“Lights, camera, action!”…BUT if you’re playing those cards right, and really learn how to use video content on Pinterest, then your business could be changing that phrase to “Lights, camera, SOLD!”
It’s no secret that Pinterest is an eCommerce marketers’ playground, but what you may not know is how video marketing is swiftly entering into the mix. Now there is a time and a place for video content, but if you have a “how to” article, or a compelling story that your business wants to get across to its customers – where a picture just isn’t going to be enough….Well, that’s when I’d say…use video!
Youtube gets a whopping three billion views a day, and I don’t know about you, but that number alone is enough to get my attention.
If you’re determined to master marketing with video content on Pinterest, then these eight tactical, technical and common-sense tips will help you do it effortlessly.
8 Profitable Ways to Use Video Content on Pinterest
1. Make them “Pin It”!
I’m sure that by now you have a “Pin It” button embedded on your website, blog and other social media platforms, right? But one place marketers often forget to include it, is to their video’s. Where possible, all of your social media platforms should be taking full advantage of the ability to embed and show video, and to do that you need to make sure you’re pinning your best content with a “Pin it” button!
You can also incorporate your call to action (what you want people to do after watching your video) into the video itself. Here’s how to do that: right as your video is drawing to a close, tell your user what to do (pin, like, follow, share or click on the link) AND, if you can, tell them why you want them to do it. For example, your CTA might read: “Click on the link below (what to do), to link to our Pinterest video page and see more of our great tips on social media marketing ( why they’d want to do it).”
While you can narrate your CTA’s, you’re also going to want to make sure that this important information also appears as text that’s embedded in the actual video.
2. Use Google Chrome
This one is slightly more technical – but really, this is just another way to help users pin your video content.
Though most browsers will allow you to pin videos, Google has a free plug-in that significantly simplifies the process. It’s called “Google Chrome’s Shareaholic for Pinterest”, and when you click on the “Pin it” button, the plug-in will automatically include all of the details from your businesses Youtube Channel. I’d definitely recommend trying it out for yourselves.
3. Integrate videos on descriptive pin-boards
While you may be tempted to put all of your videos on one board, research suggests that this may not be the best way to go about marketing your video content on Pinterest. Unless your product or brand personality is pretty homogenous – a big “no-no” in social media – you’re going to have a hard time organising this content in a way that makes sense to your followers.
I’d recommend instead, that you pin your videos on boards that are related to that specific video’s content. For example, if your brand covers various topics such as, health, current affairs and technology, you would pin your health videos on the health board, videos related to current affairs on the current affairs board and… I’m sure you know where I’m going with this.
You may also decide to have one board that links to your Youtube channel, or perhaps even a video campaign board that’s been especially designed for Pinterest. These could showcase your best videos, but this should be in addition to the videos also appearing under their relevant pin-board categories and headings. In this case you’d also want to make sure that your content is organised in a way that’s both interesting and meaningful to your customer. You would also want to avoid pinning the same video repeatedly – even if it is to different boards – in a short period of time
Remember, Pinterest has its own list of best brand practices, and it’s all about organising content in a relevant way, and that rule applies to videos too.
4. Customize thumbnails
For those of you who don’t know, a thumbnail is simply that small picture and summarised description that comes up when you’re posting a particular web link. In general, users are more likely to read and click on thumbnails that have an eye-catching graphic embedded in it.
Basically what I’m saying is, that a still-frame of you holding up a gadget in your latest “How-to”, just isn’t going to cut it. You’d either want to include a scene that’s been engineered for that purpose, or you’ll want to use a striking and very closely-related picture as your thumbnail image.
Uploading custom thumbnails can be done on both Youtube and Vimeo, however, the quality of your Youtube thumbnails may not be the best if you’re not in their partnership program.
5. Describe your video content
Though headlines may “hook”, once you’ve got your prospects attention, most of them still want to know what they’re actually going to be watching. Adding a well written, keyword rich description gives you a secondary opportunity to entice and encourage action, and it also helps users assess whether or not the video content might be worth their time investment. People like to have options, they like to be informed, so, in short – ALWAYS include a description for your video content on Pinterest.
6. Use Keywords (because you do want to be found, right?)
Of the 500 characters that make up your video description, you’re going to want to make sure that the majority is SEO (search engine optimisation) gold. You need to use relevant keywords. And that’s everywhere….In your title, description, and in the link back to your blog. Make sure that they’re relevant, make sure that they’re optimised (high traffic, low competition) and make sure that they’re there – keywords, keywords, KEYWORDS!
But here’s the funny thing. You can’t keyword stuff. The description can’t read awkwardly and stiff. You have to find a way of incorporating your keywords while still making the content read naturally. This can be a challenge and is why some e-commerce business owners prefer to work with experienced copywriters.
7. Keep it short, sweet and up-to-date
It’s no secret that we live in an attention economy – people want the goods and they want them now. Seeing a video length that stretches on toward infinity is enough to make most users move swiftly on, whereas a bite-sized bit of knowledge is likely to have the opposite effect.
Of course certain types of information shouldn’t be compressed – instructional “how to’s” or DIYs for example – but most users expect this and so won’t be discouraged. You could also consider the option of having a series of shorter “gist” videos that give an overview of a particular concept, before linking to longer videos, articles or blogposts.
The fact that your videos need to be up-to-date (no-one’s interested in hearing about subjects that were relevant two years ago) can also help you shorten the length of your content. It’s better to post shorter; relevant videos more frequently, than using longer ones and allowing your channel to become somewhat inactive.
8. Curate content and repin other user’s videos
Don’t forget that golden role of social media: “Get involved!”
No matter how great the content, users ARE going to get bored if all you’re doing is posting videos about yourself. That’s why you’re going to want to make sure that you curate a range of brand-relevant videos from a range of sources, while also taking care to engage in the Pinterest conversation by repinning the videos of other brands, key influencers and users that form part of your Pinterest network.
Aaaand that’s a wrap!
Those are some of the different ways that you can use video content on Pinterest to take your customer engagement and brand awareness to the next level.
So let me ask you? What video content are you going to create for your business today?
Let’s quickly recap on those hot video marketing tips
- Make them “Pin It”!
- Use Google Chrome
- Integrate videos on descriptive pin boards
- Keep it short, sweet and up-to-date
- Curate content and repin other user’s videos
- Customise thumbnails
- Describe video content
- Use keywords
Have I missed something?
Are you rocking video on Pinterest with great results for your e-commerce business? I’d love if you’d share your experience with us in the comments. Lastly, if you’ve found this article valuable, it would be great if you could please Tweet it, Facebook it, or Pin it!
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Image Sources: Getty images
