So, getting a YouTube verified badge or improving your channel will definitely increase your chance of successful YouTube marketing.
Most people are afraid to use YouTube to promote their business. But you shouldn’t be and here’s why:
The most popular videos aren’t professional productions. In contrast, they’re just a girl or guy, that gets in front of a camera and talks about what he/she knows best. No expensive equipment required.
YouTube marketing means huge reach and immense possibilities for increasing awareness of your business, driving more traffic and engagement, and generating more leads.
In this blog post, we're going to show you why and how to use YouTube Marketing to promote your business.
Why YouTube?
YouTube isn’t really showing signs of slowing down, which makes things pretty clear: people of all ages, from all over the world, love watching videos online.
This, of course, is one of the biggest benefits from a promotional point of view: YouTube is where your audience is. A good YouTube strategy can help you reach more people and improve your results overall.
There so many popular YouTube Channels that you can get some ideas from. This way, you can improve your YouTube marketing.
Use YouTube to Market Your Business
Its reach is vast and global, as evidenced by the statistics:
1.3 billion people use YouTube.
300 hours of video are uploaded every minute.
5 billion videos are watched every day.
80 percent of people aged 18–49 watch YouTube.
The YouTube video platform continues to host videos for more and more businesses, but it's not for everyone. So, before you decide to include YouTube in your company's marketing strategy this year, consider a few of the pros and cons.
YouTube Marketing Pros
Video marketing can fit just about any kind of business
YouTube is the second most popular online search engine
Video is considered the most engaging form of content
Keywords are less expensive to target customers vs. Google searches
YouTube Marketing Cons
No control over the type of ads that will run with your content
Limited customization and usability
YouTube Marketing to Promote Your Business
1. Create a YouTube strategy
YouTube can be more time-consuming than other social networks; after all, it’s one thing to write an update and create images versus consistently creating new video content. The good news is, it’s easier than ever – but before we get into video creation, let’s talk strategy first.
To start with, what do you want to achieve with YouTube and video marketing? What are your exact goals? For example:
Improving brand awareness and engagement
Generating more leads and conversions
Driving more traffic to your website
Improving sales
Knowing your objectives will help you create the right videos for your channel, videos that will achieve your goals.
2. Figure Out Your Format
There is no one right format for an effective marketing video. However, certain styles work best for certain niches. And some will resonate most with your audience.
So, check out the list below and give them a try to determine which works best for your business.
Talking head
Interview
Screenshare (in which you film what you’re doing on a computer screen)
How-to or tutorial
Explainer
Vlog (video blog)
Product review
If you have a bricks-and-mortar business, you could even upload TV commercial-style YouTube videos.
YouTube Marketing
3. Use tools to help you create video content
Video creation for business is more accessible than ever as there are numerous video marketing tools to help you create videos with stock footage, audio, and voice-overs.
You can now create pretty much any type of video you can think of, with a tool: animated video, live-action videos, and even stop motion videos.
There are several great options for tools, such as:
Slidely Promo, for live-action videos (i.e. using stock footage)
Wave, for live-action videos (you can easily create the same video for any social network, to help you repurpose your video content)
Vyond, for creating animated videos
4. Keywords
Keywords are related to what your video is about. If you’re selling dog training videos online, some keywords could be “dog training” or “obedience training,” for example. You put those keywords in your video title, the description, and tags.
In fact, having those keywords in place tells the search engine what the content of the video is and when people search for videos like yours, they’ll find them. Choosing the right keywords helps you in
Moreover, you can search for the most popular videos in your market. Then, copy the tags they have listed. This will increase the likelihood your video will be listed under “suggestions” when someone views that video.
5. Choose the Best Thumbnail Image
1. Go to My Account > My Videos > Edit
2. Select the thumbnail that will get you the most attention
YouTube for your business
6. Include Effective Calls to Action
The whole point of your YouTube videos is Getting More Views On YouTube. Then, they can take some sort of action that gets them closer to being your customer.
Usually, you don’t directly sell something on YouTube. Instead, you’re generating leads that you can market to on a continual basis.
In your video description, you should include a link to your website, blog, or landing page. You should also tell people what web address to visit at the end of your video. Wherever you send them, be sure you have a way to capture their contact information, like a web address.
Above all, these are some popular calls to action to use on YouTube:
Please rate this video.
Follow me on Twitter.
Find me on Facebook.
Subscribe to my videos.
Visit my blog for more great videos.
Embed this on your site.
Please post your comments.
Send this video to your friends.
Check out my channel.
Marketing on YouTube
7. Don’t forget about search engine optimization
When it comes to SEO, there are several factors you need to consider:
Your channel keywords: pick keywords that represent your business and your video content to help YouTube understand what your channel is about
Video headline and description: use relevant keywords in both your headline your video description – this too helps YouTube understand what your video is about
Video tags: like your channel keywords, you need to add relevant tags to each of the videos you post to ensure higher visibility
Watch time: the more time people spend watching your videos, the better your SEO. Basically, YouTube will promote videos that people watch for a longer time, rather than videos that are opened and closed quickly (it’s very likely assuming that those videos aren’t as good or they aren’t delivering on what they promised in the headline and description)
Engagement metrics: YouTube also cares about how much engagement (comments, likes/dislikes, shares) your videos are getting – the more, the better!
Subscriber numbers: YouTube does push bigger channels, but that’s not all; it also looks at how many new subscribers you get immediately after viewing one of your videos
8. Be Social
Remember that YouTube is a social network. That means you should have an active presence. When someone comments on one of your videos, chime in too and thank them. If somebody asks a question—answer it.
You should also comment on other people’s videos… you might find that those viewers come to check out your channel.
Moreover, another technique is to create playlists of videos on a similar theme or topic. You could include your videos, as well as those of others.
YouTube marketing tips
9. Promote Your Videos
Uploading videos to YouTube isn’t enough. You need to promote them. These are some ideas:
Embed your videos in your blog.
Email your YouTube link to your friends and contacts.
Ask people you know to tell their lists and contacts.
Write an article about your video and post it to article directories and forums.
Post your video to LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, and your other social networks.
ASK PEOPLE TO SHARE – When posting on social networks including “Please Retweet” or “Share this with your friends” really helps.
Conclusion
In short, if you want to put together a video marketing strategy that gets results, you should definitely consider YouTube marketing. It will help you reach a much wider audience, improve awareness, and generate more engagement, traffic, and leads.
Have you tried YouTube marketing yet?
