Choosing your formats and platforms.
So, you decided to produce a new video? Congrats!
When it comes to communication material, video is definitely THE good hook to get your audience interested and boost engagement. But without having everything well planned in advance, you risk to see your efforts coming to naught. Even the best quality video can miss its target and make little views if not broadcasted properly. It is therefore vital to build anticipation and connect your video to a specific marketing strategy. Preparing before orchestrating is the key to maximise your efforts.
Wondering where to start? Lucky you, Altitude shows you the path to boost your video’s views and harness your digital environment in the best way.
Know your formats.
Before you begin the production phase, make sure you have already a clear idea of the platforms you will use for your video.
To avoid any bad surprises, it’s essential to know the different social-media specifications and different video sizes. Having theses information in advance will be very valuable, as you’ll shoot your video knowingly, ensuring the end product will be suitable for your online purpose.
Talking about formats, here are some insights for some famous platforms. The size of videos on Youtube has to strictly follow the ratio of 16:9 with a maximum size of 128 GB. Youtube is pretty versatile when it comes to formats, as it allows many different ones such as MOV, .MPEG4, MP4, .AVI, .WMV, .MPEGPS, .FLV, 3GPP, and WebM. To post videos directly on your Facebook page, the maximum size should be 1200 x 628 with a ratio of 16:9, and in .MP4 and .MOV. formats. Your video should also not go beyond 120 minutes. Instagram has adapted its platform in 2015 to welcome three sorts of video formats: vertical, horizontal and square, with specific ratios of 4:5, 16:9 and 1:1. Note that the max. size for a video on Instagram is 4 GB. Rules are the same as Facebook for accepted formats but with a big difference regarding the duration: only 60 seconds max. videos are allowed on Instagram posts. The « Instagram stories » well-known feature opens-up the possibilities and allows you to insert specific parts of your videos. If that is your objective, then keep in mind that video’s ratio for the stories should be of 9:16 and that the maximum size should be 4GB. Each story lasts maximum 15 seconds.
Did you hear about IGTV, Instagram new video application? Well, the famous social media has recently expanded to compete with Youtube. You can now publish long videos, from fifteen seconds to one hour, directly on your Instagram thanks to its new feature « IGTV ». Some calls it « the vertical Youtube », this new feature allows Instagrammers to watch a video directly in the app without leaving it to watch a longer version on Youtube. There’s also a navigation bar to allow viewers to pass forward or move directly to a desired part. This is a very interesting option if you have an “Instagram-only” exclusive marketing campaign in mind.
Finally, you can also share your videos on Twitter both in landscape and portrait formats, with the following dimensions: 320x180 and 240x240. The maximum duration is of 140 seconds for videos on Twitter. Eager to get more information on video formats and platforms specificities? Check out this very complete article on sproutsocial: https://sproutsocial.com/insights/social-media-video-specs-guide/
Publish your videos.
There are several possibilities to host your videos on online platforms. Let’s mention these well-known ones amongst others: Youtube, Vimeo, Brightcove, Libca, …
Each platform has its specificities and advantages. Choosing one over another will therefore depend on your objectives and your target audiences. If you aim for diversified viewers, you’ll have to consider platforms with versatile functionalities that can easily adapt to the different users’ needs.
Here are some important parameters to have in mind when selecting your platform: good infrastructure, storage limit, branding possibilities, user-friendliness, lives streaming, availability of analytics, mobile compatibility and free trials.
Don’t forget the SEO.
The video Search Engine Optimisation became the masterpiece of any video marketing strategy. Criteria’s are similar to the traditional SEO rules as we know it, such as: choice of keywords, inserts of subtitles and translations as well as usage of metadata and hashtags. Taking these elements into account will surely create the difference.
When talking about SEO, one platform that cannot be overlooked is Youtube. Youtube is Google’s video sharing service, it is therefore the leading video platform on the market and definitely specialists’ little favorite. It’s nothing less than one billion viewers and 400 hours of videos upload per minute! Youtube is therefore the winning platform when talking about SEO. Make sure to upload your video on your Youtube channel prior to your website and use its embedding option to present it on your site pages. This will boost your online ranking. This is a good practice knowing that videos are raising organic traffic by 157 % on search engines.
Ready? Start broadcasting!
Once your video is ready, uploaded and hosted on your selected platform, it is important to not leave things there. The whole point of the video marketing is to “push” your videos through several channels strategically. Amongst the different channels, here are four options that Altitude recommends:
1. Your website homepage: allocating the best place on your website will secure your audience’s attention towards your new video. Additionally, videos are captivating attention and are more effective compared to text as they facilitate publics’ understanding and memorisation. Sharing your video on your website’s homepage is therefore a wise choice, it will provide your visitors with insightful information in a dynamic way.
2. Your “landing pages”: they are addressing specific and targeted research from your audiences. Integrating videos on landing pages can increase by 80% your conversion rate. Don’t forget to include a call for action to encourage visitors to act as whished, by asking them for example to fill a contact form or subscribing to a seminar.
3. Your Facebook page: and that’s where our prior advises on specifications and formats take meaning. To stimulate the number of views, you would need to upload your videos directly on Facebook and to avoid sharing a Youtube link. Otherwise, Facebook algorithms will definitely penalise you as the platform prioritise native content.
4. Your Linkedin page: just as for Facebook, publish your videos directly on Linkedin in order to be prioritised on the news feed. Don’t forget to include subtitles to allow viewers to watch your video without the sound.
Yes, online strategic broadcasting of videos requires a special know-how, but mastering this one can make a huge difference.
Furthermore, how can you promote your videos successfully? How to determine your KPI’s and assess success efficiently?
Altitude will keep unveiling its secrets for successful videos through this series of articles. So, stay tuned!
