Where Should I Share My Business Video?

If you find yourself asking the question ‘where should I post/share my video?’, I’m sorry to say, but you may be a little late to the game.

This is, in fact, one of the first questions you should ask yourself and your team when you are approaching a video project, not one to ask once your video is complete.

One of the most important elements that are often overlooked in video is the relevance of the message to the medium. In other words, just how important it is for your video to be matched to the right platform, and in turn to the audience that lives within that platform.

Let’s look at the two hypothetical scenarios below and dissect why one is more likely to succeed than the other:

Marketer #1

A sports clothing brand creates a 2-minute ad to highlight its new collection. They want to create awareness about their new products and build hype around their launch. They chose to put this ad on YouTube and Facebook and put some ad spend behind it and let the video count soar.

Marketer # 2

Take the same sports clothing brand, same end goal, but instead of creating a 2-minute ad, they chose to make their content platform-specific:

• For YouTube, they release the 2-minute ad for general awareness about their new collection. However, they also create 6-second bumper ads that will help them tease their new products. Through YouTube’s audience distribution tools, they can furthermore target young professionals between 30-40 who are interested and often consume fitness videos. These potential customers should have a higher disposable income and be more prone to online shopping.

When it comes to YouTube 6 second ad-bumpers, here is a great example by Mercedes Benz.

• In Facebook, they chose to make a 30-second ad, and target fitness enthusiasts between the ages of 30-40. They know that a shorter ad will play better in Facebook because of the competitive nature of other content shown, and the faster consumption rate of the platform. By being very specific about their audience, they believe they can increase their conversions.

• For Instagram, this marketer knows that there is a 60-second cap for video. But also that people’s consumption rate is much higher than in other platforms so they create 15-second teasers instead. They leverage this platform because they know that people use it as a vehicle to nurture their hobbies and passions, and therefore, their message can more effectively percolate. They know that their target demographic can be easily found here and they can benefit from the audience targeting tools that Instagram shares with Facebook.

You may be thinking, “that sounds great, but it would cost me a fortune!”

You’d be surprised, that is not necessarily the case, so bear with me for a minute while we first explore how the approach of Marketer # 1 is bound to fail.

Marketer #1 chose to upload a 2-minute video to Facebook and YouTube and put some ad spend to acquire viewers. In the best case scenario, they thought of using audience targeting tools, and actually identified who that ad spend should chase so that their conversions can be higher.

Even if that was the case, think of the millions of other marketers you are competing with for people’s attention. Even if you targeted your audience, you are still competing against hundreds of other companies who are also heavily investing in ad spend. Most importantly, their video did not consider the platform and how people behave within its confinements. Instagram, for example, would have been a strikeout given its timing limitation.

Let’s go back now to Marketer # 2 and understand why this kind of approach does not need to break your bank or cash flow.

For one, from a production company standpoint, it can often be cheaper to create multiple videos or deliverables because we can stagger production costs, and therefore reduce your cost per deliverable. So to produce two or three shorter pieces instead of one can have a fairly similar cost if well-planned and executed to be the case from the beginning.

As for platform considerations, distribution, and ad-buy, marketer # 2 deployed every piece with emphasis on getting it to their viewers on the platforms they actually use. But also, keeping in mind how people consume content on those platforms.

You and your team were ready to spend a fair amount in creating video content, so please make sure that you are giving distribution and platform choice consideration from the very beginning to maximize your ROI. Like we talked about, for a production company it is often cheaper to create multiple videos because we can stagger production costs, and therefore reduce your cost per deliverable.

More importantly, we can help you make sure that your content is actually reaching your audience and deliver the results you seek.

Curious to read more? Here are 5 tips to help you boost your SEO when uploading your videos to YouTube.