So many people are afraid of videos! Well, you shouldn’t be. Here’s why: most videos that make it big are NOT professional productions. They’re just a guy -or a girl- who gets in front of a camera and talks about what he/she knows best. You don’t need expensive equipment or a professional studio.
These are my top 10 favorite tips to grow your company using YouTube.
Copy What Works
Don’t reinvent the wheel. Spend an afternoon watching YouTube videos and learn what works. What are the videos in your market with more views, better ratings and more comments? Why are they successful? Who are the users with the most subscribers? Why?
Customize Your Channel
Before uploading your videos, customize your channel (profile) and make it look nice. Include some info about you and a link to your site.
Use Keywords
The best way to help people find your videos is by including your keywords in them. This is an example (the keyword used in this example is in red):
Title: How to Motivate People
Description: http://www.YourSite.com/blog – Do you want to know how to motivate people? This video reveals the 3 secrets of people motivation.
Tags: how to motivate people, motivate people, people motivation, motivate employees
Add Your URL to the Description
Add your the “http://” version of your URL to the beginning of your video description so people can click on your link and visit your site.
Soft-Sell
You shouldn’t ask people to buy your stuff after watching your videos. Most people aren’t ready for this. Plan your marketing funnel and you’ll see a much better response. This is a example:
Watch YouTube Video > Go to My Blog to Watch More Videos > Sign Up to Get My Exclusive Videos (You Capture Email Addresses Here) > Try to Sell Them a Low-Ticket Item > Try to Sell a High-Ticket Item to Those Who Bought from You Before
Video Responses
Look for videos related to yours and whenever is appropriate post your videos as video responses to them. This will allow you to piggyback a lot of the traffic that these videos get.
Create Playlists
Playlists are a great way to get your videos watched by a lot of people. If you have a dog training videos, grab some other great videos on the same topic (from other people) and create a playlist. Call it “Dog Training Tips”.
It’s a Social Network!
YouTube isn’t just a video sharing site; it’s a social network. You can add friends, message them, join groups, create your own group and use the bulletin board to interact with the YouTube community.
Use Multiple Calls to Action
These are my favorite calls to action to use on YouTube:
- Subscribe to my videos.
- Visit my blog for more great videos.
- Follow me on Twitter.
- Please post your comments.
- Send this video to your friends.
- Please rate this video.
- Check out my channel.
YouTube allows you to add overlay text in your videos. Use them for your calls to action.
Promote Your Videos
Uploading videos to YouTube isn’t enough. You need to promote them. These are some ideas:
- Embed your videos in your blog.
- Promote your videos on Twitter.
- Email your YouTube link to your friends and contacts.
- Ask people you know to tell their lists and contacts.
- Write an article about your video and post it to article directories and forums.
- Post your video to LinkedIn, Facebook and your other social networks.