How to Use Video in Blog Posts to Increase Engagement

Why learn how to use video in blog posts? Widespread adoption of smartphones and high-speed wireless have made video one of the most accessible — and popular — forms of online content. In fact, online video now makes up more than 74% of all online traffic. And modern video marketing isnt just about YouTube. 500 million people watch video on Facebook every day. Snapchatters watch 10 billion videos per day. People spend 2.6x as much time on pages with video as they do on pages without.In other words, if you arent using video in your marketing strategy, youre missing a golden opportunity to deepen your connection with your customers.Youre also missing an opportunity if all your video content is entirely separate from your other marketing efforts. The best way to capitalize on video is by integrating it with your other marketing channels, and your blog is one of the best places to start. Heres why and how to use video in blog posts: (Charts by Visualizer Lite.)Theyre also s ome of the easiest video content to make. This is particularly true for software tutorials, thanks to a plethora of simple and affordable screencasting tools.Video tutorials can either be posted by themselves as standalone WordPress posts, or accompanied by a text tutorial, like we did in some other posts on this blog. Example:2. Video summaries and/or vlogsAnything worth writing a blog post about is probably worth creating a video about. Summarize the main points of your WordPress article in a video, then expand on those points in writing.This approach works particularly well because short videos get the most engagement, and you can post your summary on YouTube and link to the expanded version.Or you can simply post a transcript, like science and activism blogger Rebecca Watson.If youre short on time you can also switch to a vlog-only format for some or all of your blog posts. If you take this route, consider breaking up articles into several short vlogs to maximize engagement.3. About Us videoThe About Us page is usually the most visited page on any website, directly after your home page. A short video sharing who you are and what you do is a great way to give it some personality. These videos should be under two minutes long and focused on the story behind your brand. A great example of how to use video in blog posts is the Hubspots Our Story video from their about page: [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fTWk1lzjTUA]You can also use a background video to add to the story your words are telling. Cultivated Wit is a media company that has done this particularly well, showing their sense of humor and dedication to tech through a series of short clips in the background.4. Share video reviewsThere are video reviews for almost every product imaginable, and in the beauty and health industries video reviews are the lifeblood of many businesses.You should already be thanking video reviewers, and now you might want to take it to the next level: share their re views on your website. You can either share them as blog posts or add a couple video reviews to your About Us page. If your product has been reviewed by a well known YouTube channel you can also add this to your Press page and media kit.Dont have any video reviews? Many reviewers accept free products and some are also willing to participate in extended media campaigns. There are also services like FameBit that connect business owners and social media influencers.If you run a service based business you can do something similar with video testimonials. These dont need to be high-production videos, and they can be posted on both your About page and your Testimonials page.How to use video in blog postsThere are two main options for adding videos to your blog: hosting them yourself, and embedding YouTube videos on your website. Nine times out of ten, youre better off hosting videos on YouTube. Self hosting gets expensive fast, and YouTube gives you access to several SEO and analytics too ls.Hosting all your videos on YouTube also gives you a presence in the social world of YouTube. Built right, your channel will take on a life of its own and bring thousands, even millions, of new customers to your business.Last but certainly not least, its incredibly simple to embed YouTube videos in blog posts. You can do it in three easy steps:Step 1:Go to the page of the YouTube video you want to embed.If its your own video you can do this either by searching for it in the YouTube search function or by going to your Creator Studio and clicking on the appropriate video in your dashboard.If its someone elses video then you can find it easily via the YouTube search bar at the top.Either way, you should end up with a video URL like this one:Step 2:Whats cool about WordPress is that you can embed a video quite easily. All you need is that raw URL of a video.You just take it, paste it right where you want to have the video embedded in your blog post, and see it magically converted into a live video block. Like so:And thats it. All you need to do now is save the post.Note; this method works not only with YouTube but also other popular platforms. You can also use it with videos from CollegeHumor, DailyMotion, Facebook, Flickr, Hulu, TED, Vimeo, and more. All you need is a direct URL.Final advice on how to use video in blog postsWhatever video strategy you choose, the most important thing is to know your goals and consistently work towards them. If your main goal is to spruce up your website, come up with a few key videos you can create to share your story and vision with your customers, then shoot them all in a similar style.To build a large YouTube presence, you can experiment more and get away with lower production value on individual videos, but you need to upload something at least once a week.Not sure what approach you want to take? Research what other businesses in your industry are doing, and figure out how you can improve it and how to use video in blog pos ts of your own. Meet with your team to gather ideas. In fact, do this research even if you think you know what to create. You might be surprised by what actually works in your industry.