*This is part 5 in an 8-series blog
about social media marketing. Visit our YouTube Channel to see related vlogs and more.
By Kamea Zelisko
In a world where everyone wants information as quickly and efficiently
as possible, YouTube is a perfect fit.
Want to know how to change a tire? Go to YouTube. Want to know how to
fry up the perfect steak? Yup, YouTube. This video sharing platform is even
becoming an increasingly popular place to get the news.
YouTube is the second most popular search engine by Google, getting over
80 million visitors per month.
When you think about it, that number of visitors shouldn’t really be
surprising. I mean, when you’re scrolling through your Google or Facebook
newsfeed what’s going to catch your eye more? Boring text or an interesting
visual such as a photo or video? Most people in this day and age pass plain
text by, and they will pass by your content too if you don’t make it visually
engaging.
Since YouTube was bought by Google in 2006 the benefit of using it to
promote your business online is even more powerful, because if you have a video
on your website you’re automatically bumped up in Google’s search results.
There are many other benefits to using YouTube for marketing. Here are a
few of them along with some tips on how to make the most of this platform:
1.
Become an expert: Informational and how-to videos
about your company’s products or services can be a great way to help build your
reputation as an expert in your field. They key here is not to directly try and
sell your products or services, but to inform your audience about what it is
you do. In other words, sell them on you, not your company.
2.
Cross platform promotion: Once uploaded on to
YouTube, your videos can be easily shared to other online platforms, including
your website, blog Facebook, Twitter and other social media sites. It’s a great
way to cross promote your company and different social media platforms and
distribute your videos to more websites. Just remember to ALWAYS include your
contact info on your YouTube Channel and at the bottom of each video you post
so people know how to find your products and services!
3.
Build Community. I’ve spoken about this before and
the same thing goes for YouTube – social media is all about building online
communities. Posting your video on places such as Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn
or MySpace can create conversations and build relationships on your different
platforms, which can turn into business relationships in the future. Just
remember not to push your product or service on your trusted network. After all,
they always have the option of deleting you as a contact.
Kamea Zelisko is a
marketing expert with Red Queen Creative Group. For more information visit http://www.redqueencreative.com.
