7 Ideas for Your Next Wistia Channel
When we first set out to make our very own original video series, we knew it’d have to live on its own page — it needed context, copy, and even a little bit of design flair. We also knew we wanted to showcase all four episodes of the series in one place so that viewers could make their way through the content with ease.
We didn’t have a solution for this problem at the time, so we built something from scratch that would accommodate our needs. Today, we’re super pumped to have a feature that checks off all those boxes (plus a few more!) — Wistia Channels.
With our Channels feature, businesses can easily embed a sleek-looking collection of videos right on their site — not a third party’s.
Channels, however, aren’t just storage containers for your videos. Channels allow businesses to create a professional viewing experience with just a few simple clicks (and without a ton of developer time). Plus, it’s great for SEO! Videos that live within a Channel are optimized for search, so that means businesses can use Channels to help send more traffic back to their website, not to sites like YouTube.
“Channels aren’t just storage containers for your videos. They allow businesses to create a professional viewing experience with just a few simple clicks.”
Sounds pretty sweet, right? The best part is, it’s super easy to use. If you’re looking to level up your brand experience, read on to see how other companies are using Channels to showcase their video content!
1. Grouping relevant content
If you’re a content marketer, you’re probably familiar with the hub-and-spoke model. For those who are less familiar, this content strategy involves aggregating lots of in-depth blog posts on a single topic and then organizing them in one convenient (and consumable) location. It’s a great way to combine new and existing assets into a fresh piece of content that’s extremely useful for your audience.
Channels can work in a similiar way depending on your goals and the type of content you have to share. Check out this Channel we made that’s chock full of video production tips for beginners:
Channels help extend the life of your content and give you a chance to prove your expertise on topics related to your business. And when people discover a helpful Channel, chances are they’ll throw it a bookmark or share it with a friend!
“Channels help extend the life of your content and give you a chance to prove your expertise on topics related to your business.”
2. Showcasing an original series
Why not flex those creative muscles of yours with an original series? Now that creating video is more accessible than ever before and streaming is the norm, many brands are dipping their toes into episodic video content. Get ahead of this emerging trend by creating a series and showcasing it on a Channel!
When you launch your own series, of course, you want it to look great. Luckily, a Channel can help with that. Just check out 360Learning’s video series, Onboarding Joei. The 13-episode series followed Joei Chan, a new hire at the company, as she learned the ropes of her new role as 360Learning’s Director of Content.
Your Channel is more than just a landing page, however. It’s a way to create a brand within a brand. When working on major projects like a series, you want the work to be able to stand on its own. That way, you can reach new audiences and surprise your existing audience, opening the door for more ambitious and original work to come.
3. Presenting a podcast
Video podcasts are all the rage right now — and for good reason! Why make a video podcast, you ask? Well, for one, people like being able to look at someone while they’re talking. There’s just something special about being able to actually see someone speak, gesture, and emote. And when you combine the powers of both audio and visual mediums, something magical happens.
“When you combine the powers of both audio and visual mediums, something magical happens.”
Plus, creating a video version of your podcast is great for discoverability. It’s super easy to share a link to a video with a friend, and for folks who are covering more visual subjects, video helps communicate messages more effectively.
Take talkingsense, a podcast by 6Sense, for instance:
talkingsense is a collection of candid conversations with B2B trendsetters about predictive marketing and artificial intelligence, modern sales and revenue operations, and much more.
By taking a video podcast approach to their conversations, they leveled-up their audience’s experience to be even more engaging. Their viewers can listen with audio-only without missing any important details, but the video recording allows for folks to put a face to the name.
Throw in a looping video background, consistent thumbnails, a fancy font, and your brand colors, and you’ve got yourself a beautiful, can’t-stop-watching experience!
“When you have all your content in Wistia and it’s already in one project, clicking Make This a Channel and dialing in your branding takes no time at all. And the experience for the viewer is unmatched.”Justin Gutwein
Head of Studio6, 6Sense
4. Showing off a support gallery
Here at Wistia, we love a good support video. What we don’t love, however, are support videos that are unorganized, outdated, or hidden away. Creating a new support Channel is an opportunity to consider the role support plays in the customer journey and how you want to present that side of your company. You can also throw in delightful details that will make customers feel taken care of — it’s a win-win!
Placester’s customer support Channel is organized into three clear-cut categories filled with instructional videos. The information goes from broad to more narrow as you make your way down the page. These simple screencast videos help users do everything from embedding PDFs to formatting their content for mobile.
The intuitive navigation and clear headlines on this Channel make finding the right video easy-peasy:
A positive customer service experience is integral to building a lasting brand reputation. By organizing videos in an intuitive, human way that’s focused around customer questions, you’ll be super helpful to everyone!
5. Highlighting your services
Maybe you only have a few key videos for your business so far and are working on building a library; that doesn’t mean you can’t have an awesome Channel to promote your business or service.
As long as you build your Channel in a purposeful way, you can use the page for whatever you want — a collection of cat videos, for instance, or a series of important announcements from your CEO. Just remember to keep your content consistent, whether that’s with the topics you discuss, the values you express, or the people you feature.
“Remember to keep your content consistent, whether that’s with the topics you discuss, the values you express, or the people you feature.”
Nextiny, an inbound marketing and sales agency, uses their Channel to feature key videos about their business, from who they are and their ideal customer, to samples of the types of videos they create.
“We started thinking, how can we take our video content to the next level? And how can we use Channels to create these different experiences? Let’s create an academy experience with Channels. Let’s create an educational Channel. Let’s create a Channel for products. So our team started using Channels in a very creative way, and the possibilities are limitless.”Gabriel Marguglio
CEO, Nextiny
6. On-demand webinars and live events
Wistia Channels can also be the perfect home for your webinars and live events (after you go live). After you host a webinar, take your recordings and showcase them in a Channel! Why not make your content on-demand for folks who missed out on tuning in live?
When Wistia’s Head of Production, Chris Lavigne, hosted his own live stream week after week called (Out of) Office Hours, we uploaded each episode into a Wistia Channel for anyone to go back and watch! For anyone who needs help with remote video production, (Out of) Office Hours is the ultimate destination for the greatest tips and tricks.
7. Virtual conferences
When it comes to throwing a virtual event, make Wistia Channels the home base for your video or audio content.
Buffer, a software solution for building your audience and growing your brand on social media, partnered with us to pull off Buffer’s Built to Last audio conference, the first-ever audio conference for brand builders.
We brought marketers exclusive podcast episodes from folks behind some of the world’s most-loved brands like Recess, Red Antler, and Haus.
We took the concept of an in-person conference and delivered it as a podcast. Throughout the event, attendees received exclusive access to a private podcast feed where we released six episodes over the two-day conference. Each episode featured lessons and key insights that can be applied for crafting memorable content and campaigns that build engaged audiences. Once the conference was over, Built to Last attendees could replay episodes at any time after.
Get going with Channels
Dang, we’re feeling inspired! From podcasts to support galleries, the possibilities for Channels are endless. Create a product video home base, a customer testimonial page, webinar library, conference collection — the world is your oyster. When it comes to getting more eyes on your videos, it’s all about meeting your viewers where they are and presenting the information in a digestible way.
So, what are you waiting for? Give your audience the chance to engage more deeply with your brand by creating a beautiful, engaging viewing experience.
