YouTube Followers

Value of YouTube

The Value Of YouTube For Business

 

The Numbers Game

 

The following points sum up the value of YouTube for businesses. They point to an on-going shift in the habits and preferences of a wide range of the population. It is a shift that significantly affects businesses, especially from a marketing and advertising perspective.

•    Over 300 million people worldwide discover, watch, and share videos on YouTube every month. There are anywhere from 6 million to 9 million channels on YouTube that serve up content to these visitors.
•    YouTube has become a distribution platform for original content creators, just like television and radio. It also attracts a large amount of advertisers, both large and small.
•    Besides videos, YouTube provides mechanisms for people from all around the world to connect with, inform, and inspire each other.

This information tells us that YouTube has an immense and diverse user base that possesses an equally diverse range of interests. Content producers have been quick to cater to specific interest niches by providing highly targeted video content to these distinct segments.

Proving the commercial viability of this channel, YouTube has partnered with numerous TV producers worldwide to host thousands of their shows. YouTube also features premium content provided by thousands of YouTube partners that includes the Smithsonian, Encyclopaedia Britannica and the U.S. Library of Congress, as well as videos from thousands of small businesses that promote their products and services, or educate prospects and customers.

What Does This All Mean?

There are certain conclusions we can arrive at based on the information presented above.

1. Video Content is an effective and popular means of attracting the attention of prospects and customers.

2. There is incredible traffic potential in providing relevant and compelling video Content on YouTube.

3. Businesses recognize the value of providing video Content in order to generate large volumes of traffic that can boost their business performance.

4. Advertisers are excited and enthusiastic about YouTube's new mechanisms for engaging audiences, and have begun harnessing these mechanisms to engage prospects and customers, in effect developing an emerging economic platform on YouTube.

YouTube Action Items

Given the value of YouTube as a marketing tool for businesses, the following points are some ideas you can use to effectively harness YouTube's power to attract and engage audiences with video Content.

1.    Develop Brand Awareness.

Produce and post videos that push your brand and business offering, just as you would with a traditional television commercial. Studies conducted by research firms such as Millward Brown have demonstrated that online videos are more effective at creating brand awareness than traditional TV commercials because online viewers are more engaged than television viewers.

2.    Advertise Your Products.

Just as you can use YouTube to develop awareness of your brands, you can also use it to push individual products.

3.    Retail Promotion.

You can run promotional videos that are general in nature, or you can post promotions that are targeted and short term. For example, you can announce discounts and "this weekend only" specials, which are effective in grabbing attention.

4.    Direct Sales.

YouTube is an excellent channel for generating direct sales for products and services. Simply show your product or service in action then provide a call-to-action mechanism that processes the transaction or redirects the prospect to your website.

5.    Provide Product Support.

You can help customers deal with common product problems by preparing instructional videos and posting them on your YouTube channel.

6.    Provide Product Training.

Train your national sales force without having to spend a fortune flying your trainers around the country. Post your training videos on YouTube and drastically reduce your training spend.

7.    Communicate with your Employees.

YouTube videos are great for communicating messages to the workforce quickly and economically. They're more convenient and certainly more economical than throwing a company meeting just to make that big announcement. The added bonus is that employees can instantly provide their feedbackon the message, allowing their voices to be heard.

YouTube Benefits

You now know the value, and you have some idea of how to use YouTube as a platform for delivering Content to entertain, educate and engage customers and prospects. The following is a list of the benefits that add even more value to YouTube as a business tool.

1.    YouTube is Free.

It takes nothing more than your time and effort, and the cost of producing your video Content, to enjoy the advantages of YouTube.

2.    Video Content is the King of Kings.

Content may be king, but moving pictures have the power to draw and hold people's attention like no other medium can.

3.    Viral Potential.

It's possible for great Content to explode in terms of online exposure as people share it with their family and friends, who share it with their own networks, and so on and so on. Just think of Rebecca Black and all the success she has had from one video going viral.

4.    Local Audience, Global Reach.

You can control the scope and reach of your online video Content by targeting specific keywords. Certain keywords have local appeal, allowing your video to be found by prospects within a limited geographic area. Other keywords will allow your videos to reach audiences all over the world.

5.    Position Yourself as an Expert.

Sharing tips, answering questions and solving problems with others makes you valuable in their eyes and gives everyone the impression that you are an expert generously sharing your expertise.

6.    24/7 Sales Staff.

Each effective video presentation you upload to YouTube is the equivalent of a superstar salesperson working for you 24 hours a day, seven days a week, without pay!

7.    SEO.

It's possible to tag videos with keywords so that they can be found by search engines. This lets you take advantage of the huge pull search engines have and the massive opportunities they offer to tap into the torrent of search activities that take place constantly.