Introduction
Chapter 1:
Established in 2005, YouTube is one of the
first global social networks around, and its relevance continues to do nothing
but grow. The video content posted, viewed, and shared on YouTube can be
watched on desktops, laptops, notebooks and smartphones—any time of day or
night. YouTube attracts a larger ranger of demographics across all ages,
hobbies, interests, and careers than any other social media platform—and
YouTube videos can generate high search engine page rank. If that’s not enough,
the combined audio/visual makes content more memorable than plain written text.
The Numbers Speak for Themselves
As the demand for quality
video content increases, YouTube continues gain more subscribers. Below is a closer
look at some of the benefits to creating an organic video marketing strategy.
Worldwide, YouTube has over 1
billion users (yes, a billion) and a whopping 30 million of them watch videos
every day. An astounding 5 billion videos are viewed each day, totaling in over
500 million hours of daily viewing. Over 300,000 new videos are uploaded daily.
80% of people ages 18 to 49 regularly watch YouTube videos. Over 50% of YouTube
videos are viewed on mobile devices. The average mobile viewing session lasts 40
minutes, so there’s an amazing opportunity to connect with your audience there.
38% of users are female and 62% are male.
So clearly the general stats
and demographics are there and by themselves they warrant using YouTube as a
marketing channel, but the marketing-related stats are even more compelling.
Today, around 87% of online
marketers use video content. One-third of online activity is watching videos.
92% of mobile video viewers share the content they watch. When given the
choice, 59% of executives will choose video content over written articles. Video
drives a 157% increase in organic traffic from SERPs. The click thru rate
of emails with videos is 96% higher. Content retention increases from 10% to
95% when comparing video to text. Users spend 88% longer on websites with
video. Blog posts with video attract 3x more inbound links. Adding video to ads
increases engagement by 22%. And 85% of businesses have in-house staff who
curate video content, which shows you how important all your competitors think
video marketing is.
That
settles it. You obviously need to be marketing on YouTube. Next up, we’ll talk
about establishing YouTube marketing goals.
Chapter 2:
YouTube
Marketing Goals
Establishing
marketing goals is critical to the success of your YouTube marketing. Countless
entrepreneurs and businesses have setup an YouTube presence, made a few posts,
and then let it sit untouched for months or even years. This is usually due to
a lack or absence of goals.
So, before you even begin establishing any sort of
YouTube presence or strategy, you need to establish clear marketing goals.
Your goals should be specific, measurable, and
attainable. They can be long term, short term, or a mix of both. Deadlines and
milestones can be helpful as well. “I want to increase my social following”
would be an example of a bad goal that will likely result in your marketing
efforts petering out after a while because there are no specific milestones. “I
want to gain 1,000 likes by Christmas” is an example of a good goal. It’s
specific, measurable, and certainly attainable. Below are some examples of the
various goal categories you might be interested in.
Traffic to
Website (Sales, Leads, Content)
Probably
one of the most popular goals of YouTube
Marketing is to funnel your YouTube
traffic back to your own web properties. After all, most businesses
don’t do business “on” YouTube. You’re leveraging YouTube to obtain traffic and
convert that YouTube traffic into brand-followers, leads, prospects, and
customers. So maybe your goal is to get people to a landing page with a free
offer where they can subscribe to your list and become a lead. Maybe they’re
being sent to a sales page or an eCommerce store. Maybe you just want to do
some content marketing and send them to your blog. Whatever the case, the end
goal for a lot of businesses will likely be bringing YouTube traffic AWAY from
YouTube and over to their own web properties.
Social Following (aka YouTube
as Autoresponder)
In this goal category, your aim is to build a
large number of followers. The reason we also refer to this as “YouTube as
Autoresponder” is because the main sought-after benefit here is to increase the
number of people who will see your uploads in their feeds. In this sense, your
YouTube posts become similar to sending out email broadcasts via your
autoresponder. If you grow a large enough community, this can be very
beneficial and if your content is engaging enough to get a lot of traction in
the form of likes, comments, subscribes and shares, you can significantly
increase the range of your organic reach into people’s feeds.
Passive Presence
Some
businesses might have purely passive goals. Simply being present and
discoverable inside YouTube is a benefit that has wider appeal and greater utility
than you may think. In many cases, a company’s YouTube presence might supersede
or at least augment what was once the role of a blog, assuming most of your
content can be conveyed in the form of or attached to videos. When people come
across this content of yours and look at your account they can see some basic
info about your brand or business and you can get some traffic to your website.
This same approach can also be used for events, communities, and brands.
Brand Awareness
Another
goal that’s less thought about might be spreading brand awareness and
recognition. If you’re just starting out, there’s a good chance your brand
might be in need of a jumpstart. If nobody’s ever heard of you, a great way to
increase recognition is to simply create and share unique, helpful, or
entertaining content and get your name, logo, and overall brand identity in
front of as many people as possible as many times as possible. If this is your
goal, you want to avoid being salesy in the beginning. Ensure you’re focused
almost entirely on posting helpful, relevant, or entertaining content.
Expand Existing
Audiences
If you’ve already got an audience, your goal
might be to make it bigger. This can be done via several social marketing
methods. Sharing viral content, either curated or created yourself, can lead to
a huge increase in your YouTube
audience. Although creating your own viral content like that can be
great, if you don’t have the time or means to do so, you can simply leverage
existing content that’s already proven itself to be viral by
curating/re-sharing it with your own comments or angle added to it. Obviously,
you don’t want to actually steal and re-upload someone else’s videos. We’re
talking doing a little video review or commentary about a content piece. Also,
a few humorous videos can’t hurt either. Other ways to expand existing
audiences can include contests, sweepstakes, and gamification. Assuming your
offers/prizes are compelling enough, incentivized sharing, liking, and
subscribing can be very effective. Just ensure your methods are permitted by
YouTube’s Terms of Service.
Enhancing or
Repairing Public Relations
Do
you want to set your company apart in the public eye? Do you want to associate
your brand with feelings of good will and community involvement? Was your
business recently involved in a controversial incident that requires damage
control?
It
doesn’t take a humiliating public catastrophe to make PR enhancement a good
idea. This is a goal that any business can engage in. Non-sales related
campaigns can include videos that foster positive values and goodwill or even
involvement in social movements (be careful not alienate half your prospects)
and noble causes. Did your business recently donate to a charity, build a
school in a third world country, serve food at a local pantry? These are all
things to post about. These don’t necessarily need to be about things that your
business participated in. They can be content about general things like a
heart-warming video about helping the poor or caring for the elderly. Special
holidays like Christmas, Thanksgiving, or Mother’s Day also present
opportunities to leverage emotions, foster goodwill, and enhance your PR.
Market Research
A hugely beneficial goal of YouTube marketing
is market research. If you’re just starting your business or going down a new
path, YouTube can be an excellent place to learn more about your audience and
your market. This can be done in a structured way with things like mentioning
surveys and questionnaires at the end of videos and linking to them in the
description, or in a less structured way by simply engaging with your audience,
commenting, asking questions, and so on. Also, lurking or conversing in YouTube
channels or the comments of videos related to your industry can teach you a ton
about what your customers want and who they are. Beyond that, you can monitor
your competitors’ accounts and posts to see what their customers like and what
they’re complaining about so you can adjust your business accordingly. Creating
your own account, posting, and engaging within it is another great way to get a
constant stream of market/audience data flowing into your business. Ultimately,
your goal should be to come up with one or two ideal customer avatars that you can
then base your marketing and product development on.
All of the goals you’ve learned about in this
section require some sort of presence on YouTube. Getting that presence started
is what we’re going to talk about next.
Chapter 3:
Getting
Started On YouTube
The
first step in getting started on YouTube is to create your company Channel. If
you already have a company Channel, you can organically optimize your Channel
with the tips below.
In a perfect world, your
Channel name will be your business name. If your business name is already
taken, get as close to your business name as possible. For example, you could
abbreviate your name or add or delete identifiers such as “Inc.”
If the product or service you
are promoting is singular, or in a clear niche—try looking for a creative,
catching, and memorable Channel name. However, you must be forward thinking
when selecting your Channel name. For example, what if you expand your product
line? Would you have 2 separate Channels, or one cohesive Channel?
If appropriate, you could even
use your first and last name as your Channel name. Consider keywords, but
remember that keywords are in constant flux.
Currently, you can create up
to 50 Channels. But in most cases, it is more strategic (and time-efficient) to
have one Channel with lots of videos and playlists than several singular
Channels. But we will talk more about strategy in the next chapter.
Optimizing Your Images
If you are familiar with
optimizing blog post and website images prior
to uploading them to your website, the concept is the same. This is one of
those tiny details that many people underestimate, or simply don’t know
exists—but which can go a long way in organic YouTube and search engine
optimization.
The best way to optimize your
images is to use Google Trends or a paid keyword tool to identify the best
keywords. Then, name and save your YouTube profile pic and banner with the most
suitable keywords. Even if you are using your company logo, you must first name
and save it with your relevant keywords.
Even if you maintain the same
profile pick and banner, update them both with new keywords on a quarterly
basis.
Don’t Just Copy And Paste Your About Section
It is tempting to simply copy
and paste the About section of your website in YouTube and your other online
platforms, sales sites, and social media Channels. However, it is important to
write unique descriptions for each of your online descriptions. This minimizes
the amount of duplicate online content, but it also ensures you take the time
to write a unique description relevant to the purpose of each online profile.
For example, your YouTube description should touch on the value you plan to add
with your Channel.
Once you have written a few
unique sentences or paragraphs, take the time to add the About section links to
your website, other social platforms, and top trending news.
Chapter 4:
Content & Optimization
Strategy
Before you begin creating your
video content, you want to develop a video content strategy. Avoid the common
temptation to just post about your products and services, and consider how you
can create relevant video playlists which will meet a wide range of your target
audience’s needs. Yes, this can include sales—but it’s time to think outside
the box. Posting just a handful of relevant and high-quality videos is always
better than posting a high volume of useless videos. Use any combination of the
ideas below as inspiration as content your customers will engage with.
Start with your FAQs
An excellent place to begin is
to take a look at your customers most frequently asked questions. This can
include industry questions and product questions alike. Answer the questions
via a video or video series, and drive instant engagement.
Educational or Instructional
Educational and instructional
“How To” videos are another popular choice. Here are a few examples:
·
Does your product require
assembly? Great create a step-by-step video of how to put it together.
·
Do you sell a digital product?
Create a video of the screen shots for performing common (or advanced)
functions using your software or app.
·
Do you sell a tool that can be
used for a versatile range of functions? Create a video highlighting its most
common features. For example, a makeup demo.
·
Is there an adjacent software,
product, or tool your customers use? Create a video on how to integrate with
your product.
You can even create videos
that you can use to train your team—and post them online in an invitation-only
video playlist.
Client Testimonials
Your passionate and happy
customers are often eager to share their great experience with others. The next
time you receive a raving online review or direct email, ask the customer if
they would be willing to record a client testimonial. And yes, it’s ok to
incentivize them for their time.
Live Stream an Event
If you have an upcoming live
event, fundraiser, speech, product demo, or convention—take a few minutes to
record the event and upload it to your YouTube Channel.
Interviews and Team Profiles
One of the ways to connect and
engage in our current digital world is to do an online interview or video
profile. This can be short and sweet and answer a few questions. The goal is to
make you and your team feel human and relatable. Also, take advantage of the
opportunity to interview industry innovators you come across—and post the video
to YouTube.
Mini-Commercials
Most small or mid-sized
businesses do not have the budget to produce and place a TV commercial for
local or nationwide placement, which makes YouTube videos the ideal
alternative. In most cases, it is still best to have an online video expert
produce and create your mini-commercial—including professional audio,
voiceover, scripts, graphics, and editing. However, the price will be far more
cost-effective than a commercial designed for TV. That being said, you can turn
to DIY video tools to create white board videos, videos from images, or to edit
the footage you shoot. Some of the best DIY video tools include:
· Nutshell
· Magisto
· Animoto
· Videoshop
· iMovie App
· iMovie for
Macs
Videos That Support Your Content
As mentioned in the statistics
in Chapter 1, when given the choice 59% of executives would rather watch a 30
to 120 second video—opposed to reading a blog post, article, or email. Also,
email marketing campaigns with videos have a 96% higher email open rate. This
means you should look for ways to create image, text, and white board videos
that support your written content. The DIY tools above will help, or outsource
to a video designer.
Share Your Story
Don’t discount the value of
sharing engaging content designed to share your company’s story, or a story
that will emotionally connect with your subscribers. For example, think of all
the viral animal and baby videos that trend on YouTube. While babies and pets
may not be relevant to your target audience, actively look for other ways to
share stories that will brand your business in a positive light.
Mapping Out Your Video Content Plan
Use the video categories above
to break your video content up in to relevant playlists, and map out how many
videos you want to create each quarter. Your organic, and your paid, video
marketing plan must be integrated with your entire online and social media
marketing plan. For example, after your video goes live you can add it to an
upcoming blog post—as well as sharing it to your other social media platforms.
Posting Videos Outside of YouTube
One of the unique things about
video content, is that unlike blogs and articles—you can post the same video in
multiple places online. Look for every opportunity to post your relevant
videos, and remember that you can share them more than once. For example, if
your “How To” video is a hit on Facebook—post it again in a week or two. This
will help increase views, likes, comments and shares. Here are just a few
places to post your videos:
·
Facebook, Twitter, Instagram,
Snapchat, LinkedIn, etc.
· Within
articles and blog posts.
· Within
relevant paid ads.
· Upload
to relevant email marketing campaigns.
· Add
to one-off relevant emails.
· Add
to your newsletter.
· To
relevant website pages.
·
To the video section of your website.
Even if you have the option to
add a video independently from the source file and not just from YouTube—upload
the YouTube link. This will help to create more backlinks, and send more
traffic back to your YouTube Channel.
Organically
Optimizing Your YouTube Videos
Before you upload a new video
to YouTube, you must make sure it is organically optimized. This is similar to
optimizing your profile image and banner as detailed earlier, but a bit more
in-depth.
Rename Your Video File
Before you upload your new
video to YouTube, create an SEO optimized filename. Use Google Trends or a paid
keyword tool to name and save your video with relevant keywords. For example,
you may be tempted to name your videos chronologically—but “The Perfect Smokey
Eye” is a better name than “Makeup Tutorial #12.”
Input All Metadata
If you are familiar with
filling out the metadata for your webpages and blog posts, it is somewhat
similar within YouTube.
Title—your title needs to include
the question and/or relevant keywords viewers will type in to YouTube when
searching for the information your video provides. The more specific the
better, just make sure your video name makes sense.
Description—Utilize the video description
to highlight the key points within your video. While the description can be up
to 5,000 characters—the first 160 characters (with spaces) is all that
populates in search results. In other words, make sure there is a keyword or
two in the first 160 characters. And don’t forget to invite your viewers to
subscribe to your Channel!
Captions
and Subtitles—search
engines can’t crawl for videos, but they can
crawl and index your captions and subtitles so make sure they are SEO
optimized.
Tags
and Categories—filling
out the related tags and categories is just one more way to get your videos
showing up organically in YouTube’s search results and Up Next section.
Customize Your Video Thumbnail—add
an optimized thumbnail to your videos as an often underutilized organic method
of SEO.
Don’t
Forget to Add Links—be
sure to add relevant external links to your video description. While you will
certainly want to link back to your website, sales site, or other social media
platforms—your organic performance will improve if you find quality links that
are relevant to your video. For example, link back to the official source of
your statistics.
Where many B2B and B2C
marketers fail, is in uploading videos to YouTube without organically optimizing their files and metadata—and without
a plan for posting their video content elsewhere. With the strategic approach
above, and a steady stream of new videos, your subscription base and YouTube
video views is sure to grow!