YouTube 101: Advertising Without Big Budgets

The key to success in social media is creating high quality content that others love to consume and share. However, it is crucial to choose the right platform when sharing our content. Considered as one of the best platforms for online content distribution and advertising, YouTube allows billions of people to discover, watch and share video content.

It’s an exceptional source for advertising, product launches, instructional guides and tutorials. Multiple start-ups and small businesses can reap the rewards by uploading and distributing their videos, presentations, demonstrations and client testimonials.

However, successful YouTube marketing requires consistent effort and dedication. It is unlikely to deliver huge results through a single upload. In this article, we unravel the reasons behind YouTube’s fame and at the same time explore some perspectives that could help boost our own YouTube marketing.

What makes YouTube the best platform?

There is really something for everyone on YouTube. Since its launch in 2005, YouTube has been expanding rapidly. Right from its success in achieving 1 million views in October 2005, to the launch of YouTube Partner Program and Live Streaming, YouTube has given way to great innovations. This is the reason why YouTube is the 2^nd largest search engine.

YouTube’s increasing popularity can be attributed to the following factors:

Anytime Videos: Unlike music channels, YouTube allows people to watch videos anytime across the day. It differentiates from the regular medium by enabling people to search and store videos for offline use as well through YouTube Red.
Viral content: It is one of the most sought-after benefits of YouTube. Any video with a captivating headline and high quality content can reach out to a wider audience and hit hundreds of thousands of views within hours. This is likely to work better for small business units that are willing to enhance their brand visibility.

Another interesting aspect of YouTube is that it allows you to collect, organise, integrate and display relevant information together.

Demographics:

It is extremely difficult to track YouTube’s user base. Unlike Facebook and Twitter, YouTube does not necessitate people to set-up an account. People get instant access to videos and can even share them without signing in.

Moreover, we come across different kinds of content on YouTube like movie trailers, vlogs, music videos, tutorials, etc. catering to various segments of audience. Hence, it is highly impossible to predict from where the maximum traffic is coming from.

Risk and Rewards:

High cost factors:

In order to succeed in YouTube marketing, it is imperative that we deliver high quality content. We should be focused in our selection of a high resolution DSLR, software and image editors to ensure that the resulting video makes the right impact. Such accessories demand good amount of investment.

If we end up delivering shaky videos or blurred images, it is unlikely to generate engagement. Hence, several small business units face high investment risks, if they fail to interest the audience.

Enjoy at leisure:

There is no denying the fact that reading a book is a much more tedious job than viewing a video. Videos are hot-favourites for everyone as we can sit and watch them at our own leisure. This is why videos are considered as the least invasive form of advertising People tend to consume content a lot easier.

Search Engine Optimisation:

If your brand has something to show in terms of new product or service, YouTube could be the right platform to increase our SEO results. We can monetise YouTube through product demonstrations provided we make it sound like a casual and interactive conversation.

Top YouTube Tips:

There are sufficient marketing statistics that show video as a powerful tool to increase traffic and sales. Research shows that over 72 hours of video gets uploaded on YouTube every minute. However, to utilize YouTube’s power, we should learn how to optimise it accordance with our needs. Here’s how we can use YouTube to enhance our business:

Create content based on demand: When it comes to writing a video script, we often wonder what would interest the viewers the most? YouTube’s Keyword Tool gives you an insight on the high volume searches of YouTube. We can type in a word relevant to our business and YouTube will list all the related phrases. We can also opt for some business-related educational tutorials as they are likely to generate more views.** **
Develop and customise your channel: Setting-up a YouTube channel can boost your marketing efforts further. A channel page can highlight the recent activities through a feed. This comes in handy for users to easily find your playlists and favourite videos. You could even customise the channel page by adding logos, matching colours and integrating links to your website.** **
Create an eye-catching thumbnail: Our video thumbnail is the image that could influence the users to watch the video. If you wish to differentiate, do your research and create a custom thumbnail that stands out.** **

Make a captivating headline: A headline can enhance or spoil great content. If you are having trouble coming up with the best headline, try playing around with different elements. Focus on the end results that a customer would want. We can also address concerns that people might have.
Highlight the website link: Make sure the first few words of your video description includes a call to action and a link back to your website.
Add subtitles: Adding captions to your video with the help of YouTube’s auto-captioning feature allows people to enjoy your content better.
Utilise annotations: Annotations add an interactive flavour to your videos. We can easily control what our annotations say and when they appear or disappear. This is a great way to attract the users but be cautious about over-using them, otherwise it could distract the users and detract from the experience.** **
Promote everywhere: If you wish to attract the maximum audience, ensure that you post the videos on your blog, website, Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest and other social media sites.
Utilise the free insights: Don’t overlook the free analytics that YouTube provides on every uploaded video. It could give top-level performance metrics for your content on YouTube including views, demographics, engagement, discovery, and traffic sources.