Adding Video Is Easy

Video is so easy a Caveman can do it.

A Caveman Can Do It

I just read another blog post talking about how easy it is to add video to your marketing mix. I see this fairly often. It is easy, just get an inexpensive flip camera shoot something and upload it to youtube. I’d also like to add that it’s easy to make a brochure, build a website, shoot a picture, build a facebook fan page, etc. When we are out at networking events we know that 20 percent of the people there build sites, 60 percent of people know someone that will make a site for free, and 10 percent don’t care or see how valuable their presence on the web is. My point is that making video for your site is easy, adding video to your marketing mix that is effective for you – not so much.

Content is King

For SEO, valuable content is really important. Video is a great way to add content to your marketing mix. It is the best way to add the emotional feel of who you are and the passion of your organization and it’s mission. Youtube is the 3rd largest search engine, so you really do want to have a presence there. Just remember to effectively tag the video so the odds of it being found are greater. After uploading the video remember to embed it back into your website so it can be found there too. This adds a link from youtube to your site which does help with search engines. Make sure you add text with the video about what is in the video. Search engines can read text but they can’t see or hear yet. YouTube itself is interesting, if you get 1500 views in the first month, you are in the top 10 percent of all videos uploaded. If you get 100 in the first month you are in the top 50 percent. Either of these are realistic goals, very few of the videos uploaded go viral (over 1 million views).

Think in terms of SEO for your video. We still have clients that want to spend their whole budget on one nice 2 to 5 minute piece. We recommend making several with one targeted message in each video. This will give you more places to be found on the web and increase your overall web presence. Youtube and other video hosting sites act just like other social media sites and you need to connect there just like you would on facebook, linkedin or twitter.

Making an Effective Video

Just a couple of quick things to remember for making effective video:

Sound is the most important part of the video. Bad sound and people will turn it off.
Make sure the camera is still. This is the biggest difference between professional and amateur video.
Have good light and make sure it’s behind the camera.

If you believe you are just as smart as a caveman and want to make video yourself, here are a couple of good links: