Become comfortable with the camera
Producing an engaging video for YouTube is just the first step in launching a successful marketing campaign on YouTube. With 20 million viewers a month and literally millions of videos to choose from, it’s easy to get lost in the crowd. So how do you attract eyeballs and keep them? Here are a few tips for making your company’s videos stand out and leveraging them to help your business.
- Make you videos entertaining since those are the most watched videos – Have a gimmick like Charles Smith, a pottery artist in Mobile, Ala, who breaks pottery and got tens of thousands of people worldwide watch him create works of art on his pottery wheel only to break them up at the end.
- Participate in the YouTube community – People forget that YouTube has an active social community, similar to Facebook, Twitter or eBay. Get your name around by commenting on other videos and join existing topic-oriented groups or creating one if there isn’t one in your niche area. You improve your rankings on YouTube by the number of subscribers you have, how many people watch your videos and comment on them.
- Make sure your videos direct visitors to your site - Tens of thousands of viewers watching your videos sounds great, unless they have no direction to find your business afterwards. Make sure you include your Web address and other company contact information. YouTube free annotation tool you can use and your information will appear anywhere the video is embedded. Create a special “landing page” for viewers coming to your site from YouTube. It should have a similar look and feel to YouTube with intuitive navigation to close the deal on transactions or gathering client leads.
- Get the production right – Believe it or not, spending too much money producing the video is more of a problem than spending too little. “If you look too slick, it may work against you. Most YouTube videos are shot with a $300 camera. YouTube videos are 320 x 400 pixels. Less important is the equipment, while more important is technique. “Talking heads, stationary shots work best. Audio, however, is something people don’t think enough about. If you’re using a camcorder with an external mic input, use it. Invest in a decent microphone.
- Choose your keywords carefully – There’s only one way viewers find you on YouTube and that’s the site’s search engine. So when registering your account use words in your profile that best fit your subject area and niche. If you sell eye wear using trendyeyewear for your profile name is better than using ew121220011. Keywords should draw in a broad enough audience to get the exposure you seek, but not too much. With 20 million viewers passing through YouTube, businesses should use words that weed out traffic that are not potential customers.
New media landscape is all about access and YouTube puts you right where your content, your videos can be easily found. YouTube is fast becoming the No. 2 search engine and information on it is consumed by millions every day. Now that Google owns YouTube, there’s the added benefit that a video on YouTube automatically goes into Google’s search engine. Videos tend to catapult to the head of the line. It’s a great way to increase your site visibility and ranking with search engines. So, if you have not done so yet, do set up a Youtube channel for your business and start uploading videos that will stand out.
Would amateur/home made videos help my small business become better known or would their lack of professionalism hurt my company’s image?