With over 1 billion unique visitors each month, YouTube is a platform that every small business owner should consider as part of their marketing strategy. After all, most potential customers would much rather watch an informative video of your company’s products and services than reading a lengthy sales letter.
Not only is YouTube a great promotional tool, but you can also use the video host to create trust, authority and recognition by creating a channel for your business. Here are a few ways to do so:
1. Showcase Your Products/Services
Many successful businesses use video marketing as their primary strategy to introduce customers to their products and services. From explainer videos, to webinars, to video presentations and more, there are many different ways to showcase what you offer to your target market.
A great example of a company that uses YouTube to market their products is GoPro, one of the most popular camera choices in the world today. The company has used the channel to upload content ranging from informational videos on new products to compilations of footage from their camera being in use.
2. Demonstrate Your Expertise
YouTube is the second largest search engine on the internet today, behind its parent company, Google. Every day, users search for answers to their questions and problems. This presents a great opportunity to build authority for your business, and reach your target audience by offering expertise in the form of short videos with advice and tips.
For example, an internet marketing firm could create short videos filled with tips on, “How to Utilize SEO”, or “5 Great Social Media Marketing Strategies”. By creating short videos, 3-5 minutes, with great tips, you are demonstrating expertise for your industry and are building more authority for your business.
3. Give a Behind The Scenes Look
Why not give your current and potential customers a behind-the-scenes look at how your business runs its operations? Not only is this an effective way to build trust with those interested in your business, but, it’s also a great way to show how hard your company works for its customers. You could feature an interview with the CEO, introduce your staff, or even vlog a day at work.
4. Customer Testimonials
Another way to build trust and authority for your business is by uploading videos of customer testimonials to YouTube. Showcasing positive recommendations and reviews from past customers is a proven factor for success. Testimonials make purchase decisions easier, and help ensure people that they’re being served by a company with a positive track record.
5. Creating Video Tutorials to Help Customers
Watching a video tutorial with instructions on how to set up or use a product is much more helpful than trying to understand a complicated user manual. Can your business make things easier with video tutorials? If so, YouTube is a great platform to provide customers with instructions as they can always forward, pause or reverse your video tutorials to follow instructions at their own pace.
Another fantastic benefit of uploading video tutorials is that you can offer support and assistance in the YouTube comments. If users have any questions or difficulties, then they can leave a comment under the video on YouTube. Make sure to have notifications enabled, so you can respond with assistance and support.
Integrating YouTube into Your Marketing Plan
In addition to the five ways to use YouTube for your small business, there are many helpful ways to use the frequently visited platform as an essential part of your marketing plan. Depending on the nature of your business, you could host live streams, create Q&A videos, provide conference/event recaps, feature expert interviews, make company announcements and much more!
Not only does YouTube allow a business to gain more exposure through video marketing, but the platform also helps connect businesses with current and potential customers through video comments. There’s no better time to utilize YouTube as a marketing tool to build more authority, trust and market reach, than right now.