With more than 100 hours of video content uploaded to YouTube every single minute, standing out online is a real challenge. Far too many excellently made brand videos have ended up as orphan content, neglected in a vast ocean of digital media.
It is entirely possible to avoid this fate with a considered and carefully approached seeding strategy. In this article for Bristol Online, Aspect Film & Video managing director, Evelyn Timson shows us how.
Video Seeding 101
Video seeding requires a laser-focused approach to build genuine interest and excitement around your brand video. This requires an understanding of influencer networks because seeding your content on carefully selected blogs, websites and individual influencer channels will ensure that your content is widely shared amongst the right audiences.
Successful video seeding is also reliant on a comprehensive understanding of your target audience. You will find it beneficial to focus specifically on developing your knowledge of the social spaces your audience chooses to frequent on a regular basis. Whereas blanket promotion will focus on getting your content in front of as many pairs of eyes as possible, video seeding aims to appeal to specific audiences who are more likely to become brand advocates who will go on to share your video with their own social circles.
Where to Seed your Content
It is important to spend time carefully selecting the right channels to seed your content successfully. This isn’t something you will be able to achieve overnight because you will only identify the most appropriate channels through genuine engagement and market research.
Often the most experienced and valuable influencers will receive an array of pitches every day and it is likely that some of these will be from your closest competitors. Although you always have the option to offer something in return for the advocacy of your chosen influencers, it is worth keeping in mind that this might become either too time consuming or too costly very quickly.
Good outreach is often a slow burn. Building meaningful relationships will always take time, so although sharing some of your ideal influencer’s content won’t necessarily immediately bring them on board, consistently demonstrating that you are genuinely interested in what they’re doing will very often pay off in the long term. Remember, perseverance is crucial because forming the right relationships can have an enormous impact on your online success.
The Power of Bloggers
The most influential bloggers have spent a great deal of time building a loyal audience based on trust and mutual respect. As their readerships are highly engaged and genuinely trust their favourite bloggers, gaining access to this readership can be enormously valuable.
Ford really pioneered this thinking back in 2009 with a renowned video seeding campaign that generated notably successful results. The brand connected with 100 different video bloggers, presented them with a Ford Fiesta for 6 months and encouraged them to document and share the experiences and adventures they had during that time. In addition to helping Ford to specifically reach a younger demographic, this campaign also generated a seriously impressive 50,000 unique sales.
Tease, Launch, Sustain
Although it is natural to want to push your content out to your audience as quickly as possible, utilising a tease, launch, sustain approach to video activation will ensure that your content delivers better results for your business.
A 15-20 second trailer released around a week before your main film can build excitement and intrigue. When launch day arrives, there are a variety of strategies that can be employed to generate the most traction, including careful on-site placement and still frame promotion.
The key to sustaining video campaigns is reliant on your ability to reactivate your content in a range of ways over time. This will typically include re-editing your content for different platforms and targeted sequential paid promotion placements.
Stack the Seeding Odds to Work in your Favour
Your approach to seeding should never be to simply contact your portfolio of contacts whenever you produce a video that you want to secure a lot of online attention. This is lazy and your contacts will notice. So, in addition to consistently nurturing your relationships and working to forge new connections, it is essential to appreciate that not every video you create will necessarily appeal to every influencer or blogger you are connected with.
Optimising your content properly for search engine optimisation (SEO) will maximise your visibility and help you to remain easily discoverable by people who might never otherwise have heard of you. Additionally, utilising the power of your email list is crucial. This list might include people who don’t follow any of your social channels, so properly leveraging this asset is key to reaching as many segments of your target audience as possible.
There are several other things that you can do to give your brand video the best chance to succeed, and more information on this can be found here video activation.