In this 5-minute read:
- Identify your goals
- Produce good, professional content
- Develop a schedule
- Be mindful of your audience
- Use CTAs
- Pay attention to YouTube’s ranking factors
YouTube has helped all types of businesses increase their brand awareness and online reach. Video is powerful and engaging, and this is the type of media most consumers want to see. YouTube is now the second largest search engine worldwide, so consider starting your own channel and spreading your reach.
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There is a right and a wrong way to carry out a YouTube marketing strategy. Take a look at these best practices to guide you along your journey to more engaging video content, and make sure your YouTube channel fulfills a purpose for your business.
Quick guide: How to set up a YouTube channel for your small business
Identify goals for your small business’s YouTube channel
Everything you do on your business YouTube channel should tie back to your overall marketing/social media goals.
Identify specific goals that you wish to accomplish with your YouTube channel and make sure each video you post is aligned with those goals in mind.
Some questions that can help you find purpose in YouTube:
- Why is YouTube a good idea for your business?
- Do you have some good video ideas that are relevant to your business?
- How are your competitors or others in your industry utilizing YouTube?
- Does your ideal customer spend a significant amount of time on YouTube/consuming video content?
Make sure YouTube is ultimately going to help you accomplish your business objectives and not detract from them.
Produce good, professional content
Having a YouTube channel is great, but if you don’t have the time or capability to produce regular, quality content to keep consumers engaged and interested, it’s not going to help you.
The beauty of YouTube is that you don’t have to do a “one and done” shoot like a Facebook live video. You can take your time plan your video and edit it to look and feel more professional.
Plan your videos
First, you need to plan your videos. Come up with a list of video ideas that you feel will be helpful or entertaining for your customer base.
Good lighting
Make sure your videos have good lighting. Poor lighting can make it difficult to see the subject of the video and is just distracting.
Good, natural lighting is attractive to look at and gives a sense of professionalism.
Consider taking a photography course (or watching a few how-tos on YouTube!) to get a sense of what kind of lighting looks best for the content you wish to produce.
Entertaining or informational content that holds attention
The content and message itself have to entice your audience. If it doesn’t keep their attention, then your YouTube channel isn’t going to help you much.
Along with this, the theme or message of your video should be identifiable within the first 15 seconds.
Edit your videos
Find some video editing software that allows you to seamlessly edit your videos. Cut out bloopers, add some background music, and maybe even include an intro clip.
You don’t have to be a professional videographer to produce good video content. There are tons of tutorials out there for creating and editing your own videos.
However, if you don’t have the time to learn how to do this yourself, it’s not a bad idea to hire a local videographer or media group to help you out. Consider trading your goods and services for theirs.
Develop a schedule
Create a schedule that you can realistically stick to when publishing videos on your YouTube channel. This will help you develop a loyal following and expand your online visibility.
The more high-quality content you have out on the web that points back to your business, the more opportunities you have to get more customers and grow the bottom line.
A schedule will also help you keep your YouTube video from becoming stagnant and irrelevant.
Develop a production and publishing schedule that you can reasonably adhere to. Try for twice a month to start, then try to work up to once or twice a week at a minimum.
If you develop a solid following and they come to expect a new video every friday, make sure you stick to that schedule to avoid disappointing them and losing subscribers.
Be mindful of your audience
If you do have a regular posting schedule but need to pause for a month because your videographer is on vacation, then let your audience know that. Don’t keep them wondering if you’re ever going to post again.
Also, as previously mentioned, publish videos that your audience will actually be interested in. Your YouTube channel can be a useful marketing tool, but you need to consider it as being all for your audience, or nobody will care.
Make sure they are enjoying the content you produce. Track their engagement and comments to see if you are getting your desired reaction or if you need to change things up a little.
Use a clear call to action in every video
Calls-to-action are going to help drive your ultimate business goal: getting more customers. Add a relevant CTA to each video that you create.
Share information about your offerings. YouTube is widely used as a platform for entertainment, but a large part of its audience is also searching for information.
Many want to be educated on how to do certain tasks or learn more about a specific product before buying it.
Take advantage of those opportunities by providing more information about your products or services on your YouTube channel. Some examples of ways that you can do this:
- How-to videos
- Product reviews (consider having customers do this)
- Testimonials
- Interview style videos about product or services
Pay attention to YouTube’s ranking factors
Like every other search engine, YouTube has its own set of factors that help videos rank well on this platform.
You’ll likely find that these ranking factors are similar to some of the things you are already doing for your own website.
As you add a video to YouTube, be sure to include all of the following to provide the best opportunities to rank well:
- Add a descriptive title. Include what your video is about in a few words and think about the types of phrases that consumers will be using to search for related content.
- Provide a detailed description of your video. The more detail you can offer, the better. This gives more information for potential viewers as well as provides text for YouTube to crawl to determine if your video is relevant to the searches.
- Include keywords in your titles and video description for a better chance of showing up for relevant searches.
- Produce high-quality videos and include HD versions. YouTube wants its users to have an enjoyable experience with its platform. If your videos don’t meet that criteria, they are less likely to be shown.
- Ultimately it comes down to user experience. If people aren’t engaging with your videos or they have high bounce rates, then you aren’t going to perform well here.
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