I was writing a blog on my personal Feel Good Music site www.ChadScottMusic.com about my new goals for 2013 and thought I’d share here on Music Launch Pad. Of course one of my goals is to get one of my videos to “Go Viral.” Its a low budget, video of a song called Smile for Me, which has actually gotten great reviews and created a nice little buzz as the song of the week at Renman Music Biz who is the manager of Incubus. Only problem is now I’m looking at a long road ahead so I need strategies. Below is my plan of attack that I thought I’d pass along. Feel free to add comments below if you have any tips on video promotion.
1) The most obvious and perhaps even valuable point of exposure is Facebook. People love to watch videos and your friends and fans who support are much more likely to watch. The most important part of Facebook though is asking your friends to share it on their wall.
2) Twitter now supports sharing videos so here is an awesome strategy I’ve created. Sign up for an account at Social Oomph.com . This service has basic charges that are free and more advanced for a small fee. After you sign up go to Direct Message >> auto DM and create a response that asks everyone who follows you to watch your video. This has worked amazingly for me because its automatic and each time someone follows me they get sent a DM message with my youtube video. Second, they love you for giving them something. Third, after they thank you I hit them up to come back to my website and get free songs by being on the email list. It works like a gem!
3) Youtube is of course the home of the video but can also drive traffic with the right keywords placed in the title, description and tags. Check the google keyword tool to find about 6 keywords or keyword phrases that get over 1,000 hits per month and put those in all three places as mentioned. Also put as much content in the description field as they will allow you. This will also drive more traffic with more keywords. Youtube also allows you to do “video responses”, which is great if you respond to other more popular videos with your video as a response. Lastly you can actually pay google to advertise your video if you have money.
4) Big time exposure can come from other bloggers or media who get a hold of your video and share it. Definitely hit this category by doing a search for blogs who feature music like yours. This counts for internet shows and tv shows.
5) If your video is high quality in content it can be put on MTV, VH1 or a few of the other lesser known channels that pipe into bars and clubs. This will cost money and you usually have to have someone represent you.
7) Your own website should feature the video on your homepage. In addition I’m actually giving away the song for free through soundcloud. This is a gesture of good faith and usually shows that I’m not out to just spam people and usually ends up in a subscriber.
Check out Smile for me – on its way to 1 million views – And hey why not share a smile with someone else after you watch by sharing it.