Why Your Business Needs to Be Making Videos—And Posting Them Beyond YouTube

aknauer@almondbranchmarketing.com — Wed, 14 May 2025 14:03:05 +0000

Why Your Business Needs to Be Making Videos—And Posting Them Beyond YouTube

In today’s digital marketing landscape, video is no longer optional—it’s essential. While YouTube is still a powerful platform for long-form content and search visibility, businesses that only post there are leaving a lot of opportunity on the table. To maximize reach and engagement, it’s crucial to also create and optimize videos for social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and even Threads.

Video Dominates on Meta Platforms

Meta has made it clear: video content is king. In fact, Reels—the short-form video format similar to TikTok—now account for more than 50% of time spent on Instagram, and they’re gaining traction fast on Facebook. Users are consuming over 100 million hours of video daily on Facebook alone. Native video (that is, video uploaded directly to the platform) consistently outperforms shared YouTube links in both reach and engagement. Why? Because Meta wants users to stay on their platforms, not click away to competitors.

When you upload a YouTube link to Facebook or Instagram, it often gets buried by the algorithm. But when you post a native video, Meta prioritizes it in the feed. Studies show that native Facebook videos have 10x higher reach than YouTube links, and they’re more likely to be shared, liked, and commented on.

Why YouTube Still Matters—But Should Be Treated Separately

That said, don’t abandon YouTube. It remains the second-largest search engine in the world and a go-to destination for educational content, product reviews, and how-tos. Videos on YouTube can generate traffic for years, especially when optimized with the right keywords, titles, and thumbnails.

Think of YouTube as your long-term video archive, while Meta platforms are your short-term engagement engines. The key is to create content tailored to each. For example, you might take a 5-minute YouTube tutorial and cut it down into a 60-second Instagram Reel or a 15-second Facebook Story. Add captions, make it vertical, and design it to grab attention fast.

Tips for Optimizing Social Media Videos

If you’re serious about growing your brand online, here are a few key tips:

Post natively to Facebook, Instagram, and Threads.
Design for silent viewing—most social video is watched without sound. Use subtitles.
Hook viewers in the first 3 seconds. Use bold text, motion, or a strong question.
Keep it short and snappy. Under 60 seconds performs best for Reels and Stories.
Repurpose and cross-post, but don’t just repost your YouTube video and expect results.

INVEST IN VIDEO CONTENT and post at least once/week

In short, your business should be investing in video across multiple platforms. YouTube is a powerful search engine, but Meta’s platforms are where people scroll, share, and engage. By posting native videos on Facebook and Instagram, you’ll reach more people, drive more engagement, and ultimately increase brand awareness.

Video is not just about getting views—it’s about building trust, showcasing your products, and meeting your audience where they are. And today, they’re watching more video than ever before.

Need help with your VIDEO MARKETING?

We’d be happy to offer you a free consultation to hear about your video marketing needs. We offer video editing services to help our clients post fresh, professionally edited content and stay relevant on social media. Book a consultation here!

The post Why Your Business Needs to Be Making Videos—And Posting Them Beyond YouTube first appeared on Almond Branch Marketing.

Should I Use AI to Build My Company Website?

aknauer@almondbranchmarketing.com — Wed, 16 Apr 2025 17:48:54 +0000

SHOULD I USE AI TO BUILD MY COMPANY WEBSITE?

Using AI to build a website or auto-generate page content can be quick and cheap, but there are major pitfalls, especially for SEO (how well your site ranks on search engines like Google) and conversions (turning visitors into customers).

Here’s a simple breakdown of the biggest issues:

GENERIC CONTENT HURTS SEO

AI machines create broad, cookie-cutter text that doesn’t use the specific keywords your customers search for. This makes it harder for your site to rank high on Google, as search engines favor unique, targeted content. Google bots are looking for AI-generated content based on known patterns used by these tools.

Poor Keyword Use

AI is known to keyword stuff (overuse) or miss important keywords, creating content that feels unnatural or irrelevant. Google indexing robots recognize this right off the bat and deprioritizes it. This can lower your SEO rankings and make it tougher to get leads.

Inaccurate or Off-Topic Content

AI can produce text that’s wrong or doesn’t match your business, confusing visitors, or sending them red flags. For SEO, this hurts relevance, and for conversions, it erodes trust, making people less likely to buy or engage.

Unoptimized Page Structure

Pages should be built based on a predetermined keyword strategy after researching the high traffic keywords in a market. These tactics help determine proper headings and meta tags on each page in a site. Alternatively, AI generates pages without that crucial information resulting in “dings” against the site from a SEO perspective.

Lack of Emotional Appeal

When you see it and you recognize it immediately. AI content often feels flat and fails to connect with your audience’s needs or emotions. For conversions, this is a problem because people are more likely to act when they feel like you understand the pain points they are experiencing. People make purchases emotionally and justify it logically – both elements must be in your copywriting.

3 Keys to Success

To succeed in building a website that both ranks well and turns visitors into leads:

Write carefully with your brand’s voice and personality.
Write with strategic keywords, based on previously done market research
Create persuasive elements that address your customer’s deep, personal concerns and pains

These tips will help you take the medal in both Google positioning and in building trust needed to win new customers.

Need help with your website?

We’d be happy to offer you a free consultation to hear about your website needs. Book a consultation here!

The post Should I Use AI to Build My Company Website? first appeared on Almond Branch Marketing.