How to Use Videos to Increase Engagement

I’m always looking for ways to motivate and engage my audience because this will ultimately build loyalty. However, I’ll admit this can be a serious struggle especially when you don’t know what will work or what will push people away. Blogging has taught me a lot about engagement and how to make sure people stay loyal to your brand. For example, when I first started I had no idea how to program my website since WordPress wasn’t as easy to play around with. I also had no idea on how to write content, start a marketing campaign, and even sell products. I’m actually glad I started NOT knowing anything because I know am the jack of all trades. I now know a lot about everything and this has helped me understand and appreciate what I do a lot more. With that said, I’ve been trying different thing and learning what other ways to engage my audience. It’s amazing what trial and error can teach you about your online blogging career. For example,

OpenVideo

Over the last several years I have been playing around with video blogging and how to sell products through video presentations. This has been quite the journey because it’s something which I had no previous experience with. I learned a lot and going forward I’ll know some of the best methods to engage my users. With that said, let’s look at the top 3-4 ways to use videos as an alternative to writing content for your blog. These are great ways to engage your readers.

Tutorials

One of the best ways to use videos is to create tutorials because they engage readers better then text. Imagine having a video tutorial for people to follow through instead of text format. You have to keep in mind that many people will be visiting your website from all over the world and some with very little knowledge of English. This means if things are presented in text, they might have a hard following through and your engagement will suffer. Videos can be more practical and this helps them to gain better knowledge into your topic. I recently started to incorporate video tutorials into my blogs and have seen my engagement increase considerably over the last several months. However, you have to know that in order for you to create the right type of user engagement, you’ll have to create the right type of videos which are easy to watch and explain things clearly. Other than that, there really isn’t a point in creating videos if your reader doesn’t get the point or information they need.

Here are some pointers to follow when creating videos for your readers,

First, always research the topic so you know what you should be basing your content around. For example, the more I know about my topic, the more I can write on it and add within my video. I personally find it easier to write out content and then create a video because I have something to follow through one. Next,

Solving a common problem is a great way to get people to share your content and engage with it. The more serious solution people are looking for the more momentum it will gain quickly. If you look at the highest selling products within our market, you’ll notice they are taking a very complex human problem and making it easier for them to solve. This is important because no one wants to read or watch a video that solves a problem that people are not having.

Third, use the right tools when creating a video because the clearer or high quality, the better people can pull out the value. I hate watching a video blog which promises to solve my problem and then find out it’s hard to follow because of the audio or quality.

The good news is that there are so many tools and/or software that allows you to create high quality videos within minutes. This has helped excel the growth of video tutorials to the next level.

Live Events and Streams

I love videos because they allow me to create streams from live events and then present them to my readers. It’s awesome because I can present anything from personal events to professionals within my industry talking globally. It’s a great way for me to capture the value quickly which is important because it would be a headache if I had to write out everything that these people were saying. With that said, there are two ways you can capture the stream for presentation at a later time.

First, you can capture the live event and then post the link directly on your blog. This is not hard because all you have to do is copy the link that is usually provided by the host. Secondly, which is lengthier is to record the event on your own, but you will need a good camera for this. If you don’t have a good camera, then the quality of the video will suffer. Many people have been using a GoPro to get the job done or even the camera from their mobile phones.

Live events have been proven to be very success especially if the person talking is a guru within your industry. Why? Easy because we always want to learn how the others became success doing what we do. These people have years of experience and can provide value insight into the topic at hand. For example, why not start small with small little interviews or by attending local events within your region.

Video Courses = Big Money

This is awesome and can generate enormous money for you if everything is done the right way. Once you become an authority within your niche and have learned some cool and creative ways to do things online, you can create courses for people to help them out. As a matter of fact, your courses don’t even have to be based on what secrets you have learned online because you can simply show people how to get started with marketing. I can count around 2-3 times I have purchased courses online to help me out when getting started, but I’ll like to provide some helpful tips so you stay on the right track.

First, make sure when setting up your courses, you tackle a serious problem online and one which solves a common problem. This will encourage growth and even help with your bottom line when getting started. Video courses is all about making money through sales so you want to tap into a market where people need answers.

Secondly, you want to keep an eye on the price since you’ll be competing with others. You want to make sure what you are offering is competitive and affordable because people will have other options to choose from. However, much of the reason people buy your course compared to others is because of the value you provide and your credibility.

Third, as mentioned above your video course will perform better if you have established yourself as an authority online. I would love to watch and purchase a course by JohnChow.com instead of one from a person that I’ve never heard of ever.

Video courses can be very lucrative if everything is done the right way. You just have to make sure you tap into a common problem, solve the problem, create something high quality and your solutions actually work.

Pre-sell Video’s

What’s coo, is you can use videos to pre-sell your products or courses coming up. You can create videos and post them on YouTube.com or even on your blog to build that initial traction. These days’ tools are so cool that you can add an opt-in form to get people hooked to your product and have them pre-register for the official launch. Using this approach, you’ll know how many sales you have generated and even ask for feedback so you can add some features before your big launch. Many people have sued videos for pre-sell and you can find them online on YouTube.com It’s amazing how much momentum a pre-sell video can generate if created, marketing and shared the right way.

Think about a product or course you have or you’ll be launching which will be perfect to advertise through a pre-sell video. Once you have figured it out, you can start to research ways to put together the video so it’s engaging to your readers. Here’s something cool you can do right now:

Do a search online and see what your competition is doing and gather some ideas which you can implement into your video.

Final Thoughts

I love video marketing and have been hooked ever since I created my first video. It was awesome because I was able to offer my readers something new and something that engaged them more than the typical text content. However, when creating videos, you want to make sure you stand out compared to everyone else by ensuring the quality is number 1 and you offer value which cannot be found anywhere else. Above I have mentioned cool uses for the videos and I would suggest you start applying some of the strategies right away. I’ll admit that some will work better than others however you would know until you don’t try what works and what doesn’t.

With that said,

Get started now and put together some videos for your readers. Make sure you use the best tools so the quality is nothing but the best. You also want o ensure you do your research and choose a topic which solves a common problem within your niche.