Do you use YouTube as part of your social media strategy? If you’re not, then you really should. Video promotion is becoming ever more important in this digital age. It goes without saying that attaching an eye-catching image to your blog post will immediately improve its chances of being read and shared on social media. But, increasingly, even these picture-perfect posts are being overlooked in favour of the even more passive information transmission – video.
Even if you’re already utilizing the wonderful service that is YouTube, you may still be wondering what more you can be doing to try and increase your following, shares and engagement.
Let’s face it – there’s something intrinsically authoritative about a brand that makes its own videos. It seems to lend credence and validity in a way that blog posts and more traditional banner marketing just can’t. Especially since 86% of modern consumers suffer from ‘banner blindness’ which means that we have to find different ways to advertise. Somehow, video manages to imply a certain level of success. It shouldn’t do – anyone with a smartphone and a free editing app can make a perfectly acceptable video these days – but it nonetheless does.
Make Your Own Animations
It’s even possible now, if you sign up to the services of something like Moovly, to make your own animations. And these can do no end to deceiving the online world about your level of success – they must be doing well if they can afford to hire in an animation team to produce their promos, let’s go with these guys!!
But video – whether live filming or animation – actually does a lot more than this. It personalizes your brand in a way that the written word or still image simply can’t. If you cast yourself in your videos, then your audience will get a real sense of the human being behind the branding long before the video is over. They will hear your voice and notice the way you move and how you carry yourself. They will feel like they’ve already met you – and from a safe and non-intrusive distance, no less – and this simply adds a personal touch like no other medium on the internet.
Building Your Brand With YouTube
So, now that you’re convinced that building your brand with YouTube is a great idea, Let’s outline a few tips on how to go about it:
1. Make Great Videos
It’s the same for blogging as it is for Twitter as it is for Instagram as it is for Facebook as it is for YouTube – content is king. In fact, this is even truer when it comes to your videos. The only way that you will increase your following on the platform – and have your videos spread across other social media – is to produce content that’s worth sharing.
So what sort of content is this? Well, as you will no doubt know yourself, the most shareable video content is the stuff that is either outstandingly funny, or appeals to the emotions in some way – it can be controversial, but this doesn’t bring back positive results in the same way that a heart-warming story would. It’s no good standing in front of the camera with a plant pot and filing cabinet in the background and dirge out to the world in monotonous tones about what it is that makes your brand of stapler better than all the others out there. No one’s going to find that interesting or funny – and they won’t share it, which means that you won’t attract any more followers.
Instead, what you should try and do is illustrate just how great your stapler is over a series of videos – and make it entertaining. So, ask the question – ‘Will it Blend?’ style – ‘Will it staple?’.
This is the sort of thing that will almost inevitably gain traction in the digital world. However, it might not be quite the right style for your business. So, experiment a little. And just remember that the most shareable videos are either funny or interesting, and ideally both.
You may also want to invest in some advanced video equipment – such as lighting, a sounds system, an amplifier, or a higher spec camera than what you smartphone has. You will definitely need a decent microphone above all else if you have audio and it’s worthwhile investing in a camera or hiring a production company if you have the funds.
2. Brand Your Profile Page
Whatever your branding, make sure that you use it to customize your YouTube page. The key is consistency. You want to make sure that you’re using the same colours, the same tone and the same style that you are across all of your other social media outlets and your website.
One thing that is really important to remember – you cannot change your channel name once you have set it up. So, at the content planning stage, you need to make sure that you choose the right name to attract the right sort of viewer. Just as with all other social media, it’s also important to complete your profile in detail. So, on YouTube, this includes your name, your company’s name, uploading an avatar, and a link to your website.
You must also make sure that every time you make a video that you tag it correctly when it comes to uploading it onto YouTube. So, since you’re making staplers, then you will need to tag “staplers”, “stapling”, “will it staple?”, “your name” and “your company’s name” as this is how people will find your videos when searching.
3. Promote Your Videos
Finally, you will want to make every effort to promote your videos as much as you can. YouTube has streamlined the process of sharing videos on social media now, so it couldn’t be easier – you can even opt to auto-share on Facebook and Twitter if you want. You can also link your blog, which will mean that you can post your videos directly onto your blog from your YouTube channel.
Alternatively, you may prefer to embed your video into one of your written blog posts, or even create a video that will be a permanent feature of your homepage. This is all perfectly possible by using the embed code that will come with your video when it’s posted.
The final piece of advice is to link to your YouTube channel anywhere and everywhere you can. This includes on your website, your blog, your Twitter, your LinkedIn, your Facebook, your Google+ and anywhere else you can think of. The purpose of this is that the more links that you have pointing towards your video, the higher it will be ranked in searches on Google.
YouTube is one of the most popular sites in the world, and video is one of the very best media to get yourself noticed on social media. Building your brand with YouTube has never been more important, and should be at the core of your ongoing digital content strategies. Share with us in the comments below how you use YouTube!