11 questions to boost your video content marketing
In content marketing, we want to create value. The magic happens when we start to publish pieces of content that do more than simply propagate our sales. In the end, it is about generating loyal fans who come back to what we create. These fans are a great source of inspiration for more content and they will also help to spread the word.
YouTube does a lot to help video creators to create better content. One of these efforts is the ‘10 fundamentals of a creative strategy.’ Below you’ll find these fundamentals made actionable and see that they are enriched by a new one. These rules apply not only to content marketing on Google’s video platform, but they also help to optimize your efforts in video content marketing strategy.
1) How will anybody share this video?
A central part of success in content marketing is the power of word of mouth. By creating real value, you want to cut marketing dollars spent. Therefore, your content has to be optimized for sharing. Why should people share this piece of content? Do you provide them with the needed tools, e.g., share buttons? Do you proactively ask them for a share? What comments will people add when they share your clip?
2) How do I talk to my audience?
A video is also a way to communicate. You as the sender communicate with a viewer, the receiver. Oftentimes we tend to use one-too-many (‘I speak to a group’) or even many-too-many (‘We speak to a group’) language in marketing. This kind of language will not make your viewer feel connected. Think more in a one-to-one conversation. Talk as directly as possible to individual viewers.
3) Why should a viewer take action?
Shares, comments, conversations with viewers, likes – this is what really drives your video content marketing. When publishing a new piece of content, ask yourself the question: Why should the viewer take one of these actions? Why would anybody write a comment? Did you ask them to provide input? Do you interact with your audience in your video?
4) What defines my content brand?
In video content marketing consistency is essential. You’ll want your viewers to build some trust in what you do next. Also having guidelines for what kind of content you want to create in what way will help to create a unique brand. Recurring elements can be titles, a strong show format, a regular upload schedule, and a consistent personality.
5) Whom do I talk to?
When we create content, we usually start from what we are able to do first. As a company, you can only do authentic content marketing if you talk about what defines your brand. On the other hand, this oftentimes misleads us to forget to define a target group for our content output. Develop an understanding of who comes to your channel and watches your shows. This will help to provide inspiration for further videos.
6) How can I do more of this?
In video content marketing, we usually spend a lot of time in creating many videos of average success. Once we have found a ‘hit show,’ we’ll want to replicate that. Therefore, it is important to be able to create sustainable content. A single massively expensive longform video is great but will not be the basis of your regular, routinized video content marketing strategy.
7) Where does anybody discover this video?
We all have the dream of creating a piece of content, uploading it, and suddenly word of mouth drives millions of views to it. This will not happen. People somehow have to discover your video. Analyze search trends, optimize your video title, create content that can be found – because it is relevant to somebody now and here. Don’t stick to only one platform but chose your social networks according to your target audience.
8) Who can understand this?
Especially in expert content, there is a tendency to forget that not everybody accessing your content is an expert. Without providing context, your viewers will feel lost. Make your videos accessible. Provide value to a new viewer in every single video. Do not require them to watch a full series in advance. It is all about grabbing their attention very fast. You can do this only by letting them understand what they see.
9) Who can help me?
Too often we see our content strategy as unmated output. Why not collaborate with some other brands in order to see network effects boost your reach? Who could you ask to promote your videos? Who could you invite to provide some content for your show? Create a network of online brands in order to increase your visibility and create more valuable content.
10) What inspires me?
Content marketing is a creative process. For creativity you need inspiration. Even if you have a great show idea today, at some point you will have to evolve. Keep your eyes open, search for inspiration, iterate on your existing content, and avoid creating videos only for the reason of a potential high click rate. Love what you do and your video content strategy will be authentic, provide real value, and own a high chance to be a success.
11) How can I track my success?
Comments, likes, shares, retweets, sales, revenue, ROI… no matter what your KPIs are, it is important to have them in place. Without a clear tracking strategy, you will be unable to allocate budget efficiently. Also in content marketing, being data driven is indispensable. Define your KPIs, set goals, and develop an action plan.
What are your most important KPIs in content marketing? How do you put them together? Do you use a dashboard?