Videos can be marketing gold if they are produced and distributed properly. In fact, viewership of videos online (think YouTube) has increased multifold over the years. If your video goes viral, it can raise your online visibility by leaps and bounds.

Here's how to make sure your videos go the distance.

1. Craft a Compelling Story

A good story has a definite beginning, middle, and end. Examples of stories to consider include:

  • Human interest stories that generate emotions.
  • Stories that inspire or instill pride.
  • Informative or educational content.
  • Content that does more than advertise a product.
  • Entertaining content that generates joy or laughter.

2. Keep it Short and Sweet

The first few seconds is the time to grab your audience's attention. A YouTube video should be about two minutes, and any material that seems extraneous should be edited out.

3. Add Bells and Whistles

You can increase the success of your videos by:

  • Posting on multiple sites.
  • Using YouTube end screens, thumbnails, cards, and tags to boost engagement.
  • Using attractive titles.
  • Adding attractive graphics or visuals.
  • Including testimonials.
  • Adding demonstrations or tutorials.
  • Creating contests or a series of videos.
  • Adding music or animation.
  • Embedding your video in landing pages.

4. Track and Assess

It is essential to measure and track engagement rates and clicks to keep a score of how well your video is doing. If there are deficiencies in numbers, analyze the reasons and learn from your mistakes. Continuously monitor rates of viewership to ensure escalating numbers.

Video metrics can be measured by:

  • Viewing the counts of the video. This is the simplest approach.
  • Noting the play rate of the video to check the number of people viewing the video as compared to the number of people with access to it.
  • Checking the watch rate to see how much of the video people watched.
  • Observing the conversion rate to see how many audience members became customers.
  • Measuring the click through rate (CTR) that tells you about the number of people who used the call to action in the video.