Nailing the Final Step
You’ve invested a lot to get here. You’ve gone through the whole process of strategy, concepting, planning, producing, and post-production, and you are finally ready to launch your video. This is not the time to go on autopilot - this is the time to optimize your investment. What you do next can help you crush your goals, or cause all that hard work to fall flat. You need to optimize your project for the platform it appears on. This can enhance your project’s overall performance, viewing times, and drive your audience to your call-to-action. And while each platform has its own guidelines for optimizing video, here are some general tips to help you nail your final step.
USE KEYWORDS
When it comes to SEO (search engine optimization), keywords are crucial. Keywords are words or phrases that people type into search engines when looking for information on a certain topic. When talking about video, there are multiple places to include keywords to maximize effectiveness, and two of the most important are your video’s title and description. Both of these are great places to set the expectation with your viewer about what they are going to watch. You can also include your desired call-to-action in your description, helping to drive home your mission. Keywords can also be used on tags, categories, and hashtags to help your work’s overall performance. Keywords are also important to include within your video, which leads us to this next tip.
INCLUDE CLOSED CAPTIONS
Closed captioning is an important, but often overlooked, part of video. It increases accessibility to your viewers, allows them to engage with the sound off, and the embedded text can help your overall SEO. A lot of video players include the option for auto-generated captions, and while that’s helpful in a pinch, it’s best to include your own caption file (often a .SRT file). At Tice Studios, we include this file with each delivery, so you don’t have to worry about getting your video transcribed separately. We recommend this over auto-generated captions for one very big reason: while auto-generation has come a long way, it’s not foolproof. The last thing you want when someone is viewing your video is for a major piece of your message to be wrong because of an erroneous caption. And because your video transcript most likely features important keywords for your business, getting your captions right will help your overall SEO.
PICK OR CREATE AN ENGAGING THUMBNAIL
The thumbnail is the first thing your audience sees before they watch your video. Good news, you can pick what that is! Most sites will auto-generate thumbnail options. While that may provide a good result, it’s important to pick an image that establishes what the video is and sets the tone for the viewer. An added bonus of custom thumbnails is the ability to include graphics, logos, and/or a higher quality image to draw in your audience.
BE STRATEGIC IN VIDEO PLACEMENT
Picking the right platform to host your video can make or break your video’s performance. Where your video lives and/or is hosted from matters based on your specific goals. It’s also important to remember that different lengths of video are better depending on the platform. This is why you may see multiple versions (or cut-downs) of the same project across multiple platforms. The platform, file format, length, and use of graphics all change depending on your individual goals. Ensuring that your launch strategy includes the videos you need across the board is why we make sure we understand your goals up front .
All of this may feel overwhelming with the different options or variables to consider along the way. We are committed to helping you nail this final step and are here to collaborate with you on your strategy and execution.
Have questions about optimizing your video performance or want to review your current strategies?
