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Roll VT! – How video can enhance your PR and marketing

admindev
Posted by admindev on 20.02.2017

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Online video, in the right hands, can be an extremely powerful PR tool. Whilst many small businesses or brands can only dream of reaching the viral heights of videos such as the ALS Association’s ‘Ice Bucket Challenge’ or, more recently, John Lewis’s ‘Buster the Boxer’ Christmas ad, video can still be an extremely effective way of increasing brand awareness.

Below, we highlight just some of the reasons your business should consider integrating online video into your PR and marketing campaigns.

Social Media

Social media platforms and its users love video. According to a study by Social Bakers, the average video post gains 135% greater organic reach compared to photo posts. To go a little further, without getting too ‘geeky’, Facebook’s algorithm also prefers video content over photos or a simple text post. This means that Facebook is also more likely to deliver a video to users rather than any other type of post. The new Facebook live videos are also a priority to deliver, so well worth considering too.

To give a real-life example, we are currently running a ‘Vlog’ campaign on Facebook for one of our clients. At the time of writing this blog, the campaign has been running for two weeks and has been viewed organically 1,011 times. Combined with just a small ‘boost’ of £15 in that time, to advertise the Vlog to a targeted audience, these viewing figures have amounted to 4,668 in just two weeks! Proof that video on Facebook really does work to raise awareness…

PR / Media

I was recently talking to the Editor of a prominent local publication, owned by the UK’s largest multimedia content publisher. As we were chatting, he informed me that they are currently having a big push towards more video content. The reason behind this goes in hand with the fact that, for the last few years, most publishers have been moving to online content rather than traditional print.

With moving to online content, comes the consideration of what work’s best for the web and attracts the most traffic. As you’ll find out in my next point below, video just so happens to work extremely well for this! So, if you want to get a story picked up by the media, try using video rather than the traditional press release. For example, a highlight video of your most recent event or a quick video of your recent charity donation may be just the trick!

Google / Search Rankings

Like Facebook, Google also loves video. When it comes to search engine optimisation, Google prefers sites which have more quality content. Having a video on your website tells Google and other search engines that your website is full of rich media content relevant to search requests. To really let Google know your website has quality content, we advise using video on your website which has been optimised for SEO using tools such as keywords and video transcripts to increase its findability in search engines. Combine this with using video as part of a PR and communications campaign and you’ll truly enhance the number of views your videos gains, thus increasing the profile and awareness of your brand.

It’s (or can be) cost-effective!

Yes, there’s no escaping the fact that video can be expensive, especially if you use videography. Whilst I’m not going to dispute the fact you do get what you pay for with a professional videographer, there are also more budget ways to still get results! Many mobile phones are now capable of high-quality video whilst you can find suitable HD cameras at a decent value. If you’re looking to create simple vlogs with company representatives to boost your PR and Awareness or to highlight a news story using a basic video device will do just fine and save you pounds!

“Roll VT”

So, there you have it, four key reasons to consider video in your PR and marketing campaigns.

As the infamous Keith Lemon says “Roll VT!”