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Video is making a massive splash in the online world!

You’d be hard pressed to find someone these days that doesn’t know what YouTube is. With over 78 million videos already hosted, YouTube is stretching its legs by over 200,000 uploads a day. It’s pretty obvious now that video has become king, and YouTube is king of the kings.

Now you can bet your boots that when something as big as video sharing hits the internet, there are tons of hungry marketers salivating as they devise new ways to make money out of it. We’ve already seen it happen with blogs. But the truth is, there’s nothing really that new about video, it’s just another way to absorb content.

The money equation is still the same:

lots of people + 1 location = high traffic

And

high traffic = $$$.

It’s common knowledge now that getting onto the front page of Google (for the right keywords) is going to guarantee a flood of traffic to your website. Well, getting on the front page of YouTube will do the same, but its not easy… the truth is, it’s going to take work.

I know, I know, “work” is a dirty word, but if you’re prepared to do it — or at least pay someone else to do it — there are some basic guidelines which, if followed, will dramatically increase your chances of success.

(It should also be mentioned that many of these guidelines apply to other forms of communication as well, not just video.)

The Guide

Here is a really short and compressed list of critical guidelines for your success with online video. If you don’t understand anything below, drop us a comment and I’ll elaborate there.

1. Content
   • Content is important, but it’s not king!
   • Make your video short. People have very short attention spans. If you haven’t got them in the first 15-30 seconds, you’re not gonna get them!
   • Don’t make it like an ad. People don’t like ads unless they’re entertaining, shocking or amazing
   • Make it shocking. People like to be shocked. Better yet, people like to shock their friends, so they’ll pass it on.
   • Make viewers investigate further, leave them with unanswered questions
   • Make viewers ask, “Wow! Did that really happen??”

    

2. Most Viewed Page
   • Getting on the most viewed page can take some time. Being seen is not as much about how you look as it is about how many people can see you. So show as many people as possible! It won’t make it to the most viewed page unless its already had heaps of views. You have to achieve critical mass before youtube thinks it’s good enough to be on their most viewed page. Just get as many people to watch it any way you can.
   • Go to blogs and get them to post about it. Even pay them if you need to
   • Post in forums, in multiple accounts if you need to
   • Post in Myspace and facebook
   • Share the video an make announcements to your friends
   • Send it to email lists and your friends that have boring jobs
   • Tell everyone you know to spread the word

    

3. Title Optimization
   • Make it catchy and ingriguing
   • Use words like exclusive, behind the scenes, leaked footage
   • Once you get on the most viewed list, change the tittle to make people watch it

    

4. Thumbnails
   • Some websites allow you to choose the tumbnail for your video. Youtube doesn’t, so you need to manipulate it. Youtube takes the exact midpoint of the video and makes it a thumbnail. Go back into the most interesting point in the video and make that the mid-point.

    

5. Start A Conversation
   • Engage people in the comments section
   • Respond to the people who make comments. If people leave negative comments, respond to them with something nice to throw them off guard
   • If no one is commenting, get your friends to comment
   • If still no one is commenting, make a list of usernames and comment to yourself

    

6. Releasing Your Video
   • Release all videos simultaneously. If you have a campaign with a few different videos, release them at the same time. Your viewers are more likely watch them all at the same time, then they are weeks apart. If they’re good, you have a better chance getting them to check out your site

    

7. Tagging
   • Lead your viewers with tagging. Don’t just use obvious keywords, use obscure ones that no-one else will think of.

    

8. Measure Effectiveness With Metrics
   • See what does work and what doesn’t with services like ‘vidmeter” and “comScore”

But Most Importantly…

If your video just sucks, and it doesn’t add any form of value — such as entertaining, shocking, amazing or intriguing people — you shouldn’t even bother, because no one is going to watch it!