Mari Smith, called the “Pied Piper” of Facebook by Fast Company, has claimed “2013 The Year of The Video“. She even has a free webinar set for Jan 24, 2013 at 11AM to teach others how to capitalize on it. I don’t know what Mari has in store for her show, but I am interested to learn if and how they’ll address the YouTube Live/ Google+ game change.
You see, not only is YouTube the second largest search engine and the largest video network in the world, but it is also reported to have more than 3 billion hours of video streaming per day! With data like that, it’s hard to imagine a content or video strategy that doesn’t start with Google!
Google+ and YouTube – FREE
The combination of Google+ Hangouts and YouTube has provided an amazing way to capitalize on video in 2013. You can jump into Google+, start a hangout and then enable the hangouts on air feature. Once you’ve verified your YouTube Channel with Google, all that’s left to do is hit “Start Broadcast”.
Most industry professionals feel that you’ll want to make this about YouTube, use their share and embed feature. They think that you’ll get a better CTR on YouTube than you would Google+ Hangout. This is because more people are used to that platform and it’s a much stronger brand.
Once your video stream is done, you’ll get a chance to capitalize on SEO as YouTube will start encoding your broadcast to archive it on the channel. It’s also a great way to know you’re building up content and getting it out there in one session.
Video’s BIG Picture!
While some do have massive funding to run high end production, most businesses and individuals do not. It’s also true that sometimes production takes out the personal experience that live streaming tends to capture and most of us enjoy connecting with.
Plan out your topic, grab some resources but let the camera roll! This is a chance to be natural and take advantage of the social web. Let people grow with an interest in who you are, what you offer and the topics you are passionate about. This is the long term strategy that just about anyone would recommend. Don’t believe me. Ask Seth Godin! In a Google Hangout held in Google’s NYC office, I asked Seth and Seth made it clear, “those that are genuine are the ones that will be around in the long run”.
Have a Plan
While this may seem free, it’s really not. You’re going to need to devote time to this. Treat your video strategy like a book. Draw an outline and go chapter by chapter. Let the topics naturally flow into one another. To address business needs, make sure you have something of value to offer and come to a conclusion in each video as you’re looking for a following. Think TV series.
Sources:
Leave a Reply