Three Ways to Get more Engagement, Improve Conversions, and Increase the ROI of Your Videos

YOU'VE GOT YOUR VIDEO... NOW WHAT?

So much time, energy, and effort go into producing a brand video or capabilities film for your business. The challenge for most businesses, once they have their video in hand, is what to do with it besides just posting it on their website and putting it on their social media channels. 

In this article, I’m going to share a few strategies to help get you maximum exposure to your ideal audience and some secret techniques that most people don’t implement. These strategies will help you increase engagement and help you measure the success of your video campaign. Let’s start by busting a popular myth.

MYTH: This will all be worth it if my video goes viral. 

The truth is, having a video go viral doesn’t necessarily equate to getting more sales for your business. There’s a famous blog post written years ago that suggests with only 1000 true fans, you can build a thriving business. When a video goes viral it’s because it has a mass appeal to a large number of people - and unfortunately, most businesses do not (and should not) appeal to everyone. There’s an old saying that goes something like, “If you’re marketing to everyone, you’re marketing to no one.” 

If your video only ever gets in front of your ideal audience, you’re winning! 

Starting with realistic expectations will help you understand that vanity metrics are just that. In order to drive revenue or whatever your video goal, will take more than just people watching your video. 

Here’s why vanity metrics or views don’t really matter. Let’s say your brand video gets 1 million views. That’s great! Or so it seems… if people started watching your video and got 10 seconds into it and realized it wasn’t relevant for them or it just didn’t interest them to watch further, they click off the video and get back to what they were doing prior to clicking on your video. Now you see that “views” isn’t really the best measurement for your video’s success. 

Most of the work for retaining your ideal client’s attention while watching the video is done before you even hit record. But, let’s cover some of the things you can do once the video is finished to capture attention and increase engagement. 

Choose the right Video Platform: Youtube or Wistia

If people are engaging w/ your video online, it will need to be hosted somewhere. Choosing the wrong platform can lead to low engagement and lost revenue. 

The most popular video hosting platform is obviously Youtube. Youtube is the #2 search engine next to Google Search - and this allows videos to be searchable through the video title and description.

While having a Youtube strategy for your business is probably a no-brainer, using an additional video platform can help you more than you think. 

Embedding videos on your website allows you to create the kind of experience you want for your visitors. Unfortunately, embedding Youtube videos on the main pages of your website can become a distraction… things like the suggested videos that pop up at the end of a Youtube video might belong to your competition. The last thing you want is for someone to watch your brand film on your website and click a recommended video from your competition. At that point, you’ve lost them and the chance of converting your viewer has diminished greatly. 

We recommend using a different video player on your actual website. Our choice is Wistia because of the clean interface and the incredibly powerful tools you can use to get more engagement, improve conversions, and increase the ROI of our videos. We’ve been using this tool for over a decade and haven’t found anything else that compares. 

Here are THREE ways to get more engagement, improve conversions, and increase the ROI of every video you make using Wistia:

LIVE LINKS and LIVE CALLS TO ACTION: 

Every video you share should have some desired outcome. You may want your audience to feel a certain way. Other times, you may want them to sign up for a free download or email your sales team for a free trial. Using a Call to Action link or Annotation Links inside of the actual video allows your viewer to take the next step with you. This could be a link that pops up on the screen during the video that takes them to a landing page or a checkout page. You can create calls to action for the end of a video that pops up and links to an email address or a phone number they can text. Live links allow the viewing experience to be uninterrupted while creating specific engagement opportunities for the viewer. 

HEAT MAPS: 

Wistia allows you to see what parts of your video are being watched, re-watched, and stopped.

If 80% of your viewers stop watching your video at the ten-second mark, you can start investigating why. Maybe your video intro is too long, maybe there’s a glitch, or maybe you don’t give the viewer a good reason to watch the whole video… there are a bunch of reasons as to why, but without knowing if people stop watching your videos at a certain point, you can’t make any informed changes to your video to help improve engagement. 

If there’s a certain part in your video that people watch over and over, you can look at that section and make some educated guesses. It might help you know that your viewers are very interested in what’s being said or the visual. Again, this will help you understand your audience better so that you can serve them better. 

A/B TESTING

When using Wistia, you can create two versions of a video and Wistia will serve them up to viewers with a 50/50 split so you can look and see which one has more engagement and declare that one the winner which will continue only showing the winning video. Wistia allows you to do the same thing by testing the thumbnail graphics or even the player color to show you what your audience resonates with. 

When you're sharing your videos, always keep your ultimate goal in mind. If you're trying to increase visibility for your social media channels, make sure to post the videos there. If your goal is to get people to visit your website, make sure the videos are hosted on your site. And when you email your list to tell them about a new video, include a link to where you want them to go. By being clear about your goals and directing your audience accordingly, you're more likely to achieve the results you want.

FINAL THOUGHT

When you share your videos, it's always best to start with a clear end goal in mind. This will help you get the most value out of your investment. Consider what video platform you're using and make sure it supports your goal.

For a free audit on a previous video you've produced, fill out this form here. 

I'll be happy to take a look and give you some feedback on how you can improve your videos to get even more value out of them!

- Ryan Koral