bThere’s a simple way you can sharply boost your visibility on social media. Any coach can and should be doing it, and that is to produce and publish videos.

You can find all kinds of statistics about this, but every study shows hands-down that videos lead to more engagement.

Think about it from the point of view of a user:

When a short video with a good tagline comes across your social media feed, aren’t you likely to click it and see where it leads you?

Videos boost engagement and they can be shared on all major social media platforms. The only problem is that you may find it a daunting task if you’ve never done video before. Like most things, it seems like it is more difficult or harder than it actually is. And you can’t just bury your head and ignore it.

I’m here to tell you, video isn’t going anywhere. YouTube is the second largest search engine in the world, and thousands of hours of video are uploaded each and every day. Video clips on social platforms such as Facebook and Twitter enjoy far more engagement than do plain text or even image-based updates. And when it comes to training programs, most people prefer video to text—or at least a combination of the two.

And now with live streaming video, this new marketing channel has become even more important.

• Live video lets viewers get to know you better
• Your personality and brand shine through in ways written words or pre-recorded video simply cannot manage
• A built-in sense of urgency makes it easy to connect with your action takers
• Repurposing video for other channels is easy and super productive
• Facebook and other social networks appear to give more weight to video, showing it in more newsfeeds than other post formats

In addition to all of that, video is easy to produce—especially the new streaming services. Simply prop up your smart phone, log into your preferred app and viola! You’re live.

And because it’s a live, streaming video, your viewers likely have less expectation of perfection. For example, with a scripted webinar, they expect a certain polish. But with streaming video, you can get away with a much more lighthearted, go-with-the-flow style. It’s perfect for Q&A sessions, special announcements, group coaching, or anything else where you simply want to connect with your audience, and there’s no agenda.

How to Get More Eyes on Your Live Videos

Here’s how to easily draw a crowd to your next live video event.

Promote Ahead of Time

This is key. You have to build a buzz about your live video. While you can (and sometimes should) go live in an impromptu manner, this should be the exception, not the rule.

A far better choice is to let your fans and followers know ahead of time that you’ll be hosting a live video, and how (and why) they should join you. Use the tools already at your disposal—your blog, your email list, your Facebook and LinkedIn groups, and your Twitter following—to make sure everyone knows when you’ll be on, and why they should be watching. And be sure to remind them as the day gets closer!

Offer a Giveaway

Here’s one sure way to get fans to show up—offer something free.

Checklists and worksheets are ideal if you’re teaching a strategy or technique. Readers can follow along, and refer back to it later as they work through your strategy. By delivering your gift via email autoresponder, you can take the opportunity to grow your mailing list as well.

Make a Big Reveal

Jeff Walker pretty much invented the launch sequence we’ve all come to know (and have seen everywhere), but if you don’t have that kind of budget—or time—then you can easily do something similar with a well-planned live video event.

You’ll definitely want to promote this one ahead of time. Send out a few “teaser” emails promising big news; post about it on your other social accounts; create a Facebook event and schedule paid ads to invite interested people.

Then use the live video to answer questions and announce your launch, perhaps with a special introductory or fast-action price.

Cover a Controversial Topic

We all have opinions, and not all of them are popular. That’s part of what sets you apart from your competitors, in fact. If you have strongly held opinions about your industry, or how a specific topic is being taught, video is a great place to make your point.

By taking to the airwaves with a live video and a controversial topic, you’ll instantly draw a crowd—half of which will agree with you, and half of which who will not. Imagine how lively the conversation will be! Just be sure to keep it respectful, and to not get your feelings hurt when someone disagrees with you (because they definitely will).

You made a live video…now what??

If you know anything at all about marketing, then you know the last thing you want to do is create a piece of content that has a limited lifespan. After all, once that 15- or 30-minute event is over, it’s gone, right?

Wrong.

Depending on the platform you’re using, there are plenty of ways you can leverage that video to continue to attract an audience for months or even years to come.

Upload to YouTube

The “big daddy” of video marketing, YouTube enjoys its status as the 2^nd most searched website only—behind Google.com by only a slim margin.

Well-optimized videos can attract thousands or even millions of views, and help drive traffic to your website, your blog, your product pages, or even the landing page of your choice. Don’t miss the opportunity to profit again and again from the effort you put into creating video. Be sure to upload it to YouTube and:

• Create a keyword-rich title
• Craft a compelling description
• Add a call to action

That’s it!

Add this to your workflow for each of your live videos, and you’ll quickly build up a library of YouTube videos that drive traffic to your offers every day.

Post to Your Blog

Sometimes you want to take the conversation out of Facebook or Google and interact on your website. Adding recordings of your live videos allows you to:

• Carry on a conversation with your audience through the comments section
• Add more commentary and updated information
• Attract Google with pertinent keywords and backlinks
• Encourage opt-ins by offering viewers downloadable checklists, worksheets, or even transcripts that go with the video

Share With Your Partners & Colleagues

Just as video works well for your sales efforts, so too does it work for your affiliates and JV partners. Consider offering replays of your better videos for affiliates to use in their own blog posts, on social media, and anywhere else they’re promoting your offers.

It will help their audience get to know you better, and give them a sense of your personality and style before they invest in your products or services.

No piece of content—whether written, pre-recorded, or live—should ever suffer the fate of being used only one time. Put all your content to work in multiple locations, and watch your influence—and your profits—soar.

Live video is definitely a marketing tool that belongs in every coach’s toolbox.