Back in the day, people would often use flyers or conduct sales talk in promoting their product. But the times have changed and so do people. The standards are higher which means that people expect more from the company trying to sell their product to them. Sure you have the conventional means of doing so such as utilizing the broadcast (e.g. TV and radio) and print (e.g. newspapers) media in attempts to persuade people to buy what you sell. But even then, it is just never enough. So it all comes down to this question: what are you going to do about it now that the traditional mediums seem to be failing you?

The answer: switch to a new medium of marketing.

Thanks to today’s technology, Tim Berners-Lee has blessed the world with the internet where almost anything can be achieved or accomplished. Now, here lies the next conundrum: where do you go from there?

With the world wide web offering numerous promotional websites, it might be overwhelming to simply choose which particular site might be the perfect avenue to start on your new marketing venture. Why not start with the most popular video viewing site of all time, YouTube?

Now I know what you are thinking? Why not Facebook instead? After all, most if not all already has a Facebook account, as well as YouTube. Research shows that at least 3.25 billion hours of video content are watched each month and that this platform is able to reach more 18-49 year-olds than any broadcast or cable network on mobile.

The only difference is this type of marketing would need more than just a writer, it also needs a camera man, a video editor, a video animator (if ever you want to give your videos a little flair), and someone with basic knowledge on photo editing software to make your promotional material more appealing to the eyes of the public. After all, 59 percent of executives prefer watching video to reading text.

In fact, at least half of all marketers plan to add YouTube to their marketing strategy over the next 12 months according to the State of Inbound report. As the internet’s second largest search engine, it can help improve your search engine optimization (SEO) and overall brand presence as YouTube allows marketers to present their content in a unique and innovative way making it easy for viewers a to consume and share.

How to Optimize Videos for SEO & Ranking

Assuming that your YouTube channel is rearing to go, let’s discuss about SEO. Although they say content is king, this is not the only factor for success. Here are just some of the things you can do to optimize your videos to rank highly on both YouTube and in Google search results, according to HubSpot on YouTube Marketing.

According to a Chinese proverb, a thousand miles begins with a single step. In this case, it is creating and optimizing your video’s metadata. This gives viewers information about the video, which include the video title, description, tags, category, thumbnail, subtitles, and closed captions. Providing the right information in your video’s metadata assists YouTube in properly categorizing the said video which will automatically appear when people are searching videos like yours. All keywords in relation to your video must be straight to the point, otherwise it may be removed if you try to promote it with unrelated keywords. Let’s discuss each one-by-one:  

Title

First impressions may make or break the man. Just like with on-page SEO, it is crucial to optimize your video’s title and description. After all, this is the first thing people will read when scrolling through a list of videos, so make sure it is not only clear but also intriguing for the viewers. Conduct a bit of keyword research to better understand what viewers are searching for and include the most important information and keywords at the beginning of your title. Finally, keep it short and simple (K.I.S.S.).

Description

YouTube will show the first two to three lines of your video’s description, then viewers will need to click “show more” to see the rest. With that said, it is imperative to include any important links in the beginning of your description, and write the copy as to gain views and engagement. Below this, you can include the video transcript which can greatly improve your SEO since the video would be usually full of keywords. Adding a default channel description that includes links to your social channels, video credits, and video specific time stamps can also help boost interest among the public. Description gives your video a bit of a background on what it is about. 

Tags

Using tags is a way to associate your video with similar videos, widening its reach. When tagging videos, tag your most important keywords first and try to include a good mix of more common keywords.

Category

YouTube allows the user to choose a video category under “Advanced settings.” These help group your video with related content on the platform. YouTube allows you to sort your video with the following categories: Film & Animation, Autos & Vehicles, Music, Pets & Animals, Sports, Travel & Events, Gaming, People & Blogs, Comedy, Entertainment, News & Politics, How to & Style, Educations, Science & Technology, and Nonprofits & Activism.

Thumbnail

YouTube reports that “90% of the best performing videos on YouTube have custom thumbnails.” When filming, think of high-quality shots that accurately represent your video. YouTube recommends using a 1280 x 720 px image to ensure that your thumbnail looks great on all screen sizes.

SRT Files (Subtitles & Closed Captions)

Not only do subtitles and closed captions help viewers, but they also help optimize your video for search by giving you another opportunity to highlight important keywords.

Cards & End Screens (Annotations)

YouTube encourages users to insert cards and end screens in their videos to poll viewers, links to external sites, or direct people to other videos, and are easy to add. Cards are small, rectangular notifications that appear in the top, right-hand corner of both desktop and mobile screens. 

To further arrange your videos according to the type of content that you publish, it is high time that you create a playlist. These playlists do not only help organize your channel and encourage viewers to continue watching similar content, but they also show up separately in search results. One perk of creating playlists is that it provides you with more discoverable content.

Deciding on the Type of Video to Create

Okay, so you have your own YouTube channel, and you already know the technical aspects of uploading a video. Now, you need to decide what type of video would help you achieve your marketing goal. Based on an article from Huffington Post, companies that see the highest rates of success on YouTube rank different types of videos according to their level of importance and effectiveness. Before you start thinking of ideas, filming, and editing your video, consider this list of video types.

Customer Testimonials

Customer testimonials are short interviews with satisfied customers and can help build company and product credibility.

On-demand product demonstration videos

Demonstration videos are short pieces of content showing the benefits and the proper use of a product.

Explainer and tutorial videos

These type of videos are in-depth explaining how to use a product or various parts of a product or service. Tutorials are also a way to answer customer support questions or explain a new product feature.

Thought leader interviews

Interviews with experts or thought leaders can help boost your company’s credibility in an industry.

Project reviews and case studies

Project reviews or case studies help recap a successful campaign or project and can often include statistics and results.

YouTube Live

Similar to the concept of Facebook Live and Twitter Live, YouTube Live allows users to broadcast live content to viewers. This allows you to easily share unfiltered moments, and lets your audience participate with real-time comments. Live videos on YouTube are recorded and appear like an other video upload.

Video Blogs

Video blogs (‘vlogs’) are daily or weekly videos documenting daily life or events. You could also record a video that gives an overview and the most important tips from a blog post so your audience has multiple ways to digest the content. Just do not be like Logan Paul when making vlogs.

Event videos

Event videos feature in-person experiences at a conference or expo and can be a great way to show the excitement of a crowd. 

Now you have all the necessary steps to start your new marketing venture in YouTube. There is no guarantee that this will bring the company on a road to instant success as some companies have given up halfway after knowing some organizations have attempted this and failed. But you cannot forget that nothing was ever easy to begin with. For as long as you have the guts and the endurance to journey on this new venture, We are confident that you will soon be reaping the fruits of your labor. As they say in the Hunger Games, “May the odds ever be in your favor!”