What Distribution Strategies Are Most Effective for Branded Video Marketing? [ReelPop Q&A]

ReelPop Q&A is a weekly question and answer series made possible by Poptent.  Each week we will choose to answer one question from a reader relating to best practices and strategies for online video marketing and advertising.  If you would like us to answer your question for an upcoming post, please click here or comment below.

Today's reader question is:

What have you seen to be the single most effective video distribution strategy for branded video marketing/advertising campaigns?

Metrics Drive Strategy

There is no single distribution strategy that is best for all brands. The most important thing is to figure out what success looks like for you. Decide before embarking on any video marketing strategy what metrics are most important for you and plan accordingly. Your success metrics will not only effect your distribution strategy, but they will also influence your video content itself.

There are a few key metrics and considerations that a brand should be looking at in order to measure success.

Brand Awareness:

Brand awareness is one of the key goals of many video marketing campaigns. This usually involves a campaign based on a broad reach strategy. If you have the capabilities, this can be done very effectively through an RTB or real-time-bidding exchange like TubeMogul or SpotXchange. If you don't wish to continually monitor your bids, a video ad network like Tremor, YuMe or Brightroll may be more appropriate.

User Engagement:

User engagement is another reason many brands look toward online video marketing. The ability to share content through social networks has made video one of the hottest advertising mediums. When optimizing for social sharing, brands should turn to cost-per-view (CPV) models where the your videos are placed as content. Most platforms have social sharing functionality built into their players. The earned views garnered through this type of distribution strategy can often make it very appealing to brands. Some players we've worked with are Viewable Media and Sharethrough.

Content Strategy:

The distribution strategy you choose will directly effect many aspects of your production. Pre-roll ads are very restricted in length. One must get their message across quickly and be compelling enough to pull people away from the content that they are there to see. In contrast, user initiated content must be entertaining or informative enough to hold a viewer's interest and prevent them from clicking on the next thumbnail. This is especially true if you are hoping for social sharing and brand advocacy. There is also the issue of time spent with the brand vs. completion rates, but that is the subject of another post.

Marketing Success Goes Beyond Distribution

The point is that if you don't know what success looks like, you won't achieve it. Every aspect of your campaign must be aligned to your ultimate goals. This is true in developing your creative, planning your distribution strategy, optimizing your campaign, and measuring your return on investment.

Before launching into any online video marketing campaign you must first answer the question:

"What does success look like?"

► QUESTION: What distribution strategies have been the most effective for your video campaigns?

ReelPop Q&A is a weekly video marketing question and answer series made possible by Poptent. If you would like us to answer your question for an upcoming post, please click here.