Resources & Guides

Benefits of YouTube Content

Despite being one of the planet’s most visited websites, many companies neglect to have any kind of presence on YouTube. Long gone are the days when a quick Facebook post with a supporting Tweet would count as having a successful social media presence. These days, businesses need to be using different platforms as creatively and interactively as possible and YouTube should play a part in the mix.

As with any content strategy, your presence on YouTube needs to be well-thought out and planned if it’s not to be a waste of time and resources.

So, what makes YouTube such a powerful tool for marketing your business?

IT HAS A HUGE AUDIENCE

Increasingly, the internet is becoming video driven and YouTube is the platform of choice for a majority of users. The statistics are staggering:

There are 2 billion monthly active users
There are 30 million daily active users
There are 1 million paying YouTube TV subscribers
The average mobile viewing session is 40 minutes
1 billion videos are watched daily
500 hours of video are uploaded every hour

With this in mind any content marketing strategy that doesn’t make use of YouTube will be missing a significant opportunity. It also gives you an advantage as increasingly people watch content on mobile devices. YouTube is already optimised for mobile use meaning your content is immediately accessible to the widest possible audience. The conversion rate for video is higher than for written text, so not only are you reaching a wider audience, you are also more likely to elicit business from it.

YOU WILL BECOME MORE VISIBLE ON GOOGLE

Google owns YouTube and Google likes video content. The more carefully tailored video content you create for your YouTube channel the more likely you are to feature highly in search results. Google rewards businesses who use their tools so creating content for YouTube fulfills a variety of different functions.

You will acquire qualified traffic

YouTube users search for information and entertainment. They are actively looking for something when they use the platform. This means that when they find your content there is a good chance that they will be interested in what you have to offer. The traffic you receive is therefore meaningful to your brand and is more likely to lead to website visits, sign-ups and orders.

Because YouTube is used in the same way as a search engine you should aim to make your content as engaging and subject-matter appropriate as possible. If you do so you may soon become a go-to authority for your product or service with users regularly returning to your channel.

YOUTUBE VIDEOS CAN EASILY BE REPURPOSED

It may be that you’ve never thought about paying for any YouTube advertising. Many channels succeed without ever having to pay to get their videos seen. If, however, you have the budget and feel it might be beneficial, then YouTube’s advertising platform offers an excellent showcase for your brand.

Your ads are served to qualified viewers who are already interested in something about your content. Paid ads can offer significant returns on your investment, but it will again be dependent on the actual quality of your content. Having a channel isn’t enough. You need to ensure that what’s featured actually answers questions and meets the needs of the platform users.

WHAT KIND OF VIDEO CONTENT SHOULD YOU BE PRODUCING?

When it comes to online video production for YouTube you need to think about the questions your target audience are asking. What information or entertainment are they searching for? Whether it’s showcasing products, providing instructional videos or offering entertainment your YouTube video production needs to be sharply focused on the questions they are asking. This is where your broader branding and marketing strategy comes in. Video content should always play a part in a broader marketing strategy and one that’s based on the needs of your target audience.

Keep your content a reasonable length, perhaps no more than a few minutes long. Any longer and you’re asking users to make a considerable commitment. Keep your content snappy but not so short that it then ceases to be meaningful.

Don’t go too hard on the selling. Your brand name should be clear throughout, but the content itself should be more than just a three minute sales pitch. Think how you can inform, entertain and educate rather than make a sale. If you do one of the former, the latter is more likely to take care of itself.