Most businesses can use the power of YouTube to market their products and services. Startups and SMEs can use the power of YouTube for their video marketing campaigns. YouTube had over 2.5 billion active users in 2021. With its enormous viewership, YouTube has all the potential to market the video content. But with so many similar industries vying for attention, it can become very difficult to grab the top spot in YouTube search engine results. So here are the best tips for small businesses to use YouTube for video marketing.
What is YouTube video marketing?
YouTube marketing is all about marketing and promoting a product or service on YouTube in the form of video. Small businesses have to regularly create and post videos about their products or services on YouTube. It is not a stand-alone thing, but a multifaceted process that includes creating organic videos, working with influencers, and advertising on YouTube.
Small businesses should know what customers want to see in their videos and how can they create video content that satisfies the customers. They should identify their target audience and create videos that are aimed at those particular target viewers in mind. In that way, YouTube videos can reach the desired viewers. YouTube algorithm works just like SEO and automatically identifies top video results for a keyword. For that to happen, businesses should optimize their video content for YouTube. It involves a series of steps.
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Setting up your own YouTube channel
The first step in marketing video content on YouTube is to create a YouTube channel. Small businesses and enterprises can start their own YouTube channel and create content that is relevant to the products and services that they offer. Creating a YouTube channel is only the first step, which is followed by optimizing the channel for maximum viewership.
Sign up with a business YouTube account
You will not need an account to watch videos on YouTube. But businesses and startups will need their accounts to upload their videos on YouTube. They will need a business account to confirm whether their videos are in the adult category or safe to watch by anyone.
- Sign in to your company’s Google account: If you have a Gmail account then you can use that for your YouTube account. Otherwise, you can create a new Google account and keep it only to upload videos on YouTube.
- Visit YouTube home page: You need to check the YouTube home page and check whether you have signed into your business account and not your personal YouTube account.
- Check avatar: You can view your unique YouTube avatar in the top right-hand corner of YouTube. An avatar can be anything from a company logo to an image or photograph, which is included in a circle.
- Your channel: When you click on your avatar, you will get the option to view your YouTube channel.
- Name of your YouTube channel: You can choose your business name for your YouTube channel. Or any other name that helps to identify with your company.
- Create: You can now create your YouTube channel for your business.
Learn about the YouTube interface
When you have created a YouTube channel you can explore the interface and the various options that you get on YouTube. These options are only on YouTube. You can edit your videos on YouTube and customize them to make them appear in search results. On the left-hand side, you will see a menu with options to view history, liked videos, subscriptions, and library. You can view channels you have subscribed to, organize your library, and see notifications.
On the top right side, you can see an icon of a video camera. Clicking this icon will let you upload a video. You can see YouTube apps in the next icon and a notification icon shown by a bell icon next to it. You can know incoming notifications or messages by clicking on the bell icon.
Customize your YouTube channel
Once you have created your YouTube channel, you can customize it by adding your business profile. YouTube will assign a special and unique URL that directs users to your channel. You can customize your channel by taking these steps.
Add channel art
YouTube channel art is the best place to place your company logo, and tagline and showcase your brand identity. YouTube will fill in this banner with generic images if you don’t upload your company logo or other relevant banner images on your YouTube channel art. To develop channel art files, you can consider the following dimensions. With the help of YouTube tools, you can play around with your channel art images. You can preview each image and be able to crop it and check on various screens if it fits perfectly.
- Channel icon: 800 x 800 pixels
- Channel banner: 2560 x 1440 pixels (You can use 1546 x 423 pixels for YouTube videos to fit mobile screens and general web use).
- Resolution: 300 dpi is the best resolution for your channel art images.
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Fill in your business info
You can go to the About section and share information about your company and the services and products that you offer to customers. The About section of the YouTube channel is a great place to show your brand and your company tagline. The trick is to keep the content and info as concise as possible. The description should be limited to a minimum. Put links to social media profiles and add email addresses.
The links to the business website and social media pages will direct viewers to your company website and social media. It will drive customers and generate more traffic to your company website. You can add up to 5 links. The description and keywords will increase the visibility of your YouTube channel in the search results.
Channel trailer
A channel trailer is optional but also a great idea if you want viewers to have a brief preview of the video content, they will find on your YouTube channel. A channel trailer can increase the viewership of your YouTube video and it will feature on your YouTube account home page.
Interactions on YouTube
You can interact with YouTube users in so many ways. These interactions are great at building trust and loyalty to your brand and products.
- Comments: You can respond to comments about the videos and increase the engagement of viewers to your YouTube channel.
- Likes: You can choose to like the videos so that it appears in your playlists. When you ‘like’ a video, you are also showing it publicly to other users.
- Subscriptions: Users can get the latest videos from your YouTube channel when they subscribe to your channel. Subscriptions improve viewer engagement and improvise traffic.
- Playlists: Playlists help in organizing your videos into specific categories. It helps users in finding the videos that they want from all the other videos that you have posted on your channel.
- Sharing: You can share your YouTube channel with others via a share widget on your website. This way you can share your videos on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Tumblr, Pinterest, Reddit, etc.
- Messages: You can share videos and send messages to friends and contacts on YouTube.
YouTube Live
YouTube Live is a live-streaming feature of YouTube which works just like Facebook Live. The feature works best for news, and live broadcasts. But businesses can use YouTube Live for showing upcoming events, product launches, exhibitions, etc. To stream live video on YouTube the channel should be verified. Stream Now is the quickest option followed by Events. By using this, you can preview the stream. You can also live-stream on YouTube from your webcam.
Trending videos on YouTube
Trending videos are very high viewership videos on YouTube. YouTube trending videos are often videos of popular trends and culture and viral events. It is, however, not necessary for businesses to create such types of viral and trending videos. But if one of your videos goes viral, then it is the best for the business. It will then feature in the trending videos section and your channel viewership will go up. It is not a measure of your channel’s success. You can make a video with a specific tone that matches that of the trending videos and post it on your YouTube channel.
YouTube influencers
Small businesses can work with YouTubers and influencers to get their products and services promoted on YouTube. In this way, working with YouTubers is a smart way of marketing your own YouTube channel. YouTube content creators work on specific niches and their channels to promote or advertise a product or review service. Businesses can use the huge number of followers these YouTubers have to promote their products.
For example, companies offering the beauty of cooking products can work with YouTubers in a similar niche. These YouTubers have their vlogs where they can be seen promoting a product. Companies can offer these products to these YouTubers for review, and these YouTubers will mention the products on their YouTube channel. They will even use the products live on YouTube so that the products get instant likes and subscriptions increase for the company’s YouTube channel.
Advertising on YouTube
Small businesses can use the free advertising service of YouTube to promote their products through videos. YouTube advises these businesses to provide a CTA (Call to Action) button in their videos so that users can click it and go to the landing pages of these companies. Video ads on YouTube can be of the following types:
- In-stream ads: These get played before, after, or during the video. Users will have the option to skip the ad after 5 seconds so that they get to see your video.
- Discovery ads: These ads are short or long depending on the video. The business will be charged only if someone clicks on the ad.
- Bumper ads: These are ads that the users cannot skip and are less than 6 seconds.
YouTube Partner Program
Another way your business can market with YouTube is through YouTube Partner Program. Small business enterprises can find this very reliable way to market their services. The eligibility for this program is that the YouTube channel should have 1000 subscribers and 4000 watch hours in the previous year. YouTube Analytics is the way through which businesses can track their subscribers and watch hours.
Tips for YouTube video marketing
Your business can use some tips and tricks and use YouTube more effectively to market their brand and products.
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Share videos on social media platforms
Your business needs a strong video strategy to get the maximum returns from marketing on YouTube. You can share your videos back to your website or on your social media channels. This way, you attract traffic and more views.
Use keywords in the video title, tags, and descriptions
Using relevant keywords is an SEO strategy that your business can use on YouTube also. So, it helps users in finding the best videos that relate to the keyword. You can compile a list of keywords that your video suggests and use it in your title, tags, and descriptions.
Get more subscribers
More subscribers mean more chances of them watching your videos. You should make a plan to attract more subscribers to your YouTube channel. They will receive notifications every time you upload a new video or make a playlist. You can also get an idea of how many people will watch your YouTube video.
Create a playlist for better organization of videos
You can organize your videos and create a playlist of videos that have a common theme. Playlists help users to focus on videos so that they get the videos they want quickly without having to search for them. Playlists are easy to spot as they get displayed on your YouTube channel page.
Upload content more consistently
Your viewers and customers expect you to regularly upload videos on YouTube. It keeps them updated about your product offerings and also develops a sense of loyalty toward your brand. Uploading and posting videos consistently say weekly, is more effective than posting a video every quarter. Utilize any suitable free video editing software that is available in the market to simplify your video editing journey. This will surely reduce some of your stress from regular video productions.
Engage with other videos
You might just find some video that has some relevance to your brand or products. You can comment or subscribe to that video so that others find you in the comments. This attracts more viewers to your channel also. You can leave a comment on other videos that are similar to your theme, topic, or interest.
Display videos made by others also
You can display other videos on your channel and show that you are very active in YouTube marketing. In doing so, you are directing traffic to that channel and also directing your users to watch relevant videos. You should, however, not upload videos of your direct competitors.
Insert clickable links in your videos
While editing your videos, you can insert a clickable link that directs viewers to other pages on your website or other videos on your YouTube channel. You will find this option in your video manager. Most often, the clickable links can link to previous videos or relevant pages on your website where viewers can go and buy a product or read relevant content.
Use YouTube stories
YouTube Stories works in similar lines to Snapchat or Instagram stories. So, YouTube stories are a series of short videos that your viewers can see for a day and then get deleted on their own. Google is constantly finding new ways to display YouTube stories to users. They are trying AI technology and working with other content creators to swap video backgrounds.
Collaborate with other content creators
Your business can collaborate with top content creators and YouTubers to show your products on their channels. These are extremely beneficial YouTube marketing strategies. These YouTubers have millions of fan followings, and their subscribers increase every day. They can sponsor your products and show them live to their audience, and this way your products get a wider reach and audience.
Run a contest on YouTube
You can run a contest on YouTube and this way you can do product promotion on your YouTube channel. A contest or a competition is more engaging to viewers and its appeal automatically attracts more viewers and subscribers to your YouTube channel. However, you can follow the YouTube rules and guidelines before you run a contest on your YouTube channel.
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Conclusion
YouTube is the best video marketing platform for your business. It has the reach and the audience that your products want. You can use the power of YouTube to market your products and services. So, if you haven’t planned a YouTube video marketing strategy then it is time to do it now. You can spread the word about your YouTube channel so that others too can spread the word. But the key is to make your videos as consistently as possible. You want your viewers to know you are active on YouTube and creating more products for them.
Web developer and SEO specialist with 20+ years of experience in open-source web development, digital marketing, and search engine optimization. He is also the moderator of this blog "RS Web Solutions (RSWEBSOLS)".
