It was a busy and short week for me, after spending a few days in Northern California celebrating family birthdays with lots of delicious food, wine and a stay at the historic Claremont Hotel in the Oakland Hills above Berkeley. But never fear, I kept up with with my explorations on the web, reading and experimenting with new software.

Here are 5 things I’ve been checking out this past week:

1.  You already probably know I like books. When this list on Conde Nast Traveler popped up in my inbox, I was hooked: 22 Ambassadors Recommend the One Book to Read Before Visiting Their Country.

2.  My dear friend and colleague Dr. Ellen Britt and I kicked off our Inner Fire program this week. Ellen gave a super presentation on the Anatomy of the Unconscious (or don’t forget to breathe) and reminded me to restart using the Simple Habit app to do short breathing meditations to calm my mind before going to sleep. I use the free version of the app which has plenty of meditation options for me.

3.  I’m an AppSumo junkie and have been looking at purchasing Publbox. I took the plunge this morning. It’s a social media management tool. I spent 5 minutes setting up my social profiles and then did a couple of test posts on Twitter and scheduled one for my Facebook page. Super easy! And I like easy. I’ll spend more time with it this weekend. If you’re already using Publbox, let me know what you think, OK?

4.  For marketers, this article on the Sumo blog has some excellent examples of email subject lines with a real-world case study and how to implement them for your own emails marketing.

5.  I wouldn’t be a very good marketer if I didn’t remind you about the free virtual summit, Rock Your Online Visibility that begins on Monday, June 10. I don’t participate in many summits anymore, but I couldn’t say “no” when it’s on the precise topic I work on with my clients every day! (This event is over.)

What have you been reading and experimenting within the last week? Please let me know in the comments, below. And, feel free to share the post with your friends and colleagues!

Denise
You Guide To Better Visibility on the Web

This post was originally published as an email on June 7, 2019.

Click here to catch up on previously published 5 Things emails.

Photo by Reinis Birznieks on Unsplash

The post 5 Things…Travel Books, Meditation, Email Marketing, and Social Media appeared first on Adventures in Visibility.

When social media was first constructed there was limited marketing use. Primarily a social tool, brands knew they wanted to break in and engage with the users but they weren’t always sure how. Platforms like Twitter, in particular, were difficult to crack, thanks to their lack of functionality in the early days.

Now social media platforms have become a staple of marketing strategy and everyone uses it…which has its upside and its downside. On one hand, the sheer power of social media platforms as engagement and lead generation tools can’t be overstated. On the other, competition for user attention is pretty intense. It isn’t always easy to be seen in the crowd.

Creating a solid social media schedule is one of the best ways to improve your results and be effective in your posting efforts.

Choosing Your Platform(s)

Believe it or not, there is not now, nor has there ever been, a magic platform that is going to give you the best results.

Whatever guides have claimed one being superior over the other, we can look at the success of brands on various social media sites and see that it isn’t about where you post, it is about who you are posting to, what you are posting and how you are using the tool to your advantage.

Trial and error and your target audience, as well as your content strategy as it is integrated into your social strategy, is going to be key here. But let’s look at some of the basic benefits of the most popular platforms as they stand today.

Creating a solid social media schedule is one of the best ways to improve your results and be effective in your posting efforts. Click to Tweet

Facebook

Optimal posting frequency: 1-2 updates a day (using diverse formats)

The largest and most popular social media site on the web, Facebook is arguably the greatest example of the “business friendly” social media platform. Zuckerberg has never been secretive about his wish to make it a hub for commercial integration and his company has led the way on that front.

The biggest benefits here are customizability, brand-centric features and the largest audience possible for your campaigns. The downside is demographics. While older audiences are there, younger ones have largely flown the coop. So if you are aiming for anyone under 25, Facebook may not be the place to go.

Twitter

Optimal posting frequency: 1 update every couple of hours at least (using diverse formats)

When Twitter was fresh on the scene, microblogging existed but had not yet been popularized. Once they adopted hashtags and opened their live search, the site exploded. Now it is one of the most open and accessible means of engaging with users, which is its biggest strength. An ever-growing advertising arsenal is another.

If you plan on cultivating hashtag campaigns, Twitter will be a big source for your posts. It is also a great way to connect with influencers for a bit of influencer marketing.

Instagram

Optimal posting frequency: 1 update a day at least

Here dwell the younguns. Instagram and Snapchat are arguably the biggest locations to find anyone on the younger side of the demographic scale, which has driven Instagram into popularity even as it hasn’t managed to break the user records of the two above platforms.

Visuals are the name of the game, so social campaigns based mainly on images or video are well suited for Insta-fame. For older audiences, you may want to stick with the more traditional giants.

More Social Media Platforms

Of course, you also have LinkedIn, Pinterest, Tumblr, Reddit and several others that could be added to the list. But given the direction of most strategies these days, focusing on the above three will account for most of the people reading this. Think of the other platforms as supplementals, except in rare circumstances. They just don’t have the reach for most brands to stand on their own, unless those brands have already reached a certain peak status.

That doesn’t mean you should ignore them! Just that most of your posts probably won’t be centered there.

Keep in mind that much of this depends on the quality of your content. You could have cracked the perfect schedule plan and still fail because your content stinks.

Monitor Your Audience’s Schedule

Now we look at when to post. I will admit that in the past I ascribed to the idea that there were some special times that were just better to post. These times were based on the data given from each platform, stating their busiest times.

I know better these days:

• It only really matters for Twitter because neither Facebook nor Instagram feeds are sorted by recency-only (and even Twitter is trying to move away from that model too). To give you a bit more context, here’s how the Facebook algorithm works as of recently.
• What you want is to know when your particular audience is most active. Because of that, no one can give you the best time. You have to figure that out based on who you are trying to reach.

Some factors that are going to change this are

• region
• age
• activity level online
• the social platform you choose.

Here is where social media metrics are so important. Use all tools at your disposal to better understand your audience:

• Checking Google Analytics “Real Time” reports will help you spot your audience’s most active time
• Facebook Insights and Twitter Analytics will help you identify most engaging updates

Having a good dashboard that can give you information over a period of time will provide everything you need to make a posting schedule that is most effective based on who you are looking to reach.

Cyfe (Disclaimer: As of recently, this is my content marketing client but I have been their active users for years) is a great social media dashboard that can bring many things together and offer you an overtime perspective:

Put Together Your Social Media Schedule Calendar

Once you have that in hand you can make a social media posting calendar, similar to an editorial calendar.

Having this will let you plan more than just when you post, but also let you pencil in time every week to engage one on one with your audience… which just happens to be one of the most important things you can do on your social media page.

There are lots of calendar solutions you can look at. I for one only use Google spreadsheets where, instead of putting actual updates, I put topics I am going to cover on each particular month, based on seasonality, industry events, etc. This saves time and lets me always be up-to-date with my updates. You can read more on this here.

Once I have planned out my topics, I use all kinds of tools that allow me to schedule and time out my updates for optimal frequency throughout each day. Tools I use most:

• MavSocial to schedule recurring tweets as well as publish to multiple Facebook pages
• ViralContentBee Buffer feature (Disclaimer: This the tool I founded) to spread out tweets throughout the day

Don’t Post Recklessly!

Social media is a wonderful tool for engagement, lead generation, branding and more. But you can go into it haphazardly, you need a plan.

Create a schedule based on your audience and what works for them and you will have an effective campaign every time.

Recommended Reading

How to Use Social Media Marketing for Your Business

How to Test Your Social Media Content to Get Better Results

Featured quote source: bqotd.com

Blog photo:Emma Matthews

The post How to Create a Social Media Schedule That Is Truly Effective appeared first on Adventures in Visibility.

What’s stopping you from experimenting with live video for your business? I’ve been asking this question on various networks.

It puzzles me that more people aren’t jumping onto the live video bandwagon. It’s never been easier to shoot and stream video. The only equipment required is your smartphone. 

You could go one step further and use a webcam on your desktop, and you could invest in a desktop tripod, but you don’t need any of those things to shoot live streaming video.

Do any of these reasons for not doing live video resonate with you?

1. I don’t have a good location or backdrop
2. I don’t look good on video
3. Tools/How-to/Laziness/Time Constraints 

I do not want to be a time-waster if I’m going to go to all the trouble of doing this. Finding something I can talk about intelligently is highest on my list for moving forward with this challenge.

4. I don’t want to be visible, and I’m not sure anyone is interested in what I’d like to say

5. Fear that the video will not look good (here’s my answer to that)

Kick those fears to the curb

1. I don’t have a good location or backdrop

The beauty of live video is that it can be spontaneous and doesn’t require a “studio look.” Sure, you don’t want a big mess in the background because that can be distracting. But, you can create a live experience anywhere you’ve got a wifi connection so the background may be somewhere outdoors or at an airport, in a hotel, anywhere you happen to be.

The beauty of live video is that it can be spontaneous and doesn't require a 'studio look.' Click to Tweet

2. I don’t look good on video

I’ll let you in on a little secret:  Pretty much nobody (except maybe George Clooney) likes how they look on camera.  We all tend to be our own worst critics! The “don’t look good on video” fear is mostly unfounded.  We’re usually being way too self-conscious.  Live video is not a “red carpet” moment, it’s a casual, informal, “on-the-fly” moment. And, I’ll never forget the advice I got when I first was experimenting with video and hated the way I looked: no one cares what you look like, most people want to see people who look like them. It makes you more relatable.

3. Tools/How-to/Laziness/Time Constraints 

Another cool feature of live video is that it doesn’t take a lot of time!  Think of it as a quick “video selfie.”   You can use your mobile phone and do your video from anywhere, on the go and in the moment.  The “no time” excuse simply doesn’t hold up when it comes to live video.  And going live on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram is literally a few taps on your phone. It can’t get any easier than that.

4. I don’t want to be visible, and I’m not sure anyone is interested in what I’d like to say

Believe me, I can relate to not wanting to be visible. I’m an introvert and being on camera is not my first choice for expressing myself. However, the reality is, LIVE video has become so important that you can’t ignore it. With hundreds of millions of people on every social network competing for attention, the content that stands out above all others is live video. I’ll be blunt. If you’re not doing some live video, your message isn’t being seen and heard by many people. Is that what you want?

5. Fear that the video will not look good

Here’s my answer to that. If your content is great, but the video is not up to snuff, all is not lost. There are numerous ways you can repurpose the content without the video so your time hasn’t been “wasted.”

How are you feeling now? I know I sound like a broken record, and I believe that you – the entrepreneur, the solo business owner – are in a unique position to take chances, experiment with new tools and tactics and embrace change. What have you got to lose?

Need a pep talk? Here’s my journey to “just say yes” which I apply whenever I feel reluctant about trying something new.

Want more? Here are The Video Godfather’s Top 10 Proven Video Marketing Tips.

If you have questions or concerns I haven’t addressed, please post them in the comments or here, on Facebook.

[ssp-video]

The post Are You Afraid of Doing Live Video? appeared first on Adventures in Visibility.

Social media marketing (a subset of digital marketing) is evolving at breakneck speed. When I started marketing on the web in 1996, hardly anyone had a website, much less an email address. Marketing on the web was referred to as “Internet marketing” then “online marketing.”

Now we are more specific and refer to “digital marketing” and “social media marketing” as strategies, tactics and tools are created and change.  You can drill down even further into different types of niche marketing: relationship, viral, joint venture, email, cause, viral, etc.

It can be confusing on this crazy journey of marketing on the web. Later in this post, you’ll find a list of articles to guide you in areas of social media, social networks and a couple on email marketing. Before we get there, I want to share the results of my recent survey about digital marketing.

To get a handle on the various types of marketing strategies and to get a sense of where digital and social marketing fit it, check out the Slideshare presentation below to learn about 52 Types of Marketing Strategies.

In a recent survey of my audience (January 2017), I asked what specific topics related to digital marketing, they wanted to learn and master. 

As you can see, the clear winner (only one option could be selected) is Social Media Marketing which is using social media networks for marketing purposes. The second choice is Email Marketing and the third is a 3-way tie between Content Marketing, Video Marketing, and Product Launch Marketing. 

Social media marketing refers to the process of gaining website traffic or attention through social media sites.

Social media marketing programs usually center on efforts to create content that attracts attention and encourages readers to share it with their social networks. A corporate message spreads from user to user and presumably resonates because it appears to come from a trusted, third-party source, as opposed to the brand or company itself. Hence, this form of marketing is driven by word-of-mouth, meaning it results in earned media rather than paid media.

Via Mashable

The second thing I wanted to know is what specific topics my audience wanted to learn about:

1. Creating content upgrades and lead magnets
2. Short form video and live video
3. Creating a launch plan

Social media networks in order of learning preference are Facebook (no surprise here), LinkedIn, Instagram and YouTube (tied), Pinterest and Twitter.

Third, I was interested in knowing preferred learning styles to make sure I create future content and programs in a way they most want to absorb the information.

You can see the top three are how-to articles, webinars, and on-demand video training. This is interesting because where I see the best results with clients and students is when they invest in 30-Day Challenges, group coaching or masterminds and one on one mentoring (yeah, I’m biased since it’s how I make my living!). The likelihood of actually implementing what’s learned is significantly higher when you have support, accountability, and attention to your unique business and challenges. 

And, I get it. Many people prefer DIY and can easily get enough info to implement from articles and other free content like podcasts, ebooks, and webinars. Of course, not all webinars are free and on-demand video training can be free or fee. For example, several of my clients offer on-demand training via platforms like Teachable.

As I dig deeper into the survey results, I’ll be developing an editorial calendar with more how-to articles and programs to focus more specifically on how to master social media marketing. In the meantime, the following are articles you can start with to begin or expand your adventure with social media marketing.

Social Media

When Should I Begin Marketing My Book, Business or Product?

How to Use Social Media Marketing for Your Business

How to Test Your Social Media Content to Get Better Results

Can Using UTM Codes Get You Better Social Media Results? Adventures in Visibility With David Kutcher

The #1 Thing Stopping Most People from Repurposing Content

Repurposing Your Content – 13 Ways to Reach More People

7 Simple Visibility Tips That Can Make a Big Difference

5 Ways to Use Text Images to Promote Your Content

Advanced Video Marketing Strategies for Social Media

Social Networks

How to Optimize Your Facebook Page Profile So It Makes a Strong Impression

How to Integrate LinkedIn With Your Content Marketing

9 LinkedIn Publishing Tips That Can Help Build Your Audience

How to Reap the Benefits of Visibility on Instagram

5 Time-Tested Ways to Improve Your Twitter Profile

How to Use Pinterest for Dull, Academic or Yucky Topics 

Email Marketing

Email Trumps Social Marketing for Small Businesses 

Six Ways to Boost the Visibility of Your Email List

The post How to Kick Off Your Adventure in Social Media Marketing appeared first on Adventures in Visibility.

Are you ready to take your video marketing strategies for social media to the next level?

Sophisticated marketers know the impact video has had on social media over the last few years.

Heck, it’s only been in the last year that we’ve seen several new video tools introduced including Periscope and Blab (now defunct).

In just the past few months, Facebook Live rolled out to all users on both iOS and Android devices.

Instagram has increased the maximum length of videos from 15 seconds to 60. And that’s not to mention that Snapchat is hot, hot hot.

YouTube seems downright ancient at 11 years old!

So where does this leave you?

As a social media professional or entrepreneur — you know you need to incorporate video into your social media marketing strategy.

Are you wondering which video platform is best for your business? Do you need some advanced video strategies to help you increase your exposure and reach?

These are the things we’ll talk about in this post.

I’ll also show you several examples of how business owners like you are using video on social media.

FREE: Top 10 Video Tips

Advanced Video Marketing Strategies for Social Media

The first question you might be asking yourself is… Does video have a positive impact on my bottom line?

Let’s start with a few facts to ground you in the reality of using video in your marketing.

According to ReelSEO, 82% of surveyed marketers said that their video marketing strategies have had a positive impact on their bottom line.

Here’s a slew of stats to get you excited about video:

Gary Vaynerchuk built a multimillion-dollar wine business using video. He’s an evangelist and continues to use video in all its forms to build his personal and professional brands.

According to his article The Rise of Video Marketing on Social and How It Affects Your Business:

The single most important strategy in content marketing today is video. Whether it’s video on Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat or YouTube, the content you need to be thinking about creating and marketing on social for your business is video. Period.

The Top Video Platforms to Consider

Before you create your video plan, let’s take a look at the top 6 platforms. Each video tool has its own unique audience, time constraints, and best practices.

Once you’re armed with this info — you’ll be able to craft the best, advanced video marketing strategies for your business.

1. YouTube [desktop and mobile]

• Over a billion users worldwide
• Hundreds of millions of hours of video watched every day
• Demographic is broad covering primarily 18 to 49-year-olds
• Maximum length of video posted is 11 hours

It’s safe to say your business needs to have a YouTube channel. It will serve as a library of your video content.

In the not too distant future, YouTube will be launching YouTube Live as a competitor to Facebook Live and Twitter’s Periscope.

2. Facebook [desktop and mobile]

• There are more than 4 billion video views on Facebook every day — 75% of those views are happening on mobile 
• 71% of online adults use Facebook
• Facebook Live recently rolled out to all users
• Uploaded videos are limited to 20 minutes
• Videos uploaded directly to Facebook get better visibility in the news feed than links to videos on 3^rd party sites like YouTube

3. Twitter [desktop and mobile]

• Video is limited to 30 140 seconds
• Video posted natively gets a 216% increase in engagement over videos posted via 3^rd party sites
• 23% of online adults use Twitter
• Integration with Periscope

4. Instagram [mobile]

• Video length has increased from 15 seconds to 60 seconds
• 2 taps to share your videos on Facebook and Twitter
• 300 million monthly active users
• 28% of adult online users
• Instagram’s per-follower engagement rate is 120 times higher than Twitter

Image via Forrester

5. Snapchat [mobile]

• 13 to 24-year-olds make up biggest demographic
• Over 100 million daily active users
• Snapchat Stories are available for viewing for 24 hours before they disappear

6. Periscope [mobile]

• More than 10,000,000 users
• 29% of Periscopes posted by women
• 100,000,000 broadcasts to date
• Automatic integration with Twitter
• 350,000 hours of video is streamed live daily

How to Develop Your Video Marketing Strategies for Social Media

Now that you have some facts about the most popular video tools, it’s time to look at how you can use the platforms for your business.

As with developing any social media marketing strategy, you need to answer a few questions:

1. What’s the purpose and the outcome you want to achieve by using video? 
2. Which platforms will help you best achieve your desired outcomes?
3. Which platforms does your audience spend the most time on?
4. What resources do you have to create and share video?
5. What do you want your viewers to do after watching your videos? (your call to action)

Common reasons for using video include brand awareness, training, lead generation and customer support.

If you haven’t started using video yet, my best recommendation is to keep it easy in the beginning. You don’t need to invest in expensive video equipment right away. Use a webcam and smartphone to learn the video tools you want to use to kick off your video adventure.

Keep in mind you don’t have to use every video platform listed above. If brand awareness is your goal and your audience is on Facebook — then start experimenting with Facebook Live.

If customer support is your primary focus, use video on Twitter to connect with your followers. A direct, personal video response to a customer inquiry is going to make a hugely positive impact.

Lead generation lends itself to long-form, interactive video on Blab Facebook Live. Interviews with experts, Q&A, and tutorials to educate your audience all help with brand awareness. They will establish authority and thought leadership.

Short-form videos on Instagram and Twitter are perfect for behind the scenes videos, tips, and private messages. Also, Snapchat can help you create more intimate relationships with customers and clients by sharing quick, behind the scenes stories about your business.

YouTube is the perfect channel for showcasing your video library. Create playlists to organize your content.

Let’s Look at Advanced Video Marketing Strategies 

You want to get the most bang for your buck when it comes to your video marketing. In order to do that, you’ll need to experiment with different techniques to see what kind of video content your audience engages with most.

Let’s talk about short form video, long form video and how to incorporate your call to action. We’ll also discuss how the savvy video marketers are leveraging their videos on social media. 

Short form [Instagram, Twitter, and Snapchat]

• Give a quick tour of your offices or retail shop
• Product launch or unpacking
• Backstage at a company event
• Short interviews at live events
• Teasers for content on your blog, live broadcasts, longer videos
• Quick how-to tips
• Private messages to customers, clients, and prospects
• Respond to tweets
• Q&A sessions
• Be spontaneous. If something exciting, outrageous or amazing happens — grab your mobile device and shoot a quick video

Pro Tip: If you keep your Instagram videos just under 60 seconds, you can cross-promote that video to Twitter, doubling your leverage and increasing your visibility. More on cross-promotion below.

Long form [Periscope and Facebook]

• Training
• Interviews
• Panel discussion
• Events
• Fundraisers
• A day in the life
• Reviews
• Ask Me Anything
• Virtual conference
• Live event breakout sessions

Pro Tip: Periscope packs a one-two punch. The integration with Twitter means that when you’re broadcasting, it will be played directly inside tweets. Your viewer doesn’t need to click a link and move to another site.

Incorporating Your Call to Action

Probably the most important thing to remember when creating your video (or any online marketing piece) is your call to action (CTA).

What do you want your viewers to do when they finish watching your video? Click to Tweet

It’s easy to get caught up in the excitement of creating videos and forget the CTA. Big mistake. Figure out your CTA before you hit the record button. Include it in your talking points so you don’t forget!

The CTA can be as simple as “Follow me on X platform” or “Tap the link in my bio to learn more.”

On Instagram, the only active URL is in your bio, so make sure to refer to it in the post description and in your video.

Native videos on Facebook (direct upload) give you the option to add a call to action at the end of the video. Take the time to add a URL and description.

And check out how it works at the end of the video:

For your shows on Blab Facebook Live, sprinkle your CTAs throughout your conversation and at the end of your show. Add links to the chat box so your audience can easily click through at their moment of highest interest.

Experiment with Short Form Video

Ok, you’re convinced that video can make a positive impact on your social media marketing strategy. You have a sense of the types of video you can create for each platform. Now, let’s look at some examples and get your creative juices flowing!

Now that you can create 60-second videos on Instagram, you’ve got a lot of room for creativity.

There are many apps to help you create videos:

• Flipagram — for compiling a series of images into a video
• Hyperlapse — for creating time-lapse videos
• Boomerang — which combines photos into short video loops.

In the first example below, Shannon Hernandez (a DJ in Phoenix) created a clever video loop with Boomerang to create a sneak peek at how he does his work. 

This next example is a time-lapse video of Machu Picchu. Since I’ve been there, I can attest to the fact it perfectly captures the feeling of the historic Inca site.

Both Hyperlapse and Boomerang apps were developed by Instagram. Hyperlapse is only available for iOS. On Android, you can achieve the same effect with Lapse It and Hyperlapse by Microsoft.

On Twitter, few people do it better than Gary Vaynerchuk. Watch the 3-minute video below to learn why video on Twitter matters. Gary also demonstrates how easy it is to send a personal response on Twitter.

Experiment with Long Form Video

When it comes to training, Kim Garst of Boom Social has mastered the art with Periscope.

Her near daily scopes can be viewed within the Periscope app or on Twitter. But Kim doesn’t only broadcast on Periscope. In the example below, she’s broadcasting on her Facebook page at the same time with Facebook Live.

This allows her to reach her audience where they hang out vs. making people find her on one platform or another. This is a strategy to study and model.

Another example of using Facebook Live to connect with your audience is Peg Fitzpatrick’s “Thanks A Latte” on Fridays. She solicits questions from followers on Instagram and Facebook, then jumps on Facebook Live to respond. As her followers discover the live event, they post their questions for the real-time Q&A.

Facebook Live also offers a perfect vehicle for promoting your long form live streaming shows. MaAnna Stephenson of BlogAid uses Facebook Live before every WPBlab show. She invites her audience to join her on Blab. [Blab has shut down since this post was originally published.]

MaAnna’s unscheduled “Ask Me Anything” shows are the perfect example of how to demonstrate your expertise. MaAnna doesn’t hold back and answers every question her audience has about WordPress, security, SEO, and plugins.

She isn’t shy about the fact that her Q&As always result in new clients. The Q&A shows are not recorded. You’ve got to be there live to get valuable, free advice and help.

Post Planner has also embraced live video on Facebook. CMO Rebekah Radice recently turned to Facebook Live to give fans an overview of recent Facebook changes.

The weekly Post Planner Blabs take on a hot social media marketing topics. They’re informative and fun.

Leveraging Your Videos

There are thousands of businesses using short and long form video to educate, inspire and entertain. Hopefully, the few examples I’ve shared have sparked some ideas for you.

One thing I hope you noticed is the extent to which videos can be cross-promoted on multiple platforms.

• Share your 60-second videos on Instagram to Facebook and Twitter with two taps.
• Upload your 140 second Twitter videos to YouTube.
• If your Periscope videos are under 20 minutes, why not upload them on your Facebook page, too?
• Your recorded shows can be posted on YouTube.
• Facebook Live videos can be downloaded and then added to your YouTube Channel.

See a theme here? After Google, YouTube is the second largest search engine. Posting your videos on your business channel gives you more visibility and more traffic to your site. It also helps to build your audience.

When you spend time creating video content, you want to squeeze as much juice out of it as you can. By cross-promoting and posting, you ensure you’re meeting people where they are.

How else can you leverage your videos?

Post them on your blog, pin them on Pinterest boards and transcribe them to create content for non-video platforms. Pull a tip from your video and create a new piece of media!

Take screenshots from the video to post on social media with a call to action to watch the video. Add videos to your lead generation drip funnels for a more personal experience.

The options to repurpose your video content are endless! You’re only limited by your imagination.

Take Action!

“Why would companies want to start doing online video? Well, because! You capture the emotion of people. Companies are made up of people, and people have stories. Video is the best way to tell a story.” – Steve Garfield, author of Get Seen: Online Video Secrets to Building Your Business

You’ve got everything you need here to create a plan. Put these advanced video marketing strategies for social media into place for your business. I invite you to dive in and experiment.

Test the platforms to find the ones you’re most comfortable using. If you have questions, find the answers. There are thousands of how-to videos and tutorials to help you learn how to become a video marketer.

You can learn more by watching Post Planner’s recent Blab. Live video producer and editor, Marty McPadden, gave expert tips for how to incorporate video into your social media strategy.

Final Thoughts

As Marty talked about in the replay above — anxiety about being on video can be the biggest obstacle for people who want to begin their video marketing adventure.

Don’t let that stop you!

Whether you’re going to jump right into the advanced video marketing strategies we talked about in this post, or you are going to start slow — the important thing is to get started.

There are many ways to ease into the process. 

• Do a private video with a friend to get used to the platform.
• Create a 5-minute Periscope on your personal account while you’re taking a walk.
• Tell your friends you’ll be experimenting with Facebook Live and ask them to drop by to say hello.

There are so many options!

Here is a checklist to review before you hit that record button:

• Decide the purpose and outcome you want from your video.
• What’s the story you want to tell?
• What’s your call to action?
• Is long form or short form going to serve your audience best?
• Which platform will you focus on first? (based on the type of videos you plan on producing)
• Are you going to use your smartphone or webcam?
• Make a list of bullet points you plan to cover. What do you want to convey in your video? (don’t forget your call to action)
• Relax, turn on the camera and speak.
• If you don’t like it, delete it.
• When you’re happy with your video, promote and post it on other platforms.
• Ask your audience for feedback and ideas for topics.
• Shoot another video!

Remember, step by step, one video at a time. You can do this!!

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This post was originally published on PostPlanner and is reprinted with permission.

This post was updated on June 22, 2017.

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