YouTube is the 2nd most visited website in the world, the 2nd most used search engine in the world and the world’s top video sharing platform
…so it’s safe to say that you need to be marketing on there.
YouTube is a great opportunity for brands, entrepreneurs and marketers to build a real presence, increase their awareness and go to a place where many others aren’t brave enough to venture.
As a digital location, YouTube sees more visitors (and gets more attention) than Facebook, Amazon, Twitter, eBay, Wikipedia and Instagram (to name just a few massive websites).
There has never been a better time to create and publish content on YouTube and just in case you still aren’t convinced, here are 7 more reasons why you simply must be marketing on YouTube.
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It’s Easier Than You Think
When you tell a marketer who is scared about going on YouTube, that they should start creating and publishing videos, they’ll normally raise one of the following objections:
- I don’t have a proper camera
- I don’t have a place to record
- I don’t know what to do
- I don’t see how it will help the business
- I’ve never done video before
- I don’t have anyone who can help me record and edit
None of those bullet-points (above) are a good enough reason NOT to create content for YouTube.
YouTube doesn’t need to be complicated. To become a success, you don’t need professional sets, pro equipment, or a qualified production team.
In fact, a lot of insanely successful creators do nothing more than record themselves (on their phone) in their house, talking about stuff that they know like the back-of-their-hands.
The cameras in modern-day smartphones are more than good enough to produce amazing videos for YouTube.
All you need to do (especially when you’re starting out) is to create content that helps people overcome problems, educate them in something or teach them something interesting.
YouTube content creation really is easier than you think.
Many Viewers, Few Creators
Unlike every other Social Network (YouTube is considered as a social network btw), YouTube has many viewers, but not quite as many creators.
To help you understand, think about a social media platform like Instagram. Everybody who uses this network has to have their own account, and the vast majority of these people regularly publish their own content on there.
When you compare Instagram, Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn with YouTube, you can see a huge difference in the type of content that is created, and this equates to a huge opportunity for marketers.
For example, if your friends and family were posting videos on YouTube would you watch it? And would you watch it BEFORE you watched anything else?
There are very few people who create content on YouTube (or even have friends and family that do), which creates a big gap for marketers that isn’t available on other social networks.
The algorithms of every other network are primed to deliver personalised content from those closest to us (friends and family), but on YouTube, this just isn’t the case.
The opportunity is there, take it while you can.
Free Visibility
As I’ve already mentioned, YouTube is the 2nd most used search engine in the world, this presents marketers with a huge opportunity, especially those with search optimisation skills.
Search engine traffic (aka organic traffic) is one of, if not the best-performing types of traffic medium because people visit search engines (most commonly) to:
- Find answers
- Make buying decisions
- Do research
- Solve problems
Every single one of these offers an opportunity for your brand’s content to engage, increase awareness and capture attention (and a new subscriber).
BTW: YouTube videos also appear on Google results pages, especially when they’re primed for specific queries. This extra visibility could be massive for your brand!
When a creator focusses their content on a search engine’s query (aka keyword) before they create the content, they are much more likely to achieve high organic traffic.
Think about the most common questions that your target market asks and create a YouTube video that answers it.
If you’re unsure, type a target keyword into the YouTube search bar and see what options it offers as an autocomplete. And if your YouTube search history is riddled with (your own) previous searches, try a tool like Soolve.
And if you’re still stuck for ideas, check out Answerthepublic. This tool analyses the most common searches around your target market on Google.
If you’ve been following the blog lately, you will have seen a guide that pairs Answer the Public with Chat GPT – read that blog next and use this creation strategy.
Multi-Purpose Content
The content you create for YouTube will make great content for other digital locations too.
Video is proving to be an increasingly fundamental element of digital marketing- from social content, product explainers, how-to’s and behind-the-scenes footage- video has never been more powerful.
The content you create for YouTube can be cut into shorter segments and published on other social networks (think Facebook, Instagram and TikTok), quotes can be pulled from the audio and the entire videos can be embedded onto your website…
…making your YouTube content an amazing piece of multi-purpose content.
From just one YouTube video, you can create tons of different pieces of content across all your digital marketing channels.
If you’re struggling for success with content marketing, YouTube content might be the starting block that you’ve been looking for.
Build Your Following
YouTube is so popular because it blends three awesome digital elements:
- A social network that allows users to publish their own stuff, including following, liking, sharing and commenting on content
- A search engine that helps people find immediate answers to even the most specific of queries
- Tons of video, which is the internet’s favourite type of content
This has made it the 2nd most visited website in the world, and as such, a great place to capture new followers.
YouTube allows anybody to ‘subscribe’ to a creator’s channel, which means they’ll see new content from these channels above anything else…
…but that isn’t where the opportunities end.
As YouTube is also an awesome search engine and video-sharing platform, it presents creators with the opportunity to grow their following on other networks.
In other words, if somebody discovers your stuff on YouTube, they’re much more likely to check out your profile and follow you on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, TikTok – basically any other social network.
A following means attention, and attention means opportunity for marketers. Don’t miss out on what YouTube is offering you!
Trust and Authenticity
Appearing in a YouTube video proves that you’re a real person and puts a face (and personality) to your name and brand.
Trust and authenticity are two increasingly important elements for digital marketers, and there’s good reason for it…
The internet has made the world a whole lot smaller, and enabled anybody with a digital device to establish a presence online. Unfortunately, not all of these people are trustworthy.
Almost everybody I know has been bitten by an online business (at some point) whether that’s been a low-quality product, super-slow delivery time (literally waiting months for something to arrive), over-priced informational products, non-existent customer service, or worse still, a product that is never received.
When you create and publish YouTube videos for your brand (that include real people) you prove that there is a real, accountable person behind the brand, who cares enough about their audience/customers that they’re prepared to go on video to prove it!
The videos you publish on YouTube can also be embedded onto your website (HINT: Show somebody using your product on your landing pages to increase trust) making them an even more powerful tool in your authenticity armory.
Engagement
The human brain is inherently lazy and although we all like to think that we’re hard-working, intelligent beings, most of the time we automatically seek the shortest (and easiest) route.
In terms of content, this equates to people preferring to sit back and have information spoon-fed to them, then having to work hard to digest it.
If you were to create the exact same piece of content in two different forms, written and video, the video content would receive a higher watch rate (in comparison to read) and generate higher levels of engagement.
BTW: Written content has tons of benefits as well. If you can, do both written and video! It’ll be much more effective for your exposure and marketing aims.
YouTube videos give you the chance to make content more understandable, help viewers to retain more information (and take-aways) and receive higher engagement.
Social video generates 1200% more shares than text and image content combined!
In addition to this, a YouTube video can be shared across a range of networks in the click of a button.
By hitting the SHARE button beneath a YouTube video, viewers can share the content to a host of other social networks like Twitter, Facebook, Reddit, LinkedIn, Tumblr, Pinterest, and they can even choose to email it if they want.
Should You Use YouTube For Marketing Your Brand?
The answer to this question isn’t only a yes, it’s a ‘why aren’t you doing it already?’
YouTube is an incredibly simple platform to get to grips with, especially for anybody involved in content creation and marketing.
There’s no need for you to start out with complicated tactics, stick to simple video formats (until you know more about what works), aim for content that you know your audience will search for, and cross-promote your YouTube content across as many channels as possible.
And, if you’d like to learn more about growing a successful YouTube channel, follow the Einstein Marketer channel, or come back soon for a big ol’ fashioned YouTube marketing strategy guide.
