Marketing on YouTube: A Beginner’s Guide

YouTube is a video-sharing platform accessed by millions each day.

YouTube is a video-sharing platform accessed by millions each day. Since 2005, YouTube has been used for a variety of purposes from entertainment, education, music, and of course: Marketing.

YouTube is an excellent online marketing tool in 2021. You may not be new to the website itself, but you may be new when it comes to marketing your business on it. Videos are one of the most effective ways to build your brand. It’s your way of showing who you are and what you stand for. If you’re a brand new YouTube marketer, we’ve got a beginner’s guide that’ll help you get your foot in the water. Let’s go!

1. Creating Your Own YouTube Channel

You’ll need a Google account before you can create a YouTube channel. If you already have a Google account, then congratulations! You essentially have a YouTube account, but you still must create a channel.

When you go to create a channel, you’ll have the option to use your real name (as shown on your Google account) or a custom name. As a business owner and/or marketer, you’ll definitely want to use a custom name. And that name should be the name of your business.

Your channel name should be recognizable to customers, albeit not too long. Remember to use capital letters, correct punctuation, and acceptable grammar. Now, it’s time to customize your channel homepage.

Your profile photo should be your business’ logo. It’ll look small when viewing a video, but it will appear large and visible on your channel. Make sure you use a good-quality photo and crop it so it aligns within the circle. As for your cover photo, that is mostly up to you (Just don’t leave it blank!). If you regularly have special sales or promotions, feature those in your cover photo. Some opt to use a photo of their business building in their cover photo. In the end, your cover photo should give customers a sneak peek into your company’s world.

After creating a professional-looking YouTube channel, you can get started uploading your first video.

Learn more about creating your channel here.

2. Uploading a Video

Creating your first video isn’t a walk in the park, but it’s worth it. If you’re running a small business, you likely won’t need cinema-level video quality. Just make sure you edit properly and have clear professional footage. For larger businesses or corporations, you’ll need higher standards for your videos. Hire a freelance editor or a content creation agency for the best quality videos.

When creating your video, focus on evoking the right emotions in your viewers. If your product solves a problem, address that problem at the beginning of your video. Ask engaging questions that make the viewer want to know more.

If you’re an author, your intro should be exciting and suspenseful. If you work in the hospitality industry, show off the best food to evoke an appetite! Whatever emotions you associate with your brand should be at the forefront of your video.

Here are some more tips on video creation/uploading:

  • Keep promotional videos under 5 minutes.
  • Keep testimonial or “Our Story” videos under 20 minutes.
  • Don’t go overboard with special effects during film clips.
  • Enable captions.
  • If your video contains footage of children, your comments will be disabled by YouTube. This was implemented for children’s safety.
  • Make sure 18+ content is always tagged as such.
  • Add tags that pertain to your brand.
  • Make sure your video description has proficient grammar.
  • Educate yourself on YouTube etiquette in order to avoid strikes.
  • Have an interesting thumbnail!

How often should you upload? That depends on your audience and desired reach through YouTube. Some businesses upload rarely and some upload every week. Avoid making filler videos just to upload more often. Each video should have a purpose in gaining customers and building your reputation.

3. Marketing Your Video

Finally, it’s time to market your video. This can be even harder than creating your video in the first place. As long as you have patience and pay close attention to your following, you’ll be marketing your business channel like a pro!

Marketing on YouTube has almost everything to do with analytics. The analytics section of YouTube Studio exists for this very reason. They’re divided into 4 groups: Overview, reach, engagement, and audience.

Overview:

  • Views and watch duration in the last 28 days
  • Top videos in the last 28 days

Reach:

  • Impressions
  • Views
  • Unique viewers
  • Traffic source

Engagement:

  • Watch time
  • Average view duration

Audience:

  • Returning viewers
  • Unique viewers
  • Other demographic information

You can view analytics for your channel as a whole or for a single video.

Analytics in YouTube Studio
Source: YouTube – “Analytics in YouTube Studio”

Keeping up with this data is extremely important if you’re serious about video marketing. You’ll gain an understanding of your audience and where changes need to be made. Platforms like YouTube give you a great opportunity to take note of your success (or lack thereof).

In terms of promoting your video, you should do so on your business’s social media and/or official website. In fact, if you upload regularly, you should make a habit of sharing important videos on Facebook or Twitter. Email marketing is also an option. However, if you intend to promote your video through email, you must have an email campaign plan that will entice people to click.

YouTube has its own ways of getting your video up there:

  • Make a playlist. This increases the chance that a viewer will see more than one video back-to-back.
  • Take SEO seriously. Treat your video as if it were your business website. The titles, descriptions, and channel content can ultimately determine your reach.
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Remember: You want viewers. Not just subscribers. The key event is that people view your video and are influenced to make a purchase.

If you’re going to post business-related videos on YouTube, it’s essential that you know how to properly market your videos. Customers will appreciate a great video to help them through the decision-making process!

Conclusion Navigating most social media platforms is easy. However, there are plenty of business owners who’ve never uploaded a single video to YouTube – let alone are acquainted with its inner workings. The majority of “YouTubers” are online for entertainment. Remember that your goal is to sell. You may entertain, educate, and inform in your videos, but keep sales at the forefront of your marketing practices. With a little focus and some patience, you’ll have both a YouTube following and a thriving business!

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