How To Make The Most Of Your Business’ YouTube Channel
YouTube is by far the most popular video sharing site online. 72 hours of video are uploaded to the site every minute, there are more than 1 billion unique visitors to the site every month and they watch over 4 billion hours of content in that time. These astronomical engagement and audience figures make YouTube a must-use social media site for companies who want to promote themselves using visual media.
nurseshan.wordpress.com
So, how do you make the most of your business’ YouTube channel? It is imperative, of course, that you get the videos right, but the rest of your channel needs to be maintained as well: before the videos, you need to create the right channel to represent your business; after the videos, you need to promote them online and monitor the success of your content. Here are a few hints and tips on how to make the most of your channel.
1. Before the Videos
If you are making videos for YouTube, you need the right equipment. Do you have a camera and editing software? Do you have sound recording equipment and employees who know how to handle it? Of course, depending on the quality of the videos you intend to create, you could always use a mobile phone with a good quality camera, a much cheaper and easier option.
So, you have the equipment, now you can start creating your channel. If your company is a large, umbrella corporation, you could have a number of different channels for different brands. For most companies, however, its advisable to just have one channel: think of it as a brand page, which everyone will associate with your company.
Name your channel after your brand, if you can, or as close to your brand name as possible. Use industry keywords in your about section and upload an interesting and original background. Make sure the theme of your channel connects with your business. Manage your tabs. Have your subscribe button and logo prominently placed, with subscriber and view counters in the corner. Don’t forget to put links to all your other websites and social media profiles at the top of the page.
Do you already have an archive of company videos from events or old advertisements? Don’t dump it all on your YouTube channel, select the videos that are relevant and interesting and post them in intervals.
2. The Videos
There are dozens of kinds of video that you can post on YouTube to promote your brand and increase engagement with the public online. Here are a few quick ideas: presentations of products, interviews with staff and experts, a tour of the office, a video explaining your product, a customer testimonial. Another good idea is livestreaming your events on YouTube, advertising them beforehand to ensure a large audience.
Title and tag your videos with relevant keywords. YouTube is a Google affiliate, so videos posted to the site appear high in relevant searches. YouTube itself has the second largest search engine on the web, after Google, so you need to ensure that you optimize your video descriptions with keywords so that they appear high in searches. Tags are especially important to get right, as they affect what videos get displayed in the “relevant videos” section.
YouTube videos can be as long as you want now, but it’s still best to edit your videos down – people have a short attention span on YouTube. Of course, if your video needs to be long, don’t worry: people will watch it if the content and is interesting enough to them.
YouTube allows you to choose between one of three screenshots from the video as the screenshot shown before it plays. choose wisely: the screenshot will effect how much engagement your videos get. Categorise your videos into specific playlists to make it easier for subscribers and visitors to navigate around the page.
3. Engagement
Do you want to allow comments on your videos? I’d advise against it: the majority of people who comment on YouTube are trolling. Of course, you can delete comments at any time, but there may be too many comments to manage.
Get people to engage by asking them to subscribe to your channel. Use annotations to promote engagement with your videos. For example, ask people to click on an annotation to view the product page of a product that appears in an advert you post on YouTube. make sure that your like, share and subscribe buttons are always prominently placed.
Embed your videos on your other social media sites and on your website. Create an introductory video talking about your company and embed it on the front page of your website, or create product videos and post them on your sales pages.
Use Google Analytics to measure the engagement of your videos. See what videos prove the most popular and with who, then optimise your channel and your videos to get the most interaction you can.
How do you make the most of your YouTube page?
Contact us on Twitter, Facebook, or leave your comments below.
Will Sigsworth
Follow us @SocialMediaF & @WillAtSMF
Or go to our Facebook page
How To Make The Most Of Your Business’ YouTube Channel
Reviewed by Anonymous
on
Thursday, April 25, 2013
Rating:
Reviewed by Anonymous
on
Thursday, April 25, 2013
Rating:
Anonymous
Keeping you up to date on social media, digital marketing, apps, news & reviews. Social media, and digital marketing as a whole, are rapidly and constantly changing, adapting to new developments at an ever increasing rate. Just keeping up to date can be a nightmare. Our team of writers know their field, and keep an ear to the ground. We aim to keep you informed of all recent developments in the online world, and teach you a little something along the way. So whether you just want to stay connected, or gain some knowledge for yourself, the Social Songbird will keep on singing! More articles are posted every day so keep checking back! Join the discussion on Twitter - #SocialSongbird Or contact us directly - @SocialSongbird_
Entrepreneur, international speaker on Social Media Marketing. First one in the UK to write and speak in conferences about Twitter as a marketing tool. Consultant to Corporate Companies, Government Organizations, Marketing Managers and Business Owners.
Aspiring novelist with a passion for fantasy and crime thrillers. He hopes to one day drop that 'aspiring' prefix. He started as a writer and soon after he was made Executive Editor and Manager of the team at Social Songbird. A position he held for 5 years.
Adrienne is a passionate writer with experience in editing, content creation, and social media marketing. She’s a lover of animals, helping others improve their writing, and 2000s pop culture.
Musician, audio technician, professional tutor and a Cambridge university English student. Interested in writing, politics and obsessed with reading.
Recently graduated with a BA in English Literature from the University of Exeter, and he is about to study an MA in Journalism at the University of Sheffield. He is an aspiring journalist and novelist; in his free time he enjoys playing chess, listening to music and taking long walks through nature.
Lucy is an undergraduate BSc Politics and International Relations student at the London School of Economics and Political Science.
Anna Coopey is a 4th year UG student in Classics at the University of St Andrews in Scotland. She is a keen writer and researcher on a number of topics, varying from Modern Greek literature to revolutionary theory.
Ellie is a recent BA English Literature graduate and aspiring publisher with a passion for writing. Her favourite pastimes include reading and shopping.