Successfully Integrate Online Video into Your PR Campaign Part Two
A very very old video cassette recorder. May not be needed for YouTube.
Photo via deltaMikeD
Every day, 48,960 hours of video content is uploaded to YouTube and two billion online videos are viewed. By 2015, the demand for online video is expected to grow by 81 percent. The New York chapter of the Public Relations Society held a panel offering techniques to create, distribute and market high- impact online video that draws eyeballs and drives results. Here is the second part that featured Jake Finkelstein of Method Savvy and Jonah Minton of Ustream.
Jake Finkelstein, Method Savvy began with some statistics:
– 180+ million Americans watch videos online (57% of US residents)
– Video is 53 times more likely to receive an organic first page rank in Google search engine results
– YouTube users account for 3 billion views every day making YouTube the second largest search engine
How can you optimize your videos for SEO success? Jake recommends you focus on content that grabs and holds the viewer’s attention. When setting up your YouTube page placing thumbnails is a big influencer and your video titles should include at least three to five keywords. In the description place the url first, and include tags and categories for users to easily discover your videos. Jake also suggests that if your videos get more ratings and comments they will get a higher ranking.
Since videos are invisible to search engines creating transcriptions will put you ahead of everyone else since not many YouTube users take the time to create transcripts. For your website be sure to include a video site map for search engine bots to help index your video. In closing Jake suggested that YouTube promoted videos are like Google ad words and users do not know the difference between the sponsored videos that appear at the very top and the regular videos below.
You can follow Jake on Twitter @tundro.
Jonah Minton of Ustream concluded the evening’s presentation with tips on how to best use Ustream for your live event. Ustream began live streaming in 1997 and in 2011 attained the most viewed live video (200 million views) with Decorah Eagles. Other successful Ustream events include Nike sponsored live chat with Kobe Bryant which resulted in average viewer time of 30 minutes, and Budweiser sponsored chat with Kiss that averaged 43 minutes. Jonah began with the question why should your company/organization live stream? If you want to have a live event for your message livestreaming stands out from the online clutter and brings in the audience.
With livestreaming there is more interactivity and participation from users and your organization also has a social aspect to the event by integrating Facebook and Twitter. The best practice for live streaming is to have your event live and not scripted. As with any live event there may be technical problems that arise so be prepared with a plan to resolve them. Jonah also recommends having a moderator push questions so the dialogue flows smoothly and the guest can focus on a conversation with participants. To create the best user experience Jonah advises having your webpage promoting the event, and video-on-demand so users that may have missed the live event be able to view it.
You can follow Jonah on Twitter @jonahmatthew.
You may also be interested in these posts:
Allison Fine and Beth Kanter The Networked Nonprofit: Connecting with Social Media to Drive Change
Gary Vaynerchuk and The Thank You Economy
Gary Vaynerchuk and Robert Scoble Discuss Business and Social Media
Ray Jordan on Johnson & Johnson’s Social Media Strategy
JetBlue’s Social Media Strategy with Jenny Dervin
David Meerman Scott, Author of Real-Time Marketing and PR
John Jantsch, author of Duct Tape Marketing and The Referral Engine
The Mike Johnson Blog 
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