Study from Performics showing that informational "how to" search queries are more likely to return embedded video results, and that these embedded videos are not made by big brands. Performics' research proved that to achieve more prominent video visibility on universal search results, brands should focus on creating videos that respond to informational queries.

1. cmo briefing
performics.com • blog.performics.com • @performics
Untapped Market & Easy Wins:
Leverage Informational Video to Capture Demand,
Deliver Experiences in Sight & Sound
September 2011
what it is
Strategic content development
why you should c are
Significant demand for
informational “how to” content
c hannels impacted
Paid, owned, earned
MoST brandS focuS their search market-
ing attention on keywords that are closest to a
sale or conversion. But what about information-
al keywords? Everyday, MILLIONS of searchers
ask Google questions like “how to tie a tie,” “how
to set up a printer” and “how to make an om-
elet.” Brands have the opportunity to respond to
these informational queries by providing helpful
content to searchers, instead of a hard-sell mes-
sage. This content enables brands to connect—
and start building relationships—with searchers.
Your participants are less likely to consider your
7
advertising as manipulation if you give them a
fair trade: provide them with helpful content,
and they’re more open to your message. 1.5 MILLION queries per month for “How to Tie a Tie” on Google!
This video (which is not from a retail brand) has over
InforMaTIonal querIeS are highest in engagement. Video thus boosts branding met-
volume, but have a different expectation from a rics such as awareness, perception, consider-
searcher in terms of their intent. Demonstrative ation and brand loyalty — and it’s more likely to
video content is often a great response to their be shared via social media than any other type M
information needs. For instance, every month, of content on the Internet. views
Google receives 1.5 million “how to tie a tie”
queries. And the easiest way to teach a person Video also proVides potential impacts to:
is to show them, right? A brand that sells ties
could therefore create a search-optimized “How • Natural search results (universal listings in Google and Bing)
to Tie a Tie” video. That brand would be provid- • Local search results
ing searchers with valuable content in the right • Social media (Facebook, Twitter and YouTube)
place at the right time and a solid touchpoint of
Surprisingly, large brands rarely employ informational video search
strategies, giving first-mover advantage to brands that jump in now!

2. cmo briefing
performics.com • blog.performics.com • @performics
Performics’ hypothesis put to the test:
Informational Search Queries More Likely to Display Video
In a Universal Search Result
Google and bing will often display videos in unpaid search results — but how can
advertisers get their videos to cross over? Performics hypothesized that infor-
mational search queries were more likely to generate embedded video results
than transactional or brand queries. We also hypothesized that most embedded
video results for informational queries did not come from large brands.
To prove These hypoTheses, we conducTed a search experimenT.
FirsT, we creaTed Three corresponding keyword lisTs:
1 Informational Keywords: This list included “how to” keywords, as well as informational variations
like “writing a resume,” “drywall installation,” “brewing beer at home,” and “DIY greenhouse”
Generic Transactional
Keywords: This list cor-
responded to the infor-
2 mational keywords (i.e.
“how to knit” corre-
sponded to “yarn,” and
“building a deck” corre-
sponded to “skill saws”)
3 brand Keywords: This
list corresponded to the informational keywords and the transactional keywords (i.e. “how
to tie a tie” corresponded to “ties” which corresponded to “Brooks Brothers”)
each keyword lisT
conTained 100 Terms.
we Then queried each
keyword1 on google
and ToTaled The number
oF FirsT-page embedded
video resulTs For
each query.
Queries were conducted the week of Aug. 21, 2011 from our headquarters in Chicago, IL.
1

3. cmo briefing
performics.com • blog.performics.com • @performics
findings
165
}
Informational keywords generated a total of
Generic transactional keywords generated only 13 embedded first-page videos
Brand keywords generated only
20
tHUs
Informational queries were
times more likely to deliver embedded
12.7
first-page videos than transactional queries
And
8.25 times more likely to deliver embedded
first-page videos than brand queries
To validaTe our hypoThesis ThaT big brands weren’T The ones creaTing The
inFormaTional videos, we Then deTermined The source oF each embedded video:
of the 165 videos generated by informational queries, of THe vIdeoS Produced by brandS, MoST
ONLY 23% came from brands Were SMall and noT Well-KnoWn
(THE ONLY LArGE BrAND VIDEOS THAT rANkED
50% came from content providers (like eHow) FOr INFOrMATIONAL QuErIES CAME FrOM THE
28% were user-generated HOME DEpOT, GILLETTE, LOwE’S, COLEMAN, BETTY
CrOCkEr, DELL AND rOSETTA STONE)
WHAT TO DO ABOUT IT
Our experiment proved that to achieve more prominent video visibility on universal search results,
brands should focus on creating videos that respond to informational queries. Moreover, the oppor-
tunity is worth the effort. Searchers are clearly seeking informational video, proven by YouTube query
volume. For instance, YouTube receives 295,000 search queries per month for “how to kiss,” 92,000
for “how to tie a tie,” and 13,500 for “how to lose belly fat.”
informational videos by large brands have failed
to rank because these brands have either
1. not made informational video or
2. not optimized this content for search.

4. cmo briefing
performics.com • blog.performics.com • @performics
EmbracE thE following stratEgiEs around informational vidEo
to amplify your mEssagE in sEarch:
Get Creative with Video
Some informational queries lend themselves well to video from brands—like a video by Gillette
that ranks for “how to shave. Other times, brands must be more creative—like a breath mint brand creat-
”
ing a video for “how to kiss” or a generator company creating a video for “survive a zombie attack” (which
gets 5,400 Google search queries per month). Think about any and all “how to” queries that your
brand can respond to and that relate to your brand storytelling.
performics can help you with keyword research and strategy.
Be Discreet
Feature your products/services in the video, but remember
that your video’s goal should be to help searchers with a
need that relates to your brand.
Pull Your Video Out of Flash
Once you have an informational video, search engines need
to index it. Don’t embed the video in Flash on your site; give it a unique, spider-friendly urL.
Optimize the tags and content around the video to rank for your “how to do X” keyword. Also
consider posting the video on a highly trafficked page on your site.
Distribute Your Video
post it on your site first, but be sure to syndicate your video to sharing sites like YouTube.
This increases the likelihood that Google will spider your video (and rank it higher). Don’t forget
to optimize the title and description field wherever you post it.
Promote Your Video via Social
Google is increasingly using social signals to influence rank. Consider promoting your video
via Facebook and Twitter to increase video views. Google may use the number of views as a
socially-influenced ranking factor, giving you better “earned” media attraction.
Don’t Forget Paid Media
Bid on “how to” keywords and promote your video in paid search to gain more prominent visibility
and drive views. In addition, there are other advertising opportunities such as video embedded in
rich media display, and YouTube promoted Videos.
InformatIonal vIdeo content Is kIng when It comes to demand and engagement. large brands
have a dIstInct advantage over amateur and small brands In creatIng hIgh qualIty vIdeo content.
It’s time for you to incorporate informational video
strategies into your marketing program to amplify
your message and interact with participants!