Reaching more people is one of the biggest struggles that marketers face with video. Video distribution is just as important as video production. Without an effective promotion strategy in place, your video is doomed to get lost out there somewhere on the dusty shelves of the Internet.

On the other hand, promote your video the right way, and you will get a steady stream of traffic to your video content on a regular basis.

Getting more reach on videos is one of the things marketers struggle the most with

What are the video distribution techniques that will help you share your video far and wide?

Here are seven.

1. Get the keywords right for YouTube

YouTube is probably the #1 destination for the majority of videos that get created by brands and individuals alike. No wonder: with 1.68 billion users worldwide, it’s the second-largest search engine in the world after Google.

In this regard, it does make sense to treat it like a search engine, too. If you just dump all your videos to YouTube, it’s not much of a video distribution strategy. It’s A-AAAKey storage house at most.

Technically, unlike text, search engines can’t watch your video and decide the best keywords to rank for. They rely on the written content that accompanies the video, such as the video title, description, and tags.

While an optimized video title is not the only thing that will help your video rank well on YouTube, it certainly contributes to the video distribution success. A recent study by Backlinko revealed that videos get a small boost in ranking if their titles have an exact match with the user’s search term.

In other words, if your video is called “10 Best Morning Routine Ideas That Will Help You Improve Your Life” and someone is searching for the keyphrase “morning routine ideas”, your video has a better chance of ranking than a video with the title “How to Start Your Morning The Right Way”.

A good title can also help your video rank outside YouTube. With Google trying to best serve its users, many answers to the user queries are presented in the form of snippets, including video. This is especially true for how-to and educational videos.

This gives your video a great chance to reach more people right on Google.

How to do your keyword research for YouTube

There are some great online tools that can help you with your video keyword research.

YouTube auto-suggest

When people search for something on YouTube, the platform automatically tries to guess what the user might be interested in. Start typing the search phrase on YouTube, and you will see all the related searches:

It makes sense to pay close attention to these phrases. Just think about it: YouTube is telling you exactly what people are searching for. In addition to providing you with the title for your existing video, it can also help you to come up with new YouTube video ideas.

Ubersuggest

Ubersuggest is one of my favorite SEO tools. You can type in a keyword, and the tool will show you its search volume, difficulty (meaning how difficult it is to rank for this keyword), CPC, and other related information. It also provides you with other keyword ideas based on your search.

The best part: it’s totally free.

YouTube Analytics

Another great tool that is oftentimes underestimated is YouTube Analytics. You can check what key phrases you are currently ranking for and better optimize for the search terms you are after.

In order to do that, head over to your YouTube Analytics >> Traffic source types and click “YouTube search”.

Here, click on the phrase “YouTube search”. This will show you all the key phrases that you currently rank for. You can then check how well every video is optimized for this key phrase and better adjust the content.

YouTube is an important channel for successful video distribution. Make sure to follow these best practices, and your videos will rank in no time.

2. Share your video on Twitter

Twitter is a great platform for video distribution if you remember one thing about tweets: they don’t live long. According to this rather optimistic research by Moz, a life span of a tweet is only 18 minutes.

Now, think about how many of your followers are even on the platform during this time. Even if you have a massive following, chances are, there are only around a dozen people there at the time of you publishing that tweet.

To make sure your tweets get noticed, Ann Smarty of Seosmarty recommends scheduling at least 3 different tweets to go out on different days of the week, at different times. This way, you get a better chance of catching your audience online.

How to adjust your video for Twitter

When it comes to video distribution on Twitter, there are several ways of how you can proceed.

1. Create a short video snippet. If your goal is to make people watch the video on YouTube, make sure not to post the full video on Twitter. This way, you are giving it all away right here.

Instead, think of the Twitter video as a video teaser. Include a short part of the video with a description + a call to action. This can be something like “Watch the full video” or “Read the blog post”.

Want to make your Instagram bio stand out?
Here are 7 tips to create a killer Instagram bio 😎👇

📰Read the article: https://t.co/RkX06u0Qdx pic.twitter.com/kj7XZXBDZu

— Wave.video (@wave_video) May 8, 2019

2. Make a GIF from video. You can take a small part of the video and turn it into a GIF. This might work especially well with some funny moments from the video shooting process.

3. Share a video thumbnail with a link to the full video. Finally, even a static thumbnail might work great on Twitter to boost your video distribution success. Experiment with different media types on Twitter to see what works best for your audience.

3. Repurpose your video for Instagram: Stories + in-feed

Long gone are the days when Instagram was just a photo-sharing app. Today, it’s a go-to place for people to follow up with their favorite brands and stay on top of the world news.

In this regard, it makes sense for your brand to not only be present on Instagram but actively engage with your audience. More than 50% of users want to see video content from the brands that they follow. This is your chance to stand out.

There are several ways how you can publish our video on Instagram. I’d recommend that you start with in-feed videos and also Instagram Stories. This way, you make sure your followers don’t miss out on your content, no matter how they scroll through the platform.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Wave.videо (@wave.video) on Oct 9, 2018 at 10:41am PDT

Instagram videos come with certain limitations. For instance, the maximum length for in-feed videos is only 1 minute. Therefore, it makes sense to adjust your video if it’s longer.

Just like with Twitter, you can create a short video teaser from your video. Use tools like Wave.video to edit your video, add subtitles, and stickers.

Here are a few tips that will help your video distribution efforts on Instagram.

1. Choose a catchy thumbnail. When you upload a video, Instagram does allow you to select a thumbnail for it. I strongly recommend that you do it. This way, you can control how your video looks in the feed. Compare this: 
2. Make sure to add a call to action. With all the content that you publish on Instagram (and elsewhere), you should have a goal. Therefore, adding a call to action is essential: people rely on your guidance. When you promote your video on Instagram, the call to action might be as simple as “Watch the full video – link in bio” or “Visit our YouTube channel for more information”.
3. Add hashtags and geotag. People are curious creatures: they are always ready to explore new content, things, and ideas. When thinking of video distribution on Instagram, try adding a geotag or hashtag to your videos. This way, your content might reach new audiences that might be potentially interested in what you have to share.
4. Reshare your in-feed videos to Stories. Another great and easy tactic is to reshare your in-feed videos to Stories. The main advantage here is time: you can do it with just a click of the button. The post will have a Play sign on it, indicating to your followers that there is some more content for them to watch. Also, if you have more than 10,000 followers, you can add a Swipe Up button and lead people straight to your website or YouTube channel.
   

When it comes to video distribution on different social platforms, the main thing you need to keep in mind is that you have to adjust the video to the specifications of every platform. Here’s how Robert Katai of Bannersnack puts it:

4. Post your video on LinkedIn

LinkedIn is a platform where native organic posting can still yield significant results, and yet it is oftentimes overlooked by marketers. What’s great about LinkedIn is that you can publish videos of up to 10 minutes long. So you can just basically republish your video on this platform without much adjustment.

Here’s an example of how Ian Cleary of RazorSocial did it. He created a short and fun video about a book he recently read. With a bit of humor and Wave.video as his video editing tool, Ian’s post yielded 74 likes and 26 comments, all organically.

Notice how his video had a clear call to action at the end: visit Amazon to buy the book. Adding calls-to-action is important to your video distribution.

5. Embed your video in the most successful blog posts

Another great tactic that you can use to promote your video content is to go back to the most popular blog posts and embed the videos there. In fact, this is the tactic that helped us get thousands of views on our YouTube videos.

Embedding the videos in the blog posts has a two-sided effect. On the one hand, it helps with video distribution. The more people visit your articles, the more views your videos get.

On the other hand, it boosts your SEO efforts. Watching videos increases the dwell time on a page, which positively affects your SEO by signaling to search engines that your content is relevant and interesting.

Omnisend‘s SEO manage Evaldas Mockus recommends this as one of the effective video distribution methods:

6. Email your video the clever way

Email can amplify the reach and impact of each video you create for your target audience, thus boosting your video distribution efforts. Emails have been around since 1971 – that’s where the first electronic letter was sent. Emails also have a high ROI: for every 1$ you can expect a return of 32$!

With all this in mind, it’s not a question of whether you should promote your videos via email. It’s how to do it most effectively.

Here are a few ways how you can add videos to your emails.

Method 1. Embed a static preview with a play button.

Since it’s technically impossible (and highly not recommended) to embed a video file itself in the email, try creating a static preview with a Play button instead. The Play button attracts attention and makes people wonder what stands behind it. Therefore, it increases CTR and conversions.

Method 2. Create an animated GIF from your video

Another way to indicate to your email readers that there is a video they should watch is to turn your video into a short GIF.

GIF in itself is a great way to attract viewers’ attention. They are eye-catching, fun, and entertaining. Pair it with the power of video, and you get a bullet-proof marketing tactic.

We conducted an experiment to find out what the best video thumbnail for email marketing was. Turned out a GIF with a Play button performs best in terms of conversions to registrations: 51.6% versus only 40% of a static image.

An animated GIF in your email is like a mini-video in itself. The viewers understand exactly what stands behind it and want to watch more.

Example of adding an animated GIF to an email. In this particular newsletter, the GIF got 3x more clicks than a static image.

Pro tip: to increase email open rate, don’t forget to include the word [VIDEO] in the subject line. This way, your readers will know exactly what to expect inside and will be more likely to open your email.

7. Pin your videos

Pinterest videos are on the rise. During the past 12 months, there’s been significant increase in the number of people who search for this term on Google.

Pinterest video is one of the best new instruments for discovering inspiring ideas. These days, Pinterest is actively adding new features for video distribution to the platform. It’s now even possible to search by videos specifically.

What’s great about Pinterest is that you can reshare YouTube videos right on Pinterest. When you publish a video on YouTube, click the button “Share” and choose the option “Pinterest”.

You can also upload a video directly to Pinterest. Due to the nature of the platform, vertical video formats work best. Just like with other social media platforms, you can create a video snippet and share it on Pinterest with a link back to the original video or website.

Pinterest can play a significant role in video distribution. However, just like with all the other marketing efforts, it’s important to have a clear strategy behind it. Why do you want to proceed with Pinterest? Do you have a clear content/marketing plan for the platform? Make sure to answer these questions, and your content will do great.

General tips for effective video distribution

No matter how exactly you promote your videos across the web, there are several things that you should keep in mind for every distribution platform – and every video you create.

Tip 1. Stay consistent with your video identity. No matter where exactly people watch your videos – on Instagram, YouTube, or your own website – it should be clear to them that the video is yours. Staying consistent with your branding will help you promote your videos more effectively.

Tip 2. Make your video outstanding. It might seem that it’s easier said than done. What does it mean exactly – to make a video “outstanding”?

Your video should be interesting, to the point, and visually appealing. You can achieve the former by studying what your viewers are actually interested in. Talk to your sales team, study online communities and dig into your support channels.

As for the latter, use video makers like Wave.video or iMovie to create an aesthetically catching video that will drive engagement on every platform.

Tip 3. Rely on your social network.

With all the videos you create, it makes sense to reach out to your friends and colleagues first and ask them to share the video. When we were just getting started with video, I shared the very first video we created on my personal Facebook profile. To my surprise, it got a bunch of likes, comments, and views from my friends. This gave our video an initial boost and helped it to rank higher on YouTube.

Conclusion

Video distribution pays off well if you invest some time and effort into it. Try combining different platforms for sharing your videos and track results to see what works best.

What are your favorite video promotion tips? Share in the comments below!