I think we can all agree that video is wildly important. Wildly important. When 91% of businesses* are using it, there’s no doubt that it’s a must-have marketing tool.
Whether you’ve taken some fun iPhone videos of your product or you’ve hired a pro to produce something specific, you’ve probably got some video content. (If not, no sweat, we have some great ideas and can whip up the perfect video for you.)
However, the power of video for your product service doesn’t stop after creation; you need to use it in the right places, frequently. Like the old adage says: “more is more.”
The Channels
Just like adorable little houseplants, video needs to be watered, pruned and placed in just the right sunny spot in order to grow. Video is an investment, in both time and money. Whether that investment amounts to a little bit of those two things or a lot, you need to make the most of it.
So, what are those sunny spots (or “channels” / “platforms” for non-plant metaphor purposes)?
The channels, in order of most- to least-used*, are:
- YouTube
- TikTok
If that order seems surprising, remember that we’re talking about marketing usage, not hilarious dog memes, hairstyle tutorials and viral dance trends. Although there is nothing wrong with loving those apps to the point of time-limit reminders…
If we think of these channels as plant locations, we know that some plants love a bright window while others thrive in dark corners. Neither of those are better, you just need to know your plant. The same goes for video—to make your investment keep working for you, you need to know what success looks like for your video, and utilize the right channels to get the metrics you’re measuring.
If you’re looking for views and clicks, YouTube might be the way to go. With video search optimization and tons of other features, you can optimize videos for maximum visibility. YouTube is super-searchable and ideal for evergreen content, tutorials, vlogs and video series.
If your key success metric is engagement, you should consider posting to a social platform with easy share-ability and commenting features. We could go on and on about the features of each of these social channels. For simplicity’s sake, let’s just say that you can’t really go wrong with Instagram and Twitter for share-ability (hi, hashtags and user tags). For a more niche audience, Facebook and LinkedIn offer more specific targeting.
The elephant in the room: TikTok. It’s true, TikTok was made for video and it’s a fun, super-shareable atmosphere. However, this channel hosts authentic, native content, so we don’t recommend bringing highly-produced ads to this party. Tok away if you have some fun social-specific content!
Cross-platform Posting
Now that you have a pretty good idea of what marketing channels to post your videos, we’re going to blow your mind… You should post them everywhere—even more than the channels we listed.
This is called “cross-posting,” which is a fancy term for sharing content in more than one place. If you’ve ever tried to sell anything online, you know you’ll have better success if you list it on Craigslist, Facebook Marketplace and OfferUp instead of just one. The same logic applies to videos: the more channels you post it to, the bigger the audience will be. More audience=more clicks, views and shares.
If you’re posting a video to Instagram, you should also consider putting it on Twitter, sharing it to Facebook, and hosting it on YouTube (all the while showcasing it on your website, blog and blasting it to your email list). Like we said: more is more.
Aside from the obvious benefit of a larger audience, here are some other nuggets to consider about cross-posting—in no particular order this time:
Better discoverability. Everyone has their preferences when it comes to content. Some people love Facebook, and some people miss MySpace (I’m old, sorry). Some people watch YouTube incessantly, and others just aren’t that interested (don’t tell my 4th grader). That said, the more channels that you can post your video to, the more likely it is that a new, diverse audience will stumble upon your content.
Improved SEO. Posting videos on various platforms increases the visibility of your content in search engine results. Each platform has its own ranking algorithms and optimization strategies, and they’re all subject to changes and updates. By diversifying your video content across multiple platforms, you enhance your chances of appearing in those search results. Also, embedding videos from different platforms on your website can boost your website’s SEO and organic traffic.
Data collection and analytics. Cross-posting videos means that you can gather valuable data and insights about your audience. Each platform offers its own analytics tools, giving you information like views, watch time, engagement and demographics. By analyzing these metrics across different platforms, you can get a more complete picture of your audience and refine your video content strategy to better resonate with viewers.
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With any luck, these points helped get your video brain headed in the right direction! If you’re still confused, don’t worry—you aren’t alone. We do this all day and would love to help you figure out a successful cross-platform video marketing strategy. Just give us a call and we’ll get started right away.
*Video Marketing Statistics 2023
