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As a blogger, you want to ensure you use all internet channels apart from various search engines as effectively as possible to drive web traffic to your website.
Not only can you gain a worldwide audience, but you also have the power to grow your blog or business. You may already be very active on social media and have an established online persona but that does not always guarantee that your followers head to your website.
Thankfully, there are some digital marketing and video marketing strategies for bloggers and influencers that can help you with attracting a bigger readership and reaching millions of prospective clients via social media. So read on!
12 Top Tips to use Videos on Social Media to attract more Blog Readers
1. Create a short Video Script
Stand out from the crowd with a sharp and to-the-point video that focuses on what’s the core message of your post or content. Having a script, even for short videos, will help you lay out the groundwork and main goal for the video. You can refer to the script when in doubt and add more elements later on.
Video scripts can help you become more confident in front of the camera.
Social Media Marketing teams often use scripts as they expedite your video-making process and streamline your delivery to make the video production more efficient, budget-friendly, and resourceful.
If you have a YouTube, Instagram, or TikTok channel you may need to tailor your script to the different audiences and requirements based on video length, video format, etc. You should also bear in mind which narrative is most suitable for each platform to encourage as many viewers as possible to click on your website link added to your video.
Make sure you test different formats and scripts first, then analyze the results via the analytics features each platform offers and observe which videos get the most views and interactions. If you’re for example a travel blogger, then you should check out some travel vlogging tips to optimize your videos.
2. First impressions are everything
With the attention span of people being shorter than ever, you need to grab their attention in the first few seconds mainly. Start with a quick intro or get to the point very quickly. You can stand out from the crowd by having a few exciting first seconds with an eye-catching thumbnail.
Most of the bigger UK influencers also use this technique to get people to watch their content. You can add timestamps and video descriptions to the videos, which are especially important if you want to get viewers to find your blog or website and related posts.
3. Make all kinds of videos
People love seeing entertaining and informational videos on social media that keep them engaged. The most successful videos on video streaming platforms are the ones that manage to combine both. Being familiar with different types of videos will help you maximize your reach across all social media platforms.
Make different types of videos like vlogs and live streams so that there are a lot of different formats available for your audience to see and to even connect with you and your website. You should obviously set up social media pages for your blog or website where you can post stories and videos in combination with your written content.
Visit some of the blog pages I have created where I regularly share news and blog publications that go live:
UK News Blog – Home | Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/ukeducationblog/
You can run ads for these pages to reach more people such as paid Facebook ads for example that come in different formats including video, which I have also used to increase the followership.
4. Focus on good Storytelling
Good storytelling is one of the most invaluable skills that any blogger or content writer can have.
With people having more creative control over the content than ever, it is your responsibility to have a good story in a place that conveys your message effectively. This will give you an advantage over your competitors no matter what. Compare what the most successful bloggers in your niche are doing and what is trending.
Making content relevant and unique for your brand with seasonal events such as Christmas or Blue Monday can help gain additional traction on social media with the right hashtags.
However, try to develop your own style that is immediately recognizable and be your authentic self just like me:
A storyboard will help you to plan video elements, structure, materials, resources, and people you need.
5. Think about Aesthetics
Visuals are everything in the online world. Having an eye-pleasing video is a must, and key elements are ensuring you are in a well-lit space for example, and capturing a video with adequate sound quality.
When editing the video, add transitions and motions of your choice and add text incorporating the core message. This will help your video stand out more than ever. There are different filters available too in video editing apps that you can use.
With great audio and video editing tools available now, one should focus on having a unique aesthetic for their brand. This helps with brand awareness and recognition.
6. A good Setup is important
Although gear is not the most necessary thing in the world, having good gear can make a world of difference. A tripod, camera, and ring light will take you a long way. You can then later add on a mic for great audio capture. This is a great digital marketing strategy too.
Work with the gear that you can afford, and as time goes on, you will be able to hone your craft more and save up for the best equipment and then buy it.
At the start, a camera phone, ring light, and tripod are the only things you may need. This will help you get started and see what the shortcomings of this setup are.
You do not need a professional setup and can get great results even with more affordable gear. All this gear will make sure that you are not spending too much time in post-production.
Here’s one of my recent videos from a business event I attended that was recorded with a smartphone camera with the help of freelance photographer Petra Eujane who edited the video with Adobe software:
7. Short Videos are trending
Ever since Tik-Tok took over, short videos have been all the rage and you saw that my video is also under 2 minutes long. If you can boil it down to 2 minutes or less, you will get a great response from the audience with ideally some engagement in the form of social shares or clicks on your link, which I did on the social media channels I shared the above video on:
Digital marketing relies heavily on emerging trends so link your videos to trending # or events for example. Getting to the point right at the start will help you lock in users and tell a compelling story that is not too long and overwhelming. Remember: you want to get their attention and lead them to your website or post, so make sure you include a call to action!
8. Social Media Optimization Strategies
Different social media use different video formats for their video services. On Instagram, you can have both landscape and portrait videos, but on YouTube, horizontal is still preferred.
Knowing what video format works best for each social media platform is hugely important to curating converting content. Not only do you get to customize the video format for different platforms, but you can have an exclusive video for each and redirect your audience from all channels to your website. Having different sources of leads will help you achieve higher lead generation and conversion results.
Even though Tik-Tok launched the trend of portrait videos, it has been adopted by many other platforms. Facebook and Instagram now support both portrait and landscape videos, and YouTube is also experimenting with this idea. Every time a platform releases a new feature, its organic reach of that will be extremely high. You can use this to your advantage.
9. Use Music
Trending songs have been a great way to get more likes and views for videos. It is a great way to get more engagement on your post. You will have to sync the audio to the video, and this can be done via editing and social media apps.
In recent times, pairing good content with great music has been a winning formula for many. Not only does it bring a familiar aspect to the reel, but it also makes it more engaging. Some audio and music additions have the potential to be converted into skits too. Therefore, many of the top creators focus on the right music for their videos.
These short and relatable skits can be shared by people due to their high relativity. Companies have been capitalizing on these skits to present their brands in a semi-formal and endearing way. This, along with trending music, is one of the few ways with which you can grow your blog exponentially and organically.
10. Make the most of Subtitles
Adding subtitles to your video is great for people who might not be familiar with your content, or language, or who sometimes just miss out on what you are saying. Many people like to watch videos without sound, and subtitles can help you get your message across even if they are not listening.
11. CTAs are more important than ever
Including a call-to-action at the end of your video is a great way to direct people to your website. You will tell people exactly what to do and provide relevant information and links in the video description.
With possibly millions of people watching your content, a clear-cut CTA helps you to get into your sales funnels. The CTA should match the tone of the video and your brand’s mission and be attention-grabbing too.
12. Repurpose old content
Not everyone knows or has seen all your videos. If a video performs well, no one says that you cannot post it again. You can remake it and share it with your new followers. Strategically sharing older content will help you optimize and maximize your reach.
You can recycle a tried and tested piece of content that has been highly engaged with. Such videos or posts are more likely to go viral or have high engagement rates again to drive more traffic to your website and channels. You can repurpose your old content every month so that the new viewers get to see the most successful of your videos but are revamped.
Final Thoughts
Video has been the king of marketing, especially in the world of social media. It is now easier than ever to make a high-quality video with most phone cameras being good enough to do the job.
Use the algorithm of these social media platforms to your advantage to curate content that will be picked up by them. This increases your chance of being seen by people that may not engage well with your written SEO optimised blog content that can be found via search engines.
No matter what your niche or industry is, social media can bring much-needed brand awareness and recognition to your blog or website.
Follow these tips, and you will be able to take maximum advantage of what video and social media have to offer to increase your website traffic and engagement rates.
Blogger and Educator by Passion | Senior Online Media & PR Strategist at ClickDo Ltd. | Contributor to many Education, Business & Lifestyle Blogs in the United Kingdom & Germany | Summer Course Student at the London School of Journalism and Course Instructor at the SeekaHost University.