How to Use Video Blogging For Marketing Success

Video is too big and too conspicuous to be ignored.

Over 1 billion unique users visit YouTube each month, and watch over 6 billion videos. The visual appeal and the fact that you are able to demonstrate more content in a shorter time makes video an indispensable aspect of any successful online marketing strategy.

Video blogging or ‘vlogging’ is a relatively new concept that merges the effectiveness of video with the content richness and descriptive attributes of blogging. Many small and large brands are leveraging the power of vlogging to engage, entertain and educate their audience about their products and services. If you are just getting started with video blogging, here’s what you need to know to take your marketing efforts to the next level:

What makes video blogging different from just video marketing?

Unlike other forms of video marketing, video blogging typically entails creating interesting and informative video content on a regular basis. Long lectures or talks about mundane topics receive very few views. Compare this with fun videos that demonstrate how a product works, showcase the best aspects of a product, review a product or a series of videos covering an event; these types of videos can potentially receive millions of views. Starting a video blog requires you to put in a lot of thought and time to distribute content on a consistent basis. One-off videos simply will not cut it.

Thought leadership and expertise

There is no better way to get people to listen to what you have to say than to create great content via video. At a time when online consumers’ attention span is incredibly short, a video is likely to receive more eyeballs than a text-based blog – provided it is engaging. By consistently creating compelling video content, you will be able to set yourself apart as a thought leader and showcase your expertise in your niche. It is likely that many of your competitors are not yet doing video blogging; get into the game early enough to take control of your market. At the end of the day, people are looking for an expert who can offer them solutions to their problems. Use video to offer these solutions by demonstrating the effectiveness of your product or service.

Integrating vlogging with other social sites

Social media posts that contain a video or a video link have a greater click through rate than those that do not come with video content. Other than embedding your videos in your blog or website, you can increase the number of views and shares by distributing your content on other social media sites. Professional and industry related video blogs do well on Google Plus and LinkedIn, especially if you distribute the videos to the right communities and groups respectively. Twitter is also a resourceful platform for professional, how-to and entertaining videos. In fact, your video tweets are likely to receive 5 times more engagement than other tweets. Make use of Facebook’s popularity to share your video content. What makes Facebook so effective at getting your video to be shared far and wide is that when users interact with your content, their friends are able to see that same video. It is a good ‘vicious’ cycle that can make your video go viral.

Video Blogging Is Interactive

To be successful with video blogging, it is important to understand the type of content your audience wants to watch. You could be churning out high quality videos, but if you are not addressing viewers’ pain points, you may not make much headway with your vlogging strategy. A good place to start is to end your videos by asking your audience the kind of questions they would like you to answer. Then, get to work and create content that addresses their concerns.