Making YouTube Work for Your Business

It is no secret that YouTube is the most popular video sharing site online. Some astounding statistics: with more than 1 billion YouTube users, 300 hours of video are uploaded to YouTube every minute, and the number of hours people spend watching on YouTube each month is up 50% year-over-year. These figures prove that YouTube is a necessity for companies that want to promote themselves via visual media and present their brand in a personal way that is just not possible with static content. 

Below are some tips outlining how companies can get the most out of YouTube:

1. Set up a branded YouTube Channel
   
   One of the essential components of YouTube success is creating a branded channel for your business. Make sure that visitors know that it is your official channel. Include your logo, website link, social media accounts and appropriate channel art. Link to your channel on your main website as well.
   
   
2. Don’t forget about SEO
   
   One of the most overlooked benefits of uploading videos to YouTube is the search implications. Not only does being active on YouTube help enhance your organic content, YouTube videos can also appear on Search Engine Result Pages (SERPs) and entice users to click. Video content is very attractive to searchers.
   
   
3. Be active in the community
   
   Post valuable content often and keep your subscribers engaged. If you don’t plan on posting very often, keep your feed updated by liking other videos, subscribing to other relevant channels, etc.
   
   
4. Focus on engagement and subscriptions
   
   Embed your videos on your website and on other social media platforms. Get people to engage with you and ask them to subscribe to your channel. When first starting out, share other popular videos in your industry to gain some quick channel followers.
   
   
5. Include YouTube in your Marketing Plan
   
   Making YouTube work for your business takes time and effort. Your marketing team should be paying attention to how your company is using YouTube. Successful companies have a concrete plan in place including, but not limited to: content creation schedules and plans, performance metrics, production timelines, etc. It is important to produce quality content regularly - and best of all, the videos don’t need to be of commercial-quality or break the bank.
   
   
6. Monitor and test
   
   Using analytics is essential for measuring the success of your YouTube strategy. It is ideal to attach a real budget number to your efforts for comparisons across marketing channels. Pay attention to the ROI generated by your videos. Use your findings to determine which types of videos to create and post in the future.

If used wisely, YouTube can be a brand awareness machine for your business. As with any other marketing tactic, it is essential to approach the use of YouTube with a set of measurable goals and a well-organized strategy along with a list of executable tactics. But also remember to show your brand’s personality to help you really engage with your current and potential customers through video.

If you're interested in learning more about social media for business, check out: How to Measure the ROI of Social Media