Here’s the deal – social media has changed the face of marketing. It has altered how we talk to our customers. Online video, especially YouTube, is a huge part of that.
It’s simple; people would rather watch the internet than read the internet. Over 90% of internet users watch video online every month. Wouldn’t you love to have them watching your message? Here are 5 great ways to get in the game:
Number one – Create your YouTube Channel. This is your home on the internet for video so let’s make it effective. If you haven’t already, setting up a custom YouTube channel is pretty easy. Let’s get started with your channel name and how it looks.
Go to YouTube.com and click “create account”, fill in the information, pick a user name, a company name or something close, and once you have your channel set up just sign in and brand your channel. You’ll see a tab for themes and colors or just go to advanced settings and upload a photo or a graphic for the background.
Number Two – Get Found in YouTube Search. Google search loves video, often ranking it higher than other content. People are online right now, searching for what you do and they’re looking for video to watch, so why not make it easy? Let them find yours.
Give your video a catchy, descriptive title that includes your brand name and even a web address or a hyperlink from the title, so if people want to grab it and jump to your site, they can. Also, use the description box. There’s room for more than just a few details. You can start with your URL which you should copy and paste from your browser so it hyperlinks. Then recapture the information you’re giving them in the video, tell the story of your video, tell the story of your company. Add the tags that tell searchers what your video is about, add the relevant keywords that you think people will be searching for, and you and your video will get found.
Number Three – Add Subtitles. Adding subtitles or captions to your videos is pretty simple and it offers an additional layer of engagement to anybody watching. This is especially effective with sales and training videos where you allow people to see you delivering the information, hear you speaking and they can read along. There is a transcription feature built right into YouTube which isn’t perfect but it may be really helpful.
Number Four –Promote Your Videos. Promote your YouTube videos elsewhere. YouTube is the 2nd largest search engine after Google, so post obviously. Multi-purpose your content. Every time you add a video to your channel post it to Facebook and Tweet about it, then blog about it and post the video to your blog and then Tweet about that. Include it in your newsletter. Put it wherever it makes sense to help you spread the word about your business and get seen. After all, there’s nothing wrong with a little self-promotion.
Number Five – Grow your Channel. Video is a key part of social media. It’s a critical and effective element and it’s growing every day. Stay connected with your channel, reply to comments, watch for spam, and keep adding videos when you can. Remember, sometimes we’ll do a big production and sometimes any video that’s pretty darn good is really OK. Don’t post junk but don’t over think it. A behind-the-scenes look at your business can really be interesting, informative and effective even if you shoot it with your smartphone. Just be imaginative.
So there you go – five things you need to know about social video. Embrace it and have some fun.
