Build Your Biz with YouTube and Make Your Brand the Star of the Show – Part One
Think uber-popular social media site YouTube is just for beauty bloggers to post their latest how-to tutorial on creating the perfect “winged cat eye?” Time to get savvy and up-to-speed with the one social media platform you’re probably not using…but should.
Don’t be mistaken. YouTube can boost ANY type of business – from beauty bloggers to bakeries, restaurateurs to realtors, general contractor construction to tax consulting, and MUCH more. With consistent, creative content, strategic positioning, and SEO-savvy skills, not only will you build your YouTube channel by garnering loyal subscribers looking to tune in to your latest uploads, you’ll grow your business in the process. With more than 2 billion users worldwide and more than 30 million daily visits, the versatility of the internet’s hottest video-sharing and live streaming site can help substantially increase your brands’ audience engagement and boost its bottom line. Uploading to YouTube on a consistent basis should be an integral part of content strategy you definitely don’t want to leave out. Nearly 500 hours of video content are uploaded to the platform every minute of every day and there are currently 2,400 channels that boast 1 million-plus subscribers. People are hungry for video content!
Launched in 2005, but purchased by Big Tech conglomerate Google in 2016, YouTube continues to be a power player for successful business marketing, as well as a multimedia mecca. Quite simply, video is engaging. People can’t help but click on the WATCH tab to view short-form video content and spend up to six hours daily viewing videos on YouTube alone! Here’s how to grab some of that video-viewing for your business.
Create Your Channel
This can easily be done directly through your personal or business-based Gmail account. You can either use the same username and password of your current Gmail account or create a completely separate Google account solely for your YouTube usage.
Build Your Business’ YouTube Profile
Add all your business’ pertinent info: manifesto, origin, and your website’s URL. Once you’ve officially signed up and created a YouTube channel, you’ll be assigned a specific URL just for your channel that you can use on your website, business cards, blogs, newsletters, and all social media platforms so potential customers can easily locate you.
Create Channel Art
Just like Twitter has the requisite banner, YouTube has their own marquee-like portion that showcases your brand’s name, logo, tagline, and any other brand-boosting graphics. Using high-resolution photos, get comfortable with using YouTube’s cropping and preview tools, making sure your page looks polished, professional, and view-worthy. First impressions count when it comes to content creation. It’s the modern-day business card.
Create a Thirty-Second Trailer
This introduces viewers – and would-be buyers – to your business and should be a short and sweet prelude to the kind of content viewers can expect to find on your channel.
Engage with Your Subscribers AND Other YouTube Channels
People are thrilled when you “like” or respond to their comments, so be sure to find the time to respond to as many comments as possible to keep people coming back and clicking the SHARE button. At the end of your videos, kindly remind viewers to subscribe to your channel, leave a comment, hit the LIKE button, and SHARE your video. YouTube comes equipped with all those handy widgets/icons for all other social media platforms for sharing ease. It’s also in your business’ best interest to interact with other YouTube channels with whom you share similar content, save for direct competitors. This is a great opportunity to produce some creative collab content that can be beneficial to both parties.
Go LIVE!
Like Facebook and Instagram, YouTube has its own live streaming feature. Hitting the STREAM NOW option is a unique and exciting way to host virtual events, share meet-and-greets, conduct interviews, and promote upcoming product/service launches. It’s also an indispensable tool to showcase “breaking news” about your business or a “day-in-the-life” of a small business CEO. You don’t always need to push product with every upload. Creating entertaining, educational, funny, or even personal content can help position your business as a warm, engaging, “real” brand.
Consistency, Consistency, Consistency
As with all content strategy across the board, consistency is key for long-term growth and success. It may take years to build a brag-worthy followership on your social media platforms, but the needle will never move if you get lax on creating content. Subscribers rely on those weekly or daily video drops, so don’t disappoint. Advertise each upload on your other social channels, like Instagram and Twitter, including your website, blog posts, and newsletters. You can even embed the video into a blog post or on your Instagram Stories and leverage the SEO benefits, driving even more traffic to your brand’s website.
Contact Content Creators
YouTube stars, influencers, and content creators are the new breed of digital entrepreneurs who have resourcefully gamed the system and disrupted the advertising space. You’ve heard of the expression, “Everyone is a model on Instagram.” Businesses now reach out to savvy social stars to get their products in front of people – and are paying big bucks to do it. Some content creators request up to $5,000 per post or mention! Not too shabby for a few hours of work. Many of these social media sensations boast hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of followers, fans, and subscribers who tune in to their video uploads – religiously! Scope out influencers and content creators who align with your business and brand messaging and pose a partnership proposition where they would place your product or mention your service in their video for exchange for either free product or an agreed upon price. As your brand continues to grow, content creators may reach out to YOU for a content collab situation.
This just scratches the surface when it comes to getting started with YouTube to help grow your business. Stay tuned for Part Two where we highlight more advanced features of the YouTube business marketing model, such as monetizing your YouTube channel, leveraging the power of advertisements, and so much more.