They’re young, they’re highly engaged, they have money, and they use YouTube. As we reported here recently, 85 percent of teens use YouTube, and 32 percent use it regularly. This platform is second only to Snapchat (35 percent) as young people’s social networking platform of choice.

And it’s not only younger people: YouTube is the second most-visited site on the web, with nearly 2 billion users visiting monthly, and the fastest-growing YouTube demographic is the 35-55+ age group. Therefore, the social media experts at 101 Management want to offer these useful ideas on how to maximize the marketing opportunities on this popular platform.

Realize that YouTube is devoted exclusively to video content, so before creating a YouTube channel be sure your product or service lends itself to the visual format, and that you have the interest to produce videos for the platform on a regular basis. If so, here are five tips to help them stand out.

 

  1. Create great content

If your videos are all about promoting your product or service (i.e., a commercial), why would anyone want to watch them? On the other hand, if you’re telling a story that viewers find original, they’ll be interested enough to stick around for your message, which should include a call to action (CTA) to click on your URL at the end.

If viewers find your content engaging, they’re also more likely to comment, like, and share your videos, which helps expand your reach. So when you set out to create a video, ask yourself if it’s: a) entertaining, or, b) helpful to viewers. Also be sure your videos are high quality, as this will reflect positively on your business.

 

  1. Mind your keywords

When creating your YouTube channel, as well as individual videos, consider words and phrases that people are searching for on the platform, as well as on Google and the other search engines. Our search engine optimization (SEO) experts can help you refine your use of keywords, but in general:

  • keep titles short (less than 60 characters)
  • put keywords in the first half of your title
  • check possible keywords on Google Ads Keyword Planner

 

  1. Promote your channel effectively

It’s not enough to create terrific videos if no one sees them. Promotion is the key to successful use of YouTube to market your business. As with other social media, sharing others’ content is a great way to get them to share yours. And be sure to respond to your fans’ comments and questions, and include a YouTube icon on your website and any social media you use.

 

  1. Stay within the guidelines

One good way to have all your hard work go down the drain is to violate YouTube’s guidelines. Inappropriate content will quickly get you kicked off the site, because YouTube has grown especially sensitive recently to charges that it doesn’t effectively monitor hate speech and hoaxes. Keep it clean and uncontroversial.

 

  1. Link your channel

It’s crucial that your channel page link to your website and other social media. Just click the “share” tab beneath the video to select which of your other online properties to include. Conversely, use your website, blog, and social media accounts to market your YouTube channel by adding a YouTube follow icon there, as well as embedding your video in your blog content and on your website.

 

It takes a lot of planning, work, and dedication to create and maintain a YouTube channel. But if you’ve never considered this avenue for marketing, you may find the payoff is well worth the effort.

Because of its reach, YouTube offers unparalleled marketing opportunities, but you may need help capitalizing on them. Be sure to contact us to learn all the ways you can optimize your market engagement on this increasingly popular platform.