10 Tips for a Successful YouTube Marketing Strategy
If you’re ready to start marketing on YouTube, here are a few tips for your marketing strategy.
Video marketing has become increasingly popular and accessible for businesses in recent years as it generates high returns. Among all the platforms where you can watch videos, YouTube continues to be the top choice. It is currently the world’s second-biggest search engine, with over 500 hours of videos uploaded every minute.
With people spending billions of hours daily watching videos on different platforms, it is more important than ever to build an effective YouTube marketing strategy. To do this, you need to take note of the latest trends and find the right messaging for your brand. If you are new to this space, here are 10 tips to help you create a successful YouTube marketing strategy.
Align Videos to Your Goals
The first step to YouTube marketing is thinking about what kinds of videos you should create. If you check out the platform, you will find tons of niches, from beauty to lifestyle to fitness and others. Naturally, your business and marketing objectives will determine the nature of your videos. Whether drawing new clients, converting customers, or increasing brand recognition, every content you create should be anchored on specific goals.
Determining what type of videos to make will be crucial since this will establish your identity in the YouTube community. In addition, you want people to associate your channel with a particular type of video that matches your business.
You can check out the videos that already rank for your topic to see what has already been done and what is working for some inspiration. Then, you can think about how to fill the gaps and look for ways to stand out, among other similar videos.
Establish Clear Branding
Once you already have your objectives set and a rough idea of what videos to create, then you should turn your attention to branding. Does your YouTube channel currently appear appealing to visitors? How is the engagement on this platform? If the answer is negative for these questions, it is a sign that you need to improve your branding strategy.
When designing your channel, make sure the layout, colors, and elements match your website, logo, and other platforms. In addition, strive to achieve aesthetic branding, add personalized URLs to your channel header, and add a compelling bio about your business and what your videos are about to reel in more users.
Create Your Videos Around Relevant Keywords
Much like SEO, YouTube marketing also values the importance of keywords. These will be essential in your YouTube marketing strategy since you want to make sure you capture the right audience and reach them. To determine this, you need to look at what people are searching for on YouTube, similar to how you look at what they search for on Google.
You can include several keywords in your title or video description to ensure that your video reaches your target audience. By now, you might have heard of things like YouTube SEO, YouTube analytics, social media marketing, and click-through rates. Make sure you look into these to understand how you can drive more users to your channel.
One good way to create effective content about a topic is to choose a relevant and buzz-worthy keyword. Focusing on that one keyword allows you to integrate the word throughout the material organically, so YouTube can pick it up when using closed captions.
Repurpose Highly Effective Content
Creating and distributing impressive material is an effective method in growing your YouTube channel. However, starting from scratch is not always necessary for your video content. If you already have strong content on your website, you can leverage these by turning them into entertaining videos.
For example, during the COVID-19 pandemic, people turned to YouTube videos for ‘how-to’ content since they needed guidance for home tasks. If applicable to your business, this would have been an excellent time to release instructional videos on how to use your product or something similar.
Engage with Your Target Market
High engagement is key to driving conversions. On YouTube, you get rewarded if your channel has high engagement, which is determined by factors like:
- Watchtime
- Number of comments
- Overall time spent on a video and the channel
- Likes and dislikes
Given this, you might notice that successful content creators actively react to comments and open discussions about topics. Asking viewers about your content or asking what they want to see on your channel can help you increase engagement. In addition, acknowledging help given by viewers will encourage more of them to provide recommendations, ultimately increasing your traffic.
Promote on Other Social Media Platforms
One of the best aspects of social media is that it allows you to market your content across several platforms. So to widen your audience reach in YouTube, make sure to promote your channel on other platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok.
There are many creative ways to do this, so you need not limit yourself. For example, you can add a preview in Instagram Reels, post your videos on your blog, integrate your podcast on your YouTube channel, or have the full-length video in a Facebook link to maximize interaction across all social media platforms.
Cross-Promote Your Videos with Other Channels
Another effective YouTube marketing strategy is finding other similar YouTube channels to cross-promote or work in a mutually advantageous way to expand your audience. For example, to boost traffic on your channel, you can leverage your social media following or embed videos on your website.
Optimize Your YouTube Thumbnails
The YouTube thumbnail is the first thing people see when they come across your videos, so make sure your thumbnails accurately describe what your content is about. You can also use the thumbnail to promote other videos, so you want yours to stand out from the crowd. Overall, a video with an eye-catching, headline, engaging video description, and an appealing thumbnail frequently ranks better.
Aim for More Channel Subscriptions
Subscriptions are a good indicator of viewers’ interest in watching your videos. But, of course, it also helps to boost engagement and build brand recognition. Thus, remember to always ask viewers to subscribe to your channel and click on the notification bell to stay updated with your new content. The more followers your channel has, the more likely you will increase your YouTube traffic and viewing time.
Produce Content Regularly
Like how you should post new content on your site regularly, you should also maintain a steady stream of videos on your channel. Remember that the amount of content you should post will be based on your objectives, content, and target audience.
To keep a consistent stream of content flowing, you can pick a theme and post short videos around that theme. Creating shorter copies of long-form material keeps the information flowing and retains the audience’s attention.
Work with Professionals to Create a Successful YouTube Marketing Strategy
If you need help building your YouTube marketing strategy and navigating the platform, P3 Agency can assist you. As a full-service digital agency, we do all types of online marketing, including YouTube marketing. Our team can work with you to determine your goals and build an effective plan from there. To get started, call us today at 1-800-515-9422 to get your free marketing assessment!