And if itâs a video you donât ultimately want public on your YouTube channel, you can choose to upload it via the Video Manager with a âPrivateâ listing.
That way you wonât notify your subscribers about a video that wonât be sticking around!
Next, navigate to your video manager and find the video youâre creating captions for. Click on the drop-down arrow next to the âeditâ button and select âSubtitles/CCâ from the list.
(If itâs your first time youâll be prompted to select the language your video is in.)
Next, youâll click on the blue âAdd new subtitles or CCâ button, then choose the appropriate language.
Youâll then choose âTranscribe and auto-syncâ to manually type your transcription and then auto-sync the newly-written caption with the spoken words in the video.
Once youâve done this, a transcription box will appear and you can start typing away.
By default, thereâs a nice setting that pauses the video while youâre typing so you can keep up.
Then, once completed, click the blue âSet timingsâ button. YouTube will then put itâs smarty-pants brain to work syncing your transcription up with your video contentâs audio.
Now youâre on the final stretch of creating the .srt file. To bring it in for a landing, follow this sequence using the screenshots below.
Click on the âSave changesâ button.
Click on âEnglishâ (or whichever language your caption was created in).
Finally, click on the âActionsâ drop-down and select â.srtâ to download the file.
Well done, you. Now youâve got a fresh .srt file thatâs ready to enhance your Facebook videoâs silent-viewing goodness.
How to Add Your .srt File to a Facebook Video
Now that youâve either received your .srt file from a pro service or downloaded one you just created on your own, itâs time to finish the job.
For starters, make sure the file is named correctly using Facebookâs naming convention: filename.[language code]_[country code].srt
So, if youâre in the U.S., it would look like this: video_name.en_US.srt
(If youâre not in the U.S., hop over here to view all available country codes.)
Now that youâre file is in ship-shape, you can work through the step-by-step directions below that come straight from Big Blue itself:
Add Captions to Your Page's Video With a SubRip (.srt) File:
Make sure that your caption files are correctly named and formatted before you upload them.
- Click Share a photo or video at the top of your Page's Timeline.
- Click Upload Photos/Video and select a video from your computer.
- Click Captions, then click Upload SRT File.
- Choose a .srt file from your computer.
- Select an optional Default Language. If you select a default language, captions will appear in this language when a viewer's preferred language isn't available.
- Finish adding details to your video and click Publish.
To add captions to an existing video on your Page, find the post on your Page's Timeline, click  in the top-right corner, select Edit Post and follow the steps above.
Note: People who watch your Page's video with sound turned off will automatically see captions. People who watch your video with sound turned on will need to turn on captions to see them. The language people see captions in is determined by their preferred language.
Finally, if youâre interested in taking a shot at Facebookâs automatic captions feature, here are the step-by-step instructions:
Automatically Generate Captions for Your Page's Video
- Click Share a photo or video at the top of your Page's Timeline
- Click Upload Photos/Video and select a video from your computer
- Click Publish
- Once your video has been published, click Generate from the banner at the top of your post
- Edit the captions and click Save to Video
Note: Generating captions for videos is currently only available in US English.
Now, your video is ready to be viewed silently on desktop and mobile for all the world to see.
Nice work, youâve just increased the odds of your video being viewed by 12 percent.
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10) How to Understand Facebook Video Metrics
When it comes to social media metrics, there is data aplenty. But the real trick to data-driven video marketing is knowing what numbers to pay attention to.
In this tip, Iâm going to break down the essential in-app Facebook video metrics to help you discern what success looks like for you.
Then, once you know what numbers tell your marketing story, you can optimize, optimize, optimize!
Begin With the End in Mind
As the quotable Dr. Stephen R. Covey said: âBegin with the end in mind.â
The same is true when weâre talking data.
To understand what stats matter, you must first decide the action(s) youâre trying to inspire with your video marketing.
In this post, the focus has been on driving traffic to a specific placeâwhether a website, landing page, other video content, or any place else.
For our aims, then, Iâm not going to focus on viewsâas thatâs often a vanity metric.
After all, Facebook counts a view when someone watches at least 3 seconds or more (while YouTube counts a view after 30 seconds or so).
If you ask me, itâs tough to make a case for basing content optimization decisions off of 3-second video âviews.â
Instead, letâs look at video retention, video engagement, and clicks on your video.
To view the data for each of these, login to Facebook, then navigate to your page.
From here, click on the âInsightsâ tab and then choose the âVideosâ option on the left-hand column.
Video Retention
Video retention is a key metric because it helps you understand just how many people are sticking around for your videos.
You can view these stats all the way down to individual posts. From there, you can filter the data into: auto-played vs. clicked-to-play or paid vs. organic.
In the image below, you can see that about 67 percent of this videoâs viewers dropped off after only 5â6 seconds of view time.
While Facebook analytics would count that as a âview,â itâs really helpful to know that only 5â10 percent of viewers actually hung around to the end.
(Original image source: Facebook; Notes ours.)
Video Engagement
Video engagement measures all of the actions (likes, comments, shares, and clicks) your viewers took.
Youâll notice there are two really big numbers on the top of the screenshot below:
- 59,456Â people reached,
- And 21,625Â video views.
Donât jump to those numbers right awayâeven if theyâre big.
Iâm not discounting their potential relevance. For example, reach is helpful in seeing how many opted-in fans vs. non-fans have seen your content.
However, if your focus is traffic, zero in on the three metrics in boxes below: likes, shares, and link clicks.
(Original image source: Facebook; Notes ours.)
Why Likes, Shares, and Clicks Matter
Often, âlikesâ get a bad rap as a vanity metric. However, an interesting study from the National Academy of Sciences conducted with 86,000 volunteers showed that their âlikesâ revealed their political leaning between with an astounding 85 percent accuracy.
So, as Steve Rayson wrote: âThis would appear to indicate quite strongly that people âlikeâ content that resonates with them.â
Bottom line, you can at least trust likes to give you insight into whether or not your video content resonates with your audience or not. Though Iâd never encourage you to build a social media strategy based on them.
Next, marketers often value shares more highly than likes because they cost people more in terms of social capital. Shares display specific user intent and reaction to your content.
In essence, shares signal that viewers explicitly thought their friends needed to see a given video (for good reasons or for bad!).
And lastly, link clicks are important to traffic because⌠Well, you have to get people to click on links to get to your stuff!
The Easiest Way to Get It Right
Those are only three of the many valuable analytics available on every social platform.
If youâre looking for a painless way to see how every video and social post is doing across a variety of channels, our social analytics tool is a frictionless way to do so.
Social Analytics from CoSchedule: Prove the ROI of the work you do!
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Continued analysis is the key to learning and becoming a better marketer. The more often you pay attention to the right dataâand let them drive your decisionsâthe more effective youâll become.
Just like how Susan Moeller of BuzzSumo described her process in an episode of the Actionable Marketing Podcast: âI like to actually do the research and see what comes out of [it] even if the result does tell you that yes, puppies and babies are popular on Facebook.â
Twitter and Instagram Video Marketing Tips
Great news.
On Twitter, videos are six times more likely to be retweeted than photos. And Instagram users share over 95 million photos and videos per day.
So, letâs take a look at how you can make the most of those tasty stats.
11) Use Video Replies in Addition to Tweets
Okay, technically this isnât a tip to market your videos, per se. But it is a sweet, low-effort-high-reward way to use video on Twitter.
Itâs all about spending a few extra seconds on your replies.
When people tweet @ you, theyâre doing so because they care about both you and your content. So, when is there a better time to deepen a social media interaction than when theyâre talking to you?
The concept is simple: When someone replies, retweets, or mentions you on Twitter, hit them back with a video response instead of text.
If you want some inspiration on how to execute this tip, spend a few minutes watching @garyvee show us how itâs done.
PS:Â While weâre on this kick, why donât you swing by and tweet me a video hello @Jordan_Loftis?! Iâd be happy to strike up a conversation.
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12) Go Beyond the âLink in Bioâ Tactic With This Nifty Tool
As you know, Instagram is a bully when it comes to links in posts. Because they donât allow them, most Instagramers use the âfresh link in bioâ trick.
Thatâs where you change the one link youâre allowed to have in your bio with each relevant post.
However, thereâs a nifty service called elink.io thatâs built a better mousetrapâor at least a better way to use your solitary Instagram link.
In essence, it allows you to create a sort of Inception of links (links within links).
When you create such a link, elink.io launches a unique page with curated links. This means that not only can you update it with fresh content, but you can add a host of related links with ease.
Hereâs how it works.
To start, signup for an account (they have free option to get started).
Then, you can choose to watch their quick tutorial or jump straight in and get your hands dirty. Weâll throw caution to the wind and get started right away.
Edgy, I know.
Once youâre in, itâs time to create your first link. Simply click on âCreate Newâ on the left.
From here, you have some customization options. But itâs easiest to start with a template. Weâll use the one named âLegian.â
Next, itâs time to paste in the bevy of links youâd like to include. Iâm going to use a roundup to some of my favorite CoSchedule articles and my Twitter profile.
As you add links, your template will fill out with each one. The interface gives you a nice preview on the right half of the screen, as well.
Once youâre happy, click the blue âNextâ button to press on.
After youâve added your links there are just a few steps left. Youâll select a header, enter in a title and description, and then smash the âCreate Linkâ button to go live!
Select a Header
Enter a Title + Description
Create Your Custom Link (and add profile info if youâd like!)
Hereâs my final product: https://elink.io/p/social-media-mastery-roundup
Obviously this tool has more applications than Instagram only. But itâs certainly a way to up your Instagram video marketing game!
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13) Automatically-Schedule Promo Posts Using CoSchedule
One of social media marketingâs perpetual woes is Instagramâs closed API. This shuts down almost every third-party app from posting to the social platform on your behalf.
That is...except for CoSchedule đ
We already have some detailed posts on exactly how to use CoSchedule to do this.
So in this tip Iâll describe the highlights⌠Or, you can watch this quick video:
Schedule Instagram Posts Along With Everything Else - CoSchedule
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How it Works
To put this feature to work for your video marketing, youâll need to download the CoSchedule mobile app (available on iPhone + Android).
You can schedule Instagram posts right from your marketing calendar. Then, when itâs time for the post to land, youâll see a push notification from the CoSchedule app with the exact message youâve already created.
Then, with a few taps, you can hop into Instagram and drop your post in.
An additional bonus is that you can also schedule Instagram posts automatically with ReQueue!
Tips to Use Video For Blogging + Email
Of course your video content will make many an appearance on your blog.
Plus, if youâve gone through the work of creating videos, youâll want to cash in on the fact that using video in emails leads to a 200â300 percent increase in click-through-rate.
In this section of tips, weâll cover some overlooked insights on doing both well.
14) Embed Videos Wisely
Have you ever wondered what the difference between adding a link to a video and embedding it?
Wonder no more! In a nutshell, embedding a video means a viewer doesnât have to leave his or her current web page to watch the video. Whereas linking to a video means the same viewer will be redirected to the destination URL.
Basically, embedding videos keeps people in their seats while links send them somewhere else.
Both have their advantages. But embedding videos rather than linking to them from your website or blog is a great way to keep them on your site for longer. And itâs an absolutely essential tactic to use for landing pages that convert.
Alright, letâs use YouTube as an example of how to use this nifty spell of internet magic.
YouTube: Linking vs. Embedding
Hereâs the video weâll be working with:
As an example, hereâs how you would grab the code to embed a YouTube video on your blog.
Instead of clicking on the âShareâ tab, like in the image above, click on the âEmbedâ tab, like in the image below.
Once you click on this tab, you can copy the necessary embed code and paste it directly onto your site.
This way, viewers can watch the video without ever leaving your site. This, as said above, gives you much greater ownership and control of their experience.
However, there is one concern to keep in mind when it comes to embedding videos: page load speedâs impact on SEO.
Said Mark Robertson, founder of ReelSEO (now Tubular Insights):
âAside from making sure that video adds value and fits into the context of your message, there are a few video publishing best practices to keep in mind that, if done improperly, can potentially harm SEO efforts. The most important of these, is to follow best practices for mobile friendliness (e.g. HTML5) and page speed considerations.
âAs an example, adding multiple video embeds to a single page, if not done correctly, can greatly increase page load times. We know that page speed is a ranking factor, but even worse would be if potential visitors abandon your page altogetherânegating any user benefits and sending additional negative signals to the algorithms.â
The moral of the story is to make the most of video embedding by balancing viewer-experience control with page-load-speed considerations.
If you simply must embed a legion of YouTube videos on a single post or page, however, you may want to consider this clever method for doing so without increasing page load speeds.
15) Know How Video Content Fits Into Your Overall Strategy
Weâre not advocates of #strategy as a #buzzword. Our goal is never to heap extra work, planning, tasks, follow ups, and more onto your marketing plate.
To us, strategy should be pretty dang simple and straightforward:
Video content is no different.
So, how can you make your video content work best for driving traffic to your other content?
One tip is understanding what problem your video solves, and how that problem relates to other content youâve created.
How to drive traffic using the PSP Framework
Think about it in the problem-solution-problem (PSP) framework (which I learned through a free workshop via Jeff Walker).
Youâve likely heard of the problem-solution framework, as thatâs a pretty popular method of writing essays in school.
Simply put, this strategy introduces a problem, then offers a solution.
With the PSP structure, however, you tag on an additional problem at the end that sets your audience up to crave more.
Here are the bones of the strategy. If your current video content solves a problem, you can introduce a logically related problem to compel the viewer to click further down your content funnel.
For instance, letâs say you created a video about how to train your dog to catch a ball. (Which, incredibly, is actually possible.)
Now your viewers know the ins and outs of teaching their dogs an awesome new trick. However, letâs take a step back and ask an important question, âWhat other content have I created that solves a related problem?â
For instance, maybe youâve written the ultimate guide to teaching your dog how to catch 1,000 balls.
(^ I like to keep my examples pretty true to life.)
In this far-fetched example, you can add some copy, a YouTube card or end screen, or even a quick âpro-tipâ that helps your viewers see that not only have you solved their current problem, but youâve already solved their next one as well.
This is a great way to go beyond the standard ârelated postsâ fare and drive traffic.
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16) Use GIFS for Using Video in Email Marketing
Good newsâŚ
Thereâs a better way to promote your video content
Thereâs a slight problem with video marketing and emailâmost email clients wonât display embedded video content. This means your videos will get stripped from your emails.
Thatâs where the beloved GIF enters the picture.
Which is great, because everyone loves GIFs.
Not only can they be hilarious:
But they can also serve an excellent video marketing purpose. Namely, as video previews in email marketing.
Letâs take a look at how to create GIFs for use in email.
The most painless way Iâve found is using the popular GIF site called GIPHY. They have a function that allows you to create your own using already published videos or uploading your own files.
In this example, weâll use a video from CoScheduleâs YouTube channel.
Letâs say weâre promoting this video thatâs about what itâs like to work here.
(^ Itâs a blast, btw.)
To create our GIF, start by copying the videoâs URL. Then, visit GIPHYâs GIF Maker tool.
Youâll land on this page ^^^ and select one of three ways to create your GIF.
After pasting your link or uploading your files, itâs time to get creative. Making the GIF has a few steps:
- Make sure you have the right URL pasted.
- Choose when your GIF starts.
- Select the overall duration of your GIF.
(Optionally, you can also add a caption or tags.) - Click create!
Then, after it crunches the GIF into existence, you can copy the link, share it on social media, embed it on a website, or download it as a file!
Hereâs what my preview GIF looks like:
Now, there are some email clients that donât display GIFs well, like Outlook. However, in that case, you can still use your GIF as a static image. Just make sure the opening image makes sense and looks good!
Hereâs a list of some popular email marketing platforms that offer GIF support along with links on how to get it done:
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You can also checkout this great guide from Litmus for more pointers on GIFs + email goodness.
Go Forth and Video Market
If youâre reading this, you just made it through some serious video marketing work + learning. Well done, you!
Now, go celebrate by downloading this free video marketing tips checklist so you can drive the right people to the right places with every video you create.
Happy video marketing đ