At this point, everyone knows that leveraging social media is essential for business success, and yes, that is also true for financial services and b2b marketing. But social media extends beyond just Facebook and Twitter; there are myriad social services to be found and you may be missing out on a big one: YouTube (explained). Although a video takes more effort to produce than a tweet, the payoff can be worth it.
If you’re wondering whether a YouTube strategy is right for you, read on to find out what you can do and how it will help you.
- Promote the brand. A big part of YouTube’s utility is that it gives you a way to promote your brand using a multimedia option. You can promote your brand with various types of content: product reviews, customer testimonials, or feature highlights. All of these are ways that you can show people what you have to offer and why your services are superior. Being on YouTube makes you accessible to a new market and makes your brand more relate-able.
- Engage the community. Your brand has a community, so you just have to find a way to work with them on a level that encourages response. When you share content you are able to generate buzz for your services. A good video is easy for customers and potential customers to enjoy and to share with others, which expands your community. You can also interact with the community by using your YouTube channel to promote events—either with teasers and hype beforehand, or recaps afterwards, which lets users see what they missed out on. You can also engage the community by offering promotions by video, which can be a fun way to get customers buying into the brand.
- Provide customer service. Normally, we think about customer service as being reactive: answering questions, dealing with problems, etc. However, YouTube makes it possible to provide proactive customer service. When you get a new product, for example, post a video that address questions that people have been asking. If you have something that people typically ask questions about, create a how-to video that explains what they need to know. You can also answer customer questions in video format, which doubles as a way to engage with customers.
- Integrate your social media. Creating videos on YouTube is part of your broader social media strategy, so make sure that you are cross-posting or embedding your videos onto other platforms. Include the link to your YouTube channel in profiles on other sites. When you post a new video, tweet about it or link it on Facebook. This will drive more people to your YouTube channel and increase your video’s visibility.
- Share PR moments. YouTube is a great place for showcasing your outreach efforts. If your company has done anything charitable, record the process and post a clip to YouTube. This can generate goodwill for your company and it is much more effective than a press release for getting the word out there about your altruistic deeds.
- Include calls to action. YouTube allows you to overlay notifications on a video. This is a great way to work in a call to action in your video. If you’re answering common questions, you could use an overlay to invite customers to comment or tweet at you if they have questions you didn’t cover. If you are giving a product demonstration, you could have an overlay with the product link and a discount code. This allows you to directly ask users to act without interrupting the video.
If your business isn’t already on YouTube, it is something you should certainly start working into your overall social media strategy. Consider YouTube Advertising, and ask these questions to start. YouTube is a powerful platform that lets you connect with your community directly to engage users, promote a brand, and provide customer service.
John Gower is an analyst for NerdWallet, a personal finance website dedicated to helping you save money with tips on everything from social media marketing to scoring a good cd account.
photo credit: www.videotrueque.es | cc
Jon Rognerud and Chaosmap work with Fortune 500 companies, small business and entrepreneurs to create digital traffic strategies that scale up customers, leads and sales with profitable returns. Mr. Rognerud wrote a best-selling book (Buy On Amazon), “The Ultimate Guide To Optimizing Your Website” (Entrepreneur). Connect directly here.
