Four Tips to Creating Successful Videos to Promote Your Business

Video is a powerful marketing tool for any business. YouTube is ranked as the second most popular online search engine, making it a smart choice for business to have a presence there. These techniques will assist you in establishing a successful campaign, increase work-of-mouth and enhance your business marketing strategies..

By incorporating key viral qualities into your video, your ideal clients will be much more likely to spread it on the Internet through social media, social bookmarking sites and even by email. As bookmarking sites continue to grow in popularity, having a presence on the top bookmarking sites like Stumbleupon, digg, and Delicious, have a lot to offer small business in expanding and growing their connections with clients and prospects.

Not Too Long

It’s important to remember that we live in a fast-paced environment. People will not respond well, or take the time to watch long videos. To help make it easier to go viral, it’s important to keep the length of your videos to under five minutes. Between 2-3 minutes is most desireable. The Internet is a great place for bite-sized content that leaves the visitor hungry for more. Your viral video is there to get the word out, but not necessarily to provide all of the information associated with your company, product, service or message.

A viral video creates brand awareness. Don’t forget to use links to your website or blog to allow the prospect a way to follow-up or get more information about your offerings. Keeping your video on point and under three minutes, you'll greatly increase your chances of establishing an endless stream of viewers.

Keep Your Tone Positive and On Point

Tone is another key factor that can help your video go viral and beyond the friends-and-family threshhold. Try spoofing familiar content, and you'll give your video a built-in audience and create a common experience they’re want to share with their contacts.

If you’re unable to create original music, consider music websites that offer music licenses for this tye of use. If you're going for a retro feel, you can also use music that is considered public domain. (Do an online verification and remember even if the music is Mozart, if it’s performed by a well known pop artist, the recording is not considered to be in the public domain.) Music allows video viewers to be more satisfied and will be more inclined to spread the word.

In general videos that keep it light, humorous, entertaining and fun, make the viewer more likely to pass it along to someone they know. The broader the humor and the less it relates to unknown people, places or events, the more likely it is to have a wide appeal.

Craft a Great Opening

Like a lead-in to any written article or oral presentation, immediately focusing on the message of your video can wow the viewer within the first few seconds. A great opening will spark a strong emotion like laughter, curiosity, shock, or disbelief.

Understanding why people with five or ten minutes in their day respond to certain web content can be difficult to fathom. Typically they want information or entertainment. Because videos are visual they are better suited for entertainment than detailed information. Content that is fun will get much more play than lengthy explanations, information and research.

Video Content

Try not to make your video play like your company's Power Point presentation or an informational piece full of corporate lingo and acronyms. Your video should not have an underlying agenda that will bore viewers who are just looking for a fun, quick minute. Nobody wants to stumble on homework, brochures or sermons.

If you're posting on YouTube, which I do recommend, be sure to add key phrases that give your video a visible ranking in the search engines. Create your own YouTube Channel where you can upload additional, related video content so that viewers can learn more and have a reason to return to your channel in the future. Include relevant links in the informational portion of your channel and use the synopsis box for each video to include your desired calls-to-action.

Your video can quickly go viral without you trying to be all things to all people. Armed with the right mix of qualities, it won't require you to replicate its features to all of your target audience. It will know how to get there on its own and it will do so with great flair and lightening speed.