In May 2019, YouTube hit the milestone of 2 billion users connected to the platform every month. And more than entertainment, YouTube is a source of income for those who produce video content. According to the video platform itself, the number of channels with six-digit annual revenues increased by more than 40%.
Data like these show that YouTube cannot be ignored. No wonder the so-called video marketing has become an increasingly current strategy within companies. Brands and companies are focussing on video content and YouTube is the largest platform to publish content and increase your brand attention, sales, revenue, and reputation as well. Brands, companies, and individuals are looking to grow their YouTube channels fast and are using different digital marketing strategies for YouTube.
According to data from HubSpot, 54% of customers want the companies and brands they follow to produce more videos. This is more than any other type of content, including social media, newsletters, and blog articles.
Also, according to the company, putting videos on landing pages can increase the conversion rate by up to 80%, and a simple mention of the word “video” in the subject line of the email increases the open rate by 19%.
The importance of investing in this type of content was clear. Therefore, in this post, see the main digital marketing strategies on YouTube to apply to your channel and increase your sales. Follow up!
Why have a YouTube channel?
Before we talk about the main digital marketing strategies for YouTube, it’s important to understand what is the reason that it’s a good idea to invest in video production for the platform.
In addition to all the data we have already presented, there is another factor that makes the site practically indispensable for those who want to be found on the web and strengthen their brand: YouTube is the second most used search engine in the world, only behind Google.
I mean, forget about Bing, Yahoo, and social media: the penetration of audiovisual content is such that a video platform has become one of the main sources of a search for users.
In the wake of this, data shows that 59% of users prefer to watch a video than read a text on the internet. Furthermore, people who watch videos retain 95% of the information given to them, compared to only 10% of those who read a text.
Digital Marketing for YouTube: How to Grow Your Channel
1. Type of content
Your company’s YouTube video strategies can take different approaches. It is important to know your audience and analyze your field of activity.
Remember that YouTube is a research tool. Therefore, try to identify the type of content that is produced by your competitors and what your audience has been watching.
Some approaches are:
- Educational videos: Serve to educate the market about your product and/or service. The advantage over a blog post, for example, is having the aid of visual elements to make the content more palatable and
- Tutorial videos: These are videos focused on step-by-step instructions in a “how-to” style. For example: how to make the background of an image in Photoshop. I made a lot of tutorial videos on my youtube channel and I recommend a tool called FlexClip. It has various tutorial video templates you can use.
- Ads: Ads are those videos that automatically play before other content. This is an interesting format to gain more views on your videos and, as a result, increase the relevance of your channel.
2. Integration with other media
It is important to integrate it with other digital media in the company. Although it is the second most used search engine, it is recommended to expand the reach to other audiences.
Blog
- It is possible to insert videos in the blog post, but remember that, preferably, the contents are complementary to each other.
- You can either place a link that leads to your channel in the “watch here” style, or you can embed the video directly on the page, allowing the user to watch without leaving the blog.
Social networks
Although Facebook prioritizes videos published itself, YouTube content is shareable and can be watched on the user’s own timeline. Putting the videos on Twitter is also a good way to go.
Remember, however, that Instagram does not allow you to post links or publish videos from another platform. So, in this case, it’s a separate video marketing strategy.
Email marketing
In a scenario where most connected people would rather watch a video than read a text, investing in messages inviting the lead and checking out the video on your channel can help improve the results of your YouTube digital marketing strategies.
Google Ads
The Google Ad tool also offers some features for those who want to advertise on videos. As we have seen, one possibility is to advertise directly on YouTube, placing your content before other videos. Another alternative is to integrate videos into sponsored link campaigns. In this regard, it’s worth pointing out that Google loves ads whose landing pages contain videos.
3. Optimization
Among the main digital marketing strategies for YouTube are content optimization. Just like the texts on your blog, the videos on your channel can – and should – be optimized as well.
Here basically come optimizations through SEO techniques and the use of keywords in any content in the form of text that accompany your videos, such as:
Title: is the name that will be displayed to users;
Description: is the text that comes right below the video;
Tags: are the “tags” that define the video content and are used by YouTube to display more accurate results;
Thumbnail: is the image that gives the video face and appears on the search results page;
Annotations: is text information that can be inserted about the video.
4. Measurement
Our latest digital marketing tip for YouTube is to keep track of key metrics for each video and for the channel as a whole.
Like other social media tools, YouTube Analytics provides important information for measuring results. This data is essential to see what is working and what needs to be changed, helping in decision-making and in changing the direction of the company.
Some of YouTube’s top metrics are:
Views: Number of people who watched a certain video. It is also possible to have access to the full views of the channel;
Watched time: this is the average length of time the user spends on each video and also on the channel. It’s important to measure the extent of content that works best – in addition to being one of the top points analyzed by YouTube’s ranking algorithm;
Traffic Source: You can find out where the users who watched your videos came from and identify which channels are performing best. To analyze the data and performance of your YouTube channel and videos, see it on your YouTube studio.
Is it worth investing in digital marketing for YouTube?
Now that you know some main digital marketing strategies for YouTube, the question remains: is it worth investing in this strategy? The answer is yes!
However, it is necessary to consider an important aspect: just like any digital marketing strategy, it is important to take into account the market, its audience, and its habits.
In the same way that your company must identify the social networks that your customers use the most, the same goes for YouTube. If you’ve seen that your personas like and consume video content, don’t waste any more time and create your channel!