Video marketing is one of the most cost-effective, powerful, and creative ways that business owners can use to grow their business. If you are looking to find new customers, keep your current customers engaged, and build a complete and solid brand, getting involved in video marketing through YouTube is going to be the fastest way for you to do this.
This article will take you through a quick step-by-step process to getting your first video online. Once you have read through this material, be sure to immediately put the new knowledge into action.
Step #1: Market Research
You may initially think that the first step in video marketing is to create a video, but we want to make sure that we know exactly who we are making this video for before spending the time and money required to create the video. By taking a look at your current customer base, or the customer base that you would like to obtain, you can create videos that will appeal to them specifically.
As you already know from direct marketing methods, trying to appeal to everyone results in a diluted message that attracts very little interest from anyone at all. Before investing time and money into the creation of a video, find out who your target market is.
Step #2: Brainstorming
Now that you know who this video is going to be for, take the time to brainstorm ideas for your video. You mainly want to focus on ideas that will keep your target market entertained. Most users spending time on YouTube are looking to be entertained. If you created video that is not entertaining, you run the risk of wasting time and money on something that may never be seen.
Entertainment is not exclusive to comedy, action or some of these Hollywood type genres. Informational videos can be extremely entertaining to those people who are looking for that information. Some of the most watched videos on YouTube are actually documentaries. This is proof that people do go to YouTube seeking out information, but the information still must be presented in an entertaining way.
You may consider putting together a team, or using focus groups to help with your brainstorming process. Remember, you must create a video that is geared towards your target market. Try to avoid videos that focus too much on the sales pitch without offering entertainment. This does not mean that you cannot have sales pitches in your videos, it simply means the sales pitch must be subtle.
Step #3: Create Your Video
For many, this can be the most nerve-racking part, but you don’t have to spend a lot of money or even a lot of time to create a high-quality entertaining video on YouTube. To illustrate this point, simply spend 10 minutes on YouTube. You will find that some videos are extremely high-quality, the video creators used high definition cameras, hired professional actors, and had amazing scripts in place. On the other hand, some videos were shot using an iPhone and are not scripted all.
If you have the resources, hiring a professional videographer or video marketing service can and will provide you with an opportunity to create high quality videos in ways that you yourself may not be able to.
Step #4: Launch Your Video
Instead of saying that you are going to “upload” your video, think of your video as being “launched”. As with any product launch, you must generate buzz before, during, and after the actual release of the product. The same goes for video launches.
So, how do you create this type of buzz? By utilizing social media such as Twitter and Facebook.
If you don’t already have a subscriber base on YouTube, you can make connections and build brand loyalty before you even have videos on the site. By simply liking, commenting and friending other YouTube users, you can build a good pre-launch buzz for videos that you will be releasing in the future. Do not skip this step. A video that is released without a pre-launch buzz in place will flop.
Step #5: Keep It Alive
The point of video marketing, like all marketing events, is to help drive eyeballs to offers. If you spend time, money, energy and creativity without utilizing it as a tool to drive people to your services, offers or products, you are missing out on a huge potential in business.
How do you keep a YouTube video alive once you have launched it? The same way that you launch any video in video marketing. You must continue to interact with those who respond to your video. If you have created a high-quality video, as outlined above, you will have people liking, commenting and connecting with you through your YouTube channel.
The worst thing that you could do for the success of your video is to ignore, chide, or downplay any of the interaction that users are giving you. Respond in kind to your users. They will reward you with loyalty and brand affection.
Conclusion
Video marketing is the wave of the future. If you are not currently utilizing video marketing to build your brand and your business now is the time to jump on board. By following the very simple steps that have been outlined in this article, you can literally use YouTube to build your business.
