Why YouTube Should Be On Your Business Marketing To-Do-List

By Katrina Manning. 

There isn’t any question that YouTube is a powerful medium for effective video marketing. Whether you’re a small or large business, you need video to capture a wide range of audiences. Plus, you have to continually come up with ways to get your products and services in front of as many people as possible without ruining your budget.

One effective way of doing so is through YouTube. Just consider online retailer ModCloth’s when YouTube helped them reach 4,000 subscribers and 1 million YouTube views. Here are ways to get new subscribers through YouTube.

Why Use YouTube?

Over 4 billion videos are viewed each day. In fact, YouTube is the 2nd largest search engine and the 3rd most visited website worldwide. If you want subscribers, you need to be on YouTube. Plus, every month, 1 billion people visit YouTube. Then there is the fact that 100 hours of video are uploaded every 60 seconds on YouTube.

You may have noticed that Google is increasing the placement of videos in its search results. This is because Google sees the growing importance of video. When you write high-quality content, along with complementary videos, you can expect to get higher search rankings. Through using YouTube, you also increase the authority of your website.

In addition, YouTube offers the potential for viral marketing. You can conveniently embed videos on websites, then share them on social media. Viewers then share with friends, family and co-workers–creating a profitable cycle. Oftentimes, popular YouTube videos can get passed on indefinitely. You also have the option of gaining multiple video marketing channels.

It offers a widely recognizable format with mass appeal. Not to mention, the ease of social media marketing integration. According to DMR, 323 days of YouTube videos are watched on Facebook every single minute. The more shares and likes your YouTube video receives, the higher it ranks. As it gains popularity, there is a better chance your links will get clicked.

And, you can’t forget YouTube’s global presence. It is accessible anywhere, and on any device. It is used in 75 countries, and available in 61 languages.

Getting New Subscribers

If your goal is to double your email list, you need to develop a YouTube strategy. Keep in mind that people go onto YouTube with a grazing mentality. They will watch 30 seconds-to-a-minute if it’s any good. People don’t go there to watch hours of video, unless they get sucked into watching.

So, they’re grazing several different videos. If the average view time is maybe two minutes, how do you capture their attention? What if they leave before they even see your call to action? So, one strategy is to put your call to action twice in your video. Once at the beginning and once at the end.

Although, you don’t want to seem pushy. You can say something such as, “Hey, before we forget, we just want to share something cool you can do after watching this video.” This helps to give them a heads up before they leave to do something else

Or, they might even click on your link before you have lost their attention. The objective is to make it natural. You don’t want it to be robotic. You might also say something such as, “Oh, also, if you’re interested in a free webinar, you can sign up on my website” and give the link to your website.

Moreover, you might say “Hey, just letting you know, if you subscribe, I have so much cool stuff I can share with you.” It helps to have a conversational transition explaining the benefit to the viewer. You don’t want to beg, or make it all about you. It has to be all about the viewer.

Contests

Even if you have thousands of YouTube followers, you still need to monetize your business. You can do this by creating your email list. This probably won’t happen anytime soon, but if YouTube goes away, you need something that allows your business to keep going.

You will still have that ability based on your email list. Email marketing helps you keep your YouTube subscribers engaged while turning them into paying customers. What YouTube does is provide awareness; the very start of your marketing/sales funnel.

Your video content helps to keep them intrigued. If they like what they see, they may consider spending more time getting to know you. That is when you can ask them to sign up for your email list. Again, you should do this conversationally at the beginning and the end of your videos. You should offer a clickable form in your videos.

If you’re pressed for time, contests are one of the best ways to grow your email list. If you want a quick boost, offer a giveaway. Something that will resonate with your audience. You can host a contest at any stage of your business. You might have to spend a bit more to give something in demand, but you will build your email list.

Use a tool such as AppSumo to get the word out. They enter their information as their entry. Then, if they share it on social media such as tweeting, tagging it, liking your Facebook page and such, they get more entries. This can quickly added up to thousands of entries.

If you want to boost your contest’s awareness, you can even run ads. To illustrate, you might run Facebook ads. Of course, you might worry about the people who aren’t really interested in your products and services, they just want free stuff. There will be a few. But, they won’t be the majority. If you get 10,000 new subscribers at a 20 percent conversion rate, that is quite powerful.

How else can you do that in such a short amount of time? Keep in mind that you may get more subscribers than you were expecting. At this point, it is critical not to drop the ball. Before you contest, have your marketing messages in place and ready to go in order to keep your new subscribers engaged.

YouTube is a sensational means for gaining new email subscribers. It really isn’t as difficult as you think. With a conversational style, and some fun contests, you can certainly gain new subscribers quickly and easily.

Contributed by Katrina Manning, a content marketing specialist who has penned thousands of articles on business, tech, lifestyle and digital marketing for a wide variety of global B2B clients. She moslty writes for Leadpath.com and she is also the author of three books and is currently working on her fourth. In her free time, she enjoys fundraising for charitable causes, playing with her cat and baking.