While cross platform marketing is definitely a thing for most brands, that tends to limit itself in scope to certain networks. For instance, Facebook and Twitter, or Twitter and Instagram, or Facebook and Google Plus. A few other networks are left out on their own, treated as separate entities. Pinterest, Youtube and Instagram are three shining examples.
They are treated as a whole different animal, and strategies are planned parallel to other social promotions. But what if one could help enhance the other?
Instagram works wonders as a secondary source for promotion, especially for videos. Instagram works well as video content creation platform as well as for building anticipation and engagement.
So, how can you leverage Instagram for Youtube marketing? It is simpler than you may realize.
YouTube-Instagram Promotion Tip No. 1: Tease With a Trailer
Everyone loves trailers, right? But posting them on YouTube has always seemed kind of pointless to me. Sure, they offer a bit of a tease. But if you look at the numbers of views, the numbers don't come anywhere near what the actual video gets. They just crowd up your channel playlists, and have little benefit unless you have a huge audience bringing in steady ad revenue to begin with.
On the other hand, Instagram is a platform designed for quick-fire videos of up to 15 seconds long. It is a great place to create and post attractive, exciting videos that hype up what you will be submitting to YouTube later on.
I have found that Instagram is the perfect place to trailers, but you have to be a bit more creative. As in, you need to figure out a better way to link the video to your YouTube channel, thanks to Instagram's policy on third party linking.
My advice is to put the link in an easy to read format in the video itself (www.youtube.com/user/YourChannelHere). It will make it simple for them to type in the URL and check you out. Just don't put in the link to the actual video, as that makes the URL to complex.
Another way is to edit your bio link each time you are putting up a trailer and invite to subscribe (pointing to your bio) from the video comment field.
I've seen most of the food bloggers in this list (like @delishknowledge, @allyskitchen, etc.) use this trick for "behind the scenes" recipe trailer videos: Very effective!
Bottom line: Youtube like longer articles while Instagram is made for short entertaining trailers: Perfect match!
More ideas:
- Create a Bit Of Mystery: Put together videos made to up hype, but they don't give any clues as to what that hype is for. They are usually weird, sometimes even disturbing, and they leave the viewer with tons of questions and no answers. Or it could just be something quirky and fun. Maybe to make people laugh without any context. The theme or tone are up to you, just as long as it gets people wondering about what it might be. Later on, you can make a big reveal. Another option is to make an entire series of mysterious videos that link together and start to form a bigger picture. It is a much harder task, but you can be sure that it will build an intrigued audience. You can even leak the videos on other networks, and in groups dedicated to mystery solving. That will definitely get the ball rolling.
- Give Them A Taste: A lot of artists are not using Instagram to give people a taste of their work, especially musical artists. They give tiny clips of songs released on new albums, or on albums that will be coming. Then they link to their YouTube channel for more extended content, such as music videos and interviews. This is such a good idea for lesser-known bands who want exposure. Instagram is not as populated as YouTube, where even bands with a decent sized fanbase can see less than 10k views per video. You can give a taste of your YouTube fair no matter what industry you are in. Just remember that whatever you show them has to be good enough to make them really want to come back for more.
Instagram video trailers work in most boring industries. A good example is @hostgator posting Instagram videos of their mascot.
YouTube-Instagram Promotion Tip No. 2: Use Instagram for Youtube Content Inspiration
This is one of my favorite uses for Instagram ever! The poster asks for questions in a couple of images that others wanted to know the answer to. Then they make short, 12 - 15 second clips quickly answering them.
It gives them a ton of content to work with, allowed them to @tag specific users to help engage them more, and answered questions related to their brand (for authority) and their product (for advertising). Here's a good example of Instagram Q&A on Youtube to give you an idea!
At the end of each video, which are Instagram specific, they show a link to a longer, related tutorial or discussion video on YouTube.
Bottom line: Instagram is a much more effective loyalty-building platform because Instagram users engage more actively. Use Instagram to provoke discussion, comments and questions: then use these discussions as Youtube content inspiration.
YouTube-Instagram Promotion Tip No. 3: Give a Shout Out To Your Fans
I see this more on Vine than on Instagram, but it can easily make the move over to the other platform. Thomas Sanders does Shout Out Sundays, where he takes a fan and does a small clip of him singing to them. It shows his fans he appreciates them.
The same can be done much more efficiently using the combination of Instagram and Youtube. Shoot a quick intro of your most active fans, post it on Instagram, tag those fans and then invite to see the rest on Youtube. This guy is a good example of shoutouts working for both Instagram and Youtube.
Having a video is going to really stand out from the usual ones on Instagram, which consist of a generic, non-customized image and a could of hashtags and @tags.
Bottom line: Youtube doesn't support hashtagging but Instagram does! Use tags to engage and feature your most loyal fans!
- Consolidate: Don't forget to use your site to re-market both Youtube and Instagram campaigns to consolidate the two. Both the platforms provide with the handy option to embed content which you can use to share your videos on your own site..
- Curate: Consider curating your own video campaigns using the third-party platforms to spread them even more. Pinterest boards are great for visual curating and you can embed the whole board on your site (here's how it looks)
- Re-use and re-package: Depending on the nature of your videos you can combine them into larger shows, turn them into podcasts and audiobooks, create presentations based on them. Here are lots of different ways to re-use the same content in different formats.
Do you have any ideas on how to use Instagram to promote YouTube videos or channels? Let us know in the comments!