Have you ever wondered how videos go viral? Contrary to popular beliefs, it doesn’t happen by chance or accident – it is the result of a brilliant video distribution strategy. More so than ever before, the media landscape continues to evolve, and almost anyone can produce a video, upload it on YouTube and pray that it drives traffic.
But is it enough? If your gut instinct is spot-on, you would know there’s something wrong with this perspective; which is why it’s necessary to consider the channels you use to share your videos.
Why is video distribution important?
You’ve put hours into ideating and creating your video, and without a proper distribution strategy, even the most engaging content could go unnoticed. Since videos attract 300% more traffic than any other forms of content marketing, you need a clear plan for driving visibility, or your target audiences are not going to see it.
How do you distribute your video?
In general, the more places you share your video content, the better it will be. However, you need to be strategic and selective about the channels you share your video, as there is no point in distributing your video in a location your target audience would never visit.
The right strategy can help introduce your brand to first-time users or help convince those on the fence to purchase from you.
So read on to know some of the best places to let your video content live.
10 ways to distribute your video content
Now let us go through some of the most effective channels you can use to bring your fantastic video content to your audience!
Website
A website is one of the best channels to promote your business and also reach more audiences. Today, B2B customers make 70% of their way through the decision-making process before engaging with a sales representative. Therefore when audiences visit your website, you need to present them with the information you want them to see – such as a guided video product tour. Check out how Zentail, a commerce operations management software has incorporated a 1-minute video into their website.
Additionally, when audiences spend additional time watching your video, it can give you an SEO boost as dwell time contributes to your overall website ranking. Including video on your website drives a 157 percent increase in organic traffic from search engine results pages (SERPs).
You can embed videos on relevant pages of your website such as your homepage, pricing section, about us section, product pages etc. to educate visitors.
Landing page
Adding videos into your landing page captures the attention and drives conversions of potential prospects. You can use the video as the main focus of your landing page, or it will also work quietly alongside copy and images to win over visitors. Stats have shown that embedding a video to your landing page can increase conversion by 86%.
In the below example, Hootsuite has included an explainer video in their landing page encouraging viewers to try out the product.
Pro tip: Videos should be used on your landing pages only when they directly support the offer at hand. For example: If you’ve got a landing page advertising a webinar, don’t just paste a product explainer video on it. Instead, use a video that explains about the webinar registration.
One of the problems marketers face is to break through cluttered emails and get noticed by potential prospects. It is why video email marketing has been increasing in popularity as an effective channel to engage recipients and drive clicks. According to a survey by GetResponse, including a video in an email can increase click-through rates by 96%. Need we say more?
Blog
It’s a known fact that people prefer to watch videos over swaths of text. So why not include it in your blogs? They’re exciting, and easier for readers to consume content. Adding in how-to videos, video examples from industry leaders, and tips from experts can be beneficial for your audiences to connect with your business. Here’s an example from IMPACT, an Inbound marketing agency, where they’ve embedded a video to explain the ‘revenue team model’, making it simpler for audiences to understand the concept.
Pro tip: Repeat your video’s key phrases in the text to make sure it gets indexed by Google as it can’t understand what happens within your video. Adding video closed captions to the video will also help get your video indexed.
Learn more on how to rank first in google with videos here.
Additionally, you can also distribute your videos in guest blogs as this will drive more visitors to your website, while you provide them with valuable content for their audience. It’s a win-win!
Press release
Want your press release to stand out? Ditch the age-old text press with bulky paragraphs and present it as a video press release. An excellent video distribution platform, it not only appeals to the receiver, but it will also prompt more people to share it, and talk about it. Also, distribute it among journalists, editors, producers, and reporters to build a strong relationship with them and widen your reach.
Sponsored content
With nearly half of the world’s population using social media, it can be a powerful distribution channel to promote your videos. With the right audience and content quality, this distribution strategy can deliver outstanding results.
On platforms like Facebook and Instagram, you can promote your content for as little as $1 per day for impressions. And what’s more? F
acebook makes it possible to carve out and target specific audiences with your ad campaigns based on people’s demographics, age, income level, interests, job title, and much more.
In the example, Goldman Sachs uses an infographic video ad to spread awareness of global climate changes, rather than texts.
YouTube display advertising
YouTube display advertising helps businesses reach out to people with targeted display ads while watching a YouTube video. In other words, it makes your video content ubiquitous.
Done right, it connects your video content with customers at the right place and the right time. In the example below, Crazy Egg, an online application that helps understand people better, have used an in-stream ad to promote their product on YouTube.
eBook
Today your prospects want the content to help them make informed decisions. For an engaging learning experience, include videos rather than plain-old texts to create a lead-generating eBook. In the example below, marketing agency Pace uses an interactive eBook, including embedded videos and clickable pop-out content.
Newsletter
Engage your audience by delivering a creative newsletter which includes a video review of current trends or inviting your potential and existing customers to come to check out your upcoming seminar, conference, or any other event.
Here’s an example where you can see how ExactTarget, marketing automation and analytics software provider has included videos into their newsletter.
Case study
Case studies are a powerful marketing tool since businesses provide proof that they have something valuable to offer. So why not take it up a notch by including videos?
Doing so will establish credibility among potential prospects to better understand how your products and services solve real-world problems.
In the below case study example of Swarovski, the brand has included a video explaining the whole case study, making it easier for viewers to connect with them.
What types of videos can be distributed?
There are different types of videos in B2B and the key to success is to make sure the content of your video aligns well with the channel you post it on. Let’s go through each one of them:
Explainer video
Explainer videos are focused on appealing to an audience’s curiosity by answering common questions or solving their pain points. In providing useful and compelling information, an explainer video helps add to your brand’s authority.
Where to use it: Blog posts, sponsored content, landing pages, and websites.
As the name implies, these videos are short, sweet, and meant to give audiences a glimpse of what’s to come. Teasers are a great way to create excitement and buzz for a marketing asset such as eBooks, podcasts, blog posts, webinars etc. Below is an example of LinkedIn’s teaser post for their Secret Sauce eBook on Facebook.
Where to use it: Social media, email, digital ads.
Demo video
Product demos showcase the value of your product by demonstrating how it works, thus making it a powerful marketing tool. Also, buyers who watch your product demo will be more resistant to misinformation from competitors, making it an essential and valuable video type.
Where to use it: On your website (homepage, solutions page, and landing page), blogs, emails, and digital ads.
Customer testimonials
Nurturing your potential prospects and customers isn’t a walk in the park. They need a bit of convincing and a whole lot of social proof. A customer testimonial video increases your credibility by having your customers talk about the value they got from your product or service. Here is an example of how Hootsuite has included video testimonials on their landing page.
Where to use it: Embed them in your website, either on the homepage or a dedicated landing page, include them in your marketing email, case studies, or promote them in a digital advertisement.
Top 5 video distribution platforms
Social media is an incredible platform to distribute your videos. While YouTube is a popular channel, other social media platforms also offer a great opportunity to market your business videos. Let’s take a quick look at some of the most prominent ones:
YouTube
Think videos, think Youtube, isn’t it? No wonder YouTube is the bread and butter of social media. With over 1.9 billion monthly active viewers and over 400 hours of video uploaded to the site every minute, YouTube is a platform to publish your video content. But here’s the flipside – the platform is designed for people to get lost watching one video after another. Therefore, make sure your goal is to gain attention and drive viewers back to your website.
From explainer videos to a goofy video and everything in between, you’ll find a spot for all your videos here.
Pro tip:
- If you’re posting the same video on your blog post or website, use a different title and description on YouTube to avoid cannibalizing your organic SEO and video views.
Facebook’s users seem to respond well to short, native pieces of video content. So this platform is ideal for your animated ads, explainer videos, and tutorials, as long as they fit the type of audience you’ve built here. A word of caution: since 85% of Facebook videos are watched without sound, make sure your video has captions.
Pro tip:
- Majority of Facebook videos are watched on mobile, therefore optimize videos for smaller screens.
Instagram is the perfect spot for your short tutorials and how-tos. Given the nature of Instagram, it’s users tend to engage better with short and attractive visuals. Businesses can also publish informal or day-to-day happenings at your business as an Instagram story.
Pro tip:
- Don’t include important audio at the beginning of the video, since videos autoplay on mute by default.
If you own a B2B business, or you want to share videos that lean more towards the informative side, LinkedIn is the platform for you. Moreover, LinkedIn is responsible for 50% of all traffic to B2B websites and blogs, therefore use this platform to publish your videos if you mean business.
Pro tip:
- Keep the video short, as LinkedIn has reported short clips (as brief as 0:15) works best.
Email marketing plays an essential role in sales conversions because you’re marketing to warm leads. By distributing your video content through email marketing, you can reach a broad audience, and reliably get them to click-through to a video hosted either on your site or on any of your social media platforms. Also, using the word “video” in your email subject line increases open rates by 19% according to Syndacast.
Pro tip:
- To make it clickable, embed a video thumbnail into your email.
Conclusion
Choosing the right video distribution channel can be a bit daunting, with so many alternatives available.
The key is to understand the purpose of your video content and your audience to help you decide on the right platform to distribute your videos.
Also, explore organic and paid options for reaching your audience.
Pay attention to metrics such as total views, click-through rates (for emails), conversion rates, among others, to track your performance and ensure that your video efforts are paying off.
Are there any other distributional channels you want to add to this list? Let us know your thoughts!