Is YouTube Social Media?

Including YouTube in Marketing Strategy

Any business, including online businesses, small businesses, freelancers, and large organisations can benefit from YouTube. There is no cost on uploading a video on this platform; however, you must know that it will have promotional content included. Also, it is easy to search using keywords and the relevant videos will appear on both platforms; Google and YouTube. Before you start establishing a channel on YouTube, you need to answer these questions:

• Why are you considering YouTube in your marketing strategy?

• Why are you using YouTube?

• Who are you targeting with the posted videos?

• How will you promote your video?

If you don't know how to use YouTube marketing, then you can be missing out. Here are some effective steps to follow in your YouTube marketing strategy:

Create a business YouTube channel

At first, you need to open a Brand Account on Google. That's because if you use your personal Google account, only one person can log into that channel. However, if you choose a Brand Account, multiple Google Accounts can log in simultaneously.

Search your audience

Before thinking about your content, you must study your target audience according to age, gender, location, and demographics. A business YouTube account offers the "Analytics tab," which gives information and statics related to your channel. You can get some quantitative insights that help you know more about your audience's behaviour. It shows your view counts, interaction rate across your videos, and average watch time. Also, the "Demographics tab" offers valuable information about your followers that help you reach the right audience. Additionally, reading the comments can give a perspective of who you are interacting with.

Research your competition

Searching relevant channels in your niche on YouTube is essential to get a lot of information. This can help you identify your target audience and the type of engaging videos. You can get an idea of the videos with most and least views and what type of content that people enjoy. You can also read the comments and descriptions on competing videos to find out about the keywords they use in their search optimization. Consider using similar ones to rank high in YouTube search pages.

Optimise your videos

Optimise your videos for SEO to grab attention and increase the number of views. Don't worry if your first few videos fail. You can always perfect your YouTube SEO over time. Use relevant keywords on picking up the video's title. Using an appealing title is the first step in optimising your videos. You can use the "Google AdWords Keyword Planner" to help you find the right keywords. YouTube videos titles have up to 70 characters but we recommend using 60 or fewer so the whole title appears on search pages.

Choose an interesting thumbnail

When you upload a video on your business channel, you get to choose a freeze-frame to use as a thumbnail. We recommend customising your own thumbnail as it will help you stand out and be recognisable.

Write the perfect video description

You have to use a maximum of 5000 characters to write a compelling video description. Write a short and simple explanation of your video. You can also include URLs of your website and social media channels. Also, you can add up to 15 relevant hashtags. Hashtags are important in increasing your reach. Take care that if you use more than the 15 hashtags, all hashtags on that video will be ignored. Remember to include proper keywords in your title and description.

Use call-to-action buttons to promote your channel

Add clickable CTA buttons such as cards, bumper ads, and watermarks to your YouTube videos.

• Cards: They are small, transparent buttons that expand on clicking. They are used to direct your followers to your website, purchase pages, or even other videos on your channel.

• Bumper ads: These are six-second videos that appear at the start or end of the original video.

• Watermarks: They are custom-made subscribe buttons that appear only to non-subscribers, encouraging them to subscribe.

Ask your viewers to subscribe

Encourage your viewers to subscribe to your channel by asking them to like, share, or subscribe at the end of the video. It is easy and it actually works.

Build connections on your channel through

• Posting quality videos to keep your subscribers interested

• Making friends with others in the same industry by sending friend requests on YouTube

• Asking your viewers to subscribe to your channel and also favourite the videos they enjoy

• Responding to comments to be authentic and build a solid relationship with your subscribers. Write a creative response. You don't want to sound like a robot or thought to be spam

Figure out the videos formats on YouTube

There is no correct video format when it comes to marketing efforts. Some can be effective for certain niches or preferred by your audience. You can conclude the best one to use on going through your competitors' channels. Give them a try to determine which one suits your business the most.

• How-to videos

• Tutorials

• Vlogs

• Product review

• Explainer video

• Tutorial

• Just talking with your audience

• Screenshare (Sharing your computer screen with your viewers)

• Video teasers

Create videos

The great thing about video marketing is that it is affordable. You can produce a nice and compelling video with just your Smartphone. All you need is good lighting and clear sound. Maybe consider using a tripod for a steady camera filming. Using basic video editing software programs to add titles and edit your videos. Here is one useful tip; shorter videos work best. Try to film or use videos from three to four minutes long.