First things first: YouTube is a really strong platform that you should take into account when it comes to promoting your business or corporation in a direct manner. It’s the most versatile platform for video marketing and should be the first social media platform you create a profile for as a company.
YouTube has a lot of users, and if the video content is well-crafted, YouTube can become an extremely effective way of not only promoting your products/services but actually becoming part of people’s daily lives. YouTube is a really strong platform to do a lot of things, and having a YouTube channel dedicated to your corporation can be a real boon.
In this article, we’ll talk about some YouTube strategies that you should consider when it comes to creating and maintaining the best possible YouTube channel for your corporation. These are based on our experience in working with YouTube for our clients, and these 10 YouTube best practices are really effective when it comes to YouTube marketing.
There are many potential YouTube strategies that you might want to consider, but in an ideal world, your YouTube channel should have two main objectives: YouTube should generate leads that convert into sales and YouTube should help increase brand awareness. YouTube can do both of these things if you set your YouTube channel up correctly and your YouTube strategy is well focused.
The way most companies use YouTube is by posting videos that are related to their products/services, and then they usually expect YouTube views to translate into sales. This can be problematic because YouTube is such a massive platform with so many different types of users that it will be really hard for your business or corporation just to post YouTube videos and expect them to automatically generate income for you.
On top of the lack of instant gratification, maintaining a YouTube channel can be really time-consuming, especially in the early days of your channel. You might not see results immediately (although that’s not always necessarily true) and it takes time to develop a YouTube audience who will enjoy your videos and come back to YouTube time and again. YouTube is not an overnight success platform, so you need to be prepared for the long haul if you really want YouTube to work out well for your corporation.
But, you don’t want to ignore YouTube as a platform just because it isn’t instantly gratifying or because it’s time-consuming. YouTube videos are easily shared, easily embedded, and truly one of the best platforms you can use for video marketing. YouTube marketing is sometimes more effective than even Facebook marketing, and YouTube has the potential of reaching hundreds of millions of people. YouTube can be an amazing platform to help your corporation grow awareness of your business or product/service.
However, YouTube works best if it’s part of a larger marketing strategy that you’re already using for your business or corporation. YouTube works best as a marketing supplement and YouTube works best when YouTube marketing is married with other forms of internet marketing.
With all of that being said, here are 10 best practices for a strong corporate YouTube channel:
1- YouTube should be part of your overall marketing strategy.
YouTube works best when videos are married with other forms of internet marketing, such as Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, blogging, email marketing, and everything else you’re doing to promote your business online.
The reason that YouTube works so well when it’s partnered up with other forms of internet marketing is that YouTube videos can be shared easily and viewers can be redirected to your YouTube channel if they click on your video even when it’s shared on other sites. This shows your viewers that you’re present in more than one place and that they can subscribe to your YouTube channel for more videos like the one they’ve clicked on.
2- Don’t post YouTube videos just because.
YouTube should be used only when YouTube videos are the best way for your corporation to achieve its marketing objectives. YouTube is not a platform you want to use if you’re just trying YouTube out as an experiment or because you think YouTube videos are cool. Posting videos that aren’t relevant to your marketing will only harm your business brand.
Your channel should be another branch of your brand. You want your content to be focused on what it is your company does or sells. Irrelevant videos will only lose you your target audience.
If you’re only posting YouTube videos because you think they’re cool or funny, the YouTube algorithm will sense it as spam and your channel will be lost in the noise. YouTube algorithm is built to catch spam, so YouTube only wants videos that are relevant and targeted. YouTube will punish you for posting irrelevant YouTube videos by either not allowing them to be monetized (taking away any revenue you make from advertisements playing before and during your videos) or hiding them from their inner search engine.
3- Always have a call to action!
YouTube videos should always have a call to action in order to engage with the audience. YouTube works best when YouTube videos help your business accomplish one or more of its marketing objectives and the only way YouTube can really help you accomplish your online marketing objective is if YouTube has a clear call-to-action to take advantage of what your business is offering.
It can be a simple “hit the button to subscribe!” or you can even ask your viewers to comment on the video by asking them their opinions or even have them ask you questions about your company or products and services.
A lot of viewers appreciate engagement because it makes them feel as if you’re listening to them, which you should be!
4- YouTube videos should be around a maximum of 10 minutes in length.
YouTube is not the place to post videos that are too long, even though you can! YouTube works best when videos are posted that are short, sweet, and to the point. No one wants to listen to a 20-minute long review about a product. Very rarely can someone pay attention for that long.
YouTube doesn’t have length requirements, so you can post videos of any length. But, if you want to post a video that takes up 40 minutes, consider breaking it into a series. YouTube has a feature where you can create playlists on your channel so that viewers can find related videos easily and they can consume them either all at once or just one video at a time at their own discretion. Plus, posting more videos more often can bring in more viewers who then will want to subscribe to hear the rest of your spiel.
5- The title of your YouTube video is EVERYTHING!
Long titles are a big NO-NO! You want them to be easily searched for, easy to understand exactly what the video is about, and also lure viewers in to watch your video. YouTube works best when videos have the type of titles that YouTube users are looking for. YouTube users love videos with simple titles that make it really easy for them to quickly understand what the video will be about so that they don’t waste their time.
Make sure you’re using keywords! Keywords make your titles easier to find when using the YouTube search engine. If your video is about a certain product, make sure to name that product in your title. Is it a review? Make sure your audience knows that by stating it in the title!
The title needs to be interesting enough to make people want to click on your YouTube video and watch, too. YouTube works best when videos have titles that match YouTube users’ interests. YouTube videos with titles that users find too long-winded and boring will get lost in the shuffle and YouTube works best when videos have titles that are easy to understand and very clear about what your YouTube video is going to be about before people click on it.
So, titles should be clear, concise,and short!
6- Consider fun cover art!
YouTube video covers are a really great way to engage your YouTube viewers even before they click play. YouTube works best when videos have covers that are interesting enough to make YouTube users want to click on the video to watch it. YouTube videos with fun and captivating cover art will immediately catch the eye of any YouTube user who is looking at it.
It can be very easy to create a captivating cover for your YouTube videos, especially if you’re going through proper post-production and are able to grab great screenshots of your video or can work a little bit of graphic design magic!
However, it is not wise to make your cover art into something that looks nothing like the video you’re posting or is a false advertisement of the video as a whole. It should also match your company’s branding themes in order to be recognizable as your company’s video.
7- Interact with your viewers!
Interacting with your viewers and subscribers is one of the easiest ways to make sure your viewers stick around. It tells them that you care about them. YouTube works best when YouTube videos are interactive with YouTube users and YouTube subscribers. YouTube works best when YouTube videos do not just place the viewers on the backburner but let them know that you care about them and want to hear their opinions as well by giving them a way to interact with your company.
If your viewers have questions, make sure you’re responding to them, even if you don’t know the answer! If they have a complaint, make sure you’re reporting it to your company so that you can make positive changes, and let the viewers know that you’re working on it. They want to be heard and considered, especially if they’re giving you money!
8- Don’t forget about YouTube annotations!
YouTube annotations are an important step that you should never skip! YouTube annotations work to your advantage because they inform YouTube users of other YouTube videos that they should check out next, YouTube playlists and YouTube channels they should subscribe to, and YouTube annotations also help YouTube users by giving them a way to easily share your YouTube video with their friends! YouTube users love YouTube videos with annotations that allow them to engage with the video even more.
YouTube annotations make it really easy for YouTube users to like, share, and subscribe. Annotations are perfect for both showing appreciation and asking questions of your viewers, too! It’s always a good idea to make sure your viewers know how much you appreciate them and their business!
9- Be sure that your YouTube videos are engaging!
YouTube works best when YouTube videos are entertaining and engage its audience. YouTube users want to be entertained or learn something while watching your YouTube video and being able to meet that consistently will get them to subscribe to your channel.
You don’t have to be a comedian or professional orator to keep your audience engaged. You can teach them something new about the products or services you sell. You can show them new techniques on how to use any products. You can even do a review of your products in order to show them something they might not have known about it, but that they might need out of it. Keep it on-brand for your company, though. A serious law firm won’t want to be posting silly jokes but may consider teaching their viewers about past trials or new law changes, whereas a Toy Company may want to show the silly side of their products and present their channel in bright colors that draw in the childlike eye.
10- Outsource help when you need to!
As we stated before, maintaining a good and engaging YouTube channel can be time-consuming. So, why not outsource for help when you need it?
Advertising firms, like C&I Studios know the ins and outs of YouTube. We know how to create engaging, on-brand videos for a number of different industries, how to maintain a channel, and how the interaction between creators and viewers should be working.
If you’re ready to engage with YouTube views more thoroughly, make sure to contact C&I Studios today to create and learn how to manage your video marketing through YouTube!