Introduction
Is your business utilizing the power of YouTube in your social media strategy? If you aren’t, then it’s high time that you do. Video promotion is become increasingly important for marketing a business in this digital age. It goes without saying that attaching a compelling image to your blog post will immediately increase the chances that it will be read and shared online. However, even these picture-perfect posts are being set aside in favor of video, a more passive form of information transmission. Even if you aren’t already utilizing YouTube, you may be wondering what else you can do to try and increase your fanbase, shares, and engagement.
When it comes to increasing awareness of your brand,
there's something intrinsically authoritative about a brand
that makes its own videos. Videos seem to lend more
credence and validity in a way that blog posts and more
traditional strategies of marketing just can't. This is
especially true since 86 percent of modern consumers suffer
from what is known as ‘banner blindness.' This means that if
you want to reach your target audience, then you have to
find a different way to advertise online.
Creating your own videos and utilizing the power of YouTube can help to turn your business into an authority in your industry. Video personalizes your brand in a way that images or the written word just can't. If you cast yourself in your videos, it will allow your audience to get a better sense of the person behind the business long before the video is over. Video can add a personal touch to your brand like no other medium. Here are five ways you can build your brand authority with YouTube.
1. Take the Time to Understand Your YouTube Viewers
The only way that you will be able to build your brand's authority on YouTube is by making the kind of videos that your target audience wants to see. The only way that you will be able to create videos that will attract your target audience is if you thoroughly understand your viewers.
To
determine the kind of videos and content that your viewers
want to see from your brand you have to brainstorm and
decide on your ideal demographic. You need to know who
your audience is, their age range, their interests, the kind of
content they enjoy watching, and why that is tuning into
other YouTube channels like yours.
You can start your brainstorming session by doing a search of relevant keywords to see what kind of videos appear in the searches. This will allow you to see what other types of videos are being made based on your niche. Look for videos that have a high view rate and check out their corresponding channels to see what their subscriber numbers are. The more detailed you can get about who your target audience is, the more you can be sure that you've chosen the right approach with the videos that you are producing.
If you want to build your authority on YouTube, then you have to make sure that you are providing the right kind of content to attract your target audience and encourage them to subscribe to your channel. You need to make sure that you take the time to clearly define your target audience before you spend the effort in creating videos for your YouTube channel.
2. Make Compelling Videos
It's the same for blogging, as it is for Facebook, as it is for Twitter, as it is for YouTube, content is king. In fact, it is even more accurate when it comes to the videos that you create. The only way that you will be able to increase your following on YouTube and build your authority is if you have high-quality videos that spread across other social media platforms is by creating content that is worth sharing.
This is
where understanding your demographics becomes key.
So, what kind of content is worth sharing? As you probably
already know, the most shareable content are the kinds of
videos that are either extremely funny or that appeal on an
emotional level in some way. While it can be controversial,
these kinds of videos don't bring in the positive results in the
say way as the heart-warming stories would.
The last thing that you want to create is a boring video where you are standing in front of the camera with a potted plant and filing cabinet in the background, spouting out what makes your product better than all the others in a monotonous tone. No one is going to find that scenario exciting or funny, and they won't share the video which means that you won't be able to attract new followers or build your authority on YouTube. Instead, you need to try and illustrate just how great your product is in a series of videos and make sure they are entertaining.
You’ll need to find the style of videos that will work for your business, which means you’ll have to experiment with your videos until you find what works. Just make sure that the final style that you land on will either present your content in a funny or entertaining way, but ideally, you want to try to incorporate both into your videos.
3. Brand Your Channel Page
When it comes to building authority on YouTube, an easy way to do this is by making sure that your branding is consistent with your company website and across all social media platforms, including YouTube.
You can customize your YouTube channel to be consistent with your business branding material by making sure that you are using the same colors, the same tone, and the same style on all your online marketing platforms. You also want to add your company logo to your page; you can either use it as your channel profile photo or include it in your channel banner.
Either way, you want to make sure that your target audience
can quickly identify your brand when they visit your channel.
An important thing for you to remember is that you will not
be able to change the name of your channel once you have
set it up on the platform. This means that you need to make
sure that you choose the right name that will attract the right
audience to your page.
You can do this in the content planning stage before you even sign up for a YouTube business channel. Like with any of the other social media platforms, it is incredibly important that you complete your channel profile and include as much detail about your business and brand as possible.
Including relevant keywords in your company description can help your channel rank higher on the search engines, which will make your videos more discoverable by your target audience. Another way to ensure that your videos rank high in the search results is by making sure you correctly tag your videos every time you upload them to your channel.
4. Create Different Types of Content
To build your authority on YouTube, you need to create videos that get a lot of views, and you need to increase your number of subscribers. This means that you need to produce the kind of videos that will garner a lot of attention. While we discussed creating funny and entertaining videos earlier in this piece, there are other kinds of video formats that have been proven successful on YouTube.
To be a smart brand marketer, you need to know which types of videos are most popular and understand how you can develop your videos around these trends. Creating different kinds of videos around your product or service will keep your viewers interested and coming back for more. Here are some of the most popular types of content that you can create for your YouTube channel to help build your authority on the platform.
• Product Reviews
• How-to-videos
• Video blogs or vlogs
• Comedy or Skit videos
• Educational videos
• Q&A videos
• Behind the scenes videos
• Webinars
To build your authority, you’ll need to venture out of your
comfort zone and try different content styles. While not all of
these types of video formats will work for your business, you
want to experiment early on to determine which videos work
best and attract the most viewers. Narrow down your
selection to three or four different content styles and make
sure you rotate them often to keep your audience interested
in what you have to say.
5. Promote Your Videos
If you don't spend the time actively promoting your videos on YouTube and through other marketing channels, your audience will never find your videos, and you will never become an authority in your niche. Fortunately, YouTube has streamlined the process of sharing videos on other social media platforms, which will make it much easier for you to share your videos on Facebook and Twitter.
You now
have the option to auto-share on these platforms making it
that much easier to share your content across your social
media channels. You can also link your blog to your
YouTube channel, which will allow you to post your videos
directly to your blog from your YouTube channel.
Alternatively, you can embed your videos into your written
blog posts or even create a video of your homepage that
you can permanently feature on your channel.
This is made possible when you use the embed code that is provided to you when your video is posted on YouTube. You also want to try to link your YouTube channel everywhere and anywhere you possibly can. This includes your website, your blog, your Facebook account, your LinkedIn, your Twitter, and even your Instagram account. The reason behind this is that the more links that you have pointing towards your videos and YouTube channel, the higher it will be ranked in YouTube searches and searches on Google.
Finally, you may want to consider using paid advertising to get the word out about your channel and gain more subscribers. Paying to run an ad campaign can help to drive more views and subscriptions to your channel. With Google Ads, you can create an ad that will run before a video starts, or alongside a video on its YouTube watch page. All you have to do is create your ad, set your budget, and target your audience. Fortunately, there isn't a minimum price to run an ad on the video platform, and you can change your budget or target at any time, as well as ending your campaign whenever you want.
While there is no single formula for the perfect video ad, there are several different ways that you can create ads that will deliver maximum impact. Once your ads are live, you'll need to monitor the results and make any necessary changes to ensure you are getting the best results.
Conclusion
YouTube has always been a source of entertaining content
for viewers around the world. However, over the last several
years, it has also started to stake its claim as a powerful and
essential tool for marketing a business. In fact, nearly half of
all companies plan to add YouTube to their marketing
strategy over the next year according to a recent report by
the State of Inbound.
For smaller and medium-sized businesses, YouTube can be an excellent way for you to build brand awareness and increase your authority in your industry. With these five, simple strategies, you can establish a YouTube channel that will get noticed and continue to bring new audiences to your business and help you build your authority in your niche. If you aren't already active on YouTube, what are you waiting for, the time to get started is now?