Why Use YouTube for Marketing?

*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.