8 Ways To Increase Your Video Views On A Zero Dollar Budget

There are umpteen studies which show the benefits of using video in your marketing. A good video can boost conversions and sales, build trust in your brand, grow your audience, and increase overall engagement. With such a high ROI, everyone is starting to understand that video works wonders. However, video creation is only one half of the equation.

Who wants to put all of their resources – money, time, and effort – into creating a video that only gets 5 views? No one.

Luckily, there are some easy and cost-effective ways to increase your number of views. In this guide, we share a few tips and tricks to get your video in front of not only more people, but the right people.

1. Put it in your newsletter.

People on your email list are there for a reason. They’ve already shown an interest in what you’ve got to say, so why not send them your new video? An added bonus is that you’ll be increasing your click rates too.

PRO TIP: Most email service providers don’t allow you to embed video in the email itself. (It’s unfortunate, we know!) Luckily, there are still ways of convincing viewers to press play. Our favorite method is to include a thumbnail of the video that shows a play button. This quickly tells your readers that you have video content and increases the odds of them clicking the image. By including a thumbnail that links to your video’s landing page, you’re increasing your website traffic too!

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What makes a good thumbnail?

A well designed thumbnail should accurately represent your video content and build excitement.

According to YouTube, 90% of their best-performing videos have custom thumbnails.

To learn more tips on creating thumbnails that boost engagement, visit YouTube Academy’s Lesson 2 in their course “Get Discovered.” (See also https://youtu.be/U1qLpbqkLB8)

2. Add a link to your email signature.

How many emails do you send each day? If you’re having a lot of email conversations, this trick doesn’t cost you a penny – so give it a shot!

The Do’s and Don’t of Email Signatures

• DO limit your signature to 3 or 4 lines
• DO showcase something you’re proud of (like your new video!)
• DO include a call to action DO include social media icons (not text links)
• DO include an image (a professional headshot can establish trust)
• DON’T jam it full of links and information
• DON’T include your email address (this is redundant and a waste of space)
• DON’T over-design (limit to two colors and one image)
• DON’T use an image in place of text (some users default to block images)

3. Place your video above the fold.

This one is really simple. When designing your website or landing page, the higher your video is placed on the page, the higher your play rate. If you have a page that already gets high traffic, this is a great way to get your video in front of more people.

To prove this concept and fully understand how video position affects play rates, Wistia (a video hosting software company) collected data on 95,000 pages with embedded videos. They found that videos above the fold see play rates of 46% and higher, whereas video underneath the fold perform 27% and below. Did you know video size also impacts play rate?

In the same study, Wistia found that videos with a width between 401 and 600 pixels hit the sweet spot. Read the full study in Wistia’s article Increase Your Play Rate: Optimize Your Video Position and Size (https://youtu.be/UmMq06Mu-GM).

4. Don’t forget the share button.

You never know who might be watching! If someone is impressed by your video, you should make it as easy as possible for them to share it with their network. Adding a share button is as simple as changing a few settings wherever you’re hosting your video, whether it be on Vimeo, YouTube, or other platforms.

Related: 8 Tips for Creating the Perfect Promotional Resort Video

5. Pin the video to the top of your feed

If you’re on Facebook, Twitter, and/or LinkedIn, pinning video posts to the top of your feed is a great way to bring them extra attention and grab more views. When someone visits your profile, your shiny new video will be the first thing they see!

To see just how much of a difference pinning makes, Buffer (a social media management platform) performed a series of tests on Facebook. They found that within a 24-hour period, they received 30 extra views, three extra likes, and three extra shares after pinning a new video to the top of their feed. They saw even more success on Twitter, receiving 10x the number of conversions!

Pro Tip: To get the best results, try mixing up your pinned posts. If you leave the same post at the top of your feed for too long, your audience may get tired of seeing it. They might start to think that you’ve got nothing new to share.

6. Optimize your video for search (SEO).

Did you know that in 2020, 500 hours of video were being published to YouTube every hour?! That’s a lot of video. And a LOT of competition. In order to stand a chance, you should be optimizing your video for search.

Decide which video hosting platform will work best for you.

Are you trying to lead people to your website and generate more leads? Or are you trying to increase brand awareness and establish yourself as a thought leader? If the latter, YouTube will serve you well, as Google tends to favor YouTube in search results. However, if you’re more focused on website traffic, consider options like Wistia so that your viewers don’t get lost in the sea of other video suggestions which show up beside your video on YouTube. Side note: if you’re going to upload your video to multiple hosting sites, be sure to change your titles and meta descriptions for each so that you aren’t competing against yourself!

Pay attention to your title and description.

Spend some time creating a compelling title and description. Consider your keywords and make sure that it accurately reflects the content of your video.

Create a custom thumbnail.

A custom thumbnail can make a huge difference when a user is deciding which video to click on. For more information on thumbnails, refer to way #1.

Insert captions and a transcript.

Adding a transcript alongside your video makes a HUGE difference in SEO. Search engines can’t watch videos, but they can crawl through text so that it’s properly indexed. Including captions on your video also increases your ranking and makes your video more accessible to audiences.

Make sure the video that you want to rank appears first on the site.

Google typically only indexes one video per page, so if you’re trying to optimize one, put it at the top!

Don’t forget about video quality.

This may sound obvious, but video quality counts too. If viewers are only watching a few seconds of your video before they click away, this tells Google that your content is either not relevant or low quality.

7. Use your network.

Take advantage of your contacts and share each other’s content! Ask your network to share and engage with your social media posts in exchange for returning the favor. This works especially well when your content is relevant to their audience.

The more comments, reactions, and shares your video gets, the higher it will rank in the platform’s algorithm and the more people it will reach. If someone comments on your post, take the time to reply because every activity counts!

Other Social Media Tips:

• DO post your video natively to each social media platform
• DO put captions in your video (most users will not have their sound on)
• DO tag relevant people in your post
• DO use hashtags (responsibly)
• DO post the video on your personal LinkedIn page and encourage your employees to do the same (personal profiles get more visibility than company profiles)
• DON’T include a link in the post – put it in the first comment (social media sites may give preference to posts that don’t lure people out of their platform)

Related: Resorts Not Investing In Social Media Are Losing $$$

8. Show your video at an event.

There’s nothing like a captive audience! While you have everyone’s attention, show of your video to impress and engage with them. Adding a video to your presentation (or using a video IN PLACE of a PowerPoint presentation) can really showcase your personality.

Include a Call To Action

Including a strong call to action in your video at a large event can really help your conversions. SUNY Cortland raised $160,000 during a football sporting event by asking their 45,000 attendees to donate to their campaign in their video.

If you have questions or suggestions on other ways to increase video views, please give us a call at 607-239-5423 or email us at [email protected]. We value your input!

Elin Barton is the CEO of White Knight Productions which specializes in on-site filming throughout the U.S. and remote video production. To find out more about increasing your market authority with video marketing, please visit whiteknightpro.com or schedule a free consultation with Elin at videobreakthrough.com.