Why Bloggers Need to Use Video in Blog Posts
Lights. Camera. Action. Video is eating the Web. The headline is oh so click-worthy, is it not? In this hectic day and age, bloggers need to use video in blog posts.
According to a report filed by the Washington Post, in 5 years, 80 percent of the whole Internet will be online video. The source of the report, Cisco, publishes an annual report examining the future of the web. Consider these facts and read on to see where you, the traditional and/or microblogger fits in:
Internet video to TV doubled in 2014. Internet video to TV will continue to grow at a rapid pace, increasing fourfold by 2019. Internet video to TV traffic will be 17 percent of consumer Internet video traffic by 2019, up from 16 percent in 2014.
It would take an individual over 5 million years to watch the amount of video that will cross global IP networks each month in 2019. Every second, nearly a million minutes of video content will cross the network by 2019.
Bloggers and Video
Videos in their 6 and 15 second form are all the rage, ala Vine and Instagram, respectively. Here are 7 things you can do right now to start improving your video presence without:
A) Spending gobs of money on video equipment
B) Spending gobs of time into your already packed day
1. Tease and tease again: Doing a product review and have it slated for a Friday? Start teasing your fans on a Monday. I turned a blooper that was pretty cute and funny into a highly trafficked teaser for a paid blog post planned for later in the week. I shot the video on my iPhone. The beauty of Instagram and Vine is that you can embed the code directly into your blog post, so I did that, too.
2. Use YouTube with a plan. There is no secret formula to guarantee that your videos will get tons of views. On average, about 300 hours of video is uploaded to YouTube every minute. A great many of those videos get glanced over. Give yourself a better opportunity at getting discovered on YouTube by:
a. Getting people to subscribe to your channel – is there a prominent button on your blog? Is it infused into a blog post?
b. Incentive subscriptions: I know I am more likely to subscribe fif there is something in it for me. “Sign up for my YouTube Channel and get great cat tips with a dose of humor.”
c. Be social. Don’t ask unless you plan to reciprocate. The first word in social media is social. Follow people, talk to them, comment on their videos. Have a plan and a purposeful one at that.
3. Skip the camcorder or video feature and opt for screen casting instead. I use an inexpensive Screen Capture software package called Snag It. It allows me to capture whatever is on my computer screen and then share it/upload it to the video package of choice. Here’s an example below. Show your readers a quick video and be concise: Having a script ahead of time with images ready to roll is advised. No one will stick around if the sound, quality of video, or overall appearance is poor.
4. Embed YouTube videos into blog posts. If you promote a video on YouTube, then embed the code into a blog post and share that news on other social networks, a funnel is created.
5. Consider uploading directly to Facebook via native video. I have been experimenting with this with some success. Native video is simply uploaded as a raw file directly to Facebook instead of posting a video as a link from an external site such as YouTube or Vimeo. Go to Facebook, click upload photo/video and do a direct upload there. According to AdWeek.com, native video will be one of the dominant elements of major social networks in the years to come.
6. Be clear, be audible, be relevant. Do not get too hung up on the technical aspects. I invested in a Yeti microphone but that does not mean you have to do this. Video content is way different than written content. Videos should engage the viewer and not sound scripted. Have a script, but be natural, and ensure viewers are gaining value by watching. In the same breath, readers should gain value from any post you write as well.
7. Practice in front of the camera. Sounds easy enough, but the number of videos online that need to well, not be there, is gargantuan. It’s easy to practice: Do as many takes as it takes. Watch facial expressions. Play it back. Trying to show that you are authority? Be methodical, slow, and emphasize points: Here’s where a good screen capture package can help with a bullet point list peppered in now and then. Secret: I edit most of my videos via iMovie on my iPhone. I don’t have fancy equipment.
Are you using video with blog posts? Is there any one specific format you wish you knew more about? Do tell in the comments below.
