A 4-Step Checklist for Maximizing ROI on Social Video
By: Sahana Jayaraman, EVP, Global Head of Strategy & Marketing Services, Hotwire
January 8, 2020
The top social platforms see billions of video views per day—and that number will only go up. This means that social marketers who haven’t yet integrated video into their campaign strategy are missing out on reaching significant portions of their audiences. But that doesn’t mean they should jump into video without a solid game plan or expect to go viral on their first attempt.
Creating video content for social media can require a significant investment of resources. This means it’s crucial to determine how your videos will meet business goals before they go live.
Sahana Jayaraman, EVP, Global Head of Strategy & Marketing Services, Hotwire
Here’s a resource-maximizing to-do list for social media marketers launching a video campaign, from ideation to post-campaign analysis.
☑️ Define what ROI means from the start. Depending on your industry, ROI on your video campaign could mean more leads to your website, increased donations or wider awareness of your product or service. Without a clear purpose, video campaigns fall flat. Fortunately, there are many opportunities to create calls to action within video content that sync with those business goals. This is good news for those who define ROI via conversion metrics; using video, you can ask viewers to share a link, visit your website or fund your next project. Next, you can check your internal analytics (on your website or funding platform) to see if the video is moving the needle for your business.
☑️ Pictures are worth a thousand words…but, paired with video, words are worth a thousand views. Social channels like YouTube are recommendation engines, offering content based on keywords and search inputs. Pair your video with strong written descriptions (keywords, captions, “about” section, etc.) so that those searching for that content will feel confident in its usefulness. It’s best to marry your video strategy to user intent—don’t burn resources only to reach viewers who are unlikely to use your product or service.
☑️ Test and analyze, and keep trying. Closely review video metrics—and not just the number of views. Analyze when viewers dropped off on average and find out what didn’t work by asking the tough questions. Was there a strong visual hook? Did you have a solid distribution strategy? Was your onscreen talent compelling? Did you focus on the audience (great!), or your own brand (not so great)? The medium itself may not be wrong, but perhaps the execution was. The next time you produce a video, you’ll be less likely to bury the lede, miss out on distribution opportunities or miscast your brand ambassador. Plus, you’ll waste fewer resources in your quest for video ROI.
☑️ Boost and target successful content with a paid strategy. There is so much video content out there that it’s imperative to hone in on the audiences most likely to find it useful. This sometimes means leveraging paid media’s amplification and targeting capabilities. Be sure to determine at what time of day and on which platforms your audience consumes video. This will impact the number of views you get and improve the quality of the audience you reach. This doesn’t mean you must put ad dollars behind every piece of video content you post; see which videos are receiving the most organic engagement first. Boost these, and you will give the content that is already resonating the push it needs to reach your target audience and successfully meet business goals.
Follow Sahana: @hellosahana
