Do it yourself (DIY) and how-to video content is booming. Show “How to” related searches on YouTube grew 70% year over year. In North America alone, viewers watched more than 100 million hours of how-to content since 2015.  Odds are if you’ve had a problem in the last month you’ve looked up the solution on Google or YouTube. This literally just happened to me within the past week. I came home one evening and found my refrigerator had stopped cooling. Can you guess the first thing I did? That’s right. I hopped on my laptop and Googled it. And most of you probably have done the same thing. In fact, 91% of smartphone users take advantage of their devices for ideas while completing a task. And chances are your audience also has questions that can be answered with a video. If you’re not giving them the answers, they’ll get them somewhere else. Three how-to video examples you can learn fromHere are three types of how-to videos you can add to your training or marketing strategy right now. 1. Explainer videoA great explainer video focuses on the “why” question as well as the “how.” They help people understand why your product, service or even internal process is important. And they’re in high demand! 95% of people have watched an explainer video to learn more about a product or service. What is an explainer video?An explainer is a short description (often under two minutes) that shows off a company’s brand, product, or service. And while these often used as external marketing videos, you can also create internal explainers to share something within your company. Why should I make one?Creating an explainer video is a great way to share information and help your viewers understand how you can help solve their problem. I recently created a short screencast for a coworker to not just show how to do something, but why it’s important to our team. That short explanation is all you need to help people see the bigger picture behind your static information. ExampleIn this explainer example, Grammarly takes just 1:20 to explain why (and how) their product can make you a better writer. Key takeawayWhile this was a well-produced example, the entire thing was a screen recorded video! You don’t need a big budget or fancy animation software to show off your product or service. It can be as simple as recording your screen and making a few small edits. 2. Software demo video69% of people have been convinced to buy a piece of software or application by watching a video. If you’re selling a product or service, you absolutely need a good product demo strategy. Because once people understand the “why” they really need to know the “how.” What is a software demo video?A software demo (or product demo) shows off the features of your company’s product. Length doesn’t matter as much for a software demo. Your demo should take as much time as you need to effectively show off your product to potential buyers without wasting time on unnecessary information. Some are a few minutes while others can be close to a half-hour long. Why should I make one?A compelling product demo can be a great sales and marketing tool. They can help to inform and educate your audience. And your content will be more memorable than a bunch of text or a static presentation. When people can see how your product works, they’re more likely to see the benefits. Much like effective explainer videos, great demos share the value of your offering and convince your viewers why they can’t live without it. Questions you should answer:
ExampleKey takeawayThis video does a great job of explaining why and how someone can use Workflowy to replace their traditional to-do lists. First, they list the problems that their potential customers face, and then show how their solution is the answer to their problems. 3. Instructional videoDid you know learning and educational content alone drives over a billion views a day on YouTube? That’s a lot of questions answered by video. No matter what job you have, you undoubtedly have questions t you can answer with video. Whether you’re a small business trying to show off your product, or part of a team needing to onboard a new employee, instructional videos are effective to walk users step by step through a process. There are several types of instructional videos you can make. A few you start with could be
What is an instructional video?An instructional video can take many forms. Some might call it a how-to. Others might use tutorial. And some people refer to them as a training video. However you refer to these videos, a good instructional video can’t be underestimated. At their core, these videos help answer questions and instruct people how to do something they didn’t know. Why should I make one?67% of people are better at completing a task when the information is presented via video. And, 48% of people find video the most engaging form of communication, vs. just 15% who find text the most engaging. Showing off what you’re trying to explain is far more impactful than simply telling it. (For more information on why visuals and video are more important for communication than ever, check out our infographic.) Making great instructional videos allows you to create the best answers to your users’ questions. And if you’re only thinking about making internal instruction videos, now is the perfect time to start. Hubspot recently asked what are companies’ top marketing challenges and ‘training their team’ came in as one of the top challenges. A video is a terrific way to train your team and share information throughout your company. Creating a video that can be reused later saves time and effort and is more engaging than traditional instruction methods. SampleExampleI like this one for a few reasons:
SummaryThere you have it. If you’re thinking about creating how-to content hopefully this post will help you get started. We do have full tutorials on creating tutorial videos and training videos if you are interested in learning more.
Get your message in front of the right people with Youtube advertising, backed by Google’s trove of user data resources. YouTube ads are video promotions that appear on the channel’s website and app, as well as on its partner sites known as the Google Display Network (GDN). Because YouTube is part of Google, its advertisers benefit from the depth of Google’s user data. This information—gathered from viewers’ Google search histories and their YouTube viewing habits—can be used to narrowly focus an ad campaign. Targetability is what makes YouTube advertising so compelling, since your company’s video promotions can be featured alongside relevant YouTube videos that millions of people choose to watch for fun or education. YouTube’s 3 video ad formats provide different positioning and length options. Read about each one below so you can find the best match with your promotion goals. TrueView ads are good for building awareness and gaining exposure. YouTube offers 2 types of TrueView ads:
Bumper ads are the shortest YouTube video ad option, running only as long as 6 seconds. They are non-skippable and can play before, during, or after another video on YouTube and across GDN. The brevity of bumper ads makes them a good fit for quick promotions as part of a larger video campaign. For example, some YouTube advertisers use this format to boost brand awareness by creating longer promotions to introduce their company to first-time viewers, and complementary bumper ads to reinforce their brand message. Non-skippable ads, sometimes called pre-roll ads, can run before, during, or after someone views a video. Ads can be up to 15 seconds long in the US and other parts of the world, and up to 20 seconds long in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Mexico, India, Malaysia, and Singapore. They can appear on YouTube and across GDN. Non-skippable ads allow you to tell a more complete story than other ads and to a captive audience. While this is a great opportunity to deepen someone’s relationship with or understanding of your company, it’s still important to tell a good story. “Good” means educational, entertaining, and targeted. The stakes are high. If you miss on either count, viewers will click away. If you can pull it off, people may share your ads on social media. The following steps can prepare you to start strong on YouTube. After you upload your ad to YouTube, make sure your campaign is set up properly by:
Once you’ve launched your campaign on YouTube, build and maintain momentum with these best practices. Think beyond demographics While it can work to target your ads to people by age, location, or gender, you may find higher-quality leads by focusing on behaviors and interests. Someone who visits sailing websites frequently, for instance, will be a better prospect than someone who just lives near water. As you gain experience about your highest potential YouTube viewers you can exclude topics associated with your ad that have performed poorly in the past. You can also match your ad to relevant pages on GDN or target ads to reach people who’ve connected with your company in the past. Be direct Include specific calls to action (CTAs) in your YouTube ads to direct viewers to the step you want them to take. Typical CTAs include visiting your site, requesting more information or a sales call, signing up for an event, or placing an order. Avoid generic CTAs like “click here” since specific CTAs will outperform them every time. You can also boost responses by including a special offer, ideally for a limited time, to build a sense of urgency. For longer YouTube ads, include an end screen, a final visual in your video that drives home the action you want people to take. Set up conversion tracking Add a bit of tracking code, called a tag, behind the scenes on your website to see what happens after viewers click on your YouTube ads. This will tell you which ads are driving the most valuable activity and which are underperforming. You can use this information to focus spending on the ads that deliver the best results. For example, you might discover that a particular CTA drives more form submissions, or that ads targeted to a specific region drive more sales. Understand the bidding process What you will pay for YouTube ads is based on the type of ad and how successful it is. For skippable ads, YouTube charges you whenever a viewer clicks on your CTA, watches for at least 30 seconds, or views your ad all the way through (if it’s shorter than 30 seconds). Fees for non-skippable ads and bumper ads are charged per 1,000 impressions (CPM)—more on this in a moment. YouTube charges for TrueView video discovery ads when someone clicks to watch your video, regardless of how long they watch (CPV). The amount you’ll ultimately pay for your ads will depend on how much you’ve bid per view or 1,000 impressions. Keep in mind that your bid per view isn’t always the price you’ll pay—it’s the maximum price you’re willing to pay. Your actual cost will be 1 penny above the second-lowest price someone else is willing to pay. An example might help. Let’s say you set your CPV at $0.30, but the next highest bid is $0.20, you’ll be charged only $0.21 per view. In general, the more narrowly you target your audience, the more you should be prepared to pay. It may take some testing to find the right amount to bid. Bids that are too low may keep your ads from running as often as you’d like, and you may find that higher bids help your ads appear in better positions. Monitor your metrics Familiarize yourself with the different metrics you can track to keep up with campaign performance. View rate and CPV are good places to start. A view is defined as someone watching for at least 30 seconds or to the end of your ad (whichever is shorter), or someone clicking on your ad. Your view rate is this figure divided by the number of times your ad appeared. In general, shorter ads tend to have higher view rates. A high view rate suggests that your video and audience targeting are in good shape. As you start to track this information across different ads, you’ll learn what works best to achieve your goals. You’ll also get a sense of which YouTube ads are your best performers, so you can decide how to spend your budget. Tweaking your bid strategy, targeting, and video creative may help improve your results. The bottom line? YouTube advertising can be a cost-effective way to get your message in front of the exact people you want to reach. It’s highly customizable and connected to Google’s rich data resources. |
Which YouTube storytelling technique describes when a video ad changes based on a persons view in Contacts?
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