Founded by Jawed Karim, Steve Chen, and Chad Hurley, YouTube was created February 14th, 2005. The group was employed by PayPal at the time. By April 2005, the platform was open to the public, allowing anyone to upload videos. The very first publicly uploaded video, entitled “Me at The Zoo” went live April 23rd, 2005. By July 2006, the website had grown exponentially and was hosting 65,000 video uploads and garnering around 100 million video views per day. A young 6-year-old kid earned $11 million in 2017 with his Ryan ToysReview segment.
Since 2017, the number of content creators using YouTube to make at least five figures was up by 35% and those earning six figures was up 40%, most from advertising related endeavors. Today, there are many YouTube stars who make millions of dollars off their YouTube content, which brings us to the topic at hand. How can you take what these ultra-successful YouTubers have done and incorporate their YouTube strategies into your business content marketing strategy? Learn the answer below:
How to Use YouTube Strategically to Increase Your Brand’s Reach and Bottom Line
Create and Build Your Brand’s YouTube Channel
Everything about your brand’s YouTube channel should communicate what makes your business unique. Tell your story. Customize the banner, place your logo on the channel icon and incorporate social media handles. Take advantage of the “about” section and write a brief but powerful summary of your brand. Remember, anything and everything written or promoted on your YouTube channel should reflect your brand’s voice and showcase the heart and soul of your brand to new or returning customers. Don’t forget to add calls to action as well, driving traffic back to your company’s website. Also, it’s a good idea to categorize the videos you post so visitors can easily find what they are looking for within your broader channel. For example, categories could include, behind the scenes, reviews, webinars, etc.
Regularly Create and Add Compelling Videos
It’s not enough to have a YouTube channel, when the last time you produced a new video was three years prior. If your channel is stagnant, it’s not really helping you. Instead, make sure you are regularly producing and posting valuable videos to you channel. Prompt customers to provide videos showcasing their experience with your brand. You can even build a separate channel designed primarily for interaction with your audience. Think outside the box, when creating videos, every entry doesn’t have to be from someone on your staff. You can ask professionals who are experts within your field for an interview. You can also provide tutorials or step-by-step videos, showing your audience how to best utilize your products or services. Determine when your channel has the most views and try to post new content during that window of time.
Incorporate YouTube ads in Your Content Strategy
Any well-formulated YouTube strategy must include paid content. The advertising option will ensure your audience will see the videos your brand posts. There are six possible formats YouTube ads offers, including TrueView Discovery Ads, display Ads, overlay Ads, sponsored cards, 6 second bumper Ads and skippable TrueView in-stream Ads.
Keep Up With Your Competitors
It’s important for you to monitor your competitors. Visit their YouTube channel and see which of their videos are garnering the most views. This will help you figure out what topics are most desired by your target audience. Be sure to read the comments, as you just might see your brand’s name mentioned. If so, respond to the comment, either with a “thank you” or to set the record straight if there is misinformation. Also, once you have your videos up and running, make sure none of your competitors are using your videos to run their Ads. You can do this by blocking their Ads via Google Ads manager.
Track Your Results
Without metrics to convey data on views and audience reaction, you won’t know if your videos are hitting their mark. To ensure your videos are successful and doing their intended job, use a reporting tool that relays important data or metrics. One such tool is Unbox Social, but there are others available. This type of tracking tool will inform you of all social media metrics and will generate a customized report just for you.
Use the tips listed above to effectively utilize YouTube as a valid and powerful tool within your content marketing arsenal. Contact us at Writer Access today to learn more about how our team of professionals can help you create high quality content, which will be effective at selling your brand via your website, or social media platforms once visitors are sent there from your newly minted YouTube channel.
Brandie P. has worked with numerous clients to write thought provoking, informative marketing content. Some of these pieces were geared towards small business owners, some were focused on large companies and still others were about marketing strategies in general. In addition to this, Brandie has also worked one-on-one with an architecture office in her area to create content for marketing purposes. Brandie’s experience spans a wide range of businesses and her clients have come from all over the world.
