YouTube is a free and extremely useful marketing tool that all kinds of business can make use of. A growing number of companies use their YouTube channel to promote their services, explain their products, present customer reviews and much more. YouTube videos can be optimised to improve search results and can attract new leads in their own right – all of which can be accurately measured through YouTube analytics.
This is a short guide to how you can use YouTube for business development: what to post, and how to present it.
Common Misconceptions
There is so much talk about ‘viral’ videos that many businesses are bit intimidated to use YouTube. You could call it performance anxiety. Let’s make it clear from the outset that business videos are extremely unlikely to go viral, and this should not be your aim. It doesn’t matter how many views a video gets, as long as it serves its purpose; which is to engage with your customers and target market.
Another misconception is that videos require a huge budget and complex production technologies. This isn’t true either. B2B videos do not need to be extravagant, they merely need to get their point across in a way that appeals to your ideal customer. Learn more about how YouTube can be used for your B2B business with this article - How to Use YouTube for B2B Marketing.
What Content To Use
When planning your video content, the place to start is to think about what your customers actually want to see. This will depend on the nature of your business, but demonstration videos are popular for most product and service companies.
Two principles should guide your approach to content:
1) Demonstrate expert knowledge of your products and industry in order to build trust with your target customers.
2) Provide free, valuable advice that accurately addresses the kind of questions your customers will be asking. If you have not already done so, you should carry out some keyword research and formulate questions based on this that you can address in the videos.
Business YouTube channels typically include a mixture of the following content:
- Promotions of products or services
- Customer reviews and testimonials
- Practical instruction on how your product can be used in real-world situations
- Sales videos (including performance stats, special offers etc.)
- Webinars
- Presentations and video footage from conferences, trade shows etc.
How To Manage Your YouTube Channel
Channel Profile Page
YouTube offers a simple and effective profile page that lets you advertise your brand. Be sure to include a clear logo, an attractive banner image and links to your main social media accounts. You can include a short description of your channel, which is searchable by Google, so use this to include important keywords and describe your products and services accurately.
Trailer Video
You can also create a trailer video that describes the sort of content a visitor will find on your channel. This is your YouTube manifesto, rather than a general introduction to your business, so think of it as a value proposition or a series of pledges to your customer. Explain the sort of videos you will publish and why you’re doing so. At the end of the trailer video you can include a subscribe button to encourage customer engagement.
Video Playlists
As you start uploading more and more videos to your channel, it is helpful to organise them into playlists i.e. one for product demonstrations, one for recruitment, one for testimonials and so on.
Analytics
YouTube features a great analytics package that allows you to measure the impact of your videos. Keep a regular view of key metrics to track the performance of your YouTube marketing. Important performance indicators include:
- Engagement: how many viewers share, like or comment on your videos.
- Number of views: the total number of impressions each video has received in its lifetime.
- Retention: This shows the number of viewers who switch off before a video is finished. It can indicate either that your videos are not engaging for your target audience, or they are too long.
- Number of subscribers to your channel.
Learn more about the power of YouTube with these articles;
YouTube Has Changed The Business World Forever!
Don't Underestimate The Potential Of YouTube And Video Marketing
Video Marketing For The Masses
YouTube has made video marketing accessible to businesses of all sizes and budgets. As a large and authoritative website, YouTube results frequently feature at the top of search pages, even above Wikipedia entries. It therefore represents a great opportunity for B2B businesses to engage their target market in a new way. For more information about how to use YouTube as part of a bespoke marketing strategy, please get in touch with one of our marketing experts at JDR today.
