There are many ways your small business can get exposure in the social media world. Most entrepreneurs focus first on getting their Facebook and Twitter contacts running smoothly, and that’s a good thing. But now it is time to add YouTube to your marketing mix. Worldwide, YouTube videos receive over two billion hits per day. That’s probably more business than your company can handle, but wouldn’t you like to be in touch with a very small percentage of that figure?
Although there is a substantial amount of silliness on YouTube, it is much more than cute animal videos or stupid human tricks. Many businesses use it to great effect to explain their product or service, introduce their company, and put a face to their business. Video has the advantage of using sight, sound and emotion to connect with viewers. With the advances in shooting and editing capabilities, it is even relatively cost-effective and easy to do. Here are a few tips on using YouTube to promote your small business:
• Be consistent: You don’t want to get an audience interested in what you have to say and then leave them hanging for months at a time. Plan your videos for the year, and produce them together in batches. That way you can have something online working for you even if you are busy with other tasks.
• Have interesting content: Your videos can reflect some of the points you make on your website, blogs and social media, but don’t have everything the same or there is no point in it. Video is perfect for product demonstrations that you can’t always do with written words and photographs. You can also talk about your business philosophy as an entrepreneur, or interview your employees and customers. Some humor can be injected into your videos, but don’t make that everything there is or viewers might think your business has no substance.
• Help viewers find you: Of course you want to mention your videos on your website and in your social media to communicate with current prospects and customers, but they need to be search friendly to help you communicate with a new audience as well. Make sure your title has keywords that appeal to your target demographic, and you want to take advantage of using keywords in your tags, too. You also get to choose a thumbnail, so choose a good one that will catch viewers’ attention.
• Ask viewers to do something: Don’t go through all the effort of putting a video out there without asking viewers to do something. Motivate them to visit your website, call you, or come into your retail location.
Get started by visiting YouTube to set up an account. From there, YouTube makes it easy to input your information, follow prompts and upload videos. Once you have videos online, you’ll need to include links to them from your website and other social media. Video is a great way to tell your small business story!