By now, you probably know every single place you can post your video – Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube, your website, your ecommerce pages, you email newsletters, your sales sequences, and more (and if you don’t, check out those links!) But video promotion isn’t limited to your typical digital avenues – there are tons of more creative, more unexpected ways you can promote your video than you probably realize.
Today, we’re taking a look at just a few of the more unusual ways you can promote your video, attracting a larger audience when combined with your other marketing efforts.
Show it at an event.
OK, so you might not be putting on tons of events every year, but showing your video at even just one could give it the boost it needs. Whether your company is sponsoring an expo, putting on industry training sessions, participating in meet-ups, or speaking at a conference, these are all great opportunities to highlight the information you present at an event or introduce your company to a new audience.
This won’t really raise your view count, but remember: view count is one of those vanity metrics that doesn’t necessarily accomplish much. Your goal instead should be to get people to your website, spread brand awareness, and eventually convert into a sale. With a captive audience, this is actually one of the places your video may be the most effective.
Include the video in your email signature.
Depending on your video goals, you might have planned and executed an entire email campaign or two around your video; adding video to your emails has been shown to improve open rates by over 7 percent and click through rates by over 200 percent. But, there is an often-ignored component in every email that could be huge here: your email signature!
Including your video in your email signature could increase your video plays, make your emails more engaging, and lead to higher response rates. All it takes is a video thumbnail with a play button that, when clicked, takes the user directly to your video. Then, you’ll be exposing everyone you email to your video, and if you’re in sales, marketing, or customer service, that’s likely a lot of people each day (about 122, to be exact!)
Tell everyone in your organization to do the same – the effects will improve your video’s performance and get people to engage with you and your brand in a unique and unexpected way.
Use all your online communities.
Are you active in any niche online communities, like Facebook Groups, LinkedIn Groups, forums, or Q&A boards? If so, this is another excellent place to promote your video. Free to post and with a highly relevant audience, your reach may not be huge, but here, your audience is more likely to engage with the content you post. Just be sure to post organically. You want to provide a valuable, informative resource, not spam a group of unsuspecting bystanders.
Partner up on a podcast.
Podcasts are having a special moment in the spotlight right now. Sure, it’s not a visual medium, but if you partner up with an industry-relevant company as a guest speaker on their podcast, you can take advantage of their audience and their distribution channels. During the recording, mention your video in a natural and authentic way, and ask if you can send the host the link. Then, they can distribute it to their audience as they see fit, on their website, via their socials, or through email – however they choose to market their podcast.
Want more shares? Just ask!
There’s a notion that asking directly for what you want is too forward, that it’s somehow rude or selfish, but that couldn’t be further from the truth! Especially nowadays, when our emails are jam-packed, our social feeds are full of advertisements, and our phone lines are ringing off the hook with cold calls. That’s why we’re going a little old school with this tip – if you want someone to share your video, just ask!
Asking for a quick and simple favor, like sharing your video, can actually be a breath of fresh air if you’re immediately upfront and sincere in your request. In other words, don’t use it to segue into a sales pitch or an avalanche of other requests. Instead, network, talk to people, reach out on social media, and find a few people who you’d think would not only be willing to share your video, but who have a big enough audience to actually be impactful.
Be quick, be nice, and get to the point and the person you’re reaching out to will appreciate it, and, best of all, will help extend your video’s reach.