5 essential YouTube Marketing tips

YouTube has proven to be a powerful social media marketing platform for businesses to convert viewers into customers. It has over two billion monthly active users, 68% of which state that YouTube videos help them make a “purchasing decision”.

With local versions of YouTube being available in over 91 countries, its extensive reach makes it an essential tool for growing your brand and its audience.

Whether you are new to the platform or have been around for some time, this guide takes you through five straightforward ways you can get started on growing your following today.

In this blog:

1. Optimise Your Videos
   -Some tools to get more views:
   -Cards
   -End Screens
   -Custom Thumbnails
2. Engage with Users
   -Host Giveaways
   -Post User-Generated Content
   -Run Polls and Gather Feedback
3. Collaborate with YouTubers
4. Make Use of YouTube Shorts
   -Things to Consider When Making Shorts
5. Post Behind-The-Scenes Videos
   -Some Ideas to Get You Started with
6. Conclusion

1. Optimise Your Videos

To reach a wider audience, you must first ensure you’ve optimised your videos. This means optimising your YouTube metadata for search engines (SEO).

Metadata is the information about your video, such as its title, description, tags, thumbnail, category, subtitles, and closed captions. Properly crafting these and providing relevant and clear metadata ensures your videos are properly indexed by YouTube, which enables users to easily find your content when making relevant searches. Try including recent subjects and connected keywords so your video is featured more frequently. More traffic equals more awareness.

Here are some tools you can utilise to get more views:

Cards

Cards are small, rectangular notifications that pop up in the top right-hand corner of both desktop and mobile screens. Find out how to create cards here.

Tips:

Use verbal cues to alert viewers to the cards since they tend to be easily missed. You can also point towards the top right of the screen to bring attention to it. This is a form of viewer engagement and makes for a more interactive watching experience.

End Screens

End Screens (or End Cards) can be seen in the last 5-20 seconds of a video. YouTubers can use their end screen to promote videos or playlists, the subscribe button, other channels, and external websites. This way, users can be directed to recent posts and every video promotes your content and drives views.

Here is a guide to creating End Screens.

Cards and End Screens increase the likelihood of the viewer sticking around and consuming more of your content. The more videos they watch, the more likely they are to subscribe.

Custom Thumbnails

Viewers use thumbnails to judge whether to watch a video, and it’s not a coincidence that 90% of the most popular videos feature custom thumbnails. Custom thumbnails are key to catching their attention and convincing people to click.

Check out this website for more tips on how to improve your thumbnails.

Note: Make sure your channel is verified, to enable custom thumbnails. You can do so at youtube.com/verify.

2. Engage with Users

It is important to involve your audience in what the brand is creating so they know their opinions are valued. Here are three great ways to connect with them:

Host Giveaways

To be eligible for giveaways, users should complete certain actions such as subscribing to your channel, liking the video, commenting, and/or sharing it with a friend. People like winning free products, so this generates buzz, and engagement can lead to increased brand loyalty. Just make sure you are offering something viewers would want.

Post User-Generated Content

You can encourage users to submit content related to your brand and curate those submissions to share back with the community. This shows your audience that their inputs are appreciated, and also is a different type of content that adds variety to the channel.

Run Polls and Gather Feedback

Treat your users like a community. The best way to develop a bond with your consumers is to encourage dialogue. Polls, under Community posts, are a simple way for users to share their opinions and get commenting. Not only do their responses help with YouTube’s algorithm, but they also provide you with feedback and knowledge from your audience.

For example, finding out what content your viewers would like to see next, or generating ideas for products. The highest-voted option or most-liked comment can be converted into your next YouTube video.

Note:
YouTube channels must have over 500 subscribers to access Community posts
The channel should not be set to “made for kids”.

3. Collaborate with Youtubers

Creating content with specific influencers is a great way to introduce your brand to new audiences. This exposure creates create brand awareness, builds on the reputation of respected YouTubers, and drives traffic to your channel through cross-channel promotion. Teaming up with professional Youtubers that have strong and dedicated followings can also lend credibility to your brand. However, avoid going overboard with partnerships as you want to select influencers whose audience is a good fit for your brand. YouTube also provides some useful tips for finding and contacting suitable collaborators here.

[For a more detailed discussion on how you can engage YouTubers (Sponsorship, Affiliate Marketing, and Brand Ambassadorship), please contact us].

4. Make Use of YouTube Shorts

Much like TikTok videos and Instagram Reels, YouTube Shorts are displayed in portrait mode, fitting the screens of mobile phones. As over 70% of YouTube watch time comes from mobile devices, Shorts are a useful way to publish content optimised for mobile viewing.

While long-form videos are great for providing information, short-form videos are more sharable and do not require people to pay as much attention. In terms of features, there is flexibility with the editing and options to add music, thus, these sharable clips gather views more easily.

Daily engagement also increases the chance of YouTube recommending your content to viewers. Keep your audience up to date with regular Shorts, promote your channel, and inform them of new content to watch out for.

Things to Consider When Making Shorts

Make the first few seconds attention-grabbing to get viewers to stick around.

Shorts are looped, so think about how the video might be perceived when it’s played on repeat.

Play with pacing. Use cuts, edits, and music to keep your video interesting and dynamic. Shorts work best when the content is not one continuous sequence.

5. Post Behind-The-Scenes Videos

Giving your audience a glimpse of how your company operates can humanise your brand.

What is it you want consumers to know about your brand? Emphasise what your brand stands for and share something that people can connect with emotionally. Such documentation is informative and transparent, which generates goodwill and helps your brand come across as genuine and trustworthy.

Overall, this gives viewers insight into your company’s values and might just convince them to engage with your business.

Here are some ideas for behind-the-scenes footage to start you off:

• Company events
• Company operations (e.g. process of packaging goods)
• Product launches
• Product updates (limited editions; coming soon)
• Introducing employees (their personalities; well-being)
• Workplace updates (renovations)

Conclusion

Develop your customer loyalty and spread awareness through consistent and frequent community engagement. Use YouTube Shorts to provide viewers with a sneak peek into your company’s inner workings. Forming a strong connection with your audience is what converts them to customers.

Working with professional YouTubers opens your brand up to new audiences and opportunities for creative cross-promotion and content generation. This in turn increases your channel’s popularity thanks to YouTube’s algorithm. While the content you create should be good, be sure to optimise your videos for SEO as that is a key factor in setting them up for success.