YouTube is the second largest search engine behind Google. If your company isn’t on YouTube, you could be missing out on a lot of business. Here are a few tips on using YouTube for business.
Connect all of your pages.
Make sure that you include links to all of your other social media pages on YouTube so people can find your company everywhere. Also, make sure you are consistent with branding. Having a specific color scheme or graphics present across all social media platforms with help reinforce branding. Also be sure to include a link to your website in the description section for each video. Make it easy for people to find you.
Be creative.
If your video isn’t interesting, people will not watch it. It’s as simple as that. The best videos aren’t direct sales pitches but offer entertainment value as well. One of the best examples of this is Dollar Shave Club. Their very first video talks about their product (razors) but does it in a way that is very entertaining and just downright funny. The videos posted later on weren’t even all specifically about their products. Around Father’s Day, the company released a series of videos for helping dad. One of them was a funny video about explaining to dad why his computer was too slow. At the end of the video, the website was promoted, but not in an outright “salesy” way. Dollar Shave Club has gotten tons of recognition recently for its creative use of YouTube for marketing. Their strategy is definitely working.
Always keep SEO in mind.
When writing the description for your company’s videos, always keep search engine optimization (SEO) in mind. Basically that means you’ll want to put keywords that people would search for online in your description. This will help your video come up in search results. It’s a good idea to do a bit of research and see what your target audience searches for online and incorporate those keywords into the description whenever possible.
Engage with your subscribers.
One of the easiest ways to turn fans (or subscribers in this case) into customers is by interacting with them online. When someone comments on your video, it’s a good idea to respond, or at least ‘like’ their comment. This shows your audience that your company really is listening and cares about what people think. It is especially important to respond to negative comments or reviews. People will see how your company handled an unsatisfied customer or viewer, which will help your company build a rapport with them.
Include a call to action.
You’ll get the best results when your video includes a call to action, or something for your audience to actually do. Usually it involves going to your website to buy something or sign up for an email list.
Don’t get discouraged.
Building up a YouTube channel can take a lot of time. Your first few videos probably aren’t going to get a ton of views or go viral. That’s ok! Don’t set unrealistic expectations, and more importantly – don’t stop posting. As you post more videos, you will get more feedback and will learn what your target audience likes. This will allow you to tweak your videos accordingly and get more views in the long run. The worst thing you can do is get discouraged and completely abandon YouTube. Rome wasn’t built in a day, and your YouTube audience won’t be either.
If you need some additional help with getting your company’s channel up and running, feel free to contact Blue Frog. We offer many varieties of social media training and can definitely help you get things going.