Online Video Tips and Tools

Crissy, the Boxcar Marketing intern, has been working on a number of video projects this summer, and we wanted to share our tips and tools with you.

Video on the web is used for much more than entertainment. For businesses, it can be a great way to get your marketing message out — video content is the most commonly shared type of content online. Below is a list of tips and tools on using video for marketing.

Getting Started

Content and sound quality are the most important elements of online video. That said, you do not need expensive equipment or a high production budget. Check out Craigslist.org for used equipment and experiment with free editing software like iMovie and Windows Movie Maker.

In terms of content, decide what kind of video you are going to make. Will it be informative, entertaining, shocking, funny? The more entertaining a video is the more potential it has to go viral. On the other hand, an informative video might be more useful to your audience. Decide on how you want to position your brand. And remember, short, concise and less scripted videos are best.

Posting Your Video

Post your video everywhere! The more places it is, the easier it will be found. Some sites to consider:

blip.tv

YouTube

Flickr

iTunes

Or use a service that will post your video to all of the video sharing sites for you. For example, Visible Measures or Tubemogul.

Optimizing Your Video

Optimizing your video is key if you want people to find it. Using descriptive, straightforward keywords in your title, description, and tags will help your video show up in relevant search results.

Make sure you promote your video! Once you have uploaded it to a video sharing site, use the embed code provided to post your video on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, StumbleUpon, and your blog. The great thing about embedded video is that it can be posted in multiple places, and unlike text, Google does not have a duplicate content penalty.

Analyze

Why make a video if you do not analyze and track its success? Here are some tools to use to see who is watching your video, where they are coming from and what they are finding engaging about it:

YouTube Insights

blip.tv stats

Plus, Visible Measures and Tubemogul provide analytics across multiple video sites.

Resources

How to Use Online Video for Inbound Marketing by Hubspot. Hubspot hosted an excellent webinar that covered content development, equipment needed, editing and publishing, optimization, and analytics.

How to Make YouTube Videos Look Great by Squidoo. This Squidoo article tells you how to encode, compress or optimize your videos to get them to look their best.

Make Internet TV is a step-by-step guide to recording and publishing online videos. This is a great site. It covers everything: equipment, shooting techniques, video tutorials for using editing software, licensing explanations, publishing options and ways to promote your video.

Video Toolbox: 150+ Online Video Tools and Resources by Mashable is excellent. They cover online video how-to sites; online video editors, converters, sharing and hosting sites; vidcasts and vlogging; video mashups; mobile video apps; video search; and online video downloading services.

Video SEO Tips and Techniques in the Reelseo collection includes tips for beginners to advanced users.