YouTube is one of the most valuable marketing tools available to companies and individuals. Video content is the preferred method of consumption for internet users and social media followers.
If your business has the means to produce videos, then you need to set up a YouTube channel. You can utilise the platform to give product reviews, client feedback, unique insights into your team and business or to share industry news.
There are a few steps that you need to take when setting up an account and growing an audience that is invested in your content.
Have clear goals for YouTube
Being a successful YouTuber is becoming harder than ever with the sheer volume of competition. It takes years of commitment and hard work to build your subscriber base, but it’s not impossible. However, you may be more interested in using YouTube for other advantages, especially if it’s a business channel.
Here are three business goals that you can achieve through YouTube:
- Reputation management – Managing your online reputation is a never-ending job. YouTube videos always rank highly in Google search results, especially if they include your brand name. YouTube videos also display well on Google (the thumbnail, creator and length of the video are included in the search results).
- Improved conversions – Videos are a low-effort method of information consumption for your customers; internet users would far rather watch a one minute video than read a long article. People are also more likely to buy a product after watching a video about it as they are helpful in making purchasing decisions.
- Boost traffic – YouTube is a great tool for discovery, and it’s free. Despite ranking highly on Google, YouTube videos also appear in their own internal search results. Your videos can be suggested to users based on their previous watching habits, which means that more people can potentially discover your content.
Develop a video calendar
As with written content, video content should be planned and strategised according to a calendar rollout. Proper planning will make your video campaign more effective. Start by researching the keywords you want to target (using Google’s Keyword Planner), then come up with specific ideas about the type of videos you’d like to produce.
You can also create video content around specific seasons or special days, such as summer lists or Valentine’s Day promotions. Planning according to a calendar will give you a realistic view of your rollout, but don’t forget to factor in the time for production and promotion.
Your video calendar should also include any promotional or product review videos that you’d like to create. These don’t necessarily have to be based on keyword research although this process will still benefit the performance of the videos.
Produce the videos
Producing your videos can be done in-house if you have the right equipment. Smartphones have great video capabilities but basic editing software. If you have a good DSLR camera and proper editing software, producing your own videos can be a cheap option. You can create your own tutorial videos and visual interviews or testimonies from clients.
However, for more professional videos and a high-quality result, freelance or full-time videographers and production teams should be used. It’s all relative to your budget and how much you’re willing to spend on the production.
One affordable option is to team up with YouTube vloggers and have them produce videos for you that will be upload-ready. You will also benefit from their established follower base if they share links to your products and website.
Optimise your YouTube videos
Once you’ve reached the upload stage of the process, spend some extra time optimising each video. Add text with links and a captivating caption. Write an SEO-friendly title and include as many relevant tags as you can.
Your video title should be fairly short, eye-catching and contain the focus keyword. Include your brand name or product name too. If you do an interview, include the speaker’s name in the title. If you create a video on an event, use the event’s hashtag in the title.
In the description, include the extra details of the video and some of the background information that viewers may find interesting. Remember to use lots of keywords. You can also include links in your description to your website or product page.
Select an eye-catching thumbnail. YouTube gives you three choices of the thumbnail, based on screenshots from your video. Once you reach a certain number of subscribers and views, you can fully customise the thumbnail or upload a separate image of your choice.
You can also search the other tabs on the upload screen – here you can find monetisation options (only available if you have a certain number of views on your channel) and other optimisation choices. Tag the location of your video or company in the ‘Advanced settings’ tab.
Create engagement on your videos
YouTube has its own algorithms to determine how good a video is and whether to include it on the suggested page. If more than 50% of your viewers watch more than 50% of the video, then YouTube deems it to be high quality and worthy of being featured on the suggested page.
There are a few ways to drive engagement on your videos though. One of which is to include a clickable table of contents in the description that will take viewers to specific sections of the video. This encourages them to click further along the video timeline, resulting in more of the video being watched.
Embed your videos on the landing page of your website and then share this URL on your social media channels to target a wider audience. This will increase the views quite drastically and will drive traffic to your site at the same time. It also means that once the video is done, visitors can look around your website rather than clicking on other YouTube videos and becoming distracted.
Depending on your budget, you can also opt to promote your videos on social media by paying for ads on Facebook and Instagram. This will boost the post to more users and drive views and traffic to your site.
You should also spend some time sorting and grouping your YouTube videos into playlists. If a viewer is interested in one of your videos, then they can easily find similar videos you have produced. Customise your channel by uploading a profile picture and an artwork in the header section to make it more appealing and personable to your viewers.
Track your YouTube performance
As with SEO and website analytics, it is important to track your progress to see where you can improve. YouTube has its own in-built analytics software that shows you various metrics for your videos.
You’ll be able to see if people are watching only parts of your videos or most of them, giving you a clearer understanding of where you can improve. You can use this knowledge to create shorter videos, or longer, more in-depth videos in the future.
You can track the sources of the views (social media, suggested page, external etc.) and develop methods of targeting different sources for future videos. YouTube Analytics will give you a break down of your subscribers too, so you can track your growth and adjust your output accordingly.
One important thing to remember is that building a YouTube following is very slow – unlike other social media channels. You’ll need to be extremely patient for a few years, especially at the beginning.
Consistency is key and once you reach a certain number of subscribers and view hours, your engagement will grow proportionately. Keep working hard as YouTube is such a powerful platform that can offer a lot of opportunities once you get going.
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