There’s no doubt about how popular YouTube has become. It began as a site for crazy videos of cats and people falling over in hilarious ways but many business owners now use YouTube marketing effectively to build brand awareness and connect with key audiences. YouTube has fundamentally changed the way we watch TV and many young people will only watch YouTube, as it provides everything they need in one place and is often built into the latest smart TVs. Why bother scrolling through random channels, when you can search for specific things of interest and follow only the channels you are interested in.
Research
To get started creating regular videos, it is best to research what your competitors are doing on that platform and generally what the most popular videos are. The channels with the highest number of subscribers are often the ones of individuals with an explosive personality who talk directly to the camera via a smartphone. Some businesses may prefer this personal style but want to outsource to someone else to do, such as an influential blogger in your industry. This approach proves to the most engaging, as it is direct and comes across as honest and trusting. However, if this isn’t your style or skill then you could consider alternative ways of delivering your message.
A key factor with the style of the video should relate to the platforms and audiences it will be used for. For example, a professional video aimed at other businesses may be best shared on LinkedIn, whereas a similar video could be created for Facebook that is more fun and quirky. It is worth spending some time researching good video editing software that enables the effects, transitions and editing options you require to chop and change things. In some cases, a simple slideshow of images put to music can work well.
A useful website for market research is Tube Buddy. This allows you to research what people are searching for on YouTube so you can construct videos around the popular topics or trends. If you consider what keeps your viewers up at night, then you can reach them in the search results with your video. It is also worth searching using predictive search so you can see what the most popular searches are regarding your topic.
Consistency
It is good practice to have consistent branding throughout your media content. This means ensuring Brand, Mission and Medium are considered for each video. It is important to consider what your message is and what context it needs to be for each platform, with the relevant branding included. This could be using the logo as an overlay throughout the video or a logo and call to action displayed at the end of each one.
Topic
The topic of your video should be relevant to viewers and the title should appeal to their interests. However, with the lack of attention people have as they browse now, it is worth summing up what your video is about in the first 8 seconds. This is especially relevant if you create a video ad, where people are hovering over the ‘Skip Ad’ button, you can say something that strikes a chord immediately.
If you start by stating your topic and even answer the question you pose, then you can hook viewers’ attention. This isn’t easy but with more than minute of introduction, viewers will switch their attention elsewhere. If the video is uploaded direct to Facebook then it will show in followers’ news feed and auto-play, so it’s worth adding subtitles in some cases too to sum up straight away.
Although branding is important and should be consistent, you don’t necessarily need to have a 30 second or so introduction with logo at the beginning because this can put people off. In most cases, it’s best to go straight into the video content.
Be generous
A general rule with any social media platform would be to be generous with your content. If you give quality, then you are likely to be rewarded with views and shares. YouTube takes this a stage further after period too, where you can make money from your videos.
If you offer a service, then you could create videos based around your FAQs. Providing an answer to a question can lead to subscribers and appreciative comments. You could also break up your video into segments and have a hook to keep people interested and viewing. For example, stay tuned for an answer to this question coming up.
YouTube marketing can be extremely effective for your business and video bloggers in particular have done exceptionally well on this platform, as people tune in for true reality TV, real stories from real people. It takes a little research first to understand what style you will adopt and what other social media platforms the videos will be shared on. Then it’s a case of ensuring you are clear and concise with relevant calls to action mentioned throughout.
Jon