.svg)
Did you know that YouTube is the internet’s second-largest search engine? Yes, that's right, and it would be a shame not to exploit YouTube marketing for social media marketing.YouTube being the second largest search engine confirms the fact that your audience prefers an audiovisual solution to their problems over a long-chunky article. Naturally, the mode of content consumption has shifted, and YouTube is ruling the video content world.It’s clear that including YouTube in your marketing strategy is a must, but the question that remains is “HOW?”.Don’t worry; we have got you covered! In this article, you will get a complete guide on how to boost your social media presence by using the power of YouTube. So hang on till the end!
The Power of YouTube
YouTube is one of the built-in apps on your new mobile phone. This itself speaks volumes about the significance YouTube holds in the digital world. Mobile phone companies are aware that you “need” YouTube and use this strategy to make you feel like they know you and care.As of 2021, YouTube has 2.3 billion active users and is considered the second-most popular social media platform. It's a unique platform that uses engagement quite differently than other social media platforms like Instagram and Facebook.The engagement format works well for all age groups, giving you a wider audience for YouTube marketing.YouTube’s primary focus is video content, and unlike Instagram and Facebook, YouTube has stuck to the idea that it started with. In fact, the shift of Instagram from static posts to reel videos confirms the growing importance of videos in the content consumption world.YouTube has also remodeled its strategies. Now it’s not the plain old “only video” platform — it has features like stories, short reel-like videos, lives, etc.Neglecting your YouTube channel can be a grave mistake for your social media marketing. Whenever the audience comes across a new brand, they check for three things — the official website, Instagram, and YouTube — to comfort them that the brand is legitimate.Unfortunately for the users, and fortunately for the brands, the free version of YouTube is littered with ads.YouTube ads are incessant, and after paying for three to four OTT platforms, hardly anyone wants to pay to get rid of the YouTube ads. This is the cherry on top of the video marketing cake for the brands. Meaning, this gives the brands two strong formats (paid and unpaid) for boosting sales through video marketing.
How to integrate YouTube marketing into your Social Media strategy
A YouTube marketing strategy is almost like your usual digital marketing strategy. And with the few tips and tricks discussed below, you can ace your game in the video marketing world.
Step 1: Learn about your audience
You are either trying to sell a product or an idea, right? To whom? It’s your target audience. Hence, the first and foremost important thing to look at is knowing what your audience wants.You need to know:
- Who your audience is
- Why are they your audience (this includes their pain points and why they would benefit from you)
- What are they already watching on YouTube
While figuring out your audience and their needs, some pointers to keep in mind are their demographics. Around 77% of people aged 15-35 use YouTube and the drop-off in that rate for older users is smaller than the other social media platforms. YouTube’s popularity isn’t limited to only the US, but it has around 100 localized versions giving you exposure to a much wider crowd.Of course, researching well is key, but you need to keep up with the content trends and the likes and dislikes of your audience as well.If you already have a fixed set of audiences, YouTube has a feature “YouTube analytics dashboard” that gives you valuable insights about your audience's engagement with your content. Social listening is another great way to check how your brand is doing, within and outside YouTube. It looks for your brand's mentions and associated keywords on various social media platforms.
Step 2. Research potential topics
Now that you know your audience, it's time to curate your content. The best part is that you have already begun this step while learning about your audience. Half the battle is won right there if you know what your audience is interested in. One of the biggest benefits of YouYube is just about every audience is there! One way to research potential topics is by closely looking at what your competitor does and then doing it better.What to look for in the competitor's content? Look for:
- The video that worked for them the most
- Their content flow
- Presentation style
- Their unique voice
- How is your brand different from theirs
- What can you do differently to attract their audience to your page
Some tips that will really set you apart from your competitors is to be attuned to the trends the best YouTubers are embracing. They might not be associated with your industry, but YouTube is a creative space. So, amalgamating creative trends and your brand's voice can prove to be extremely fruitful.YouTube is an audiovisual platform, meaning you need to take care of both the visuals and the audio that you use. Bad quality video or audio that doesn’t go with your content can really affect your video's engagement.Once you are done with thorough research of “what works” on YouTube, you should create a design and color template for your own YouTube channel.YouTube marketing success depends a lot on the aesthetics of your YouTube channel. Hence, your content strategy should incorporate strategic planning of the aesthetics for your channel.
Step 3: Produce, publish and evaluate
The next step is to act on all that you have planned.Production of your videos starts from when you conceive the idea until you render the final draft of your video. While the production procedure is more or less like producing video/film for any other platform, there are a few things that you would need to keep in mind while producing YouTube videos.
Video quality
YouTube viewers are glued to their screens because the visual aesthetics spike serotonin levels, and the pleasure that comes with the spike makes it difficult to turn away from YouTube.Your YouTube marketing strategy should include spending on a studio to produce high-quality content. Take a look at these leading animation YouTube channels. Why do people like them? What engages people about their content? It's the quality and aesthetics.If you want your YouTube marketing efforts to give you profitable returns, focus on the visuals. Your YouTube marketing strategy would give you guaranteed monetary returns if you can simply create trending and pretty aesthetics that draw the eye in.
Prioritize to optimize
Just like you are required to optimize your content for Google, you have to do something similar for your YouTube videos. However, in the case of YouTube, you need to personalize, as the probability that you would show up on your audience's search results depends on their interests and search history. Hence, thorough keyword research is crucial to get more views.Places you can bulk these keywords are:
- Video titles
- YouTube video description
- Video tags Focus on the description
Yes, your audience prefers videos over essays for engagement, but we cannot forget about the plummeting attention span and the need for quick solutions in the fast-paced world that we live in. Your YouTube video description is a place your audience can skim through to learn about your video's content so they can judge whether it's worth the watch.T he algorithm will push your YouTube channel based on the watch time and video views. Hence, spending time building time descriptions is extremely beneficial. Another way to increase audience engagement with your brand is by adding the following to your description:
- Your official website link
- Links to your other social platforms
- Links to the products mentioned in the video
- A Call-To-Action (CTA)
First impression matters
Creating high-quality thumbnails encourages your audience to check out your video. However, make sure that your thumbnail visual exhibits what is there in the video and is not entirely “clickbait.” Otherwise, people will leave and not come back.
Feature on YouTube ads
YouTube lets you feature videos on your page and barge into other channels, so you pop up before other videos. If you really want to up your video marketing game, you need to invest in being featured as a paid ad.Paid advertising ensures that your YouTube videos reach the right audience.
Engage!
The comment section allows you to get quick feedback to analyze the success of your video. Make it a point to engage in the comment section to make your audience feel that you are there to listen and act according to their needs.
Quick tips for growing an audience with YouTube
Finally, here are a few quick tips for building a YouTube audience:
Cross-promote your YouTube videos
YouTube video descriptions can be used to engage an audience with more of your content and cross-promote your videos.Another way to cross-promote your YouTube content is through the end screen recommendations or linking your video links on the top right corner of the video screen. Like this:
You can also use a QR code generator for video to cross-promote your work. QR codes are a new and interesting way to engage your audience. Finally, cross-promoting your videos on other platforms is also great for engaging audiences on both. Consider starting an Instagram, getting Twitter, or trying a blog platform like Tumblr or Medium. Alternatively, set up a drip email campaign to inform email subscribers when you publish a new video.
Consider YouTube SEO
We have already discussed YouTube optimization. Mentioning it twice highlights how crucial it is to optimize your videos to grow your YouTube channel. Think "keywords, keywords, keywords."
Write subtitles in multiple languages
YouTube is a global platform that gives you exposure to a massive population of users worldwide. It would be a shame not to reach out to the maximum number of audiences because of the language barrier. Thus, you need to write subtitles in as many languages as possible to be relevant to a wider population.
Draw inspiration from other brands
Check what’s trending on your competitor's channel and merge the inspiration with your brand’s unique voice to create something new. This way, you can be sure that your YouTube video will work since it's already working for your competitor.This tip applies to not just content but the banner images you use on your channel.
Add timestamps to your videos
Your audience wants their solutions quick and easy. So, do the work for them and create timestamps with brief titles about that particular portion of the video so that your audience can skip to the video section that interests them.Breaking your long videos into smaller chapters increases the chances of the audience's engagement with your video. It helps them navigate through lengthy videos.
Spice up your video thumbnails
Visuals appeal way more than texts, so take advantage of that and create compelling thumbnails that will tempt your audience to click on the video.Yes, your thumbnails should be catchy and vibrant, but also make them relevant. Make sure that your thumbnail reflects exactly what your audience will find in the video. If you straight up aim for clickbait, you might end up losing your audience.Great thumbnails have close-up images of whatever is the main topic of the video and a very catchy tagline. Use bright, vibrant colors to make it more attractive — like this thumbnail:
Add your video to playlists
Creating playlists makes your content look organized. An organized channel means less work for your audience. It's also a subtle CTA for your audience to hit the "subscribe" button.Playlists also ensure that videos are put under an umbrella concept, meaning if your audience is interested in the content type, they may watch a couple of more videos from your channel (boosting your view count).
Creating a playlist is also a great advertising strategy as it makes your brand look quite professional.
Voila! Your YouTube marketing game is on!
So what are you waiting for? You have all you need to ace your YouTube marketing strategy. Now, go ahead, create great YouTube content, and get guaranteed returns from your YouTube channels.
