Video marketing.
Not exactly a strategy ‘near and dear’ to most marketers.
As a matter of fact, when I ask my Bite-Size Traffic Hacks subscribers how many of them use video to drive more traffic and business, well… I can usually count the hands on one hand.
But why?
Simple: it takes time to learn how to create a video and it can easily cost thousands of dollars to hire someone to do it for you.
Something we can all relate to…
Thus we decide to sit this one out. After all, what’s the harm in not creating videos, right?
WRONG…
According to a report from Cisco, by 2020, over 82% of all web traffic will come from video.
And this study by Vidyard shows that video drives better results. Period.
So much so that marketers who use video:
- receive 41% more web traffic from search than non-users;
- see 27% higher click-through rates;
- and grow revenue 49% faster than non-video users.
In other words, you no longer have a choice whether or not to deliver your content through video.
Video is now the primary way people want to learn, shop, and interact online.
What are YOU going to do about it???
How about… you take your last blog post, fire up your Microsoft Word and PowerPoint, give it a few minutes of your time and… TA-DA!… a video ready to be uploaded to YouTube and/or any other video site.
NOT kidding…
This opens up a whole new venue and a whole new segment of people to consume your content.
A mighty 91% of internet users, to be exact. 91%!!!
(source)
Plus, YouTube is the second largest search engine in the world… and it’s OWNED by the “first largest”!
(as of July 2016; source)
So if you’re looking for a way for your content to be found (duh!), I have a great idea for ya… ^_^
Converting your blog post into a video is easier than you might ever guess.
How to Turn Blog Posts into Videos [Tutorial]
First, let me start with a video to show you how it’s done.
You’ll also find the step-by-step directions below the video.
SIDE NOTE: I used Office 2016 for Mac in the video below. If you are working with a different Office version, look for similar functions in your specific software.
Below are step-by-step instructions on how to turn a blog post into a video.
And by the way…
STEP 1: Copy and paste your blog post into a Word document
Some ‘good-to-knows’:
Include the title.
Even though you can use your blog post as is, editing it for size is a smart thing to do.
Each paragraph in your Word doc will become its own PowerPoint slide. Thus, the shorter your paragraphs are the better. One-sentence paragraphs work best.
Avoid inserting additional spaces between paragraphs; they’ll turn into blank slides in your PowerPoint presentation.
STEP 2: Save your document as…
Now that your blog post is short and sweet, you need to save it as
- a text file (.txt) if you are working on Mac;
- a Word doc if you are a Windows users.
Yes, this is important, trust me – or else your document might not properly import into PowerPoint.
PRO TIP: If you use Word Outline feature to format your blog post, PowerPoint will import all the heading styles from your Word document.
For example, each paragraph that is formatted with the Heading 1 style becomes the title of a new slide, and each Heading 2 becomes the first level of text.
If you choose to go that route, make sure to save your doc as a Rich Text Format (.rtf) file.
STEP 3: Import your saved file into PowerPoint
From your presentation Home Tab, go to New Slide, then Outline.
You can also go to Insert => Slides from… => Outline.
Once you select your saved file, sit back and watch your blog post magically transform into a PowerPoint presentation!…
Troubleshooting tips:
If each paragraph/heading in your Word doc doesn’t become its own PowerPoint slide, you might need to go back and save the document in a different format – as a text file if you saved it in a word doc or vice versa.
If you have blank slides between text slides, you might’ve added blank spaces between your paragraphs. Just delete the blank slides and remember to mind your spaces next time around.
STEP 4: Style your slides
Yes, you can go nuts here, but if time and skills are a concern, the one thing you should definitely do is to pick the best layout for your slides.
Here’s how:
- Click on any slide in the left-hand sidebar to select it.
- Go to Edit => Select All (or – even better – use ⌘A command on your Mac).
Now that all slides are selected, go to Layout and choose the one you wish to use.
Most of the times, Title Slide layout is the best one to go with, but then again, it depends on the template you are using.
PRO TIP
For all intents and purposes, your presentation is now ready to be turned into a video.
Of course, just because you could leave it at that, doesn’t mean you should.
‘Blah’ videos often drive ‘blah’ traffic.
Take a few more minutes to spruce up your slides and the potential to drive traffic will increase exponentially.
To do that, go through your presentation slide by slide and change it up a bit – apply different layouts, add images, or change font colors to emphasize key words and phrases.
STEP 5: Record your presentation as a video
Fire up your favorite screencast software (personally, I use Screenflow for that), go to Slide Show => Play from Start, then simply read the text as you move from slide to slide.
Don’t forget to add a strong Call to Action at the end – anything from buying your product or service, encouraging your viewers to join your email list, or simply sending them back to your blog to find out more!
Your blog post is ready to be uploaded to YouTube as a video.
See?… wasn’t that easy?…
How to Turn Blog Posts into GREAT Videos
The traffic hack above is a serious quickie to leverage your existing (and future!) blog posts to break the barriers that are holding you back from creating videos.
Now you too can…
- receive 41% more web traffic from search than non-users;
- see 27% higher click-through rates and 35% web-conversion rates;
- and grow revenue 49% faster than non-video users.
SWEET!
However, I’ll be honest with you…
BLAH videos drive BLAH traffic.
Yes, you can absolutely turn any blog post into a video in nibbles of your time. And those videos WILL drive traffic.
However, to get BIG bites of traffic, you’ll need to step up your game.
A couple of months ago, I set out on a quest to find a better way to turn blog posts into videos.
By “better” I mean:
- creating killer videos
- from scratch
- in minutes
- without any complicated editing software
- without a steep learning curve
- without paying someone thousands of dollars to do it for you.
Tall order, huh? No guts, no glory!
And… what do you know… unicorns do exist!
My video creating unicorn came in the form of Content Samurai.
You should DEFINITELY take a look at my Content Samurai review and tutorial – you just might be blown away by what it can do for YOUR business.
Plus, for those of you who are truly ready to finally claim your share of video traffic in your market, I have a gift: 50% discount on Content Samurai – for LIFE. ?
Bonus Tip: How to Turn Videos into Podcasts
This step is so simple that it’s a shame to ignore it.
Now that you’ve turned your blog post into a video and uploaded it to YouTube, you can easily download video audio track and use it as an additional way to drive traffic from sites like SoundCloud or any podcasting site.
All you do is go to ListenToYouTube.com, enter your YouTube video URL, and press Go.
This free service will quickly strip your video voice-over and turn it into an MP3 ready to be distributed to various podcast sites.
Marketing Takeaway
Day in and out, I tell my 9 year-old daughter, “The best time to do IT is right now.”
Whatever that IT is.
Do you feel like you’ve let your competitors dominate video marketing traffic in your niche for long enough?
Then the time to make video marketing your new best friend is NOW.
From Ana with ❤️,
Hi Ana,
This is Exellent Post about how to convert Blog post to video, now a days video are the best way for Blog marketing, thank you very much for your useful post.
Thanks so much, Prosanta.
Hi Anna,
Thanks for this wonderful tutorial, I’d long wanted to convert my blog posts into videos but never got to know which tool or software works best but you’ve brought up this post very well.
I would try this and see how well it works.
Thanks once more.
You are so very welcome and all the best with it!
Hello;
Thanks for this idea, i just started video marketing, lets see how it turns out
You are so very welcome; hope it works just as well for you as it does for me.
This article was very helpful. I am just starting to blog and turning it into a video in a short time is ideal. Thanks
Happy to help!
Wohooo Thanks for the post. Next time will surely use this hack. Quite a unique post for traffic generation for your blog.
? , Vivek.
Hi Ana,
Wow!
This article if very informative and all the tips will be really helpful the next time I’m going to make a video marketing.
You have explained it in a simple and easy to understand step by step tutorial!
Thank you!
Happy to be of help, Kristine.
Ana you make it very simple love the steps actually you explained it in really simple way to do. I am happy to here on your blog and will be coming back now on continuous basis.
Honored, Hammad – thank you.
Hi Ana,
What you’ve just shared here is a million $ worth of information. I’ve been trying to join the league of video marketers but like you rightly said…I keep thinking about a lot of the obstacles rather than focusing on solutions.
And this one you just shared here is unarguably the perfect fit for me.
Tonight, It is me and MS office…though I still use office 2010. Hope that won’t be a thing?
Thanks Ana, this is useful.
Your Office version shouldn’t matter that much, Shamsudeen.
So… how did it go? I’d love to see your first video when it’s ready!
Hey Ana,
You have really gone to the great length to explain it. I really love these kind of step-by-step ‘how to’ articles. This tutorial really encourages to take actions immediately. I have converted my ppt presentations into videos before and posted them on youtube. but that’s it. I never converted my post into video. I better start doing it now.
It’s amazing what we can do with one piece of content, isn’t it, Vinita?…
Hope you do get to take this hack for a spin soon; let me know how it goes!
After reading this post some news ideas now floating in my mind.
I never thought video can be great source of huge traffic.
Thanks for open my eyes.
Thanks again for sharing this details.
Glad to hear this post sparked your interest in video marketing, Hamim.
hi anna,
Initially i came to your blog accidentally but after going through 3-4 articles on your site i feel like keeping all my work aside and just keep reading your articles and gaining more and more knowledge.thank u so much for all such rapid and easy tips and ideas.will be looking forward to read many more articles from you.
Welcome to Traffic Generation Café, Tarjani – honored you decided to stick around!
Wow! I never consider video marketing a traffic hack but with this tutorial you’ve really change my views. Ana, You the best!
Thumb up……
Hacking the notion that creating a video is difficult… that’s certainly a hack in my book! ?
Thanks for coming by, Helyz; happy you found this helpful.
Thanks Ana,
I’m a little nervous when it comes to having my voice on a recording, i tried doing this once before and ended up saying “basically” and “um” A LOT.
But with that percentage of traffic, I’m thinking I will just have to refine my craft a little more and get some practice.
I’ll let you know how i go.
Thanks again
I know EXACTLY what you mean, Heath. I’ve struggled with this for a long time myself; as a matter of fact, this was the primary reason I stayed away from video marketing altogether.
A simple but brilliant idea turned it all around: a script! I started writing scripts for every video and it worked like a charm. If you think about it, it doesn’t really take that much more extra time, considering how much time you are saving editing all the ‘ums’… 😉
You should definitely give it a shot. If you try Content Samurai, you’ll do even better since it records one sentence at a time by default. It’s almost too hard to mess up.
Hey Ana,
We need to take a post that we’ve written and extract the key points in bullet points in PowerPoint or Keynote. A template that we like that’s not too busy to give our presentation some flair. Source photos to add some visual element. If we are reviewing a product, it’s important that we include a shot of the product in question. We’ll be adding those photos inside our presentation. We have to sure of our opening slide refers to our brand.
Close presentation with our brand and with the URL we want people to visit. Open our screencapture program. And read out the screens we’ve created in a lively way. When we are done, convert that into a flash format that we can easy upload. Upload the video on our YouTube channel.
Make sure we add the URL that we want people to visit to our video description and make sure we added an interesting description. Grab the embedded code from YouTube and add that to our blog post and also add a bit of an introduction to the video. In this process i have converted many times a blog into a video, it also take less time in complete procedure. But i have learned many additional information by your post so thanks for sharing your thought with us.
With best wishes,
Amar kumar
Sounds like you’ve got the process down, Amar – actually very similar to what I do as well! ?
And you are so right, the more you do it, the easier it gets and the better your videos are.
Thanks for coming by!
Hi Ana,
Glad to be here again!
This is yet another informative piece.
Thanks for the amazing tips you shared with the video.
The step by step guide to a video is really amazing.
The statistics presented shows that The video is here to stay!
Good to know more on this line in the upcoming posts.
May you have a wonderful October ahead
Best
~ Philip
Welcome back, Philip!
Video marketing is definitely the right move for ANY business.
Awesome Article !!! Now a days many people are targeting video marketing and getting huge engagement. I was also focusing on video marketing itself. This Awesome tips by you even made my work easier. Really great way to convert the blog post into a video with the help of software. Thanks for the share 🙂
You are very welcome, Gaurav.
Ana my wife does this with almost every blog post. It does help a ton. I admit that I have been lazy but will take you advice and do it for myself as well. Thank you once again for your amazing tips.
Love the man who puts his action to where his mouth is, Randy!
Great job on the video (https://steemit.com/panama/@hilarski/panama-cost-of-living – for anyone who wants to see how Randy’s done) – I thought it was perfect length, engaging, and informative. I’d definitely click on that link if I were considering to move to Panama! 😉
Hey Anna,
This is awesome and I thank you for this amazing tutorial. I’ve learned a lot here and appreciate it. Video and podcasts are becoming so popular I can’t keep up lol.
Whenever I do a video, I do get more information in there as opposed to writing a blog. Plus, the social media is giving more attention to video than anything we write these days so why the heck not.
You have given me that little push I need to do this….right after I get my hair cut in a few days. I know I don’t have to be in front of the camera, but sometimes I like to do that for the KLT factor. Whenever I did a video blog, I did have more success with my face talking to people as opposed to my screen shares and such.
OK…off I go
-Donna
Nothing like a great haircut to push us to the new heights! ? ?
Video is definitely a much better way to drive your point across, so as you very well put it ‘why the heck not’! ?
Send me the link to your next video, please; would love to take a look.
Hi Ana…
This is actually an interesting post about making videos. It is true that maximum visitors over 80% comes from videos According to a report from Cisco, by 2020. I learn many tips from your post. Thanks
Glad to hear it!
Great article, and well explained, thanks Ana. I’m always interested in discovering alternative methods, and to learn someone else’s perspective on something with which I may already be familiar.
I use Snagit11, so basically the same principle. I copy/paste my articles from Word to PowerPoint, use a generic “cover” page, so that I can edit the article title accordingly, then either narrate through the article/PP for an MP4 YouTube “slides” presentation, or just keep the title page and narrate through. It depends whether the listener will be more or less distracted or better informed by one method or the other; I like to mix it a bit.
As you know, the technique is not to sound like you’re reading off a page, and with experience and practice, this can be pretty much perfected. Getting used to speaking/recording my voice was my biggest challenge, and then listening to myself in playback the second biggest! The more you do, the easier it gets, and some will find their comfort zone more quickly than others; often it is one of those “just do it” things!
YouTube is something I need to gear up more as my channel is pretty new at the moment.
I love Snagit, but for some reason, mine records the voice-over fine, but shows black screen the entire video. I could probably try to figure out why, but since I have Screenflow… who has the time to deal with it?… 😉
I know exactly what you mean – voice-over has always been my most challenging part. As you said – practice makes perfect! That’s one of the reasons I love Content Samurai so much; it allows me to record one sentence at a time, thus taking the pressure off to sound perfect throughout the video.
Yes, need to look into Samurai, can’t argue with their prediction for 2017!
Ana,
This is an awesome tip! Nowadays, video and podcast are greta ways for marketing. As for me, I am always having issue with video because I’m not used to holding the d*mn camera in front of me!
Great one indeed!
I know EXACTLY what you mean, Reginald – video had never been my friend until I figured out I didn’t actually have to be on camera to make good videos. Plus now that I use Content Samurai… I actually DO make videos! 😉
Thanks so much for stopping by.
Another great one Ana – shared!
I’ve always shied away from video, I guess it’s time I stopped doing that…
Do you use a special microphone?
Thanks, Tim!
And no, no special equipment. I’ve actually experimented doing it with and without a mike, and personally, I liked the audio quality better without it. Just sounded more natural. Go figure!