How To Use YouTube To Market Your Business

When it comes to social media marketing, people generally think of the giants―Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.  YouTube is often thought of in a category all it’s own.  But YouTube is one of the most popular social media platforms there is and it’s one of the most popular search engines, coming in second only to Google.  

More than 1,300,000,000 people regularly use YouTube so if you want to reach people, YouTube is the perfect place to do it.

Where To Start  

Start by making a YouTube Channel, customizing it with your logo, color scheme, keywords, and tags.  Include a description of your brand as well as all your social media links so customers can find you everywhere.  In your YouTube company profile, you can add Featured Channels that your clients may find interesting.  This could provide further ways to promote your channel and your brand with others.  

Open a business account on Google.  It will give you access to analytics will allow you to view the habits of your audience on YouTube inkling how many people are viewing your videos, interaction rates, revenue, how long they watch the videos, as well as audience demographics.  The analytics data that will allow you to see if you’re hitting your target audience and how to make more effective videos.

Make Videos    

Make your videos look well-thought-out and professional but you don’t need to go out and purchase a bunch of expensive camera equipment.  Most cell phone cameras take great-looking video.  

Check out your competitors’ videos and take notes.  Look at number views and read the comments to get an idea of what works and what doesn’t before you begin making your videos.  Use the same tags that they’re using if they’re accurate for your video.  This increases your chances of being a suggested video when people view those videos.

Your videos should always remain true to your brand and message and should be 3 minutes or less in length.  

Your first video should be a short video that advertises what you do that is aimed at potential clients.  

Other ideas for videos: 

  • Brand videos
  • How-to videos
  • Interviews
  • Documentaries
  • Testimonials

Additions

Once you have a video, it still needs a little tweaking to get the most out of it.  Include a CTA (Call To Action) at the end of your videos that include the company’s name and website address.  Ask them to subscribe, like, and leave comments.  YouTube cards are small CTAs that show up in the video and expand when you click on them and can be effective in drawing people to your website to learn more.  Also, include YouTube’s watermarks which are “subscribe” buttons that only appear to people who haven’t subscribed to your channel yet.

Your video will need a thumbnail to go along with its title.  Thumbnails are crucial.  They say that you can’t judge a book by its cover, but don’t you?  When you’re browsing in a bookstore, it’s a book’s cover that compels you to pick it up and look at it, and that’s half the battle.  That’s what a thumbnail can do, compel a person to click.  A relevant and interesting title mixed with an attention-grabbing thumbnail will get you those clicks and views.

SEO

Like other search engines, Youtube uses keywords to search and find videos, and to get higher rankings, you need to utilize the same kinds of SEO practices that you would for Google. Be specific with video headlines and descriptions, video tags (for each video).  Your videos watch time, the amount of time that people are watching your videos without quickly closing them is good for SEO.  Youtube also looks at your subscriber numbers and engagement metrics which is how many likes/dislikes, comments, and shares your videos get. 

Get The Word Out

With more than 300 hours of video uploaded to YouTube every minute, you may think that finding yours might be like finding a needle in a haystack in the dark while you’re wearing a blindfold.  So it’s essential that you market your videos everywhere.  Promote them on your website, your blog, your email list, and all of your social media accounts.

Going Forward

Once you’ve gotten the hang of making videos, consider taking advantage of YouTube Live Stream.  Invite clients to “show up” for a live stream video where you show off a new product, run a live webinar, or do a product workshop.  Don’t forget to promote it on your website, in your blog, etc.

Just like you share your blog posts on a regular schedule, you should think of YouTube the same way.  New content is what will keep people coming back to your channel. 

A successful marketing plan is one that takes a multi-faceted approach by utilizing all forms of media and social media.  Incorporating YouTube videos into your plan will reach a much wider audience and you’ll quickly see why YouTube isn’t just for cute cat videos.