YouTube Marketing Guide: Understanding the Basics
We’ve probably all spent an afternoon watching one silly video after another. YouTube has always been a great source of entertainment, but in the last few years, it has also become an essential tool for marketers.
If someone asks you to rank the social media channels, from the most important to the least important, which one would you rank at the top? For almost everyone, that answer would be Instagram or Facebook. And which would be at the bottom? Well, probably YouTube. But the truth is YouTube can be beneficial for the businesses who utilise it correctly and consistently.
There are so many marketing opportunities on YouTube, especially if your audience is on the platform and your competitors aren’t. Did you know that YouTube has more than a billion active users? Since YouTube is the second largest search engine, video marketing represents a massive opportunity for your brand to be discovered.
Ready to dive in? Let’s get to the basics of YouTube marketing!
Set Up Your YouTube Channel
We recommend you create a YouTube channel specifically for your business. Make sure to link it to your website and other social media channels. When you create a Google ID, it inevitable makes your account on YouTube. However, when you want to create a channel for YouTube marketing, you have to create a brand channel. Why? Because a business-specific YouTube channel will help you get more traction and more relevant hits.
The first step to YouTube marketing is to add a channel icon and channel art. These are the first things that people see when they come to your channel, so be sure to use high-quality images that are easily recognisable and consistent with your branding. After you add your channel icon and art, you need to create a channel description – users need to know what you’re about and what types of videos you have.
You can speak to one of our Internet marketing consultants to find out how Internet marketing videos can help sell your product, service or company.
Channel Description
As we mentioned previously, it’s essential to add a channel description, but a lot of businesses miss this step. People need to know details about your business, so make sure you create an in-depth channel description. Write it in such a way that it will show the value your business provides to the viewers.
Include A Featured Video
As a brand channel, you should include a featured video, which is an introduction to your business or about yourself. This video has a prominent position on your channel, and it is an auto-play video, so when people visit your channel, it grabs their attention. We recommend that you include this type of video because it will help the viewers know about your business even before they read the channel description.
Create Regular Content
Now it’s time to consistently update your YouTube channel with content that will keep your feed active, increase your presence on the platform, and help you build an audience. You should post at least one video per week, but the right amount of videos depends on your audience and your goals.
A great way to create a steady stream of content is to make shorter versions of long-form videos. You can simply build a theme around a specific topic and then post bite-size versions of the theme every week. This is helpful because it will keep your audience engaged, and they will be more likely to come back for more content.
Manage Your YouTube Channel
Now that you have everything set up and some videos to get started, you should focus on managing your channel. As with any other social media platform, engagement is also a big part of YouTube, so it’s crucial to take the time to respond to all the comments you get, Besides this, you also have to try to drive engagement in other ways.
A simple way to manage your account is to use a tool that will automate the whole process. There are many great tools out there that can help you keep track of your comments and respond when necessary, collaborate with your team and discover keywords and tags for optimising your videos. Some tools can help you monitor YouTube for mentions of your brand in videos and comments and keep track of your subscribers and connections.
Final Words
Now you are set to create your YouTube channel. Remember that growing your presence on YouTube might take a while, but be patient and continue to produce high-quality content.
Good luck!
