BACK TO KICKERS

 

HOW TO USE YOUR KICKER VIDEO.

 

The widest use of your Kicker video is to have several options to get viewers. Certain videos may not benefit from all these options so we’ll walk you through the possibilities.

 

The overall concepts when it comes to online videos are Video Hosting and Linking.

Video Hosting refers to a service (YouTube, Vimeo, etc.) that you upload your videos to and allows you to Link to it. You can set up links from a variety of sources including websites, LinkedIn profile pages, emails, Facebook pages, etc.

 

YouTube

 

Since most of YouTube is directly searched (meaning people go to YouTube and start looking for videos) YouTube is a good fit if you are promoting a business, product or service or a non-profit. It is less desirable for job-seekers or other more targeted uses.

 

To get started on YouTube, create an account and post your video.

 

IMPORTANT: Name your video for best search results.

For example - a name like “Introducing Jolly Good Tours” might accurately describe the video but a better name for YouTube might be “Guided Tours of England, Scotland and Ireland.”

 

IMPORTANT: Set up your videos to display properly.

YouTube wants to have pop-up ads (they call it monetizing) and they want to suggest other videos after yours has played. Unless you have more videos or a YouTube Channel you may not want these extra items. You can disable these settings when you first upload. Also be aware that YouTube has limited options for Thumbnails (the image that appears before you play the video). Select this carefully because once it’s selected, it can’t be changed unless you re-upload and get a new link. This means your previous link will no longer function.

 

You can use YouTube links most anywhere but others services offer better options for businesses, business website links and individuals.

 

Embed your video in your LinkedIn profile

 

We recommend you create a free Vimeo account (vimeo.com) and host your video there for this use.

 

Naming the video here is less important because few people search Vimeo directly. For example, “Introducing Jolly Good Tours” is a great Vimeo name. The name appears anytime someone watches the video.

 

You can also set up the video for a variety of viewing and end-of-video options. Unlike YouTube, Vimeo allows you to change these settings at any time without the need for uploading the file again, keeping your original link active. The settings you may want to adjust include: Title, Thumbnail, Privacy and Embed (how much information is displayed before you play the video).

 

Once you have the video uploaded and configured, use the Vimeo link on your LinkedIn profile page.

 

Embed a link to your video in your email

 

As with video embedding for LinkedIn, we recommend you create a free Vimeo account (vimeo.com) to host your video for email links.

 

If you have already created and set up the Vimeo link as noted above, use this same link for email purposes.

 

SPF can provide you with an Email Link Button jpeg. Drop this image in your email (in the body or signature), select it and use the command that allows you to Create or Add a Link. Add the Vimeo link to the jpeg and now when the recipient mouses over it, it will highlight indicating it’s a link. Also, put a little text telling the recipient that the picture is a link to your video - “Please click on the picture to watch my video.”

 

Please note - this feature doesn’t work on web-based email programs like Gmail.

 

To get more information and schedule your Kicker

please call Brenda at 970.215.4997 or email Brenda@shadowplayfilms.com