by Joe Monzo | Jun 23, 2023 | General
YouTube is the 2nd most popular search engine online, right behind google, so utilizing YouTube is a huge opportunity. For the majority of videos, it is a good idea to upload on YouTube even when the content will also be available elsewhere. Ultimately, a video that is available on YouTube will be more easily seen by intentional viewers and discovered by your potential target audience.
Following the best practices for YouTube uploads will ensure you are maximizing the opportunities available to make your videos effective.
Upload Relatable and Valuable Content
It can be tempting to start your video journey by creating content in bulk. You may have a whole list of ideas for videos and choose to rapidly produce them. While having an abundance of creative inspiration and enthusiasm is great, you’ll need to ask yourself a few questions:
- Can I keep up with the same level of production consistently?
- Will my content apply to my target audience?
- Does each video provide value that will not only maintain but grow my audience and drive them toward my intended conversions?
The best practice for uploading to YouTube is to publish valuable and relatable content at a consistent frequency. Your target audience should be able to depend on you for the content they want at the time they’ve come to expect it. Subscribers will get alerts when you post and algorithms will prefer you if you’re a consistent creator.
To create high-engagement videos, you should answer your audience’s pain points with information that truly solves their problems. In this way, you’ll build a community of like-minded people that subscribe to your content.
Understand and Implement Effective Video Copy
Promoting videos on any platform requires a bit of copywriting and keyword research (research surrounding which phrases would help the right audience find your content in a search). On YouTube, you’ll need to write a title, description, and tags so that the platform can promote your video to the right audience. YouTube Keyword Planner is a helpful tool, but you can also try other third-party keyword research tools.
It might feel easy to come up with a title you think sounds great, but you’ll want to ensure it is attention-grabbing and relevant to the video’s content and purpose. Keep in mind that before video searchers click on a video, they’ll most likely read the title to see what it is about and decide whether they are interested.
Once the searcher has clicked on a video, they’ll be able to read the description. For most videos, the description should be a quick summary and resources that the viewer might enjoy, such as links to products or further information.
Avoid clickbait, which is content meant to catch attention by being misleading or sensational. You should also avoid keyword stuffing, which is overusing keywords unnaturally throughout the copy. Both clickbait and keyword stuffing is recognizable to algorithms and audiences who will come to distrust you and deprioritize your content.
Include Transcripts and Closed Captions
Not all video creators think about this, but including closed captions, translations, and transcripts is one of the most important things you can do to ensure you reach your full target audience. While excellent audio is important in video production, you’d be surprised by how many people watch videos without sound. They might be watching on a loud form of transportation without headphones or scrolling through their feed watching previews. In these cases, including closed captions can ensure they watch the video and understand the content regardless of the audio.
Not to mention, not all viewers will have the ability to hear or understand, whether it is due to a language barrier or difference in ability.
Never Underestimate a Great Thumbnail Graphic
Thumbnail graphics, aside from video titles, are the first line of defense for capturing viewers. Engaging graphics that have a combination of pictures, clear text, and bright colors make it stand out from the feed. Potential viewers will want to know exactly what they’ll get out of a video before they click on it and spend their time, so it is vital to be as clear and bold as possible in your thumbnail graphic.
Building a successful YouTube channel is not an overnight task. Stick with it and have fun, because the hard work will eventually pay off.
If you’re interested in learning more about the best practices for uploading your videos, contact Monzo Media Productions.
by Joe Monzo | Jun 8, 2023 | General
Producing a video and promoting it has an end goal, and that goal should be encapsulated in your call to action (CTA). Whether you want your audience to visit your website, follow your account, or book an appointment, you should be telling them directly. Even if you tell them exactly what you want, however, your job is not done. You should make it as easy as possible to follow through on that action – otherwise, your conversion rates will suffer.
Once you understand these few simple steps to optimizing your CTAs, you’ll incorporate them in every video promotion to come.
Promote the Video On A User-Friendly Interface
Videos can elevate your other assets like no other content. Your website will become more exciting, your social media will be more impressive, and your emails will enjoy more engagement. On the flip side, the place you promote your video can be detrimental to its effectiveness.
Websites that lack other components assisting in the visitor’s journey from lead to customer might not benefit from a video as much as expected. If the navigation is not clear, the text is uninformative or excessive, and there are no clear forms or buttons, the visitor will likely be confused or frustrated. In this case, your high-engagement video might end with a bold and clear CTA, but the visitor will find it difficult to follow through.
Choose a CTA-Friendly Platform
No matter which platform you choose for promoting your video, ensure it provides the ability to insert a clear link or button that the visitor can use after they’ve reached the CTA. Click funnels are a great choice because they guide the visitor from discovery to conversion through a series of pages. Facebook advertisements are also excellent because of their clear title, description, CTA, and button.
Having clickable buttons at the end of your text or video is helpful. Vimeo, for example, allows you to embed a link right in your video, making it obvious and easy for the audience to do exactly what you’ve described. On social media, it is not always as easy to include a link or button. Instead, you can include a CTA at the end of your copy that describes exactly how to follow through. Provide a clickable link as closely as possible to the video itself, even if it has to be in your profile. Some creators have found that posting in the comments sections is successful as well.
Pack An Emotional Punch
Outside of making sure the interface is user-friendly and allows hyperlinks, the way you write your CTA also matters. If you’re interested in diving deeper, you might find it beneficial to learn about copywriting. If not, you’ll want to remember one thing: people respond strongly to emotion first, then reason later.
Writing your CTA with the emotional impact in mind will give your video conversion a boost. The emotion you choose to utilize will depend on your target audience and the action you’re hoping they’ll take. For example, a school’s video marketing campaign targeting prospective families might intend to create excitement surrounding learning about the new community and the opportunities available. The more excitement the video campaign can create, the more likely a viewer will be to follow through on the CTA. If you are promoting an event, you might decide to utilize a fear of missing out in order to drive conversions.
If you’re interested in learning more about improving your video conversion with powerful CTAs, contact Monzo Media Productions.
by Joe Monzo | May 23, 2023 | General
At Monzo Media Productions, we proudly serve private schools, nonprofits, and businesses by turning them into effective storytellers through video marketing campaigns. We’ve been specifically honing in on these three verticals, and it has been interesting to see how each type of organization has taken advantage of video as a tool and tackled its video marketing efforts.
While each vertical typically chooses to utilize video for similar reasons, the way these organizations choose to go about their efforts can be strikingly different. I believe that each vertical can improve its campaigns by studying how others approach video marketing, so I wanted to provide my take on some lessons to be learned.
Video Marketing is a Long-Term Strategy
Of course, every organization is unique, so sweeping generalizations only get you so far. In my experience, however, I’ve found that nonprofits and schools have valued video strategy long-term. These organizations don’t stop at one video – for instance, I’ve seen corporate companies try to use their branding video as their recruiting video – nonprofits and schools have taken advantage of a compelling strategy through the use of separating those types of videos that way it matches the target audience more effectively. Each one might tell a different story or use bits and pieces of the whole story. Further, these organizations typically produce videos year after year, not once every couple of years. Consistently approaching video marketing with new videos means always having fresh content that is relevant and accurately represents the brand.
Don’t Just Post Online and Call It Quits
The other side to that long-term strategy is that organizations change over time. There are always new stories to tell, and there are always new ways that video marketing funnels can be utilized. As new channels and avenues arise, nonprofits and schools continue to adapt and take advantage of every way to reach their audience.
This reality means that you aren’t done with a video once you post it online, either. Getting the most out of your video marketing efforts means sharing it with your audience through every possible channel. Nonprofits and schools do an amazing job at using various marketing tactics beyond sticking to one video hosting platform or website. Maybe they feel they have to get the most out of their often-small budgets, but I’ve seen them repurpose their videos for everything from ads to in-person events like fundraisers (as long as it makes sense to the target audience).
Videos Tell Stories and Humanize Brands
Nonprofits and schools are typically connected more authentically with their communities and audiences because of their nature and mission. For example, they might exist to educate about certain dangers, help children, or assist those in need, and these goals translate well into video content. This authentic human connection flows naturally through their messaging, and video marketing serves them very well by further humanizing their brand.
These organizations do a great job of understanding the power of storytelling through video for these reasons. Some of my school clients have built powerful school marketing campaigns with strong storytelling and smart branding. If there’s anything I believe defines video marketing best, I say it’s storytelling. Corporate organizations can learn from this by reframing their video marketing strategies with this lens.
Learn From Others to Improve Your Video Marketing Strategy
Every organization is different, but these observations are general trends I’ve seen when working with nonprofits and schools on their video marketing campaigns. Approaching video marketing as a long-term strategy of storytelling and humanizing your brand, in addition to utilizing every avenue of outreach to squeeze the most value out of your videos, are key strategies for the best return on investment.
Corporate companies can learn from these nonprofits and schools to better take advantage of their video marketing efforts. On the flip side, nonprofits and schools can also learn from the way corporate organizations approach video marketing, which I’ve outlined in my pervious blog: What My Nonprofit and School Clients Can Learn From My Corporate Clients.
If you’d like to learn more about the best video marketing strategies, contact Monzo Media Productions.
by Joe Monzo | May 11, 2023 | General
I’ve spoken about how corporate companies could learn from my nonprofit and school clients when it comes to powerful video marketing campaigns using storytelling and long-term strategies. On the other hand, I want to address the many strengths that my corporate clients have when tackling video marketing campaigns. While nonprofits and schools typically focus on human connection and their community-centric missions, my corporate clients have a keen interest in the business side of video marketing that serves them well.
Of course, every organization is unique, so these generalizations shouldn’t be taken as full-proof. Instead, I think it’s important to address the ways these verticals typically approach video marketing so that we can all learn from each other without judgment.
The Call-to-Action Phrase Is Everything
If you regularly follow my blog, you’ll know how important call-to-action phrases are to video marketing strategy. Without calls to action, your viewers are left hanging at the end of your video, unsure of where to go next for more information or how to take action. Knowing your call to action from the beginning of video planning also helps you to create a video marketing campaign that serves your goals effectively.
My corporate clients have fully understood the power of the call to action, as they’re familiar with this tactic in other aspects of their organization. They are customer-driven and sales-oriented, and the call to action is an integral part of this sales process. On the flip side, nonprofits and schools tend to shy away from this type of messaging because they are concerned about being perceived as “salesy.” If you are concerned about this, please reconsider. Building a video marketing campaign means creating a funnel in which you must guide your viewers from beginning to end, regardless of what your goal is for their participation.
Video Marketing Can Be Internal, Too
While nonprofits and schools do a great job of outreach through many different channels to their external target audience, I’ve seen corporate clients use creative video marketing campaigns internally in effective ways. They’ve done everything from building educational courses for employees to embedding videos in internal newsletters. The list of opportunities is endless for how you can use videos, and my corporate clients really understand this.
Track Analytics and Return On Investment
Corporate organizations naturally focus on the bottom line and are often assessing their investments to determine whether they should continue to allocate their budget toward certain efforts. The only way to make these decisions is to have the data to inform them, and this is where analytics comes into play. Tracking analytics regarding how videos are reaching the audience and whether they achieve the marketing goals is key to corporate video marketing success. Not only does this data help decide whether to continue the efforts, but also helps to determine whether weaknesses exist so strategies can keep improving.
Learn From Others to Improve Your Video Marketing Strategy
Approaching video marketing with an eye on the bottom line and creative internal efforts are unique aspects of corporate video marketing that I believe nonprofits and schools can benefit from implementing. In addition to the long-term strategy of storytelling and humanizing your brand, nonprofits and schools can formulate a strategy that continues to improve their return on investment and use data to back up their decisions.
Corporate clients can learn from nonprofits and schools as well, which I’ve discussed in the next blog: What My Corporate Clients Can Learn From My Nonprofit and School Clients.
If you’d like to learn more about the best video marketing strategies, contact Monzo Media Productions.
by Joe Monzo | Apr 17, 2023 | General
In general, negative comments and PR rarely escalate when it comes to smaller organizations’ and nonprofits’ video marketing campaigns. In our experience, people generally stay positive and supportive when these local organizations invest in video marketing to spread a message of goodwill and service to their communities.
On the off chance that a video you’ve distributed begins accumulating negative feedback, or if you’re worried about potential criticism, there are some ways to approach the issue.
Mitigate the Risk During Pre-Production
Most potential negative feedback can be avoided in the pre-production phase. Sometimes, a video might be shot in bad taste, causing social controversy. These issues go back to the pre-production, collaboration, and editing sides of the video production process. Having a team of professionals who help strategize, plan, and execute will offer several eyes that can catch any potential issues before they become public.
If you’re especially nervous, ask your team to stay vigilant and identify anything that could hurt your brand or offend someone. Above all else, be confident in your planning process so that your finished video is the best it can be.
Pinpoint the Problem
In the case that your video has escalated into controversy or is attracting negative feedback, take a step back to analyze the situation objectively. Is there truly a problem to address? Less serious mistakes could be typos or black spaces between clips. More serious mistakes could be misinformation or poorly chosen words. Many times, however, negative feedback is subjective and more hurtful and unhelpful than it is genuine.
Once you know the issue – if it exists – you can determine if there’s an option to fix it. Issues like typos and editing errors can be quickly fixed so that the video can be redistributed. If there is an issue with a certain shot, determine if you can reshoot the scene, replace it with something different, or leave it out of the video entirely.
Only Cater to Your Target Audience
Video is a subjective medium because it is an art form, so there are people who will connect with your video and those who won’t. For example, your student athlete interview could be a masterpiece, but if your only viewers are people who are uninterested in sports, it’s worthless and boring. Keep this principle in mind when making your video: It’s best to think about your target audience and produce a video that engages with that audience the best – don’t worry about what anyone else will think.
This principle is also important in the face of negative feedback. Think about whether your critics are people included in your target audience, then consider whether their opinion matters. In other words, if a corporate professional is giving negative feedback about a video that was meant for a school board, then you might not worry about that negative feedback.
Approach Negative Feedback With Confidence
Unfortunately, some people are constantly looking for problems, and they’ll find them even when they don’t exist. It’s up to you to determine whether their criticism is relevant, helpful, and worth considering. Overall, be systematic about your process from beginning to end. If you get negative feedback in the public square, think about whether you’ll respond and how. If the client and the target audience are happy, you have nothing to worry about.
If you have further concerns about negative feedback about your videos, contact Monzo Media Productions.
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