Of all the forms of content marketing, video offers the greatest opportunity for digital marketers.

And yet the majority of us are blowing it.

Broadly, mistakes in this strategy manifest in three ways:

– Not creating a clear standard for ROI
– Publishing new videos and moving on without promotion
– Whiffing on the content itself, particularly the video topics

When the COO asks about the performance of video marketing, the reflex is to talk about views. But views don’t count as ROI; they’re a vanity metric. Only 35% of marketers report using “intermediate” analytics, i.e, anything beyond views.

Videos are often uploaded to YouTube without much thought for SEO optimization or distribution. Then it’s on to the next one.

It’s that old Field of Dreams mentality: build it and they will come. It doesn’t work like that.

Meanwhile, people are absolutely feasting on video. YouTube reaches more 18 – 49 year-olds (so a huge majority of the population) than any TV network. If you’re a content strategist, or have any stake in the success of your company’s content strategy, you should be thinking about how to excel at video marketing.

In this post, we’ll cover how to improve your video analytics, distribution, and engagement, so you can stop counting views and start delivering some real ROI.

Create specific goals. Use deeper analytics.

On better strategy

First things first: every successful video strategy has to have a goal.

Getting more views isn’t a great strategy, but it’s unclear how that benefits your organization. Here are better examples of goals:

– Increase traffic from video content by x%
– Generate x number of conversions from video
– Attribute x amount of revenue to video content

Of course, each of these depends on the needs, budget, and capabilities of your company. Personally, I would go with the second option: generating conversions and building a contact list.

Focusing on lead generation allows you to take a full funnel approach, which means you can produce top of funnel, mid funnel, and bottom funnel videos that each serve a distinct purpose. (More on that later.)

On better analytics

If you want to have better goals and realize a better return on video, you need better data.

The native analytics provided by Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram can tell you how people are interacting with your content on their platforms. But it won’t be that helpful when you’re trying to measure results.

You’re going to need to grab a video publishing platform like Vidyard or Wistia and hook it up to your marketing automation system. This not only unlocks a deeper set of analytics, but also connects the data from Facebook et al. to what’s happening on your website.

Think of video analytics as intention data. Once you have access to a more expansive dataset, you can see how many viewers watched your entire video, which parts they rewatched, and what percentage clicked through and converted.

Plus, you’ll be able to associate how many leads that originated from your video strategy convert into customers, giving you that all-important baseline for ROI.

Without these analytics, you’ll be adrift in the YouTube sea, wondering which videos actually perform and which just get meaningless views.

Expand your content strategy

Now that you’ve got a better plan — and a better means of measuring success — let’s talk about content strategy.

A lot of B2B brands struggle with video content strategy, because they tend to excel at mid and bottom of the funnel content, while writing off the top of the funnel. But video marketing is an entertainment game, so if you want to win, you need to get better at the top of the funnel.

There are a couple of ways to do this.

The first is to move your SEO up the funnel and focus on topics that are only mildly related to your product — if at all.

For example, at Soundstripe we doubled down on production assets for our video creator community. That means we wrote entire articles about these topics, built landing pages for them, and then made videos about each topic.

Check this video for our storyboard template to get an idea of what I’m talking about.

Does this topic have any direct application to Soundstripe’s YouTube royalty free music product? Not really. But we know that it’s important to our audience, and showing up for this keyword makes us relevant.

That’s the top of the funnel in a nutshell. There are probably tons of topics that your audience is interested in that are several degrees removed from your product.

On social platforms like Facebook and Instagram, people are not actively searching for anything to purchase. They’re just scrolling aimlessly. So you’re going to need to meet people where they are, and that means focusing on broad, entertaining topics.

That’s alright, because as long as you can get someone to engage with your video, you can retarget them later. (Or if they convert on the video, nurture them through email.)

Another important way to attack the top of the funnel is to go beyond keyword research. Yes, it’s possible. Social monitoring tools like Buzzsumo allow you to search for topics your audience is talking about on social media.

These ideas aren’t always represented in search volume, but that doesn’t mean people aren’t interested. So find some of those topics, make a few videos, and see if you can grab people’s attention. Bada bing, bada boom: you’re relevant to a whole new segment of your audience.

Get your distribution right

Now it’s time for the big finale, the third pillar of this video marketing temple: distribution.

Organic social reach is more or less a relic of a bygone era — except on LinkedIn, strangely. So if you want to really get a return on your video marketing, you’re going to need to put some dollars behind distribution on the big social networks.

Now, that doesn’t mean you should just start dumping money into the black hole of Facebook Business Manager. You need to be judicious. Start small and run some tests. And for the love of all that’s holy, don’t serve the same ads to every part of your funnel.

Since you’ve done all that work creating top of the funnel videos (you’re doing that, right?) follow those up with mid funnel and bottom funnel videos. These guys should have more of a conversion focus, because the audience you’re showing them to will be better acquainted with your brand.

Once you get some data from your initial campaign, analyze, tweak, and repeat.

Look, no one said video marketing was easy. It takes a lot of effort to get right. You have to set up your strategy, collect the right data, and optimize your content. But once you approach video marketing in a formalized way, you’ll start to make waves in the most popular content format in the history of mankind.

This guest article was written by Zach Watson, Content Marketing Manager for Soundstripe, a royalty free music company that helps creators and businesses with YouTube monetization, among other things.

Ecommerce has gradually taken over the world of retail through its convenient methods. The era of brick and mortar market giants has gradually come to an end as we bid adios to a long time retail brands due to bankruptcy and closure.

Iconic companies like Toys ‘R’Us, with six decades in business, is forced to close its outlets in the United States and opt for liquidation. But does that mean business itself is wrapping up in the industry?

Of course not!

The times have changed, and the ‘digital revolution’ has taken over the space vacated by traditional businesses. It is safe to say that the digital world is an exciting place to be due to the exciting innovations and uncharted possibilities it holds.

It is significant to note that most brick and mortar stores, too, have been forced to catch up and develop a digital presence. But then, establishing a robust online presence is a calculated balance between art and science. The primary goal of all businesses existing in the online sphere is to attain coveted estate on the top search engine rankings.
There is no doubt in the fact that finding success online is a strict code to crack, but at the end of the day, a little determination and much passion can take you to the sky and beyond.

What makes ecommerce challenging?

There are a million and one reasons why online businesses are razed to the ground. Every industry has its challenges, but some rules are generally applicable to a vast majority of ecommerce ventures.
Statistically speaking, eighty percent of ecommerce businesses fail due to three common reasons:

– The website is hard to navigate.
– The product value is misunderstood.
– The business is hard to reach.

One cannot deny the fact that the average consumer today has very high expectations from online brands. The elements of customization and quick efficiency have led to a seismic shift in consumer priorities. They seek experiences instead of being focused on product value. This is a philosophy that must be tied to the corners of every online business in existence.

We understand that it could be hard for a new online business to establish a firm footing without prior experience field. Whether you are a brick and mortar store coming online or an ecommerce business seeking growth, here is a list of the top x success factors that you must implement as an online business. We hope that this article tells you all you need and more!

Amplify the user experience.

Imagine you were opening a café a few blocks away from a central attraction in the city. You take your time to develop a site plan and interior. You will send our fliers and find the best stores for crockery and cutlery to satisfy the visitors, won’t you?

In a similar context, the website for your online business is the storefront. It is the gateway to your business, and it is also responsible for the first impressions. This is why prioritizing user-experience is the best thing you can do for your online business.

From stimulating content to attractive visuals, you must keep in mind that your potential client should feel at ease while they navigate through your product categories and listings.

Invest in quality Search Engine Optimization.

Many consumers today search (read: Google) products before placing any orders. They read reviews and look at the listing position on a page. This means that you must get a position on the top searches for your product niche. But how is that possible in a field where competition is fierce enough to be sliced with a knife?

The simple answer is: invest in quality SEO.
Let’s assume that you are a leather boutique that is ranked on the first page of search results. A customer searches for ‘best online leather jacket store‘, and they find you.

This is how search engine optimization works. It spins your website into a project admired by Google and other search engines.

Boost the rates of engagement on social media.

Reasonable rates of engagement on social media platforms help you stand apart from the crowd. When people feel connected to your brand, they create a buzz around you and your products.
From basic queries about product value to participation in user-generated content campaigns, each interaction helps you create a positive image on the target audience.

Remember, your presence gains authority only when you invest your time and effort into building a good reputation for yourself.

Develop a loyalty program.

Loyalty is the key to growth. Whether it is the emotive attraction of a touch brand story or the anticipation of winning a gift for points, customer loyalty is a cornerstone for online success. You can implement scoreboards and birthday incentives for your loyal customers to keep them hooked to your brand, a tiny token of appreciation here, and then will help you achieve the growth you desire.

Collaborate with known faces.

There are not enough words to describe the benefits of bringing social media influencers on board. Not only does it help your online presence gain momentum, but it also saves you from the tedious process of trial and error. Since influencers have in-depth knowledge and understanding of what sells to their audience, they can guide you in the right direction through subtle endorsements.

Do your research.

The essential tip that we have saved for last is; research. Don’t restrict your research to a few Google searches. Dive deep into the competitor analysis, industry statistics, and whatnot until you have saved a few tricks up your sleeve.

Final Takeaways

Running a business is inherently risky, especially when you try in the online space. Not only is the market quickly moving in the direction of saturation, but the unique selling points have also gone over the top. The only way for you to succeed as an online business is through determination and passion.

Remember that you cannot revive a dead duck, but you can always do your research and make duck soup!