by Steve Baumgartner
It is free to create a YouTube channel, but that does not mean it is the easiest thing in the world to use it effectively for your business promotion. The main thing is still content, as it is with copy writing, but the visual impact can be much more dramatic so we are seeing a surge of corporate activity on YouTube. If you do it right you can generate interest in your products and/or services and perhaps increase revenues thereby.
How do you accomplish this, specifically? We begin to make specific examples of the general tips below, ones that relate to our particular firm:
- Content is still king: Nothing can take the place of quality content. If your notion is to have your video go viral and be shared, linked to and talked about, you have to make it share- and link-worthy.
- Multiply the effect: You will want to do everything possible to promote the video, and get your first group of recipients (of your promo e-mail, for example) to pass it along to a friend or coworker. This can cause the viral effect, where your audience increases geometrically.
- Replay interest: The video should make viewers want to see it again (and again and again, if possible) so give it some depth and value.
What kind of content?
Obviously, you want the content to reflect the strengths and desirability of whatever it is you are promoting. Many of the most successful viral videos are comedy, daredevil escapades and how-to infomercials. Think carefully about whether or not you should go any particular route (comedy, instructional, talking head) and, as always, remember that it is easier to talk about good content than create it.
It would be a good idea to see what your competitors are doing with YouTube, and take inspiration from the best of the bunch. Never plagiarize, and do not waste time looking for shortcuts or tricks. It will take less time to do it correctly from the start than try to maneuver and manipulate. There are no shortcuts and there are no magic bullets. There is just hard work and persistence (and a little bit of luck)!
Important elements
In marketing you need to tell the customer, site visitor or ad reader what it is you want them to do. This is referred to as the call to action. Think of a good TV commercial or print ad. There is usually no question what the advertiser wants you to do (buy!) and they tell you that directly, sometimes several times. Often a YouTube video will start and finish with this call to action, along with branding information (logos, etc.) and contact information. Voice overs should also emphasize the expectation on the viewer.
It is essential to promote the YouTube video in places other than YouTube, as well. You should be leveraging all of the top social networks. Toyota and other huge companies now use Facebook as a destination for sending ad viewers, as these pages can be customized in little time and offer more flexibility than corporate Web sites. You should send messages with Twitter, e-mail and all the other tools that link you to the world of people on the Internet. Therefore, you will want to post your links or embed the videos on all your different walls, your blog, MySpace, affiliate sites, directories and every other place you can think of.
Other tips
Some YouTube veterans say that the best time to upload and launch a video is on Friday or Sunday. Others argue for other days and even specific times of day. Do some research on this, and when you do start uploading, always track your results so you can get your own feel for when to launch. There are a lot of offers online to train you in YouTube promotion, some of which are free and some of which cost a pretty penny. It may be that you will get some value from these, but try all the free info first. If you do consider paying for expertise, get references and ask for specifics.
Like any online destination with search functions, YouTube rankings are the result of certain algorithms in which specific criteria can be very important. Here are some basic ways to optimize videos for better ranking:
The same tags and metadata that work for pages work for YouTube channels, of course, so this basic SEO task will help rank and index your video in search results. This is not 1996 and there are many other things to do besides adding tags, but there is still a good rationale for doing this today.
Google ranks YouTube videos, too, so an optimized channel can help you more than you might think. There are so many variables in a marketing campaign that even the best tracking and measuring may not reveal how things are working (not exactly, anyway). Keep at it, keep refining your methods, and you will get better at it over time. YouTube can really help!
About the Author:
INT Social Marketing is a full service social media intelligence firm providing Facebook, Twitter,
online video marketing and copywriting service solutions for all manner of clients.