By Michaleen Craig
Developer

Inbound Marketing is the new way to market your brand. Webcasting is key to any online branding experience. Reach your audience via video interviews, online demos, webinars, etc. If you are new to web video marketing, here are some best practices to keep in mind:

1. Short is sweet.
   Attention spans don’t last long on the web. Focus on the first 10 seconds of your webcast. Do something to grab your audience and keep them engaged.
2. Provide video that is appropriate for your audience.
   Is your video meant to be informative or entertaining? Corporate audiences will look for interviews, webinars and demos; while the more casual audience will be drawn in by music, action and spoof videos.
3. Webcasts don’t have to be expensive.
   You don’t need the most expensive equipment to post a quality webcast online. You should, however, spend extra for an external microphone. The external mic will provide much better sound quality (as compared with camera-mounted mics).
4. Choose the right setting for your video.
   Lighting is important. Try not to shoot in front of windows – the scenery may draw you to do so, but the back-lighting will not transfer well to video. You’ll also want to avoid tile floors and / or empty rooms. You may not pick up on the echo immediately, but your web audience will.
5. Publish your video on YouTube.
   Publishing your video on YouTube is the quickest and easiest way to get the Flash-based code to promote your video. Flash is the best way to show video across platforms and browsers.
6. Use YouTube Insight to track your success.
   This free and easy-to-use service will tell you:
   • Where are your views coming from?
   • Who is watching your video?
   • What is engaging in your video?
7. Remember SEO for your video.
   When describing your video, be descriptive, straight-forward, and use relevant keywords. Give your video a good title (include keywords AND make them intriguing).
8. Embed your video in blogs.
   Make it easy for your audience to provide you with feedback. By embedding YouTube code on blogs any feedback will be tracked back to your YouTube Insight account.
9. Promote your video.
   Use Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter (FINT) to promote your video. Be sure to link appropriately based on your audience. Paid promotion of your video is not a worthwhile option. While vendors can promise you visitors, they cannot promise the visitor will watch your video.
10. Analyze and repeat.
    Use the stats you have garnered from YouTube Insight data. Read the posts you received from your viewers.

    Take what you have learned and put that knowledge toward your next webcast.

Creating a webcast can be challenging, let alone learning how to market it. Don’t let it overwhelm you. Again, webcasting is key to any Inbound Marketing campaign.

Check out this recent video from our Principal Brand Director. This video is housed on our homepage and has been watched more than 200X in 2 months. When you are done watching – give MicroArts a call to learn how we can help brand your webcast.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BnguXFwFu1U