Client videos are one of the most effective forms of social proof.

Last week we revealed our top 10 tips to create great videos. You can still read it by clicking here.

If you’ve invested the time, money and resources to produce client videos, then give yourself a pat on the back, you’ve already taken a massive step towards differentiating your business. However, once the shooting and editing are over, it’s time to move on to the most important part of the process…promotion.

This is the crucial final stage, which needs careful thought to maximise your return on investment. So, with that in mind, here are nine ways to promote your video content:

1. Add the videos to your website

This is possibly your biggest job. It starts with deciding whether to host your videos on Vimeo or YouTube. Both have pros and cons, however, we usually plump for YouTube. Remember though to switch off the suggested alternative videos, which look unprofessional especially when the video is embedded in your website.

Once you’ve done that, we recommend the following:

• Build a page showing all the available videos. You should include a thumbnail image, a headline and a brief description; these are all vital to help the visitor understand which video to watch. You can see an example of how this works on the Engage Financial Services website by clicking here
• Build a subpage linked to the above which contains the actual video. Having an individual page for each video will prove useful when promoting them
• Add a transcript of the video to each of the above pages; this will help visitors who are hard of hearing or who don’t want to play the video with sound, perhaps because they are in the office. The transcript will be full of keywords too, which Google will pick up in the transcript and may have SEO benefits
• Add the videos to your homepage, again showing a thumbnail image, a headline and brief description
• Finally, if you have pages on your website explaining the types of clients you work with (hint: these are important and you should have them), match the videos to the client types and add them to the page

2. Promote by email – part one

The addition of client videos is a major improvement to your website. We, therefore, recommend building a series of emails to tell existing clients, professional connections and prospects.

Each should contain a single video and invite the recipient to watch and share it. Stagger the emails, perhaps sending one per week and dovetail this activity with social media posts (see point six).

3. Promote by email – part two

Your email signature is seen by countless people each day. We recommend adding a link to the website page you’ve built showing all your videos.

4. Include in your newsletters

If you produce electronic newsletters, amend the template to include a section for client videos, changing the video you include for each edition. Again, show a thumbnail image, headline and brief description, along with a call to action linked to the individual pages you create in point one.

Once you’ve included all your client videos, go back to the beginning and start again, rotating the videos until it’s time to record more.

5. Add to your Google My Business listing

People who are referred to you will often carry out a brand search before getting in touch. What they see on the search results page and your website will increase or decrease the chances of them getting in touch.

Therefore, we recommend adding your videos to your Google My Business profile. The additional social proof might be the difference between them getting in touch or looking elsewhere.

6. Add to directory profiles

If you use any of the three main directories the videos can be used to differentiate your profiles from others.

Unfortunately, none of the three directories allow videos to be embedded directly into profiles. However, you can include a link to your YouTube or Vimeo account in your Unbiased profile.

If the ‘powers that be’ at Unbiased, VouchedFor and Adviser Book are listening, perhaps you could consider allowing videos to be included into profiles?

7. Use on social media

Once you’ve chosen the appropriate social media channel (based on where your target audience hang out, not your own preferences!) there are several ways to promote the videos.

Firstly, we recommend producing short clips of around 15 seconds in length. These should focus on the ‘killer’ points made by your clients and will allow your connections to view the clip easily, without needing to click a link.

Secondly, produce messages promoting each video to dovetail with the email activity in point two.

You could also experiment with paying to promote the videos or clips.

8. Embed into documents

If you produce electronic brochures or other promotional literature, consider embedding the videos into these documents.

9. Monitor your results

Google Analytics, plus the information provided by YouTube, Vimeo and the social media channels will help you to understand engagement levels. This part is vital to the success of your promotion, enabling you to make changes where necessary. As a minimum we recommend monitoring:

• The length of time people spend watching each video, so you understand which are the most popular and should, therefore, be promoted more heavily
• The engagement with your social media posts, so you can understand which are the most effective messages
• The length of time people are spending on each website page which contains a video

Work hard to maximise your investment

Producing client videos takes an investment of time, resources and money, which you will only recoup through effective promotion.

Now isn’t the time to be shy; promote them, ask people to share them in fact, do everything you can to maximise the number of people who engage with them.

We hope this helps, if you have any questions or would like our help on a video project, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.