How Multi-Channel Marketing Works for Video

A good video marketing strategy is to draw people to your website organically with content marketing and video SEO. The reason for this is that your opportunities for converting viewers into qualified leads are stronger within your domain. However, you should not overlook the power of multi-channel marketing. If you are looking to reach more people with your video, go to where more people can be reached. Organic search through Google is just one path to take. Your online video can be hosted on your site with an online video platform such as Wistia or Vidyard and can also be placed on YouTube for search within the YouTube platform itself. In addition, there are numerous other social media channels that feature video including Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram and even Twitter.

Bestselling author and podcaster Paul Colligan, doesn’t like to create content unless he can get multiple distribution points out of it. The more places he can be, the better. Colligan loves a quote from Ariana Huffington of the Huffington post where she stated, “ubiquity is the new exclusivity.” To place it into context, Colligan elaborated, “You see, it used to be that content creators claimed that they were a YouTube star, or a podcaster or a Facebook hero, Snapchatter or whatever. Being everywhere is being inclusive. What is interesting is, if you think about the big stars of today, like for example Lady Gaga, there isn’t just ladygaga.com. You might want to watch her music videos on YouTube where Lady Gaga is a YouTube star. You can go to Spotify to listen to her music, you can go to Apple music to buy her music, you can go to Amazon to buy her books, you go to the movie theater or a big screen TV to watch the concert video. She’s everywhere and she’s a superstar.”

Video platforms and social media ecosystems are evolving.

Jake Watson, co-founder of Corridor Digital, pointed out that people used to watch viral videos on YouTube; now more people watch viral videos on Facebook. YouTube is now more known for consistent shows and how-to videos. Instagram is not about a show or a viral video, but is more about marketing a brand. “If you want to grow as a creator, you need to think about the format of the platform that you are on; not just in what’s happening today, but also where it is going to be in a year or two from now,” said Watson.

Colligan suggests that a video can not only be repurposed into an audio Podcast, but on a relatively new flavor of podcast, the video podcast.

Owen Hemsath, aka Owen Video, adds that “What’s changed about distribution channels online is that a lot of what was once new has now come into maturity. YouTube is now mature, Instagram is now mature, and Facebook is constantly evolving. As these platforms come into their own and they develop their own audiences with their own power users and super fans, you too have to create content for that platform if your audience is there.” He suggests taking one piece of content and repurpose it, literally changing the purpose of that video. “A huge goal is minimal input, maximum output,” he said.

Through pre-production and well thought out production, you can plan and record the segments and bumpers you need to communicate best within different video distribution channels. Then in post-production you can repurpose the source video as you edit different versions that will be used for multi-channel marketing. For example, you can render a wide screen, 16:9 video for YouTube, a shorter square video for Facebook that has more text overlay and a 1-minute square video for Instagram.

Keep in mind that social media aggregator giants YouTube and Facebook would love it if you never left their universe. As these ecosystems evolve, they are looking for new ways to keep you there longer. In YouTube’s case, it is serialization and playlists, in Facebook’s case it is live video and immersive content. Facebook is also looking to reach farther down the marketing and sales funnel through lead ads and messaging. It may not always be necessary to send leads from a social media platform to convert on your website. In some instances, lead conversion within the platform may be the way to go.

In terms of connecting with the best audience for your content, the more niche you can be, the better. Watson suggested that in terms of niche, it is not just the vertical market or topic you should consider, but the distribution channel. Your audience may not be on the platform that you assume they would be. Maybe your audience is not interested in YouTube; perhaps they are more active in Instagram or Snapchat. Watson suggested, “Hit your niche that amplifies what you do on the platform you are already on, then be thinking about where you can start branding on different platforms. Don’t be afraid to A/B test it out to different platforms to find out where your content is received best.”

“When it comes down to it, at the end of the day you’ve got to get your content out there,” Watson noted. “The key to being a digital creator, is that you are not just represented through a single platform, but that you are a brand across different platforms.”