YouTube is one of the most powerful video services around. With over 13.3 billion people users, it has a massive global reach. That makes it the perfect tool for businesses to use for marketing. But where to start? How to set up YouTube as a marketing channel for your company? This YouTube marketing guide is all you need to turn the video platform into your number one advertising channel.
Before getting started: Think of the Pros and Cons
The first step in this YouTube Marketing Guide is to look at the pros and cons of marketing on YouTube. There are many advantages in it for you. YouTube for Business can be used for any kind of business in any kind of industry. YouTube is also the second most popular search engine online. This makes it easy to reach large amounts of people. However, there are some cons as well which should be kept in mind. For instance, you will not have any control over the ads that run over the video. You also have limited control over the customization.
Keeping all this in mind will help you make the best decision on if YouTube is the right marketing channel for you. If it is, let’s consider how to implement it successfully.
Research your Audience and Competition
One of the tips we can give you in this YouTube Marketing Guide is to know who your videos are geared toward and who else is trying to get to them. Know your audience and what they are interested in. The best way to do this is by analytics. YouTube for Business has an analytics tab that is able to track when your videos are being viewed, the gender and age of your viewers, and much more details about your audience. It helps you track their comments as well. Also, research other YouTube Channels in your industry. See what videos are viewed more and get more likes and which ones get the least. This will also give you a sense of what your audience wants.
Know your Goals
Next to knowing who you’re aiming for, a key requirement is to know what you’re aiming for. In other words, think of the objective you want your channel and videos to achieve. Do you want to raise brand awareness? Do you want to increase lead generation? Do you want to increase traffic to your sites and social media? Do you want to increase sales? Whatever you want to achieve with the videos, make a definite goal with that.
Think of the type of video you want
Before starting to produce and post videos, you should always have a clear idea of the type of video you want to make. Professional videos may be costly, and you will want to make sure that they fit their intended purpose. So better devise a clear plan first. Maybe you want to do an interview with an influencer. Maybe you want to make an educational video relating to your company. Maybe you want a video demonstrating your newest product. Knowing the kind of video you are producing will make it easier to be cost-effective, reach the right audience, and achieve your goals.
Utilize SEO/ Keywords
The most important tip in this YouTube Marketing Guide is to make sure you have the right keywords for SEO purposes. Marketing on YouTube depends on SEO (search engine optimization). The best place to use them is in the title and in the description. One way to optimize your SEO is to use Google’s Keyword Planner Tool. Also don’t forget to use great hashtags to help your video get noticed on search engines.
Call to Action
Next to using the right keywords and SEO, it is critical to emphasize a call to action in your description. Include a link to your website or blog to help drive traffic. Also try to get customers to subscribe to your channel in order to get the latest videos. Finally, post links to all of your social media accounts to get more followers.
Manage your Account and Post often
The final recommendation in this YouTube Marketing Guide is to really manage your YouTube Channel. You must monitor your comments and respond as quickly as possible. You should also post as often to get more views and build a regular audience of followers. You can schedule your videos to be posted on a specific day and time, so you know that they will always be out there. This way, you get the results you want.
Of course, marketing on YouTube works best when combined with other social media platforms such as Instagram. By building a strong presence across various social networks, you can bring your marketing to the next level.