Embedding Tweets and YouTube videos into blog posts is a strong combination of increasing visual appeal, while also making your blog the sticky epicenter of industry topics.

We’re constantly coming across brands who want their blog content to be more engaging. By now, you’ve probably heard that diverse content is important for your web presence, but actually creating a variety of assets for each specific blog post can be a challenge.

At Brafton, one way we tackle this is through embedding Tweets and YouTube videos into our clients’ text-based blog posts for additional richness. We’ve found it’s a strong combination of increasing visual appeal, while also making your blog the sticky epicenter of industry topics.

Here are four ways brands can incorporate mixed media, and the benefits that come with it:

Connect with other brands and thought leaders

A giant aspect of your online presence is interacting with others in your industry – it can be how you bring in new leaders, foster brand relationships and ultimately get more eyes on your site. Connecting on social media is the obvious go-to for meeting and conversing with customers, but bringing them back to your site can be a little more of a challenge.

Example: Any time Brafton attends a conference or tradeshow, we like to do a roundup of our favorite Tweets from the event. It’s a fun way to recap the event, connect virtually with people we met physically and share insights from marketers we respect directly on our blog.

Brafton Twitter Embed Example

Let your blog become an information hub

When a relevant industry topic is trending, adding some information-rich Tweets turns your blog into an information hub. This gives users an opportunity to see the best of the best, rather than having to scan through a trending topic online. (Added bonus: People are scanning through YOUR post instead of clicking around the world wide web.)

Example: Mashable rounded up some of the most humorous responses to a social media fail. It jumped on the topic as soon as it was trending, found the best of the best Tweets, and brought the conversation from Twitter onto its website instead.

Mashable Twitter Article Example

Showing is better than telling

If you’ve ever spent a paragraph explaining a video because you couldn’t just show the video, incorporating mixed media is the most sensible workaround. Through this, you’re allowing someone to get the full package directly on your blog – and you can focus your text on your points – not explanations.

Example: When our Director of Video Product Perry Leenhouts wanted to show firm examples of the various video types he was discussing, it made sense to incorporate the video examples directly. We embedded YouTube videos below each of his discussion points so readers could get a visual sense of exactly what he was referring to.

Brafton embedding Youtube example

Simply put – it’s visually appealing

Visuals have moved to the forefront of content marketing strategies and while we won’t say it’s impossible – your odds of capturing readers’ attention are far more difficult when they’re looking at large blocks of text.

Example: Allow us to poke fun at ourselves for a second. Here’s a throwback to Brafton.com back in 2010 – before we fully grasped just how important visuals were.

brafton no visuals 2

Brafton No Visuals

It’s time to embrace diverse media and give your readers the richest possible experience on your website. Don’t send them chasing links across the web to find examples that you can provide as part of a seamless on-site interaction.

Learn more about the benefits of having videos and visuals directly in your blog here:
Mint_Cursor
Molly Buccini is Brafton's community manager. She joined the team with a background in digital journalism and social media. She's a theatre nerd, pop culture junkie and lover of summertime.