Why and How You Should Be Marketing on YouTube

Most of us are familiar with YouTube. Many know that it\’s actually the second largest search engine on the internet. But according to the Cisco Visual Networking Index (VNI) Complete Forecast by 2021, 80% of all internet traffic will be video. There will be 1.9 billion internet video users by 2021 watching 3 trillion minutes of video per month on top video hosting services like Youtube.

With those statistics in mind, if you\’re not already marketing your business on YouTube, you should be.

What are YouTube users looking for? If you look at top YouTube channels, you\’ll notice they all have one crucial thing in common – they all offer educational, compelling content for their viewers. YouTube fans are there to be entertained and to learn.

Yes, video can be used to create online courses. Yet for growing an audience and generating sales, it\’s important to create quality video content that educates. The following is a list of tips that can be used to help you gain more revenue, subscribers, and views.

10 Tips and Tricks to Successfully Market Your Business on YouTube

 1. Optimize Your YouTube Content

Yes, there are ways to optimize content on YouTube and you should so you don\’t miss out on traffic. YouTube videos often show up in search engine results pages (SERPS) meaning they have value in SEO marketing efforts.

Google search has a \”video\” category. How can you optimize your YouTube content to show up there? Ensure the following are optimized and utilized.

 

  • Titles and descriptions
  • Keywords
  • Active engagement
  • Category selection
  • Channel Description
  • Tags

2. Use Compelling Video Titles

The first thing search engines and visitors see of your videos are the titles. Aside from the content itself, it\’s the most important part. The tile must be magnetic and interesting, it can\’t just be a keyword. Titles that pique a visitor\’s curiosity are best. Remember why visitors are there. A video called \”Cactus Pancakes\” might not score a big hit. A video entitled \”How to Make Killer Cactus Pancakes\” might attract some interest.

3. Thumbnails are Important

Thumbnails are small, still image representations of your video. If you allow it, YouTube will select a random image from your video for this use but that might not be the best choice. If the video is about making your killer cactus pancakes, a still of the final pancake product would be a great selection. A random image of you talking, especially if you\’re making a funny face, might not be the way to draw visitor interest.

4. Include Ways to Contact You

Since YouTube is a third party service and not yours, don\’t allow it to be your visitors\’ last contact with you and your business. Make certain visitors can find you outside of the video hosting service. Include links to your website or blog, to email you, subscribe to your newsletter and find your products and services. Just remember your links must serve a specific purpose. Feel free to also include links so that visitors can use to learn more about a specific industry or niche. Just don\’t use spam links.

5. Use Email Marketing

Email marketing is an incredible dancing partner for video marketing. It can be used to promote your YouTube channel to those who are already brand-aware and it can be used to let your channel fans know about your new videos coming up. You might include one of your favorite videos in your next newsletter and tell your audience why it might be of great benefit to them.

There are so many options you have here.

  • Existing email lists can be used to let users know about the forthcoming content. One perk of subscribing could be that subscribers are the first to get notified of the new videos.
  • Link your newsletter subscription to your video as a lead magnet. You could even offer a second video as a freebie to subscribers.
  • You can use videos as lead magnets before you ever upload them to YouTube. Show them to your subscribers first as an incentive for subscribing to your list and staying there.
  • Include information about your playlists, groups of videos of similar topics together for the convenience of your viewers.
  • Calls to action can absolutely be used here. Invite your visitors to videos as resources you can use to help build your authenticity.

 6. Get Active in the Community

YouTube comes with a very large, active community made up of people who love videos. The more involved you are in this community, the more people will see your work and visit your channel. Commenting positively on videos you enjoy is a great way to provide value and engage the interest of others. Good promotion doesn\’t necessarily have to start on your channel.

7. Contests and Drawings

Contests, drawings, and giveaways are popularly used incentives to draw people to your content on YouTube. If someone has a channel where they talk about theories on their favorite television series, they hold giveaways where they will give away DVD copies of the show\’s first season or similar merchandise. There are many prizes you can use and many methods you can employ to choose winners at random. Entry can require that the visitor subscribe to your channel and enter to be eligible.

8. Weekly Video Series

Video series on YouTube frequently draw more attention than individual videos. It\’s a commitment to your visitors to create more of the content that they like and a great way to inspire subscriber loyalty. For many subjects, the more complex they are, the better suited they are for a video series format. Ideally, viewers like videos around two minutes in length though many are able to produce high numbers of subscribers with videos as long as ten to twenty minutes in length. If you decide on a video series, consider answering a question in each video. You\’ll keep visitors coming back and be able to be as detailed as you wish on your chosen topic.

9. Cross-Promote Your YouTube Channel

YouTube, at heart, is a social media platform. Cross-promote it on all of your other social media venues like Facebook, Google+, Instagram, Twitter, and more. Don\’t saturate your other platforms with promotions about your channel and be creative. Once you finally find the right balance, you can use this cross-promotion to significantly grow your audience.

10. Q & A Videos

Do you often get questions in the comments of your videos? Question and answer videos are a great way to have a conversation with your audience. Collect your questions and put them in convenient videos to give your viewers the answers to the questions they may have been asking.

In Conclusion

Now is the time to start promoting your business with YouTube if you aren\’t already. The platform comes with a huge audience and is tied directly to the largest search engine on the web – Google. Craft your video content carefully and spend time optimizing your content to get it properly indexed on the search engines.

Give some of the ideas on the above list a try, learn what works for you and your brand, and watch your audience grow.

Need help promoting your business on YouTube or anywhere else? Contact us today.

 

 

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