1. YouTube is a Tool.
When marketing on YouTube keep in mind that it’s just another tool in your social media arsenal. YouTube can be a very powerful audience building tool but it’s most likely not going to be the end destination that benefits your business or an income source in itself (through the YouTube partnership program).
All of your social platforms including YouTube should be interconnected by branding, links and content that makes sense for your business. They should also all support the main goals of your business and focus on the presentation of valuable content to your followers and customers.
Leverage YouTube as an audience builder for the valuable video content that you create and then motivate that same audience to take actions that benefit them and your business.
2. Make Content, not Ads
You will notice very quickly that traditional types of advertising do not work on YouTube. Even company intro or product demo videos don’t perform well unless they are done in a creative and engaging way. The Dollar Shave Club intro video is still one of my favorite examples of a company intro video done right.
When marketing on YouTube keep in mind that it’s just another tool in your social media arsenal. YouTube can be a very powerful audience building tool but it’s most likely not going to be the end destination that benefits your business or an income source in itself (through the YouTube partnership program).
All of your social platforms including YouTube should be interconnected by branding, links and content that makes sense for your business. They should also all support the main goals of your business and focus on the presentation of valuable content to your followers and customers.
Leverage YouTube as an audience builder for the valuable video content that you create and then motivate that same audience to take actions that benefit them and your business.
2. Make Content, not Ads
You will notice very quickly that traditional types of advertising do not work on YouTube. Even company intro or product demo videos don’t perform well unless they are done in a creative and engaging way. The Dollar Shave Club intro video is still one of my favorite examples of a company intro video done right.
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Obviously, we at USAREC, are not a company that exists to generate profit. However, the message remains the same. Content that is creative and engaging will always give you a leg up on other YouTube users. You don't need professional recording equipment or editing software either. Just grab your smartphone or camera and try to create something people will want to watch.
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3. Everyone Starts at Zero.
Many people attempting to utilize YouTube for business sign-up for a channel, throw up a few videos and get discouraged very quickly when they don’t get any views or subscribers. They often abandon the channel they were initially very excited to build. This is a very common and valid frustration.
Keep in mind that now more than ever it takes some time and patience to build your YouTube audience. Focus on creating the best quality and most valuable content you can for your audience.
Many people attempting to utilize YouTube for business sign-up for a channel, throw up a few videos and get discouraged very quickly when they don’t get any views or subscribers. They often abandon the channel they were initially very excited to build. This is a very common and valid frustration.
Keep in mind that now more than ever it takes some time and patience to build your YouTube audience. Focus on creating the best quality and most valuable content you can for your audience.
4. Design your Channel
a.Create a quality channel header that represents your company and what your content on the channel will be. Spend some money and hire a good graphic designer to do this for you. It is the only place you can graphically brand your channel and you want it to look amazing.
You can download a .PSD template of the header over at Howard Pinsky’s IceflowStudios blog to get started.
b. Create a channel trailer that will only show up for non-subscribers. This is a great way to introduce your channel in a fun and engaging way. At the end of the video, make sure to include a call to action asking the viewer to subscribe to your channel.
Example: GoPro's YouTube Channel
a.Create a quality channel header that represents your company and what your content on the channel will be. Spend some money and hire a good graphic designer to do this for you. It is the only place you can graphically brand your channel and you want it to look amazing.
You can download a .PSD template of the header over at Howard Pinsky’s IceflowStudios blog to get started.
b. Create a channel trailer that will only show up for non-subscribers. This is a great way to introduce your channel in a fun and engaging way. At the end of the video, make sure to include a call to action asking the viewer to subscribe to your channel.
Example: GoPro's YouTube Channel
5. Push People To Your Website (other social media accounts).
For most businesses, it doesn’t do much good if your YouTube subscribers only hang out at your channel. At first you may be focused on growing subscribers and views on YouTube, but at some point, there should be a focused effort to push people over to your other social media accounts.
6. Leverage YouTube Videos For SEO.
YouTube is the second largest search engine after Google and the two play really nicely together. In fact, it seems (although Google’s algorithm is top secret) that a YouTube video with proper meta data (tags, title, description etc.) has an easier time ranking high than just a blog post. Your YouTube listing will also appear with a thumbnail in Google which is very eye catching for someone searching through several results.
7. Call To Action.
I’ve broken this one off and saved it for the end, because of its of vital importance in leveraging YouTube for Business.
Possibly during, but always at the end of every video you upload, you need to have a clear call to action. You want your viewers to do something after they watch or you miss out on the main benefit of creating videos.
Remember that video content is a way to capture attention, hopefully entertain or inform, and build a relationship. You then can ask the viewer to do something reasonable that will benefit both of you. Maybe this is just to subscribe to your channel or go to your website for full details or more information. You can also ask a question or prompt the user to comment below regarding a certain topic discussed. You can even ask them to like the video or forward it to their friends.
For most businesses, it doesn’t do much good if your YouTube subscribers only hang out at your channel. At first you may be focused on growing subscribers and views on YouTube, but at some point, there should be a focused effort to push people over to your other social media accounts.
6. Leverage YouTube Videos For SEO.
YouTube is the second largest search engine after Google and the two play really nicely together. In fact, it seems (although Google’s algorithm is top secret) that a YouTube video with proper meta data (tags, title, description etc.) has an easier time ranking high than just a blog post. Your YouTube listing will also appear with a thumbnail in Google which is very eye catching for someone searching through several results.
7. Call To Action.
I’ve broken this one off and saved it for the end, because of its of vital importance in leveraging YouTube for Business.
Possibly during, but always at the end of every video you upload, you need to have a clear call to action. You want your viewers to do something after they watch or you miss out on the main benefit of creating videos.
Remember that video content is a way to capture attention, hopefully entertain or inform, and build a relationship. You then can ask the viewer to do something reasonable that will benefit both of you. Maybe this is just to subscribe to your channel or go to your website for full details or more information. You can also ask a question or prompt the user to comment below regarding a certain topic discussed. You can even ask them to like the video or forward it to their friends.