By now you’ve probably heard that video marketing is (currently) the most popular digital marketing trend with high expectations for the near future as well. In fact, by 2020 it is expected that 80% of content consumed online will be video.
This information most likely made you wonder if your marketing efforts should focus on YouTube as well.
Well, if you still aren’t sure yet, you’re in the right place! Regardless of whether you are considering marketing on YouTube or you’ve just started and haven’t really defined your video strategy yet, this article is for you.
YouTube has currently 1.9 billion users worldwide and it’s the second most used social media network – considering the number of monthly active users – after Facebook. Many users go on YouTube, in the early stages of the buyer’s journey, to find out as much about their problems and potential solutions as possible in their search. All this makes YouTube an essential platform to promote your business on.
Because we understand that making the most out of YouTube might not always be so obvious or easy, for that matter, we’ve put together a simple 9-Step Guide that is going to help you create a successful YouTube marketing strategy and establish an effective brand identity on this platform.
But first, let us introduce you to the power of video content. 👇
How can video marketing benefit your business?
According to statistics, video marketing is an essential tool for businesses looking to increase their engagement and brand awareness: 70 percent of consumers say that they have shared a brand’s video and more than 50 percent of them say that watching product videos makes them more confident in online purchase decisions.
What’s even more 90 percent of people say they discovered new brands or products on YouTube. This is only proof to show that consumers rely on video content during every step of the journey – from the top of the funnel to the bottom.
But how did video marketing become so powerful? Is it magic?
Not quite.
Often people watch online videos for learning and self‑improvement, and also to pursue their passions. They are looking for authentic content that makes learning a new skill or buying products less intimidating because other people have done it and succeeded. In short, video content empowers people to take action and change their life.
Moreover, as people watch videos to learn, they’re more open to brands and products that can help them reach their goals. This encourages them to do more research and find out more about what your company does and what it offers, moving them along the funnel to a purchase.
Now that we’ve seen how much video content can achieve, it’s time to show you the best way to leverage video on YouTube for your business. 👇
How to make the most out of your YouTube marketing strategy [9 essential steps you must follow]
You’ve just created your YouTube brand account or maybe you’ve had it for a while, but you don’t know where to start with it. There have been some ideas and attempts, however, they fell through.
Although it’s true that YouTube makes it very easy for content creators to share their content with a large audience, without a strategy in place it’s quite difficult to engage your target audience and achieve your goals. After all, you want to be able to communicate efficiently with your market and receive valuable feedback from them.
Here are 9 actionable steps that you must include in your YouTube marketing strategy if you’re looking to boost your ROI:
Get to know your audience
There’s no reason to think of your YouTube content strategy differently compared to the content strategy on any other platform. In short, your content needs to be created for a specific audience you want to reach. The more you define your niche, the more your video content will resonate with your audience.
You have to determine what type of person is your ideal viewer, what they want to achieve by watching your videos and what type of content they like to consume most – in other words, you have to create a buyer persona.
Optimize your videos for SEO
You mustn’t think that search engine optimization is limited to websites and blogs – you need to think in terms of “searchability” when it comes to video content as well. In order to maximize your YouTube SEO, you first need to pick a compelling title containing relevant keywords. (Nobody likes clickbait!)
Also, make sure to highlight the main keywords in your video description and add the links to your website and to your other social media accounts. Don’t forget about tags – using the right tags broadens the reach of your videos due to the fact that they are associated with similar content.
Create high-quality engaging videos
First of all, it goes without saying that the video quality has to be perfect, otherwise people are going to stop watching your videos after just a few seconds. Investing in professional video equipment or renting it would help you make sure that your audience enjoys your videos.
Also, you must grab your audience’s attention in the first 15 seconds of the video. If the video is attention-grabbing in the first few seconds, viewers will most likely watch it the whole way through. Open your video with a teaser, a question or the outline of what you’re going to present in order to stop viewers in their tracks.
Boost click throughs with an eye-catching thumbnail
In general, most YouTube views come as a result of being related to other videos existing on the platform – they show up in the “suggested videos” section of your audience. You can get a higher click-through rate from people who are browsing through their “suggested videos” section by having a high-quality custom thumbnail.
In a word, a great combination of clear and concise text and visually appealing imagery can make the difference between a view and someone scrolling right past your video. If you can get your audience’s attention and make them watch your video until the end, YouTube’s algorithm is going to reward you and show your content to other people as well.
Diversify your video formats
The best thing about YouTube is the opportunity it gives its creators to be creative and express their unique style. The possibilities are endless. That’s why you should try to include different video formats within your YouTube marketing strategy:
- Create informative how-to videos to help customers use your product or make the most out of the services you’re offering
- Upload Q&A videos with company management and staff answering to comments that your subscribers left on your videos/ on social media
- Give a tour of your offices and have subscribers meet your team
- Broadcast company events through YouTube’s live-stream function
- Upload commercials and video advertisements for upcoming products and sales campaigns
…and the list goes on!
Encourage subscriptions and boost website traffic with CTAs
Incorporating a strong call to action at the end of your video and within the description will turn browsing viewers into subscribers and direct them to your website. Thus, make sure to include actionable verbs in your CTAs -such as “like”, “subscribe”, “follow”, “call”, “visit”, or “buy”.
In fact, most popular YouTubers usually close their videos with a CTA, the most common being “like and subscribe” and with a watermark – a custom subscribe button visible only to non-subscribers. Some examples of strong YouTube CTAs for company channels include:
- Subscribe for more cool videos from [company name]
- Call us today at [company phone number]
- Visit our website at [company URL] to learn more
- Follow [company name] on social media
Maintain a regular schedule
Once you have subscribers, retaining your audience has an essential role in increasing your future audience. In order to ensure that your existing viewers keep coming back, you’ll want to set a schedule for your content uploads. Think of it this way: if your favorite YouTuber wouldn’t post for weeks at a time would you still be watching them?
So, whether it’s daily, weekly, or somewhere in between, having a regular schedule will not only let subscribers know when to expect new videos but also help you keep organized and have the content ready ahead of time.
Organize your videos in playlists
Having your content organized in playlists makes your videos autoplay until that playlist ends, thus increasing the amount of time people spend watching your videos. We recommend you to organize your video content by topic – either by the category of products, campaign, type of video, etc.
Once you have your channel divided into relevant playlists, users will be able to find the type of content that interest them much easier and this will, in turn, boost your ranking in the YouTube search.
Track your engagement and revise your strategy using analytics
After investing a lot of time and hard work creating your video marketing strategy on Youtube, it’s only normal to check how your content is performing: Is the right audience watching your videos? Are your CTAs successful? Do people move through your funnel?
Once you have established your business goals, you can turn to YouTube analytics to measure your progress towards those goals. There you’ll be able to see who is watching your videos, how long they’re watching, and where they’re watching from. Using the information you’ve gathered, you can create content that your audience likes to watch.
Off to your YouTube journey towards success!
Now you understand how powerful videos can be in the digital world and you’re also able to create a YouTube marketing strategy that will keep your audience tuned in for more.
Just one thing: remember to keep your channel branding consistent with your other social media accounts. That way your audience will be able to identify content coming from you much easier and engage with it.
Don’t hesitate to contact us if you have any questions or you need help with your YouTube marketing strategy. We’re here to help! 🌱
