4 Mistakes Small Businesses Make with Online Video Marketing

When starting any new venture, it’s a good idea to learn from the mistakes of others. In the world of online video marketing, there are plenty of mistakes to learn from. Here are four common errors that small businesses often make when entering the online video space:

1. Not Using Video at All

The biggest mistake is choosing to avoid video altogether. Using video for your business is no longer optional, especially given YouTube’s huge audience. And, with the lowered barriers to entry regarding recording equipment and editing software, there really is no longer any excuse not to get into the game.

2. Planning on Videos Going Viral

With 72 hours of video uploaded to YouTube every minute, the chances that your content will automatically get noticed — let alone go viral — are slim to none. You need to have a plan for your videos that includes marketing them with social media and SEO tactics, putting them on your company website, sending them to your email list, and perhaps even paying for exposure using Adwords for Video or other video advertising networks.

3. Focusing on the Wrong Metrics

The number of views isn’t the only thing that matters. In fact, engagement and conversion metrics are much more important than sheer viewership for most small businesses.

Examples of metrics to track other than views are “likes,” shares, comments, and viewing times (all of these are free with YouTube analytics), as well as website traffic and sales increases after your video goes live. Consider the marketing goals you want your videos to achieve and then put systems in place to track their performance.

4. Thinking Short Term

Putting up a single video and waiting for the revenue to start rolling in isn’t a content strategy. After all, you wouldn’t send just one email, put up just one blog post, or have a TV commercial air just once and expect to really connect with your target customers.

To get the best results, come up with a series of short videos that you can release over the span of a quarter. It may sound daunting, but if planned correctly, you can shoot and edit 12 videos over a couple of weekends and then have enough content to release a weekly video for three months.