How To Make The Most Of YouTube For Small Business

Aside from awesome cat and dog videos, YouTube promises to offer so much more, especially for small business owners.A study by Aol Platforms, a leading company in programmatic advertising, tells us that YouTube wins over other social media platforms when it comes to helping consumers make their purchasing decisions.

And this study makes SO much sense! Why?Seeing interesting product offers whether in blogs, online stores, or in our very own social media feeds isn’t always enough to make us purchase.

The way we buy has changed so much over the last 10 years if you think about it. It used to be that we’d call or drop in on a bricks and mortar business, get a brochure, talk to the business then make a decision. Now however, we as buyers, have control over the entire sale really as we research online, compare prices, read online reviews, and make our decision pretty much before we even speak to the business. We now have the power.

More often than not during our research stage, we’ll watch videos that tell us whether they’re easy to use and worth the bucks.

And video is damn compelling, right?

So in short, product-related videos is what can be the clincher when it comes to getting your customers to purchase with you. This single video-blog / product presentation is the last push that they need to decide that you are the only choice.

No wonder more than a million advertisers are using YouTube, the majority of which are small businesses…

So if you’re not into YouTube advertising yet, today’s the perfect time to start. Here are more statistics to fuel you up:

  • More than 1 billion unique users visit YouTube each month.
  • Over 6 billion hours of video are watched each month on YouTube that’s almost an hour for every person on Earth.
  • Online video ads can generate 82 percent brand lift among users exposed to the ads.
  • Sixty-five percent of online business-to-consumer marketers use YouTube.

Feeling excited to start advertising on YouTube now?

Great! Let’s get it on!

I’ve done some research and summarised the best tips to succeed with YouTube. It’s not gonna be easy peasy, but it will all be worth it!

These tips are divided into two parts, so you know which one to work on first!

Part 1: How To Jumpstart your YouTube Channel

1. Branding.Whether you’re creating a new channel, or have already uploaded a few videos, it’s not too early (or late) to create a profile photo and channel art (aka cover image) that has your branding. Remember, all the advertising efforts you will be making in the future will redirect to your own channel so it’s very important to maintain the brand you have.

For help in changing your channel art, refer to this YouTube video guide.

2. Start creating quality content. Like blogs and social network pages, YouTube needs quality content. Without it, all your advertising efforts will be of no use.

So think of ways to turn your engaging words into a creative video content. There are many ways to do this, but here’s one tip that always works like a charm: become the face of your business.

Have you ever wondered who among all the channel owners in YouTube have the highest number of subscribers? No, they aren’t businesses, They’re video-loggers (vloggers). Even with the thousands of people using international brands, they still can’t beat the kind of pull vloggers have.

So why am I telling you this? Because there is so much to learn from them. These vloggers gain followers because their viewers can see them and can feel that they are genuinely interested in what they do.

So create content following this format. Again, be the face of your business. Some of the best types of videos are:

  • Testimonials
  • How-To
  • Tutorials

Need more ideas? Check out our blog on 12 creative uses for video marketing.

3. Be patient and resourceful. Remember, there are thousands of videos being uploaded to YouTube every day, so it’s not easy to gain loyal followers / viewers. But everybody starts from having zero subscribers, right?

So continue steps 1, 2 even if there isn’t any traction YET.

While creating quality content, there are several actions you can take to gain new followers:

  • Share your new channel to your email list
  • Share your first clip to all your social media network
  • Use your future video tutorials when offering customer service
  • Add your videos to your product pages
  • Collaborate with vloggers
  • Hold a giveaway

Now that you have content to boast, it’s time to grow your YouTube family. You can do this by following the tips above, but a better way to show your content to targeted groups is by doing some YouTube advertising.

Ready to rock this?! Let’s continue…

Part 2: YouTube Advertising

There are four ways you could do advertising with YouTube. The first one isn’t the best choice for small business, but I’d still like to discuss it since we’ll all grow into big companies, someday.

YouTube Homepage Redzone. The most expensive kind of advertising in YouTube is called “Homepage Redzone”. Taken from its name, it is shown in the homepage of the site users. This kind of ad is usually a large banner mixed with short clips, making it very effective in acquiring leads, introducing new products, and getting sales.

It is, however, very expensive for small businesses, as a day would cost about $365,000 AUD.

If this makes you worry about funds, don’t! YouTube offers three more types of ads that are perfect for businesses with a tight budget.

TrueView In-Search.A traditional type of YouTube is called TrueView In-Search Ads (formerly, promoted ads). Just like how Google Ads work to Google search, TrueView In-Search Ads let’s you add and bid on keywords, so your video will be shown on the first page whenever a viewer searches for a related keyword.

Text Overlay Ads via Google Display Networking.Complementing the In-search ads, text overlays are added to videos targeted by keywords. These overlays can direct viewers to another YouTube video or to a website.

TrueView In-Stream.Now the most popular type of YouTube ad, TrueView In-Stream ads offer YouTube advertisers a chance to play a clip (video ad) prior to playing the video chosen by the viewer. These ads are usually between 30 and 60 seconds, and can be skipped after 5 seconds of viewing. Advertisers are only charged once the viewer has watched the first 30 seconds of the video.

So how much does these ads cost? Cost per click / view costs around $0.04 each. Affordable, right?

YouTube has a lot to offer, but only some are taking advantage of it. So if aren’t one of those who have seen how effective YouTube is when it comes to attracting customers and convincing them to purchase, it’s time to get working!

What do you say? Are you gonna give it a shot? Tell us in the comments!

What do you think? Share your comments below.

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