Long before YouTube went up for Google’s acquisition, the website has been a favorite amongst people aiming to share their videos to the world. With the addition of social media features, Google has transformed this massive website from a video sharing site into a social media haven.
YouTube Features
What is YouTube?
YouTube was founded in February 2005 and has become one of the most popular web portals in the world. Allowing users to submit videos and wade through the massive video section by searching for keywords, YouTube has taken the idea of viral videos to a new level.
Why Should You Use YouTube?
It is undoubtedly the premier video hosting and sharing website, YouTube literally has something for everyone. From comedy spoofs to movie clips to music videos, if it has been on video it is probably on YouTube.
We don't all want to sit there just watching videos, so from a business perspective YouTube can add great credibility and attractiveness to your blog by allowing you to upload videos and place them on your blog using the YouTube widget.
TopTip #61 – Start by creating a channel
Often overlooked by many small businesses, a YouTube channel gives more opportunities compared to uploading several independent videos. A YouTube channel is more like a playlist for songs. The channel allows the small business to house all of their videos in one place and easily organizing them.
YouTube alone is a massive tool for spreading your business over the internet. With social media features, your videos from YouTube can easily be shared with various popular social media sites making your reach even longer and a YouTube channel helps out a lot in the process.
TopTip #62 – Devise captivating videos that compel watchers
The term “viral” has been coined after videos that reached millions of views across YouTube and other social media sites. These videos can either be simple or quite complicated. On the other hand, viral videos contain something in them that compels people to watch them over and over again and share them over the social media site of choice.
If you can write something that lots of people would read then you can definitely create a video that could go viral. Just like writing, videos that captivate people’s attention happen by feeding their need. Yes, people would prefer watching something they want than anything else which is why it is an important thing to watch what people want and give it to them in a way that would grab their attention. Viral videos easily penetrate through social media sites making them an effective tool towards online marketing.
TopTip #63 – Create compelling videos in line to people’s needs
No matter how much your videos sound awesome, it won’t make any difference for social media marketing unless they are in line with people’s needs. Videos that contain useful information would normally garner huge numbers and not only that, it would also gain the people’s trust towards the company or business that made the video.
It’s more of getting attention by helping people out and providing the content that they require. This makes it a lot easier for people to share videos on social media sites for instance Facebook.
TopTip #64 – Develop videos that are simple yet engaging, quick, and professional
Making a video these days isn’t rocket science. More importantly, the cost for making high quality videos have gone down especially when high definition cameras are quite easy to obtain as well as video editing software. Always pay close attention to the lighting and sound quality of the video as well as the camera movement.
A tripod would be of good use. Think of your video as a story which will have an introduction, main content, and exit remarks. Timing is important and length of the video is important. Most probably, you would want to have a 4-5 minute video containing important information.
TopTip #65 – Make your videos easy to find
In 2011, James Zern a software engineer working for YouTube has revealed that only 30% of the videos in the whole site accounted for 90% of the total views. By the minute, videos were uploaded that amounted to a whole 24 hours. Imagine how many videos were uploaded by the minute. This only indicates that the numbers are constantly changing.
In addition, YouTube is owned by Google which we know has strict algorithms for ranking. Even a video that topped the list can go down in a single day without proper reinforcement. A good combination of title, description, and tags is the best way to make a video findable. Only relevant terms should be used for efficiency.
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TopTip #66 – Make lots of connections
Participate with other people on YouTube and establish good connections. Friends help you get known especially in spreading information about you and your brand. Making friends and engaging with others plays a key role in your success. You might also want to give your competition a visit to see how their doing and to find ways of keeping ahead of them.
TopTip #67 – Create alerts and bulletins for your subscribers and friends
Subscribers and friends do make a difference especially if you have a lot of them at hand. Your YouTube channel has a bulletin feature which allows you to post important information like upcoming events or videos. This is a very neat way of drawing attention and increasing traffic towards your video.
TopTip #68 – Don’t be greedy and share your videos
Social media sites have a reputation of making videos go viral by their sheer population. Get your own account for different social media sites and start sharing. Your friends, followers, and subscribers will aid in the process of spreading your brand and video. Always use important keywords relating to your video. A hash tag also makes it even better as many people are getting in the trend of using them.
TopTip #69 – Add some call to action
These annotations will appear in your video as specified. It may appear anytime you wish but preferably at the end of the video or when announcing something important. CTA’s or call to action provides more reasons to get in touch with your video or brand. You could offer instructional guides, discount coupons, or even offer a contest for your viewers by means of CTA.
TopTip #70 – Do some analysis
Most people who use YouTube didn’t even know that this feature exists. YouTube has a very powerful analytics tool that provides insights about the videos being watched and the trend that is currently happening, you could use this to your advantage by analyzing what videos are being watched as well as the keywords being used to find them. This way, your video would be more effective in getting traffic, attention, and profit.
You can also learn some awesome facts about You Tube from Jeff Bullas Blog at;
http://www.jeffbullas.com/2011/05/09/50-awesome-youtube-facts-and-figures/