If you put your videos on YouTube – and I can only think of a few instances where you shouldn’t – then you’re giving up control on exactly where these videos will end up on the old Interwebz.
That might sound scary at first – here’s what I mean: under each video is a ‘Share’ button. Other people can click on that Share button and get a code which allows them to embed your video somewhere else: another website, their facebook page, a blog, wherever.
This is a good thing.
The whole point of putting your videos on YouTube is to get your expertise, teaching, knowledge, brand, (insert desired characteristic of choice) in front of other people.
The downside to this is that if someone embeds your video elsewhere YOU don’t control the text that will accompany the video – so it’s crucial that if someone finds you on a different platform and engages with your message and likes you (i.e. all the things that video does better than other mediums) that they can easily find you to see more of your messages.
This is where branding comes in.
Branding Strategies
1. Watermarking Videos: Some people ‘watermark’ their videos. This is where you present the URL of your video on screen for the entire duration of the video. Recommended positions are either the lower 3rd of the video or the upper 3rd of the video. Personally I think continuous watermarking is a little OTT, so I tend to create simple JPG images that act as ‘Chapter Titles’ and have the URL of my website on them.
2. Introduce Yourself/Reference Your Website: This is easily done. A quick statement at the start and end of your video accomplishes this. Here’s the kind of thing you could say at the start of the video: “Hey, it’s Paul Wolfe from One Spoon At A Time Dot Com, and today we’re going to…..” And at the end of the video: “Thanks for watching, I’m Paul Wolfe from One Spoon At A Time Dot Com and I’ll see you in the next video.”
(The close also subtly tells a new viewer that there’s more videos to either go search out and watch, or to expect)
3. Linked Annotation: Youtube allows you to edit a video and insert a text ‘annotation’ in it. And you can link that annotation to another video on your channel. So if you find a particular video is getting shared a lot on other web properties, then add an annotation to the end of the video that when people click on will send them to another of your videos on YouTube. (Which is one step nearer to getting them to your website).
And that’s it. Oh, one more thing:
What If I Don’t Want People To Share My Videos?
There are two options to stop people sharing your videos (even though this is a good thing).
The first option is simply that you don’t upload your video to YouTube. Instead you host the video on your own website.
The second option is to disable embedding on your videos. (The quick way: go to video manager in your Youtube account, select video to ‘edit,’ edit Sharing and Broadcasting Options, and tick the check box that sets your video so that ‘external sites may not play and display your video.’)
Summary
YouTube is an integral part of your Video Marketing strategy – but it does allow other people to display your videos outside of your control. (This – IMO – is a good thing).
So make sure you have branding on your videos so that if a new viewer finds your video on another site they will be able to get back to you easily. (Key information: your name, your site URL).
If you don’t want other people sharing your videos for whatever reason, then there are various ways to self host your video that are relatively cheap.
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{ 18 comments }
Paul,
I’ve seen great results with linking to other videos especially as you mentioned linking to most successful videos.
This is similar to concept I know you believe in of Pillar Content on your blog… Linking to the Pillar Content of your YouTube channel is just as powerful.
Thanks!!
Ryan H.
Hey Ryan
Another thing that you can do that is powerful is to create a ‘content sequence’ and link from Video 1 to Video 2 to Video 3 etc. The goal is to hook someone in on Video 1, and get them to watch a sequence of powerful and related lessons.
You’ve heard the meme that it takes 7 or 5 or 10 exposures to your ‘brand’ for it to stick, right? Well the content sequence is a way to speed up that process. Adapted this from something I learned from Marcus (Sheridan).
paul
That is a great idea…
Thanks!!
I agree. But don’t thank me, thank Marcus!!!
Hey Paul,
Thanks for the Annotation tip. I never saw the link until you mentioned it here.
Educated
Great tips Paul cheers.
Dan
Hey Dan
The annotation can really help….it’s also really good if you have a video with good views on and good ranking but one small part has gone out of date….you can add an annotation to let people know that something has been updated.
Paul
I understand that people are concerned about losing control of their content but the reality is that if you want to use the net to disseminate it than you have to let go.
It seems to me that the upside far exceeds the downside.
On a different tack, I am curious to get your thoughts about editing videos. My apologies if you have already covered this, but do you rely upon the standard functions that YouTube provides or is there another software package that you prefer?
Jack
I use my videos in other places than just YoUTube…so I tend to edit prior to going to YouTube. I use iMovie mostly (mac software). Sometimes I use Final Cut Pro – which is much more bells and whistles. But not often.
Paul
Hola Amigo,
Thanks for the tip about the annotations. I didn’t know how those pesky things got in there – now they’ve been demystified.
Hope you are well,
mxx
All good thanks.
Annotations are something I’ve never needed to really use – because my videos go in multiple places it makes sense to get it right first time! However something’s just happened that requires me to do something drastic….and the ability to use annotations and create links to other videos on your channel is helping save the day! Detailed post on this to follow!
paulxx
Waiting with bated breath to find out about what “something drastic” is. :O
Yeah I’ve not got round it yet…..watch this space!
Hey Paul,
Thanks for the great tip. Sometime things we ought to do seem so obvious… once we are reminded.
It doesn’t take long to add a watermark and it con be done in a way that isn’t in your face.
Be well.
Yep – there are folks who ‘scrape’ video content. So you need to let THEIR viewers know where they can find YOU!
Hey Paul,
Branding is indeed very important in blogging and in Video marketing. I like the tips that you mentioned here. By the way, what video editing software do you use? (I work with Camtasia, because Sony Vegas Pro doesn’t work in my laptop). I think the 3rd one is the best tip – linking to your other videos and/or website – I can imagine how this works – people watch your video and you suggest them to check similar videos (just like interlinking blog posts in blogging).
Thanks for the post,
Jeevan Jacob John
I use iMovie. Pretty simple but pretty powerful.
Mac, aah;) I work mostly with Windows.
I am using Mac at my college (and we are going to learn video editing with iMovie). So, I guess I will be making videos (and doing that with iMovie) in a few months.
Paul,
i don’t mind the constant view of the website address watermarked in the vid. i’ve seen this in the lower right hand corner of many videos and as long as it’ s kind of transparent it is fine for me. It actually helps me because sometimes i want to go straight to the owners site and i don’t have to try to find the slide at the beginning or end of the video to find out where their website is. Also, people need to put a link to their site in the description area of each video in my opinion. especially if you are trying to drive traffic to your site. Just my 2 cents.
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