Hello folks!
You would definitely agree with me with the fact we all have spent hours watching one silly video after another. One third of total time online is spent on watching videos and YouTube has more than a billion users worldwide. It can be accessed in 76 different languages, accounting for 95% of the world’s population. It is the second largest search engine which can help you improve your SEO.
This platform allows marketers to present unique content that’s easy for viewers to consume and share. But it can be intimidating for new businesses. So here are some steps which can enlighten your journey of online marketing.
Create A YouTube Channel
Let’s start by creating a brand account on Google. You can create an account n your name but it will be accessible only to you. With a Brand Account, multiple authorized users can log in simultaneously. With a Brand Account, you can also open and manage multiple YouTube channels.
Optimize Your Videos for SEO
Creating engaging content is not enough for successful outreach. There are several ways to optimize your videos to rank highly on both YouTube and in Google search results.
The first step can be creating and optimizing your video’s metadata. A metadata gives viewers information about your video, which includes your video title, description, tags, category, thumbnail, subtitles, and closed captions.
Providing the right information in your video’s metadata ensures that it is properly indexed by YouTube and appears when people are searching for videos like yours. Be specific when filling out your metadata. Let me warn you here, your content could be removed if you try to promote it with unrelated keywords.
Title: Titles are the first thing that user will read while scrolling down the list of videos. Make them clear and appealing. It should make searchers curious about your content or make obvious that your video will help them solve a problem. It is better to do some keyword research to understand what people are looking for. Include most important keywords and information in your title. Make it limited to 50-60 characters.
Description: Always include important links or CTAs in the beginning of your description, so it drives views and engagement. Add a default channel description that includes links to your social channels, video credits, and video-specific time stamps. You can also include #hashtags in your video titles and descriptions
Tags: Tags associate your video with similar videos. When tagging videos, tag your most important keywords first and try to include a good mix of more common keywords and long-tail keywords.
Category: After you upload a video, YouTube will allow you to choose a video category such as Film & Animation, Autos & Vehicles, Music, Pets & Animals, Science & Technology, etc, under “Advanced settings.” Video categories group your video with related content on the platform.
Thumbnail: Video thumbnails are the main images viewers see when scrolling through a list of video results and it can have a large impact on the number of clicks on your videos. It is highly recommended to upload a custom thumbnail. When filming, think of high-quality shots that accurately represent your video. YouTube recommends using a 1280 x 720 px image to ensure that your thumbnail looks great on all screen sizes.
Subtitles & Closed Captions: Subtitles and closed captions not only help viewers, but they also help optimize your video for search by giving you another opportunity to highlight important keywords. You can add subtitles or closed captions by uploading a supported text transcript or timed subtitles file or you can also provide a full transcript of the video and have YouTube time the subtitles automatically.
Create Videos for YouTube
There are different types of YouTube videos. Decide what type of video will help you achieve your goal before filming.
- Customer testimonials: Customer testimonials are short-form interviews with satisfied customers. It can help build company and product credibility.
- Product demonstration videos: short pieces of content showing the benefits and proper use of a product.
- Tutorial videos: Explainer or tutorial videos are in-depth videos explaining how to use a product or various parts of a product or service.
- Thought leader interviews: Can help amplify your company’s credibility in an industry.
- YouTube Live: Live video allows you to easily share unfiltered moments and lets your audience participate with real-time comments and reactions.
- Video blogs: Video blogs are daily or weekly videos documenting daily life or events.
- Event videos: Event videos of a conference or expo and can be a great way to show the excitement of a crowd.
Once you have selected what type of video you want to make, let us move to second step. Learn about your audience. Learn about YouTube demographics which helps in qualitative analysis like from which place the majority of audience is, age group, viewing preferences. Observe watch time and comments through which you can learn about their interests and preferences.
Next create storyboard and outline of your script. Your storyboard should, at least, include:
- A frame for each major scene or location change
- Basic descriptive information about the scene like time of the day , mood of the surrounding,etc.
- Lines for each scene
- Camera direction for motion and shot details
Determine the length of your video. Usually, videos under two minutes get most engagements. If you are making longer videos then you have to work on how you would present it and about the story, to keep viewers interested throughout.
Finally, select locations for each part of your story. Visit each location before the shoot. make sure you’ll be able to capture the kinds of shots you want for your video. Typically, it’s better to have more space so you can adjust the camera position as needed. Also, check for any loud or ambient noise like busy roads or air conditioning units that could interfere with your audio when filming, and consider the light and time of day.
Now that you have filmed your video, it’s time to edit it. There are many video editing tools and software that are available online. Also, music and sound effects are essential to creating a successful video. Music is one of the most valuable tools for setting the tone of a video and often informs the editing style, camera movement, and on-camera action. If you’re introducing your brand to a new audience, you probably want to select music that is upbeat and energetic. But it is important to obtain the necessary permissions to use the song. YouTube has a library of free sound effects and music to use in your videos. Select songs that are ‘royalty free’ i.e. you only have to pay a flat rate to use the music and not the additional royalties or licensing fees.
Keep Track Of Your Competitors
YouTube is a competitive space. Identify three to five competitors initially. Use their viewership and subscriber count as benchmark for you channel. Read their comments and observe what people want, observe the keywords used in their titles and learn from it.
Conduct a SWOT analysis to identify the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats presented by each competitor. This is a good framework for spotting what’s working and not working, and where you can carve out a niche with your YouTube channel.
Schedule your videos
Even though YouTube has replaced traditional network television, viewers still expect the videos to be available on some reliable schedule like a web-series or web-episodes.
Check your channel analytics to see if there’s a day or hour that tends to have a high amount of viewership and engagement. Once you’ve pinpointed the best time to post, aim to publish regularly within this window.
YouTube advertising
YouTube advertising can be an effective way to expand your reach. YouTube ads are also good for promoting your brand, an event, or a new product. People are three times more likely to pay attention to online video ads versus TV ads.
YouTube ads are available in these four categories:
- Skippable in-stream ads: These ads play before or during a video and viewers can choose to skip them after the first 5 seconds.
- Non-skippable in-stream ads: Pre-roll or mid-roll ads that don’t have a skip button at all. If you’re confident that your creative is strong enough to hold your audience’s attention for the full 15 seconds then you can go for it.
- Video discovery ads : appear on the YouTube homepage, within search results, and as related videos on YouTube video watch pages. When a user clicks on one of these ads, they’re redirected to the promoted video.
- Non-video ads (i.e., overlays and banners): Appear floating on top of video content from monetized YouTube channels or on the right-hand sidebar, including an image and text, alongside a CTA with a link to your website.
Select which one will best suit your advertising campaign. Then create a catchy and interesting advertising content which hook with your target audience.
YouTube is a serious marketing platform that provides your brand with the opportunity to promote content in a truly visual and engaging way. So it is important to understand the YouTube marketing techniques to successfully introduce your brand to the audience.