5 Ways to Use Videos to Increase Audience Engagement and Social Reach

A successful video marketing campaign consists of more than simply posting or sharing a video with the hopes that people watch it. In today’s climate, it is necessary to engage your audience or give them a reason to view the entire video, share your content with others, and respond with comments or requests. Your goal is to create a digital dialogue with your audience. While video marketing may seem like it is mostly a one-way communication, there are numerous video marketing platforms available, such as YouTube, that provide a section for direct comments. This allows you to create a platform of discussion about your videos.

Not focusing on your audience is one of the worst video marketing mistakes you can make!

Here are 5 tips to help you use video marketing to increase your audience engagement:

1. Discuss the Hottest Topic in Your Field

One of the quickest ways to engage your audience with video marketing content is to discuss the newest, hottest topic in your video. Regardless of the subject of your video, there is always a hot topic that is relevant to your audience. When you take the chance to discuss this topic in your video, you are showing your audience that you are aware of what is going on in your industry and that you pay attention to current events and trends. You are also building your personal brand! More than likely, your video discussion will also carry over into the comment section of your video or post as your viewers begin to share their thoughts and observations.

2. Share Interesting Facts About Your Topic

Try to find some interesting facts about your topic and prepare a video that discusses these facts. For example, if your topic is about video games, you can share the best upcoming games that will be introduced to a specific platform this month. This type of video will provide your audience with a tangible value. After sharing the interesting facts about the video game releases, you will find that your audience will likely become engaged in a discussion about these games and their release dates. When using this tactic, please remember to keep your video short and to the point so your audience remains interested and engaged.

3. Share Your Videos to Your Social Media Pages

Another mistake video marketing professionals make is they simply upload their videos to YouTube and walk away. Once your videos have been uploaded, optimized for best SEO practices, you need to share them as well. It is good to encourage the discussion in the YouTube comment section, but there are many other social media outlets available. Go ahead and share your videos to your personal social media pages but ask your audience a few probing questions to get the conversation going. You can also put it in your own blog and let your readers comment on it. There are as many social media outlets as there are video topics. Take advantage of these social media platforms.

4. Use Controversial Topics Sparingly

If the hot topic that you choose is controversial, be aware that it might or might not help to increase the engagement rate of your videos. Having people comment on your videos is good, but you should limit the number of negative comments that come your way. When you choose to discuss controversial topics, the number of negative comments may negatively impact the reputation of your business. So, use controversial topics sparingly in your marketing efforts.

5. Answer Your Audience’s Questions

Inevitably, once your audience begins asking you questions, you will quickly create a frequently asked question (FAQ) link. Ideally, by providing solid feedback and answers, you will be encouraging audience engagement and inspire them to ask more questions. As you provide more answers and information, the audience will continue the discussion amongst each other. The more questions that you have, the more discussions that you will create.

Video marketing is a very powerful tool for the modern day business person. However, it is no longer a one-way street. Today, we must capture the attention of our audience and engage them with our messages. We can generate a two-way discussion with our audience simply by discussing trending topics and interesting facts about our subject while answering questions from the audience. Remember to share your video across all available social media and keep controversial discussions to a minimum. By following these tips, you will find that you are able to increase your engagement with your audience exponentially.

L. Scott Harrell

L. Scott Harrell is the Executive Editor of Vtrep.com. He is also a serial entrepreneur and top tier business development professional who speaks leadership, startups and digital media masterfully. Scott can be reached via email: editor@vtrep.com



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