YouTube is the largest video sharing website in the world and it is easily the most recognizable. It was founded in November 2005 by three former PayPal employees in order to give people a free outlet to watch and to showcase audio-visual works such as movie clips, TV trailers, music videos, video blogs and even short films.
Powered by Adobe Flash Video and HTML5, YouTube has become so popular that it was bought by Google for about US$ 1.65 billion in November 2006 to operate as a subsidiary. The value of YouTube for watching videos and sharing content has boosted its importance for businesses as well. The brand of your business will benefit strongly if it has a YouTube presence. Check out our own Brand Builder Show channel on Youtube to see how we do it.
Videos can significantly change the perception of users about your brand. A video can create an image for your business, one that can attract your target market. It can convey the quality of your products and services. If a picture can paint a thousand words, imagine how much more you can tell about your brand with the use of videos?
Branding for YouTube
If your brand is already established, you should just continue its momentum when you create its YouTube channel. The name of your YouTube channel should be carefully chosen because this can’t be changed at a later date.
The appearance of your YouTube channel can be customized. Background color and fonts may be revised. To keep your channel coherent with your brand, its visual elements should be aligned with your company.
Of course, YouTube is all about videos. There is no better way to improve your brand than to display your most important or most recent videos. As always, excellent content will propel your brand.
Content Is King
YouTube is just a channel to help you communicate with your target market. Your business should still put in work to create quality content. Likewise, video production should be complemented with the promotion.
With the advent of social media marketing, it is now easier to spread the word about your videos. Facebook and Twitter have become significant platforms for turning YouTube videos into viral sensations. A YouTube video can also be embedded in blog articles and news stories where it can have greater exposure.
Brand Promotion within YouTube
While videos are the best way to market your brand, there are also various ways to promote your business on YouTube. Your business can now put a hyperlink in the “description box” of your videos to invite users to your websites.
You can also generate site traffic with the use of self-branded overlays. In the past, you needed to promote your videos to use the overlays. Now you can simply create a video and still enjoy branded overlays. At the same time, you can also prevent external advertisements in your YouTube channel so that your own overlays can be seen.
Caring for Subscribed Users
In YouTube, there is an option to “Always Take Subscribed Users to the Feed Tab.” You should always enable this. When users subscribe in your YouTube channel, it is an indication of interest in your content. This is a positive sign for your business and you should take care of these subscribed users.
When you bring these subscribed users in the Feed tab, they will see your latest videos, updates and comments. This can inspire your subscribed users to have more involvement and even loyalty with your video posts. After all, YouTube is not only a video watching and sharing service. It is also a social network.
The Business Edge of YouTube
YouTube is more than just a website for people to enjoy free videos and to share the content they create. It is also a way to interact with various people all over the world. Because there are millions of users in YouTube, this website has become a powerful platform to spread the word about a brand.
YouTube is for free and a business can have immense rewards if it chooses to invest in the production of YouTube videos. A video can significantly affect the thoughts of users about the quality of your brand. When used properly and efficiently, YouTube can be an edge in business.
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