How to: YouTube Marketing

YouTube is the 4th most used social media platform by marketers. Why? Because it has millions of users logging in every month, can offer a high ROI (return on investment) and gives your brand the ability to customise your budgets.

Whether you’re creating your own YouTube channel to showcase your products, and/ or services or using YouTube paid ads to target an audience, you’ll find a solution to fit your goals and budget. If you’re not carrying out YouTube marketing effectively now, you will be by the end of this blog.

Convenience

83% of video marketers in 2020 said that have used YouTube said it had been successful for them. This is due to the easy potential you have to grow quickly and the ongoing features YouTube has. As we have seen in the last few years, social media apps have constantly added new features such as stories, camera filters and now reels on Instagram and ‘shorts’ on YouTube.

When using your video title, description and hashtags correctly, you can reach a lot of users. You are free to showcase your services or products like any other social media platform, however, it will of course be in a video format.

How to optimise your brand for YouTube

SEO (search engine optimization) is becoming more important now. Not only on Instagram but also on YouTube. Therefore, it’s paramount to use focus keywords both in your title and description so your target audience can find your videos. Another way to catch your audience’s attention is by creating eye-catching thumbnails which resonate with the video topic and title. It’s important to keep a clear and consistent look throughout your social media channels for a memorable brand identity.

However, try not to create thumbnails or titles that could be classed as clickbait. Always be honest and transparent about what your brand is all about and how you operate. You can also personalise your channel by uploading your own profile picture and header so that users can easily identify your brand.

For your channel to be pushed out more to viewers, it’s key to post consistently and add end screens to your videos so viewers can be referred to other videos you’ve uploaded. Another solution to optimizing your brand and growing your audience is through collaborating with other YouTubers or influencers to get more attention.

Advantages of YouTube marketing

The main advantage to using YouTube for marketing is how easy it is to use and it being free. If you’re already generating a lot of views with your current content, then you’ll be sure to make a few bucks through monetisation. However, if you are just starting with uploading content or have a few videos already, you’ll need 1000 subscribers and 4000 public watch hours. You can also make additional revenue through affiliate links, sponsorships, merchandise and other digital products.

YouTube videos are also great for SEO (search engine optimization) as it creates backlinks to your website. These backlinks can be created when adding your website link onto your profile page and/or within the descriptions of each video you post on your channel. By having your website link see throughout different areas of your channel, this will get the word out about your website, which will, therefore, increase the traffic to it.

Disadvantages of YouTube marketing

The main disadvantage of YouTube is the number of rules and restrictions there are in terms of copyright and monetisation. YouTube is a public platform and open to everyone. Anyone can access your content. With growing audience, there could be copyright infringement issues. Also as a YouTuber or business, the privacy becomes a threat.

Another major disadvantage of YouTube marketing is the cost of actually filming content. To shoot proper and professional videos, you’ll need equipment such as cameras and lenses, lighting tools and editing software such as Adobe Premiere Pro or iMovie.