Businesses have discovered the true potential of videos in their sales and marketing activities. As a result, they are making all efforts to be seen in the crowd.
While there may be several options for an Instagram marketing company, YouTube single-handedly eats into the video marketing market share. When one thinks of videos, YouTube is the first to come to mind. In fact, YouTube is synonymous to the search engine for video content.
Given its popularity, it can be difficult to stand out in the YouTube noise. Fortunately, here are a few content-based strategies that will deliver killer results:
Understand YouTube Algorithms
Before exploring how to rank a video on YouTube and how to make it, you must first understand what goes on under YouTube’s hood. Initially, the number of views defined the popularity of any video.
Soon enough, artificial intelligence and machine learning made breakthroughs in how YouTube operated. Viewers started receiving recommendations based on their viewing history and preferences. At present, the search engine results for users have also turned dynamic to suit their tastes!
Thus, if you wish to beat the algorithm, you need to have a keen understanding of how you will manipulate it for your benefit. YouTube algorithms are quite different from Facebook or Instagram algorithms and undergo regular changes.
Hence, stay updated and read up on the shifting trends in the YouTube algorithms to adapt to them.
Set Marketing Goals
Before you start publishing content over YouTube, develop an acute understanding of your marketing goals. Here are a few common business goals:
- Creating brand awareness and building brand image.
- Selling products and services through YouTube.
- Diversifying business to enter new markets.
- Monetizing videos by posting entertaining content.
- Offering product demonstrations and how-to guides.
- Engaging leads through education and/or entertainment.
Naturally, your marketing goal defines the nature of the video content that you will be posting to your channel. Hence, devise a content plan accordingly.
Learn About Your Viewers
YouTube will offer you two kinds of users – those who will explicitly look you up and others who will be guided by the recommendation engine. You need to understand their motive of viewing (or not viewing) your video. Fortunately, YouTube comes with a powerful analytics tool that offers you insights into your audience.
You can use the Analytics tool to gather qualitative data, such as view counts, interaction rates, average watch times, etc. Furthermore, you also get details on audience demographics, such as age, gender, geographic location, and devices used to watch the videos etc.
Capturing this data allows you to target specific viewers and get the most from YouTube.
Optimize Videos for Improved SEO Performance
As stated previously, YouTube is a search engine for videos. Hence, it is crucial for you to carry out optimization for higher visibility.
But how does one optimize videos? Here’s a quick set of actionable tasks:
- Incorporate keywords within the YouTube video titles.
- Enrich video subtitles and closed captions with appropriate and relevant keywords.
- Add video descriptions to offer clarity on the contents of the video.
- Include links to the main website, social media accounts, Patreon, etc.
- Insert video tags along with variations of tags and keywords.
- Ascribe an appropriate category for your video.
- Post your video at peak times and maintain consistency in publishing videos.
- Create custom thumbnails (but avoid clickbait)
- Optimize your video content for multi-device viewing, especially for smartphones.
The steps mentioned above can help your videos rank high and gain more visibility over the platform.
Create Videos That Convert
Getting viewers to watch your videos is half the battle won. The next half involves getting these viewers to convert into paying customers. As a business, your primary focus should lie in creating videos that convert. You can achieve this goal in the following ways:
- Include a CTA
How do you ask viewers to check out your website? By asking them to check out your website!
Having a clear call to action (CTA) button improves the chances of conversion. You can include these CTAs at the beginning of a video, at a crucial point in the video, or at the end of it. Engage your audience without distracting them.
- Offer Discounts and Incentives
Quite often, users will watch your video thinking, “What’s in it for me?”
While your video may educate them or empower them in certain ways, you need to make it clear right off the bat. Offer instant incentives for watching and engaging with the videos. Think of clubbing a research paper or a case study or even a giveaway link to your video.
- Share Options to Connect
In addition to adding a CTA button, you may also provide your viewers with options to connect with you over different platforms. If they prefer emails over social media or phone calls over texts, then this technique will allow you to meet them halfway.
Monitor and Analyze Results
You can conceive the most creative video in the history of YouTube only to be trumped by someone who can promote it better. Hence, work hard on promoting your content, not only on YouTube but also on various other social media platforms. In fact, be unashamed of promoting your business through every possible way.
Additionally, tap into the power of data analytics to identify the strengths and weaknesses of your YouTube strategy. Compare all findings with the initial goal and build on what works for you. Process the metrics populated by Google Analytics and YouTube Analytics to track the video performance.
Feel free to modify your content marketing strategy to capitalize on these results. For example, if you notice that 20 minute-long videos are performing better in comparison to the 30-second videos, then focus on longer video creation.
Concluding Thoughts
YouTube is one of the best ways to get stellar results in your video marketing campaign. Given the fact that high-quality content takes time and effort, you must make every move count. When done right, your business can capitalize on YouTube’s video marketing offerings to tell a story, sell your product, or nudge users into taking some action that is best for your business.
