Nothing Better than YouTube: Making the Most of Online Video
Welcome to our first guest post by Joshua P. Romero, the Marketing & Communications Coordinator for California Western School of Law. He oversees the school’s social media programs, including its YouTube channel. He is the writer, director, and producer of a national award-winning YouTube video for a Fortune 500 Company online contest.
This spring, YouTube hit a milestone – it surpassed Google for the number of video searches conducted in a month. Fifty-one percent of 18-55 year-olds go to YouTube at least once a week. As much as 62 percent of adults watch video online, up from 33 percent in December 2006.
With more than 2 billion videos being watched every day and 24 hours of video being uploaded every minute, chances are your potential clients, donors, volunteers, and supporters are going to YouTube to watch videos. There’s really nothing better than YouTube for your online video.
YouTube Better than “MeTube”
As with any social media site, YouTube relies on engaging your audience. That can seem like an overwhelming task, especially as we see smaller staffs being asked to do more work. Here are five resource-friendly ways to market with YouTube and make the most of your online video:
1. Set up a channel.
To market with YouTube, you will need to set up your own channel on YouTube. A channel is your YouTube account. A channel allows you to customize a page with your logos and branding images. Your channel is where you post any videos you create and upload. Start off by creating a YouTube account.
2. Upload your own content.
A lot of organizations market with YouTube by posting original videos to their channel. Original videos could be interviews with clients, volunteers, donors, video from events, or information highlighting your business or organization. There are inexpensive video cameras like the Kodak Zi8, Sony bloggie, and Flip MinoHD. These cameras usually come with free computer software that makes editing and uploading video easy.
Posting a video once it’s edited is relatively simple. YouTube does a good job of walking you through the process. When you post your videos, be sure to create a catchy title and a description that encourages people to click on the video and watch it.
3. Re-post news videos.
Many businesses and organizations have had their 15 minutes of fame on a local TV news station. Did you know you can get copies of those videos? Use them to make your presence on YouTube better than simply posting your own videos.
Sometimes you can contact the TV station for a copy. Other times, the TV station lets you download the videos directly from their website. News services can also provide you the videos, for a price.
However you can get a copy of news videos, and post them to your YouTube channel. It’s an easy way to highlight your organization’s accomplishments and the importance of the work you do. The third-party endorsement by a news station helps too. Just be sure to credit the news station in the description of the video, to avoid any copyright issues.
Plus, this is video you’re posting that you’re not creating. Time saver! Here’s how California Western makes use of news videos.
4. Post viewer-created content.
Many businesses have done a great job of engaging their customers through online contests and giveaways that ask them to submit their own videos. Businesses and organizations can learn from these successes by asking clients or volunteers to submit their own videos showcasing your product or service.
This is a great way for audiences to get a first-hand perspective on the service or product your organization offers. More importantly, it gives those who already care about your organization a chance to cheerlead for the cause and tell all of their family and friends about their video on your YouTube channel.
Did I mention this also means video you’re posting that you’re not creating? See a trend? Coca-Cola’s done a great job doing this with its Open Happiness campaign.
5. “Favorite” and “Like” other videos.
Like any other social media site, when you market with YouTube, be prepared to be social. That means see and be seen on other YouTube channels.
One of the easiest ways to see and be seen is by adding other channels’ videos to your “Favorites” list. This will require some time on your part, because you’ll have to search for and view videos that may relate to your organization. Once you see a video you want to add to your “Favorites” list click on the “Favorite” button below the video. These videos show up on your channel’s “Favorites” list for others to see.
You can also “Like” videos. This is very similar to adding it to your “Favorites,” except that they are not posted on to your YouTube channel as a list. Instead, “Liking” videos shows the owner of another channel that you like what they’ve posted. Often, they’ll return the favor by watching your videos and “Liking” them. The more a video is “Liked” or “Favorited,” the higher it is in search results when people look for videos on YouTube.
Blentec “Favorites” consumer and fan videos that show off the absurd things Blendtec blenders can blend.
There’s nothing better than YouTube for online video. As you build your presence there, keep in mind that you’re trying to engage your target audiences. That means investing some thought into the kind of videos you want to post on your channel and what kind of videos you want to share from other sources. With some planning, it’s simple to make your channel on YouTube better than a shameless plug for your business or organization.
Tags: nothing better than YouTube, online video, Social Media
posted on Wednesday, December 15th, 2010 at 8:00 am filed under Marketing your business, Social Media, Web site marketing, YouTube.follow any responses through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
