With YouTube being the second largest search engine internationally, this social media giant plays an important role in enhancing brand awareness and developing beneficial relationships. Following the below checklist can lay the foundation for overall promotional video success.
1. Know your target market
Any marketer understands the importance of having a well-defined target market. Your target market will determine your video content, presentation, and terminology. Your video must prove useful to this marketing niche.
2. Have a well-defined objective
Having a clear objective for your video is crucial for success in this arena. You must know what you hope to achieve with your video. Are you using your video as a lead generator? Is the video going to showcase your expertise? Once you know your objective, you can start developing your video message.
3. Start a channel
YouTube channels are basically home pages on the YouTube network. All of your company’s videos will be located here. Your channel is the first impression a viewer receives about your business. Your level of success on YouTube depends upon how compelling, professional, and attractive your home page appears.
YouTube provides a number of customization tools to make your channel uniquely yours. Learning how to use these powerful tools will differentiate your business from the competition who fails to see the importance of customization.
4. Customize your user name to promote brand
When setting up your YouTube account, be sure to use a customized user name that can easily be used on all of your marketing collateral and communication tools. This includes business cards, letterhead, email signatures, social media networks, and websites.
5. Include contact information
You can have the best-looking YouTube video on the network, but if you fail to include contact information, you are defeating the purpose. How will viewers get a hold of you? Be sure to include a brief summary about your company, physical location, and contact information. Contact information includes email address, social media links, phone number, fax number, and website address. It is also possible to link your video directly to a page within your website. It is done using the annotations tool.
6. Have compelling and engaging content
Content must draw viewers in and keep them there. Make sure your introduction is engaging and attention-getting. Once viewers are drawn in, start describing what you do and how your business differentiates itself from the competition. You don’t have to worry about using your keywords in the video script. You can use the closed captioning tool to add strategic keywords to the transcript – indexable by Google.
Use action-oriented wording to engage viewers. Nothing is more boring than humdrum, past-tense wording that make viewers think you used to do something. Be vibrant and exciting. Get your message across effectively by using humor and entertainment. Fun improves sales, engagement, trust, confidence, and loyalty among viewers. All these components make viewers want to contact you.
7. Integrate into social media strategy
YouTube is the largest social media force in existence. To be successful, your video must be integrated into your social media strategy. You must make it easy for your viewers to share the video with their friends, associates, and social media circles.
YouTube videos are the perfect social media marketing tools for taking a business to the next level.