10 Steps to Improve Your Association’s Video Content Marketing

They say 2019 is the year of video, but navigating the world of video content strategy can still be complicated for associations. According to the 2019 Association Communications Benchmarking Report, producing video consistently is one of the Top 10 challenges associations face. While they’ve made improvements in the last year (41 percent of associations named it as a top challenge in 2019 versus 44 percent in 2018), there’s still a good ways to go.

Luckily, video marketer and founder of All-in-One Social Media Desiree Martinez shared these 10 steps to launch a successful video experience with the audience at Digital Summit Salt Lake City.

1. Turn frequently asked questions into videos: The starting point, and oftentimes largest hurdle, to starting video production is considering what content to make. One way that Martinez recommends building content is by thinking of 15 specific questions that people frequently ask you. Those questions then become the topic of your upcoming videos because you know there is already interest in them.
2. Choose your platform: Though you’re going to use multiple platforms in video marketing, you should decide on your preferred platform. YouTube is seen as the best video-posting platform, but Martinez also recommends using Facebook Live if you want a more interactive relationship with your audience.
3. Post on YouTube: Even if your main platform for releasing new content is Facebook Live, YouTube should still be a part of your video endeavors. Google’s algorithm promotes YouTube videos because it is Google’s own platform. Your YouTube page can serve as an archive of your videos that helps you get more views from Google searches regarding your videos’ topics.
4. Embed onto your blog or website: As anyone who works in marketing will tell you, getting viewers to your website is the ultimate goal for any group. Martinez said that Google’s algorithm favors webpages that feature video elements. That’s why embedding your videos in a blogpost on your website helps draw in viewers, especially when you title the post so that it’s optimized for search engines.
5. Make a teaser and promotional image: A video isn’t worth much if no one knows that it’s up, and a short teaser and promotional image on social media are the solution. These visual posts will quickly attract the attention of your viewers and will lead them to your video through links in the description. Martinez recommends posting a promotional photo or graphic to your group’s Instagram story so that it appears at the top of their feed for 24 hours.
6. Create a text-based video: People frequent social media while they’re on-the-go, so they often can’t put in their headphones to listen to a video. To get them to watch your video, use a text-based video creator or manually add captions to your video. Martinez said this will allow busy viewers to still be able to consume your video’s content.
7. Optimize searchable terms: When you post a video on YouTube, you should always keep the title and tags specific. Use keywords in those and your description so that people can easily find your video when they’re searching for content. If you use terms that specifically relate to your topic, both Google and YouTube will show your videos to more people as a result of their search query.
8. Post on Pinterest: As a platform people mostly use for finding solutions, Pinterest has the distinct honor of driving the most traffic to other websites. By posting your videos on Pinterest, you increase the likelihood of video viewers visiting your website and signing up for your email list.
9. Promote on Twitter: Of all the content that goes on Twitter, videos are by far the most popular. In fact, they preform 10 times better than text or image posts! Martinez suggests using Twitter more than Facebook because Twitter doesn’t mind you linking off the platform. By posting links to your videos on Twitter, you can continue to bring in viewers to your video and website.
10. Boost your posts: In the weeks, months and even years after posting your video, you can continue to use it as long as it’s still relevant. Facebook’s boosting feature lets you pay to place your video in prime spots on people’s newsfeeds! You can even decide to boost a post years later as long as it still relates to you and your association. Boosting allows you to recycle old content and separate that content from the muck of a busy timeline.

About The Author

Adam Turner is a content strategy intern with Naylor Association Solutions.