4 Tips for Making the Most Out of Your Videos on Pinterest

July 9, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Almost one year has passed since Pinterest announced YouTube integration as a way of pinning videos on the popular pinboard-style social photo sharing website. With the addition of Vimeo integration in April of 2012, it’s no surprise that people are seeing their video views and referral traffic skyrocket since adding Pinterest to their video marketing efforts.

If you read my previous post on Pinterest, you know how to create a board and pin your videos with all the necessary titles, descriptions and categories. Here are a few advanced tips for distributing your videos on Pinterest:

1. Make Videos for Pinterest

It’s not enough for Pinterest to be just another place to distribute and promote your video content. A true content marketing strategy recognizes that each social network carries its own individual audience, and content should be tailored for them. Pinterest offers a unique opportunity for niched content, particularly in the how-to, DIY, craft and cooking verticals (just to name a few).

With those audiences in mind, consider producing a series of videos just for Pinterest. You may find that they perform better than those videos created for other purposes or with other social networks in mind.

Thumbnails on Pinterest2. Make an Appealing Thumbnail Image

Despite the fact that you are pinning videos, Pinterest remains a photo-sharing site. When you pin a video, Pinterest will take the thumbnail image of your video as the photo that appears on your pin. This is a critical element in generating clicks and views for your video content.

Since YouTube only allows three automatically-generated thumbnails, it can be difficult to control what your thumbnail image is, and typically YouTube thumbnails occur at awkward moments of a video – a person may be mid-sentence or have an odd expression on their face.

Luckily, it is possible to manipulate your thumbnail image by inserting one frame of a custom image into your video during the editing phase. YouTube takes frames from your video as thumbnails at 1/4, 1/2 and 3/4 of the video. In other words, your video is 200 seconds long, YouTube let’s you choose from thumbnails that appear at 50 seconds, 100 seconds (1 min 40 secs), and 150 seconds (2 mins 30 secs). If you have the patience, insert a single frame of an enticing image at one of those three points.

3. Make it Easy for People to Pin and Repin your Videos

To generate traffic directly to your video on YouTube, add annotations asking viewers to pin your video. For traffic to your webpage or blog, make sure your blog or website includes “pin this” social sharing buttons (note: in this case, your thumbnail image will be generated from your webpage and will not be a YouTube-generated thumbnail).

4. Use Pinerly to Measure How You’re Doing

Pinerly is an awesome curation and analytics tool for Pinterest that will help you track the effectiveness of your boards and pins. Use the data it gives you to hone your content, posting times and descriptions – and keep that data in mind as you produce new videos. While you’re at it, check your YouTube analytics frequently to see if Pinterest is creating referral traffic to your videos.

Your overall Pinterest strategy should revolve around one or more niche topics of interest, and video is a great content medium to spinkle in with photos, articles and blog posts. Don’t be afraid to include other people’s videos on your board(s) as well as your own!

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A Guide to Pinning Videos on Pinterest

April 9, 2012 By 10 Comments

Experian Hitwise is reporting that Pinterest is now the #3 Social Network, behind Facebook and Twitter. While many amateur pundits may brush off the network as a girly haven for time-wasting, savvy content marketers are realizing the traffic-building and conversion potential that Pinterest has to offer.

Pinterest has actually allowed video pins since last August, but very few users have tapped the potential of sharing their videos on the network. In this post, we’ve outlined step-by-step instructions on how to create a video board and pin your videos, as well as a few ideas for content and sharing strategies.

How to Create a Video Board(s)

Create a board especially for your videos. If you have multiple types of videos, don’t hesitate to make multiple video boards:

Create a Board

Be sure to use the word “Video” in the name of your board so that other users know they can expect to see videos here. Select a board category that describes the types of videos that will be pinned here:

Board Category

How to Pin Your Videos To Pinterest

To pin your videos, you’ll first need the short link that leads directly to your video on YouTube.com. It’s easy to get that:

  1. Find your video on YouTube.com
  2. Click on the Share button.
  3. Click on the small Options drop-down menu near the bottom-right of the shortened embed code. Check the box marked “HD Link.” (Note: the “Start at” code will not work on Pinterest).
  4. Copy the short “youtu.be” code in the slim box. Don’t use the embed code.
Get Your Short Code Link
Next, head on over to Pinterest.com.
  1. Click the Add+ link in Pinterest. Paste your shortened link and click “Find Images.”
  2. Select your video board. Be sure to write a description in the text box. You can copy and paste your YouTube video description to this text field.
  3. Click “Pin It.”

Pin a Video

What Kind of Videos Should I Pin?

  • Product Demos: Do you own a restaurant? Make a video for each of your menu items and pin them. Photos of food do exceptionally well on Pinterest. Since images far outnumber videos on Pinterest, imagine how well your video will do.
  • How-To Videos: Pinterest is a great way to share expertise, especially in the DIY, crafts and cooking categories. A contractor could create a huge following with a video series of simple household repair tips.
  • Video Tours: If you’re a realtor or an interior designer, Pinterest is a great place to show off a beautiful home. Landscapers can also show off their work.

You don’t have to do all the work, either…

Consider Creating a Collaborative Video Board(s)

A great way to take advantage of the social aspects of Pinterest is to create a collaborative board. If you’re connected with your friends, customers or stakeholders, add them to a collaborative board and invite them to post their videos. This is a great way to crowdsource content:

Collaborative Board

If you have a brick and mortar store, encourage customers to shoot a quick video of the product they’ve just bought. Reward those who share their videos on Pinterest or who add content to your collaborative board.

Ask People to (Re)Pin Your Videos

If you embed a lot of videos on your website or blog, ask visitors to pin your video. Many Pinterest users have browser plugins that allow them to easily pin website content. As you produce your videos, keep Pinterest in mind. You may find yourself making videos exclusively for Pinterest. Don’t be afraid to ask people within your video to re-pin it after they’ve watched!

As Pinterest continues to grow and evolve, video content will become more common-place. Now is the time to get in on the ground floor. What creative uses of video have you seen on Pinterest? Tell us in the comments section below.

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Producing Web Video in 1 Hour a Week

September 26, 2011 By 1 Comment

One of the biggest road blocks marketers face in content creation is time constraints. Sometimes finding the right formula and motivation for creating videos can be a bigger hurdle than actually producing the video. Last week we covered how to utilize YouTube as part of your marketing efforts in one hour a week. We’re going to apply that same philosophy to actually producing a video. First-time video producers need only set aside one hour a week to get their feet wet.

Assuming that you already have a digital camera and have created a YouTube Channel, follow this 60-minute breakdown:

Plan – 30 Minutes

The planning phase is the most important. Here, you have to decide on a few things:

  • what kind of video you want to make
  • who or what is going to appear in the video
  • what you want your viewers to do as a result of watching the video

A good entry-level video is a customer testimonial, employee profile or a product demo. These types of videos can be made in one shot, without any editing necessary. Write out a brief outline of what you want the interviewee to say in the video, or what aspects of a product you want to highlight. A call-to-action should come naturally from this outline, such as clicking through to your website, or visiting your restaurant for the first time.

Shoot – 15 Minutes

Once you’ve decided on your topic, it’s time to shoot. If you’re interviewing someone, follow these guidelines for capturing your A-Roll, or interview footage. If you’re producing a product demo, follow these guidelines for capturing your B-Roll. 

Upload – 15 Minutes

If you have used a digital video camera, and created your video in just one shot (without hitting record/stop multiple times) you should have one video file on your camera. Follow these guidelines for moving the file off your camera. Upload your video to YouTube, and be sure to fill out the title, description and keyword tags.

The Tie Dye Grill does a great job of making simple videos highlighting their menu items. It’s nothing fancy, but you can be sure that a lot of restaurants do not have this kind of content:

Here is an example of a quick customer testimonial from FlexPac. Though there’s a little editing involved here, you can see that the interview with Chris’ introduction is strong enough to stand on its own:

Don’t be embarrassed if your first few videos are shaky or a little fuzzy. Video production is something that takes a lot of practice and patience. Remember to have fun!

Once you get a few of these simple videos under your belt, consider editing multiple clips together for a more robust video. Our Candidio service allows you to upload video clips to be professionally edited.

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