YouTube is one of the many social media sites that have become focal points in people’s professional and personal lives in the past couple of years. More and more businesses are being told that they need to incorporate social media into their marketing plans in order to stand a chance of competing in an ever increasingly competitive market, but is this really necessary? Can a business really fail if it fails to market through YouTube, and if it chooses this direction, what benefits can the business look forward to gaining?
Is It Enough To Be On YouTube?
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Most people assume that if “they build it, they will come”, but this is far from the case. Just because you are publishing content on YouTube, this doesn’t mean that people are going to be watching the content, not even if you start posting the videos all over Facebook. Some of the biggest brands are struggling to make an impression on this site, and this is because, among other things, they just don’t know how to market what they put on the site. As the experts of Adweek put it;
Acting like a publisher means deciding whether your brand should entertain or inform. If consumers are gravitating to How-to videos on YouTube in a particular category, don’t fight that trend by doing something entertaining, she argues.
That’s right; you shouldn’t even need to think about marketing to them, since people have just about had enough of advertising. You need to make this about your viewers, and you need to do it in the right way, or you’ll stay invisible, no matter how much you try to be heard.
Before you make a decision either way, take some time to look at what consumers are searching for within the category of your choice. Use the trends to your advantage instead of trying to force your viewers to do what you want them to do; this will most likely work against you and take up a lot of time and effort in the process.
Demonstrate Your Products
One of the ways that you can use YouTube to your advantage is to demonstrate your products. This falls under the section of “informing” your viewers and it is, once again, a way of making your videos all about the user. Of course, some businesses will use this tactic more than others. The official Business and Industry portal of Queensland, has this advice to give;
This is particularly useful for companies with limited physical distribution channels, including those who mostly sell over the internet. Businesses that use YouTube to allow customers to see their products in action before they buy include toy manufacturers, theme parks and theatre companies.
Companies without branches where individuals can interact with employees can use this medium to interact with their clients instead, without forcing them to grow faster than they are able to.
Create Your Own Community
Establishing a brand identity is, in part, all about establishing a community around your product or service. Your business becomes the focal point for this community and YouTube provides you with the opportunity to start interacting with those that want to become a part of this group. Everyone who is associated with this community can share information, speak to each other and the business and even provide each other with advice concerning your products and services. It is this sort of interaction that actually aids businesses in strengthening brand loyalty; something that will not only keep clients coming back to the channel, but also to the brand itself.
Establish a Reputation
Customers want to know that they are purchasing from experts in their field, so when businesses are establishing a presence for themselves on YouTube, they need to do so in a way that helps them cement their place as authorities within their field of interest. Businesses can accomplish this in a few different ways, including by providing tips via videos and offering tutorials. Linking to other experts in the field is a great way to expand the community of viewers and add some credibility to a channel.
Do You Have Something To Offer?
Because you post something on YouTube, you need to make sure that it is going to help your business, not hinder it, and this means you need to think about whether it is helpful or entertaining. If your video is neither, you could end up hurting your brand name.
This raises the question as to whether everyone will benefit from marketing via YouTube, and the answer to this seems to be varied. Some experts believe that you can market through this channel no matter who you are, or what business you are running, while others do not believe this to be the case. As the experts of Moz.com put it;
No matter how users get to YouTube – through Google universal search, via social media or by navigating directly to youtube.com in their browser – the intent is the same: watch a video.
This basically means that if you don’t have something to offer within this format, you’re better off marketing through a different medium. Before you post anything on YouTube, take some time to think about your viewer and whether they would appreciate seeing the video. If you are doing it solely to market your business, you are most definitely not on the right track. If you are doing it solely for the benefit of your viewer, you are headed in the right direction.
Start Integrating
Once you have taken the leap into YouTube marketing, it’s time to start integrating it into your other social networking platforms, since they all work together to help you in promoting your business albeit in different ways. Take the time to learn about each one individually, as this will help you in putting all the advantages of each one to work for your business.
YouTube is only one of the many avenues that people can use when it comes to promoting their business, but just as with any other form of marketing, you need to do it right to benefit from this option. The more you know about it, the easier YouTube marketing will be.