Ahh, YouTube. Land of funny cat videos and slime tutorials and that one video with the screaming goats you know you watch at 2am when you can’t sleep and giggle every. single. time.
It’s okay, you’re not alone. In fact, there are some 1.86 billion YouTube users, nearly 200 million of which are in the United States. That’s a lot of cat-video watching, but it’s also a lot of eyes on videos put out by brands just like yours.
Video marketing brings your business to life for consumers who are looking to be informed, entertained, and more.
And since YouTube is the leading platform for online videos in the U.S. (how does a 90% user share sound?), it’s all but imperative to include the ‘Tube in your marketing strategy.
How do businesses use YouTube?
Most businesses know that platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn are no-brainers when it comes to brand marketing. But YouTube falls right into the fifth place as the social channel most used by experienced marketers. It’s not all about uploading full-length commercials or paying for ad space either, though both approaches certainly have their place.
You can create and use YouTube videos to:
- Direct traffic to your website or blog
- Introduce and demonstrate products
- Share product reviews and testimonials
- Give consumers a behind-the-scenes look at the people, products, and places that make your brand special
- Announce and create buzz for events and promotions
- Showcase your brand’s personality and messaging
- Offer troubleshooting videos, how-tos, and guides
- Share user-generated content
- Post educational videos like weekly courses or webinars
How does YouTube help businesses reach their target audience?
Can you post and share videos outside of YouTube?
Sure.
But letting YouTube host your videos saves you bandwidth plus you get to take advantage of so many other perks.
First, YouTube is evergreen. A post on your Facebook page will slowly sink on your follower’s timelines until it’s obsolete, but that’s not the case on YouTube.
Secondly, YouTube’s parent company is Google, and that means it’s highly searchable. You can use keywords to lead your target audience to your videos. Once you’ve figured out who your target is (that’s part of your strategic marketing planning process) you can pick the right keywords for SEO purposes and put them in your video headline, description, and tags. Then, the more views and engagement your video gets, the more YouTube will promote it.
Incorporating YouTube into your overall video marketing strategy
An average of 100 hours of video are uploaded to YouTube every minute. That’s a massive amount of content. It might seem overwhelming — and it is, for a layperson.
Even if figuring out how to market via YouTube wasn’t a full-time job, making your YouTube efforts work with a wider video marketing strategy (and your marketing plan overall) definitely is. That’s why it’s crucial to trust your YouTube marketing to professionals who know how to make beautiful films that actually convert.
Contact our team to get you started on creating a custom video marketing strategy to take your marketing to the next level.
