Video Marketing for Authors – Part 2

In Part 1, I talked about the importance of using video to sell more books. Want to read Part 1? Click the button below.

Today, I wanted to give you a few tips on helping these videos reach your audience: potential readers.

Sharing your video across multiple platforms helps increase the video’s organic reach and consequently, could magnify your sales.

First, you should upload it to one of the mainstream video sharing platforms: YouTube, Vimeo, or Daily Motion.

Then, you should also share it on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and on your blog. The more eyeballs your video attracts, the better.

Your video title is just as important as the title of the book you’re trying to sell. It needs to be short and purposeful. The title is the first thing the audience sees, so it needs to elicit curiosity and encourage them to click. A dull or vague title will result in fewer views and book sales. Some examples of bad video titles include:

• My Book Video
• This is interesting! Click Here
• About Revenge a Novel
• Video by Jane Doe

Would you click on any of those? By contrast, see the following:

• This is why you’re going bald!
• How to be kind even to jerks
• The event that broke the bond between man and dog
• Love in the time of… Food allergies?

You’re more likely to be intrigued by the second set. After crafting a title, ask yourself if you would want to watch that video and if the answer is no, try again. It’s worth getting this right.

If you’re using YouTube, Vimeo, or any other site, there will be a description that appears alongside your video title. This allows you to tell viewers what your video is about, while also giving you an opportunity to boost the chance of your video being seen. By being descriptive, you can arouse curiosity in your audience, and by strategically using keywords, you can get more clicks, more views, and hopefully, more book sales.

Feedback and engagement (likes, comments, and shares) are crucial to the success of your video marketing. Videos with more engagement tend to rank higher on all platforms. Better ranking for your videos results in more viewership and more book sales. You can encourage engagement by asking for it in your video, as well as in your description. Saying something simple, such as “If you liked this video, please give it a thumbs up and if you have any questions or comments post them below” will help.

Besides posting recorded videos on platforms like YouTube, going live is also an effective method of video marketing. You can use Facebook Live, or livestream on YouTube, or go live with Instagram Stories, and more.

With live videos, you can engage viewers and answer their questions, as well as gauge their reactions and responses in real-time. What are some occasions to go live?

• Your book reading, or someone else’s
• The celebration of you having finished a manuscript
• A particularly serene writing location
• A preplanned or spontaneous “Meet the Author” session
• Anything you deem exciting!