Can you believe it has been almost 11 years since the first YouTube video titled Me at the Zoo? Video has certainly evolved since then. YouTube changed the way we interact with and share content online. In fact, many experts think that 74% of internet traffic will revolve around video by 2017. It’s no wonder marketers are taking notice of the power social media video has.
No matter what you’re selling or what your company does, you must have a video marketing strategy for the biggest video platforms. Over the past year and a half, there has been a changing of the guard when it comes to the platforms of distribution for video content. Facebook is getting more daily minutes watched than YouTube and even Snapchat‘s daily views are now in the billions while Twitter has taken listening and one to one branding to new heights.
The Grandaddy of Them All
YouTube is massive, it’s a library consisting of 300 hours worth of video content being uploaded PER MINUTE. YouTube is valuable for businesses growing a brand and reaching new audiences. It continues to be a video content giant for businesses and even personal brands.
The issue is that when compared to Facebook’s 4 billion daily video streams, YouTube is trending down. Because of YouTube’s size, there are so many videos competing with each other for the “view.” YouTube is a platform with over a billion users all wanting exposure and because of this, marketers have ruined it. With so many users and videos competing against each other, it is extremely difficult to break through the noise, making hosting content on the platform less valuable.
The Achilles heel of a YouTube is that its capabilities do not offer something marketers and business owners need which is data. This is where Facebook shines.
Video on Facebook. It’s Not Good. It’s Great.
Facebook video has become the best way to reach your fans. Last year Facebook launched its new video ad products for sales and direct response. Couple that with the platform data which could be the best data any platform could offer, and you have more than enough reasons to spend money on Facebook video ads and video content.
Let’s say your business is creating content for YouTube but you’re ignoring Facebook. Is your business getting the distribution it needs? The answer is no. It’s worth noting, this doesn’t mean simply pasting a link to your YouTube video on Facebook as a status update. What we’re talking about here is uploading the video natively to Facebook, so that it lives in your Facebook page’s video content.
Why should you do this?
Simply because right now, the Newsfeed algorithm on Facebook places a huge amount of weight on videos, AKA “reach.” Uploading videos directly to Facebook gives you a much higher chance of your video being seen by your community, and even new fans.
Let’s be clear, Google and Facebook are two giants competing against each other. Do you think Facebook would want YouTube (which is owned by Google) links performing well in its algorithm? Probably not.
Facebook continues to be a giant when it comes to video marketing and content distribution. For marketers, they have a massive amount of targetable consumer data, which we, of course, love. Let’s say you are a bar that has a great craft and microbrew selection. You could spend money on a sponsored video to directly market your brand’s video to people who 1.) like craft beer 2.) live in your area 3.) are older than 21. With the snap of a finger, you are reaching the audience who is most interested and profitable to your business. With this strategy, you’re not wasting time and money targeting people who aren’t interested in what you offer.
Facebook allows you to target your consumers like never before.
Facebook knows how great it is. They have since added features that places more attention of a specific video, this includes view count, embedding options, video for website conversions. And my guess is they aren’t done.
While this is all well and good, it’s important to not ignore other social channels that might fit your business a bit better.
Video on Twitter: Direct & Social
Twitter launched its new video product early last year and it has changed the way a lot of people interact with the platform. Video on Twitter is really meant for connecting and engaging. In the early days of Twitter, you had a smaller more engaged audience, however, as it has grown the amount of information and users make it hard to really grab someone’s attention. That is why the way to utilize video on Twitter is through engagement, using it to “pull” rather than “push.”
Everyone gets excited when another Twitter user “likes” or “retweets” one of your tweets. With the video feature, they have capitalized on this feeling. You simply have to engage. A great way to engage is by replying to a tweet using the camera option, select video, and just talk. You speaking into the camera is much more personal and engaging rather than a Tweet.
Get Really Personal with Snapchat
Snapchat has blown up in recent months with over 6 billion videos daily. One great thing about this platform is that it gets a user’s undivided attention because, in order to view a video, you have to have actually click it. Most importantly however is that videos have a maximum live of 24 hours or less if the users decide to make it that way. Video can even last just 1 second! This creates an urgency to make sure you see something before it’s gone, forever. More and more brands are getting on this platform as Snapchat is handing brands the 13-34 demo through the Discover feature. Brands can have ads pre-roll before the content. It is still in its infancy stage but the fact brands are realizing the potential of Snapchat should tell you all you need to know. It will be a big player and soon.
Tracking ROI from Social Media Video
These platforms present a huge opportunity for any business, but if you were to implement (or already have) a video marketing strategy, how do you track ROI? The first thing to do would be to outline your campaign costs. Take some time to do a complete breakdown of all the projected costs of your video marketing campaign. This would include the marketing hours you’ll spend promoting it. Give yourself some wiggle room of around 20% of your projected expenses if you manage the campaign on your own. This wiggle room will help with any unexpected costs like having to reshoot footage and any extra time you need editing.
Next, you will want to think about how many sales you need to make from your video marketing campaign to break even. This can be very easy. If your video marketing campaign has a budget of $5,000 per month, you should expect your monthly sales to go up by more than $5,000. If your average sale is $100, you know you’ll need 50 sales to compensate for the cost of the video. When tracking your sales, be sure to track year-over-year as well as month-by-month. This will help you account for seasonal changes.
Now it’s time to tack sales specifically from your video campaign. To do this, you can always track people who flow from your video and go on to make a purchase. Do this by using web tools to create custom URLs that are specific to your videos. This won’t track all your sales. There will undoubtedly be people who see you but won’t make a purchase until later or even in a non-traditional way, so you will need to inflate your sales slightly to get a true ROI.
An important thing to note is to always improve your video marketing campaigns. Once you’ve measured your ROI, look for ways you can improve it. Any marketing campaign needs time to grow and develop, but there are ways you can use to improve your metrics. Start by looking at your analytics and ask yourself:
- Is the campaign targeted to our core demographics?
- Are any core audience demos responding negatively to the campaign?
- Are viewers abandoning your video marketing
- Is your video marketing campaign giving customers a clear call to action?
- Are viewers engaging
Measuring ROI does not have to be complicated. If you want a general revenue picture, simply isolate how much your video costs and how much your sales went up.
Video and social media is an extremely powerful tool. It allows you to target a hyper-specific demographic while having a significant reach, something many other marketing channels simply can’t do.
