Since its launch in 2005, YouTube, a video sharing and social media site has become an indispensable marketing and advertising tool for businesses in every sector, of every size to market their products to customers and prospects. YouTube reach is massive and universal, as evidenced by the current statistics:
• More than 1.3 billion individuals use YouTube.
• Six billion videos are watched every day.
• 80% of people aged between 18 and 49 years watch YouTube.
• Three hundred hours of videos are usually uploaded every minute.
Almost every kind of business can gain a lot from this channel, and this includes small offline businesses, online business, even consultants and freelancers who offer different services.
The cost of uploading a YouTube video is usually free, but in exchange, you will have to accept your videos to have some promotional content included. That might range from adverts for your competitor's services and products to promotions for items that don't agree with your marketing campaign, like an advert for PR services in a singing video.
Also, if you would like to customize your videos to have a page that shows the branding of your company so that it works with your business website, you are not lucky, because YouTube offers pretty little when it comes to customization.
Nonetheless, the reason a lot of businesses use YouTube advertising is that it’s incredibly effective. It’s not only a way to reach a pretty large audience but also one of the most cost-effective methods when it comes to online marketing channels.
Read on to understand how YouTube works, the benefits of using it in your business, tips for using it effectively in your business, and how to avoid potential pitfalls as well.
How YouTube works
In simple terms, YouTube refers to an online video hosting service that allows people to share their videos. Individuals and businesses use YouTube to find or share videos, including promotions, instructions, and entertainment. YouTube has increased since its introduction, and every minute individuals around the globe upload over 300 hours’ worth of video footages to YouTube.
According to statistics, the YouTube channel has the second largest search engine across the world after Google, the owners of YouTube. That means that people are continually looking for information utilizing YouTube and finding videos relating to all these topics.
YouTube is also the most popular video service, followed by other similar services like Vimeo, Flickr, and Facebook video. Just like any other social media channel, YouTube enables individuals around the globe to share, create content, and interact through online communities.
Due to its features and popularity, YouTube channel can be a beneficial marketing tool for businesses. You can use YouTube to promote and launch products, express the personality of your brand, provide customer service, monitor feedback, and assist your customers in spreading the word about your products and business.
YouTube offers a simple way for individuals to store videos online and also share them with other people. YouTube videos can cover any topic you would like to upload a video about. All these videos are pretty easy to share through other forms of social media, websites, and email, and you can also embed it on other websites.
Alongside each video on YouTube channel is a list of various 'suggested videos.' These are videos that the search engine of YouTube calculates are more likely to interest individuals who watch the specific video you’re watching.
YouTube channel encourages viewers to store videos to watch later, to share videos they like and to express their opinions of the videos they watch. You can share a video privately with selected individuals, or make it publicly available to everybody.
Take a look at a viral marketing video we created for BodyMe:
YouTube Analytics
If you are considering using YouTube in advertising your business, you should understand YouTube Analytics first. YouTube Analytics refers to a self-service reporting and analytics tool.
It offers data about every video you upload on the channel, so you can effortlessly track the number of views it gets, what kind of people are watching it and where these people are coming from to discover it.
YouTube Analytics offers you information about:
• The first time your video is embedded in any other website, the first referral from related videos, and the first referrals from YouTube searches, including the terms used in the search.
• The number of views originating each referral source
• The age groups and gender the videos are most popular with
• The ratings and how many comments it has received
• which countries your video is most famous in.
YouTube marketing
You can set up a YouTube channel for your company, bringing all your videos together. That allows you to customize your channel with relevant images representing your company. Your channel incorporates an 'About' segment where you can give a short description of your firm and a link to your contact details or website.
Your channel will consist of a web address that you can advertise on your marketing material or website. Individuals can subscribe to your channel, which means once they log in to YouTube, all your videos will get listed on their homepage.
You can also develop 'playlists' in your YouTube channel to organize your videos by type or subject. YouTube includes features that allow businesses to promote their videos to individuals who may be interested in them, targeting prospects and customers by topics, interests, and demographics.
Advertisers pay every time a person views their videos. You can select which locations your advert will appear in, the format it will be, as well as how much you intend to pay per view especially if you want to boost the popularity of your advert over your competitors.
Benefits of YouTube for business advertising
YouTube has a wide range of uses and benefits for businesses that can complement those provided by other communication channels. With a large audience spending a lot of time on YouTube, it’s no wonder that the channel is becoming one of the most preferred places to advertise for most businesses.
From easily accessible facts to a proven influence on consumer’s purchasing behavior, discover these reasons why your business could benefit from YouTube marketing.
• YouTube allows businesses to demonstrate products
YouTube allows businesses to showcase their products and services in action. That is particularly beneficial for establishments with limited physical distribution outlets, including those who focus on selling over the internet.
Companies that use YouTube channel to allow customers and prospects to see their products in action before making purchases include theme parks, theatre companies, and toy manufacturers.
• YouTube saves you bandwidth
YouTube allows you to embed video content on your business website without increasing the bandwidth of your site. That means you can include videos on your company website without slowing down the download speeds of your customers.
• YouTube leverages promotions or events
YouTube provides you with the ability to revisit past successful events by offering video footages of them to individuals who did not attend the event or for people who want to remember what happened there.
If you run events such as a seminar for a consulting company or author talks in bookshops you can share the event’s highlights through YouTube channel, as long as you get permission from the author or company in question.
• YouTube help you create a community
Establishments which are part of a community or those that have a following can use YouTube channel as a tool to share and also engage their customers. Specialty bicycle vendors and running shops are some of the businesses that share product launches, video blogs, customer footage, and event footage through videos.
• YouTube shows the personality of your brand
YouTube gives you a chance to add movement and color to your brand image. For instance, a beverage supplier can not only post footages of video tutorials and beverage tasting events, but they can also share the video footage from the point of origin of the ingredients of the beverage and interviews with the individuals who choose the different varieties they prefer.
• It demonstrates expertise
Some business owners use YouTube to boost their reputation as experts in a specific field. That might include uploading short video tips or video tutorials, as well as linking their content to other experts' videos that can relate to their field of interest.
• YouTube Solves customers' problems
Some businesses utilize YouTube to offer solutions to their customers’ problems. For instance, they usually post videos that demonstrate how to install and use their products, or 'screen capture' tutorials that show how you can use their software applications.
Videos can be a good way to help troubleshoot common problems or address frequently asked questions about your products. It’s better to be proactive about such problems by acknowledging them and showing customers how they can deal with it, instead of allowing the market do it for you and also criticize your products in the process.
You can also utilize YouTube to provide solutions to individuals who don't even know about your products yet. People post questions every day into search engines, asking how they can solve different problems. If your products solve some of the problem asked by customers, posting videos on YouTube channel demonstrating in action is an excellent way to bring your products to the attention of the individuals who need it.
Tips for using YouTube
A YouTube channel can be a useful tool for all types of businesses. The following tips will assist you in making the most of your YouTube channel in Bristol.
• Reinforce your brand
Some simple things like adding your logo at the beginning and end of every video ensure that individuals connect the video content with your business. It is also crucial to ensure that the style and tone you use on your YouTube channel is consistent with the image of your brand.
• Demonstrate don't tell
Videos are a great way of showing your services or products in action instead of telling. You can also post videos on your YouTube channel that demonstrate how a customer can get the most out of all your products.
For instance, bed and breakfast business can show a short tour of a local area, a fruit grower can demonstrate different peeling techniques, while a coffee supplier can post video tutorials on making the perfect brew.
• Always include a call to action
Most often watching a video might lead your customers to do things such as buying a product, give you feedback about your product, seek more information regarding your product or your business or even promote your company through their social media pages.
You can also incorporate a call to action in your YouTube channel, such as inviting people to rate your video, leave comments, subscribe to your videos, check out your channel to see other videos and share your videos.
Otherwise, your call to action can also direct people to your business website, or even ask them to phone you or call into your shop. For instance, you can encourage people to quote a certain promotion code to get a discounted or free service.
• Encourage video sharing
Each day, people share millions of YouTube videos through Twitter, Facebook, and other social media networks. Your brand will become popular when an online video or advert is shared rapidly by many people across the world.
• Manage customer feedback
YouTube channel is designed to be incredibly interactive, with people making comments and rating videos. This level of interactivity might be a real strength since it offers you direct client feedback, which you can easily then respond to.
You need to monitor the ratings and comments on your videos and also respond to them if necessary. If that is not possible, you should then turn off comments whenever you upload a YouTube video.
• Promote your clients
Some businesses utilize YouTube to provide videos of happy and satisfied customers. The videos show individuals using their products and testimonials from different users.
A video of a person talking about succeeding with your product or your business can be more powerful than written testimonials. For instance, a dress designer can post footage of a celebrity putting on one of their outfits at an on-screen event.
• Integrate the videos with other advertising
You can embed some videos on your business website so that your site can provide product tours, behind-the-scenes interviews, and 'how to' advice. YouTube enables you to add different videos to your blog or website as long as the embedding function is enabled by the owner of the video.
You can advertise your YouTube videos via your website, social media pages, or any other channels you use.
• Track the results of your YouTube channel
There are many ways to evaluate the benefit of your YouTube investment, including your effort and time, and even if you do not spend any cash. Google and YouTube provide tools to assess the use of your videos, and this includes profiling the individuals who view them as well.
If you add a call to action within your YouTube videos, it is also possible to monitor the impact of every video. For instance, you can add a promotional code which people can use to get a discount, and then track how many individuals use the code. Also, you can utilize internet analytics tools to know the amount of your website's traffic coming from your YouTube channel.
• Enhance your search engine optimization (SEO)
Including videos in your web content such as embedding videos in your business website can improve your weighting when it comes to Google's search engine. That means that people doing Google searches are more likely to locate your company website.
You can assist people in finding your videos by tagging them using keywords that people are more likely to utilize when they’re looking for the content you are offering. Think about the terms and words people can use in a browser search, and utilize these words as main keywords in your YouTube videos.
How to avoid pitfalls on your YouTube channel
Brands and individuals can now reach out to a lot of viewers across the world through a single YouTube video, which means there is a lot at stake involved. Committing even a slight mistake on the YouTube channel can easily translate to a misfortune of epic proportions. In general, using a YouTube channel is not without risks. Here is how you can avoid some of the common ones.
• Being too pushy
YouTube channel is one of the most effective and busiest marketing platforms nowadays. However, you should draw a line between a successful brand awareness promotion and being too pushy.
Nowadays, most adverts are too invasive, and using your YouTube channel solely for sales videos might drive people away. Avoid using YouTube for product placement only, or you will be wasting this important resource.
Remember that people log in to this channel to get entertaining content or consume informative content, and you cannot give them that if you only concentrate on pushing your services or products.
• Posting unwatchable video content
YouTube videos do not have to be polished since it lends itself to impulsiveness. But the quality of your videos should be high enough and audible to be watchable. One of the most common errors is making the videos too long. Ensure that you make your videos as tight as possible so that your audiences do not lose interest before getting to the essential bits, such as the call to action.
Once you upload a video, you can track data about how far individuals get into your videos before they can move to something else. If they are not getting to the end of the videos, you should make the next one more engaging and shorter. Checking how movie trailers work can help you plan a catchy and short video, which leaves viewers wanting more.
• Not communicating with all your viewers
There’s so much you can do on YouTube apart from sharing videos. YouTube channel is one of the ideal places over the internet you can connect with most of your viewers, mostly through the comments segment.
The comments part is your doorway to viewer engagement. Keep the conversations going by responding to everybody’s questions and thoughts in the comments, as well as responding right in your videos.
Even though you will get the usual trolls you get everywhere on the internet, you can learn a lot from the comments segment if you keep a good attitude and put it to good use.
To drive more traffic to your YouTube channel, you should give them enough reasons to explore your site. A good number of views will signify a high level of relevance that will, in turn, lure viewers into checking out your videos. If they love what they see, they will become your new fans and eventually subscribe to your YouTube channel.
• Losing sight of your goals
Every YouTube video you upload must have a goal related to your business. It can be encouraging your customers to purchase a certain product. It may be creating an emotional connection with your business brand or even resolving an issue that has emerged with your one of your products.
If you post YouTube videos without a clear objective in mind, you might risk confusing people or sending inconsistent content about your brand.
Conclusion
As a business owner, you have to always look for ways to get your services and products in front of many people without breaking the bank. Utilizing a YouTube channel for your business can be a successful and cost-effective way to develop it if utilized frequently as part of your promotion strategy.
Starting your YouTube channel is pretty easy and, when you are ready to upload your video content, you should properly optimize your videos. Ranking of YouTube videos is essential to give your videos the best exposure. There are also many ways to advertise your YouTube channel without paying for advertisements.
Video content is currently gaining popularity and more power as days go by. Many customers rely on video content from different businesses to make informed purchasing decisions; therefore, brands should adapt their video content to the rising demand.
Now that you have understood the advantages YouTube can have for your brand; I hope you will consider including it to your brand marketing strategy.
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