Video isn’t slowing down. When it comes to sharing your story and message with customers and clients, video continues to be one of the most popular ways to engage with audiences. YouTube alone reports over 1 billion unique views per month. With so many potential impressions for your brand, YouTube is a channel you can’t afford to ignore.
It’s also not necessarily an easy one to optimize your marketing strategy for. Here are some ideas about how to effectively incorporate YouTube into your social media marketing strategy.
1. Unique Content
Content is the foundation for video creation, and therefore the most important element of your YouTube marketing strategy. What differentiates your brand from competitors? Why should customers choose your product over something else? What problem does your product solve? This is the most important content to tackle in creating content for your brand’s YouTube channel.
It’s also important to be both consistent and vary your content. You want to make sure you’re regularly posting videos to your YouTube channel (and what regular means will vary by brand and audience you’re seeking to reach), but you also want various types of videos. You may want to post DIY tips for customers, videos of your products in action, customer testimonials, and videos that showcase the personality of your brand.
2. Remember Mobile Views
One of the biggest mistakes that businesses make with their YouTube social media strategy is forgetting the main way people consume their social media – through mobile devices. Phones and tablets are the primary way that people shop, research, read the news, and interact online. It’s important, then, to make sure your brand follows the best practices for creating content for mobile.
3. YouTube Ads
YouTube isn’t just a place to add content that shares the story of your brand or business – it’s also a powerful ad platform. Most YouTube users are forced to sit through ads during their time spent watching videos. If users are already going to have to sit through ads, why shouldn’t they be yours?
Much like ads on other social media platforms, you can customize your ads to show only to audiences that make sense for your brand. Customers who spend a lot of time watching DIY videos, for instance, might be a good target audience for your crafting supply, hardware, or construction business. Google makes it easy to customize your ads to your audience, making those ads even more impactful.
4. Ask an Expert
The content and maintenance that goes along with YouTube marketing differs from many other social platforms. Even other primarily-video platforms, like Snapchat, are often being consumed by a different demographic, so the thought that goes into the content has to be distinct.
That’s why some businesses choose to hire a video specialist or consultant. Not only can they help you shape your video strategy, they often have video specific skills in shooting, editing, and more, to help businesses not only have a solid foundation but excellent-looking content that people are excited to engage with. They can also help you think of things that are appropriate for your audience, such as adding subtitles to your videos and more.
YouTube is just one way to increase your social media reach, but it can have a huge impact on your brand impressions and awareness. YouTube video marketing will never be a one-and-done activity, but something you’ll want to make sure to tweak over time as you learn what’s working and what isn’t resonating with your audience. This is how you’ll be able to ensure a consistent and meaningful YouTube presence that will keep driving audiences back to your brand.
