Digest...

Although Vimeo might not be as large or as ubiquitous as YouTube, many of the differences between the two make Vimeo the better choice for marketers in certain respects.

>> Better Quality Content

>> Less Competition for Visibility and Advertising

˅˅˅˅˅˅˅˅˅˅˅˅˅˅˅˅˅˅˅˅˅˅˅˅˅˅˅˅˅˅˅˅˅

Receive a FREE daily summary

of The Marketing Technology Alert.

Subscribe here: goo.gl/xSjgGT

(your privacy is protected).

˄˄˄˄˄˄˄˄˄˄˄˄˄˄˄˄˄˄˄˄˄˄˄˄˄˄˄˄˄˄˄˄ 

>> Paid Account Access

Another way that Vimeo’s business model benefits businesses is that it forces them to focus a great deal of their attention on those members who actually pay for their accounts. Since paid membership is the only way Vimeo can stay afloat, they do everything in their power to make their PRO account holders happy.

>> Superior Customization at Times

Taking this advantage even further are the options Vimeo gives its premium subscribers to customize many elements of the already sparse Vimeo player. While YouTube does give you the option to customize certain elements of their video player, their flexibility comes nowhere close to even the most basic Vimeo options.

Intermediate/ Digest...

1. Research keywords

YouTube Keyword Tool: Type in the keyword that best describes the video's theme. On the top right of the query results, select match type "exact" to see how many people are searching for your exact phrase.

2. Scout the Competition

To check YouTube for competition, take your selected keywords and do a quick search on YouTube. The number of results is the competition. Obviously, the fewer videos that show up, the better; but anything under 500,000 should be relatively easy to optimize for.

3. Name your video file and upload a thumbnail

Text content is king, at least to search engines. Text is what helps search engines determine what words to rank your video for. So, having your keyword in the filename of the video that you upload to YouTube is a good way to include text that is crawlable by search engines.

An enticing thumbnail will increase the click-through rate of your video, which leads to more views and ultimately higher ranking. Although you can pick a still shot from the video, I'd recommend uploading a relevant picture with text and colors edited in to make it stand out among the competition.

4. Include title, description, and meta tags

The keyword must be in the video title. The maximum character count is 100, but keep the title as concise as possible. The more words you use in addition to the targeted keyword, the harder it will be to rank high for that keyword.

5. Enable closed captions

YouTube has a video transcript function to facilitate adding closed captions. Just paste the script in the box, and YouTube will automatically match the script to when the words are being said in the video.

This is a great method for giving the search engine text to crawl; surprisingly, not many YouTubers have taken advantage of it.

6. Encourage engagement with calls to action

To stir up conversation in the comments section, you must give people something to talk about. Asking a question, whether in the video, description or annotation, will naturally elicit answers, which could lead to debate among the viewers. Needless to say, the more activity in the comments section, the more important your video is deemed by YouTube.

7. Embed your video

For YouTube, the traditional Web backlink does not have the same effect as it does with regular SEO. Instead, try creating inbound links by embedding the video. Of course, you would want to embed your video on your own blog or website; you should also contact influencers in your niche about having your video embedded on their websites.

__________________

► Receive a FREE daily summary of The Marketing Technology Alert directly to your inbox. To subscribe, please go to http://ineomarketing.com/About_The_MAR_Sub.html  (your privacy is protected).

If you are using Google AdWords to generate leads and drive sales, you’ve probably noticed increasing competition for many of your keywords over the last few years.

Condensed...

Google TrueView videos are called such because advertisers are charged only when a video actually is viewed by a user. The biggest strength of TrueView is the feedback provided to advertisers. Who are the users? Where are they coming from? And most importantly, are they watching?

The three formats offered in TrueView are in-stream, in-search, and in-display.

In-Stream: Ads play at the beginning, middle, or end of YouTube partner videos (partners are any YouTube user that has decided to make money by displaying ads in their videos). Viewers have the option to skip the ad after 5 seconds. If the video ad is 30 seconds or longer, you’re charged once the ad reaches the 30-second mark. With shorter ads, you’re charged only if the entire video runs.

In-Search: Ads are displayed in search results when specific keywords are searched and aren’t played until someone selects the video. You’re charged once the user clicks to play the video.

In-Display: Ads appear next to other videos on the YouTube Watch page and are labeled as an ad. You’re charged once the user clicks to play the video.

The B2B buying process is changing. Improve B2B marketing and keep your results ahead of the curve with real-time content, social selling, and more.

Key excerpt...

3. Engage your audience with video and YouTube.

85% of the US audience is now viewing video online on a weekly basis, and 37% of B2B customers access videos via mobile devices to research products and services. It’s more important than ever to refine your video strategy to adjust to changing technology and available marketing techniques. And don’t worry if your budget is small but your goals are big—effective video marketing doesn’t require  heavy production—just a smart message that’s relevant to your target audience. Watch B2B Video: Best Practices and Techniques to see how Cisco uses video to reach their target audiences.

4. Adopt social selling and monitor buying signals.

According to a study by IBM, 75% of buyers are likely to use social media in the purchase process, and when IBM adopted a social selling pilot program, they saw a 400% increase in sales. Wow! But what is “social selling”, at least in the context of digital?  It’s pretty simple—leveraging social networks, content, and the entire digital ecosystem to build meaningful connections, nurture relationships, share expertise, and position yourself as credible and trustworthy—all critical parts of the sales process, whether offline or online. (I like Jill Rowley’s deep dive into the topic.)

How does a company that sells blenders attract over 220 million views on YouTube? How does Zappos drive over 250,000 visits a year to its website from YouTube?

Introduction...

This guide will provide answers to those questions and much more. Whether you are a YouTube beginner or a seasoned pro, this post will serve as an in-depth guide for marketing on YouTube.

YouTube is evolving from a “video-based site to a channels-based site where subscriptions rule.” With the new One Channel layout, your branding will work across all screens, you can turn non-subscribers into loyal fans, and you can show off more of your video content.

While I won’t cover all of the ways you can optimize your YouTube One Channel, I’ll cover a few of the important basics...