Video can be a powerful tool to help you spread the word about your business. So why not try these hacks to make the most of YouTube to promote your business?
They say there are more than 500 hours of YouTube video uploaded every minute with almost 500 billion videos watched by users each day. While that sounds like a lot of potential peepers on your content it’s important to note 20 per cent of the people who start your video will leave after the first 10 seconds. So, it’s vital to make your video stand out from the crowd if you want to grab your share of views.
How to take advantage of YouTube to promote your business
Savvy business owners already know the power of YouTube to build brand awareness and engage with their customers and community. Whether it’s hosting online classes, pr boosting brand awareness YouTube provides an awesome platform for businesses to get noticed. YouTube is also a great platform to use to showcase your expertise.
YouTube powering a pivot
When South Yarra restaurant Atlas Dining was forced to close its doors due to the pandemic, chef Charlie Carrington cooked up a new idea to keep the business going. Charlie pivoted to selling ingredient boxes and set up a YouTube channel to share cooking masterclasses. Each week foodies can order a new ingredient box and tune into YouTube to watch a video tutorial from Charlie stepping customers through how to prepare their ingredients into a fabulous meal.
Get the SEO basics right
Having a great video idea is one thing, but if you want your brand to be noticed you have to pull out all the stops. Optimising your videos is crucial. Start by remembering that just as Google ranks search results by titles, keywords and descriptions, so too does YouTube. This means you can’t just upload your video and hope you’ll be noticed. SEO counts.
Just as you would make sure a blog post has a relevant title with important keywords – your YouTube videos also need a strong title. Make sure your keywords match your video topic and that your video thumbnail is a custom image and looks schmick. Don’t forget to include a description and add relevant hashtags to expand your reach.
What about YouTube Ads?
If you’ve spent any time on YouTube you will know that YouTube Ads are a great way to get your brand noticed. But can you really shoot a polished advertisement for your business without breaking the bank? The answer is yes. Telling the story of your business is a great place to start. To be certain your video looks as good as possible plan what you want to do. Decide on a concept and storyboard your shots. When it comes to equipment – there’s no need to opt for fancy cameras – today’s smart phones are equipped with great HD recording quality. Best of all you know how to use one. Just remember when you’ve finished filming and are editing your footage include calls to action to make sure you get your message across.
I’ve made my video, now what?
You’ve made your first video, now it’s time to set up a campaign. What do you want to happen when people click on your ad? Will you send them to your website or your YouTube Channel? Your decision will depend on your marketing goals. These could be increasing views or shares or they could be around making a purchase or signing up to an offer. Once you know where you want them to go you can set up your ad.
Target your audience
To ensure your ad is seen by the right people you need to set up targeting. This will allow you to make sure your ad is seen by people who are interested in what your business has to offer. By setting the correct targeting for your video campaigns, you can make sure you’re getting the most of your budget. Decide where your likely customers are located, pick the location(s) where you want your ads to show. You can specify countries, regions and cities. It’s equally important to set demographics for your video campaign. You can choose from age and gender to a range of over 100 interests so your video ad will show for the right customer.
Measure your success
One of the best things about online video marketing is you can see exactly what’s working and what’s not. And that means you can review your results and make your campaigns even better. Google recommends you give your video ads at least two weeks to gain traction before deciding what to change. Your Google Ads account will give you key metrics like view rates, cost-per-view, and the number of video views you’re getting, but you can also get further insights from Google Trends and Google Analytics, too.
For more info on YouTube’s ad formats and how to use them check out these helpful hints.
This article first appeared on Small Business First. You can read the original here
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