YouTube has over a billion users. Are you one of them?
With over 5 billion views a day, any business can benefit from YouTube video marketing to get better results for their business.
YouTube has an audience for nearly every genre you can think of, including your business. It’s never to late to start getting YouTube results that benefit your business in some way.
Maybe you want to get more exposure, more leads, or more customers. Whatever you want to accomplish through YouTube video marketing, you can!
Today, I’m going to share 3 skills that you can take action on to maximize your YouTube video marketing results.
Reasons Why You Should Use YouTube for Marketing
Check this out. The average number of mobile YouTube video views per day is 1,000,000,000. That doesn’t even count desktop computers or tablets!
On top of that, YouTube video marketing gives you a clear way to make a connection with viewers.
While blog marketing is awesome, this type of content can only go so far in developing relationships with readers.
Another point is that many people prefer watching video to reading an article. For example, you may write the best blog article ever, but if a segment of people in your target market prefer to watch video, you can miss out on that opportunity.
The most recent statistics on YouTube video will blow your mind and light a fire under you to get moving with YouTube marketing:
- Over one billion users!
- Almost 5 billion videos are watched on Youtube every single day.
- The total number of hours of video watched on YouTube each month – 900 million. Your videos can account for some of this time!
- 10,113 Youtube videos generated over 1 billion views. Get your video into the mix!
- 80% of YouTube’s views are from outside of the U.S. Imagine the reach your videos will have.
- The average number of mobile YouTube video views per day is 1,000,000,000. More than half the views are from mobile. These numbers are too large to ignore!
- Mobile YouTube users spent 40 minutes on average session, up more than 50% year-over-year. People are bored. Entertain them and educate them with YOUR videos.
- The number of hours people spend watching videos on YouTube is up 60%. Where else can you get that much watch-time for free?
There’s more YouTube stats and you can visit the official YouTube page to learn more.
I’ve given you an idea of what’s happening in the online video world right now. There are a lot of video creators competing for viewers and watch time.
How can you get the best results from YouTube video marketing?
1 – How to Create YouTube Videos that Get Results
Creating YouTube videos that get results all starts with a plan. For example, if you just point the camera and start recording yourself, what will you say? Who are you talking to?
Like any other online content, figuring out who your audience is and what type of content they consume is your first step.
There are three things to focus on here before you ever create a video:
Target audience for YouTube Marketing
Who is your target audience? These are the people that you want to connect with. I recommend that you identify the specific person you want to speak to in your videos.
For example, if you are in a health related business, are you focused on women, men or both? How old are they? What type of lifestyle do they have? What is their income level.
Source: www.virtuallinda.com
Once you understand exactly who you are targeting through YouTube video marketing, you can move on to the next step.
What are their problems?
People have problems! What solutions are the people in your target audience search for? For example, if your target audience is stay at home moms with babies, they may be looking for simple solutions to incorporate healthy eating solutions into their lives that don’t take too much time.
Find out more about the specific problems your audience faces. Only then can you determine the topics that your YouTube videos will address that provide the solutions.
What type of videos would be suitable?
Here’s your chance to get creative in how you deliver the content! Determine the best YouTube video formats for any particular solution you are delivering to your audience. For example, here are three ideas about various formats that work well:
- How to with specific steps
- Demonstration (works great for fitness, cooking, putting things together)
- Review of products (people love to watch reviews before making a purchase)
To sum up, creating YouTube videos that get results all starts with defining your target audience, understanding the problems they face and providing solutions, and determining what format would be most consumable for your audience.
Let’s move on to the next skill to maximize your YouTube video marketing results!
2 – Creating Videos that People will Engage With
Did someone tell you to just press record on your camera and start talking about anything you want?
How’s that working?
Once of the biggest and most fun challenges for any YouTube creator is keeping people engaged and watching your videos.
YouTube pays attention to how long people actually watch your video. This information is used to either boost your video in search results or not. You can learn more in the YouTube analytics Audience Retention section.
For example, if the first 30 seconds of your video doesn’t capture the attention of your viewers, they will drop off and YouTube will take that into account when evaluating what position your video should go in search results.
So how can you make an engaging video that people will stick around and watch?
After doing my own experimenting with this very topic, here are my best recommendations:
Create a script ahead of time
Figure out what you want to talk about that addresses whatever your audience is searching for. For example, if your audience is new stay-at-home moms who are overwhelmed, you can provide tips on how to stay more organized.
Write out a script so you can stay on point. No one wants to hear your “umms” and pauses to figure out what you will say next. A script helps keep you focused on the topic at hand.
Skip the introductions and jump right into the topic
That’s right! People want information, they don’t really care so much who you are. Here’s a fun fact: the majority of YouTube viewers drop off video viewing within the first 15 seconds.
Why? Many people spend that time with “Hi, my name is Sally. I live in this state and I am a Mom with 3 kids.”
Really? I’m gone.
Instead, start your video by introducing your topic to keep someone watching. For example: “Are you a new Mom that can’t seem to find the time to get things done? Today I have 3 simple ways for you get organized.”
Boom! Which one captures attention?
Always close with a call to action
What do you want a person to do when the video ends? Be sure to end your video with a wrap up and then tell your video viewers what you’d like them to do. For example:
- If you like this video, give it a like.
- I’d love for you to subscribe.
- Visit my website for even more tips on new motherhood.
You get the idea.
I’ve given you three ways to create YouTube videos that are more engaging. Have you used these methods before?
3 – How to Get Your Video Found on YouTube and Google Search
After you create your videos, you want people to find them both in YouTube and Google search.
Here are four crucial elements to ensure that your YouTube videos get found by viewers. I highly recommend that you have all these items ready at the same time you upload your video and get it all done at the same time.
- Title: Choose a compelling title to make yours stand out. Be sure to include your targeted keywords too.
- Description: Write a good description that includes your keywords. When your video shows up in search, the first couple of sentences appear. Keep it to 150 characters or less. I don’t recommend including a link in this up front information. Highlight the most important information at the beginning. Anything below this requires a viewer to click to see more.
When it appears in search, the viewer will know right away what your video is about. - Tags: Be sure to include your keywords and related keywords in your tags.
- YouTube Custom Thumbnail: Thumbnails don’t specifically add to the SEO, however, they help your video to stand out to viewers. You want to stand out from the crowd don’t you? Thumbnails are usually the first thing viewers see when they find one of your videos. Be sure you’ve got a strong, vibrant thumbnail that looks great large and small and conveys the most important information about your video. Learn more about YouTube custom thumbnails here.
Although there are many things that YouTube considers when evaluating your video’s position in search, these are super important when your video is first uploaded.
From there, watch time, likes, subscribers and other factors play into getting found on YouTube.
Conclusion
YouTube is a great way to get your business the attention it deserves!
Nearly everyone is on YouTube and although it may seem like a lot of competition, there is always room for anyone to jump in and get YouTube video marketing results.
I’ve given you three crucial skills to understand for YouTube video marketing.
Now it’s your turn to take action!
Are you on YouTube? What tips can you share and please do share your channel in the comments below!
Hi Lisa,
Many thanks for sharing this information but I must tell you effective marketing is still a complete mystery to me re getting views and interaction.
I think I follow all of the recommendations you gave in oyoutr excllent post plus I also use annotations and YouTube Cards but…
The most views I ever got are around 100 at the most and very few comments.
I think my video presentations are OK – not Hollywood stadard but more than passable compared to what I see in my niche. I also try and use the best keywrds possible not only in the title, tags and description but also for the initial mp4 file I upload to YouTube.
I also upload on a very consisten basis and I love making videos – both in front of the camera and screen sharing.
But I must be missing something huge because of the paltry number of views I achieve.
Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated Lisa
Best wishes from the remote Thai village marketer
Peter
Peter Beckenham recently posted…Affiliate Marketing â A Guide for Complete Beginners Part 4
Hey Peter!
Thanks for your comment. You ask a very good question.
One of the most common reasons why videos do not get views or found in search is due to audience retention. I discuss that in number two of this article, although not in depth.
Even if you do everything else correctly, if your audience retention is low, then viewers typically won’t return and Youtube won’t show your video on the first page of search results.
I suggest that you look at your audience retention in YouTube analytics. Don’t look at the average, look at each individual video to see exactly where people drop off. If viewers drop off at a certain point in the video, be aware of what you are saying or doing that may cause this to happen.
Let me know what you find out!
Best
Lisa