Youtube Marketing

Youtube Marketing
Comprehensive Beginner’s Guide to

Learn Youtube Marketing from A to Z
© Copyright 2018 - All rights reserved.
The content contained within this book may not be reproduced, duplicated
or transmitted without direct written permission from the author or the
publisher.
Under no circumstances will any blame or legal responsibility be held

against the publisher, or author, for any damages, reparation, or monetary
loss due to the information contained within this book. Either directly or
indirectly.
Legal Notice:
This book is copyright protected. This book is only for personal use. You
cannot amend, distribute, sell, use, quote or paraphrase any part, or the
content within this book, without the consent of the author or publisher.
Disclaimer Notice:
Please note the information contained within this document is for
educational and entertainment purposes only. All effort has been executed
to present accurate, up to date, and reliable, complete information. No
warranties of any kind are declared or implied. Readers acknowledge that
the author is not engaging in the rendering of legal, financial, medical or
professional advice. The content within this book has been derived from
various sources. Please consult a licensed professional before attempting
any techniques outlined in this book.
By reading this document, the reader agrees that under no circumstances is

the author responsible for any losses, direct or indirect, which are incurred
as a result of the use of information contained within this document,
including, but not limited to, — errors, omissions, or inaccuracies.
Table Of Contents
Introduction
Chapter One: Why YouTube Marketing
Audience
Visibility
Expertise
Content
Engaging
Traffic
Original Content
Promotion
Global Audience
Information
Free
Cross-Platform Marketing
Chapter Two: YouTube Marketing 101
Make YouTube a Part of Your Marketing Strategy
Don’t Ignore YouTube
Leverage Its Reach
Use It as a Destination
YouTube Terms and Conditions
Never Charge People
Music in Videos
Respect the Video Copyright
Start a YouTube Channel for Your Business
The Basics
The About Section
Channel Art
Understand Your Market
Trailer Time
Upload a Video
Optimize for Search
Be Consistent
Integration
Engage
YouTube Ads
Chapter Three: Beginner’s Guide to YouTube Marketing
YouTube Demographics
YouTube Updates
Optimize Your YouTube Channel
Create Videos that Convert
Better YouTube Marketing
8-Second Rule
Subject
Your Audience
Time for the Close
Chapter Four: YouTube Ads for Beginners
YouTube Advertising FAQs
Types of YouTube Ads
TrueView Ads
Video Discovery Ads
In-Stream Ads
Pre-Roll Ads
Bumpers
Set up and Launch a Video Advertising Campaign
Chapter Five: Optimize AdWords
Determine Your Metrics and Goals
Low Performing Placements
Customized Thumbnail Image
Buy with Cards
Call-to-Action
YouTube End Slate
Negative Remarketing
Captioning
Qualify Users
A Longer Ad
Best Practices for YouTube Videos
Format of the Video
Opening
Title or Introduction
Content
End Card
Secret Strategies to Get More Views
Step #1 Build Your Brand
Choose Your Identity
Create Videos that You would Want to Watch
Video Thumbnails
TubeBuddy
Use Good Art
Channel Page
Contact Information
Recurring Segment
Channel Logo
Content Calendar
Good Titles
Brief Titles
Cross-Promote
Tags Matter
End Screen Options
Keywords and SEO
Google Trends
Multi-Part Episodes
Audience
Ask for Subscription
Channel Trailers
Useful Information
Channel Watermark
Attend Events
Popular Videos
Ads can be Problematic
Transparency
Step #2 Make Splendid Videos
Camera
Jump Cuts
Plan the Script
Lighting Matters
Captions
Replay Value
Videos must be Brief
Editing Software
Good Music
Use a Tease
Good Audio
Creator Academy
Step #3 Promote Your Channel
Optimize the Content
Your Own Website
Comment
Relevant Communities
Podcast
Promo Services
Blogs
Pinterest
Google+
Tweets
Connect
Be a Guest
Your Friends can Share
Facebook
Use Instagram
Conduct a Contest
Social Shares
Engage in Comments
Create Q&A Videos
Use Annotations or End Cards
Video Embeds
Email Marketing
Stay Active
Advertise Your Channel
Email Signature
Chapter Six: Grow Your YouTube Channel
It Is A Business
Content Matters
Production Values
Authenticity and Integrity
YouTube is Fickle
Don’t Think It Will Be Easy
Don’t Use It to Constantly Pitch
Create a Human Side
Posting Regularly
Encouraging Comments
The Engagement Pattern of Your Followers
Chapter Seven: Factors that Determine Video’s Rank
Title and Metadata
Watch Time
Subscribers
Comments
Backlinks
Chapter Eight: YouTube Marketing Tools
YouTube Search Filters
YouTube Search Auto Suggest
SerpStat
Brandcast
Tube Toolbox
YouTube Reputation Tool
VidIQ
Google Explore
Cyfe
TubeBuddy
Chapter Nine: YouTube Metrics
Watch Time
Other Metrics
Chapter Ten: Successful YouTube Marketing Campaigns
Canadian Tire - Wheels
Google Android: Friends Furever
Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams: Build Your Own Ice Cream Sandwich
Reebok: 25,915 Days
Code.org: What Most Schools Don’t Teach
Chapter Eleven: Social Media Principles
Use Only the Platforms that Your Business Needs
Evaluate Everything
Make Sure You Post at the Right Time
Build Your Connections
Go Visual
Each Platform Needs to be Unique
Make It Useful
Being Personable
Don’t Keep Selling
Check the Content
Social Media Manager
Never Post on the Hour
Sharing Content
Learn the Platform Guidelines
Include Location in your Profile
Conclusion
Resources
Introduction
I want to thank you for choosing this book “YouTube Marketing:
Comprehensive Beginner’s Guide to Learn YouTube Marketing from A to
Z.”
The Internet has certainly revolutionized the marketing game. YouTube is
amongst the best video-sharing platforms today. It was created back in 2001
and since then it has been the source of newsworthy videos. YouTube is
amongst the most popular platforms of social media these days.
One of the most fetching aspects of YouTube is that you can use this
platform to increase your brand or business’s reach. It provides a global
audience for marketing. Marketers have found ways in which they can use
the Internet to market their brands online - from blogs to social networking
sites to YouTube. YouTube is not merely a search engine for videos, but it is
a social networking platform that’s available to everyone. It has over a
billion users per month and it is one of the online titans today. Therefore, it
is no wonder why marketers are more than enthusiastic about including this
platform in their marketing mix.
In this book, you will learn everything that you need to know about using
YouTube for marketing. In fact, YouTube is a cost-effective means to
expand your business and your reach of audience. You will also learn about
the benefits of YouTube marketing, steps to create a YouTube marketing
campaign, tools to use for YouTube marketing, tips to enhance the
efficiency of your marketing campaign on YouTube, tips to increase your
reach and much more.
If you are ready to learn about this, then let us start without any further ado.
Chapter One: Why YouTube Marketing
YouTube not only has a high rate of traffic, but the number of viewers is
quite high as well. At present, YouTube boasts over 1,325,000,000 users.
About 300 hours of video is constantly uploaded on YouTube per minute
every day - that is about 5 hours of video content per second. All this points
out an obvious trend in the marketing field and that is video marketing. For
online as well as offline business owners alike and Internet marketers,
YouTube marketing is an important strategy to make the most of the web’s
incredible shift towards video.
YouTube has grown into an influential social media platform. What started
out as a fun medium of introducing the world to three-dimensional
interaction has now turned into a powerful tool of marketing. Just like in
every other social media channel, the secret to success is getting a following
or audience to broadcast your videos to. The more views you get, the more
popular your videos will be and the greater success you will have in ranking
highly in the search results. Here are some benefits of YouTube marketing.
Audience
YouTube has over a billion users spread across the globe. YouTube is pretty
much accessible anywhere and on a range of devices. In fact, at present
YouTube is available in over 60 languages and is being used in over 70
countries. The aim of any marketer is to capture and grow their audience. If
you are looking for a platform that will provide you with global exposure,
then look no further. With YouTube you can reach a worldwide audience, it
will help you gain better exposure, viewers, and followers.
Visibility
Google owns YouTube and you can use this to your advantage. Whenever
you search for something on Google, you probably might have seen some
videos that show up on the first page of suggestions. Well, this is a handy
marketing technique and it will help improve your online visibility. If you
use YouTube as a part of your marketing mix, then you automatically allow
more authority towards your channel. The greater your authority, the higher
your page will be placed in search results. If you want to use YouTube to
improve your website search results, then make sure that your YouTube
channel and the domain name of your website are similar. It will imply that
your YouTube channel is an official link to your site. It will increase the
relevance whenever someone searches for your brand or anything that’s
associated with your brand. You need to embed your videos on your website
or other websites and it will rank your videos higher on the search engine
and it will increase your visibility. When you add keywords to your
description of the video, it automatically helps increase your online
visibility. Increasing your online visibility is an essential part of a marketing
strategy and YouTube will help you attain this goal.
Expertise
A lot of brands and businesses frequently use YouTube to increase their

authority in their field of expertise by making simple tutorial YouTube
videos. When you do this, it automatically increases your credibility and
helps build the audience’s trust towards your brand. You can even showcase
your products in action through YouTube videos.
Content
Image courtesy: Pixabay
You can always repurpose the content from your website and use it to make
videos on YouTube. If you have a blog or a website with some content
posted on it, then you can repurpose the text and make it into an animation,
a video series or even a presentation and post it on your YouTube channel.
Engaging
Videos are an easy way to connect with your audience. Not just that, videos
are an excellent means to provide a personal and a more hands-on feel when
compared to traditional techniques of marketing. YouTube not only allows
you to post videos, but it also offers different features to the viewer.
Viewers have the option of posting their comments, sharing the video or
even saving the video. It essentially gives your business a chance to interact
with the viewers.
Traffic
When you use YouTube to create videos and advertise your brand, it
increases the traffic to your website. The popularity of YouTube is one of
the main reasons why using it as a marketing tool is a good idea. Given its
popularity, it is quite likely that you will be able to create a group of
followers for your business or your brand. You can include the link to your
business website in the description of the YouTube video. Whenever
someone views a video on your channel and they want to know more about
your brand, then the link prompts them to visit your website. When people
do this, it automatically makes your website rank higher on Google’s results
page.
Original Content
YouTube provides a brilliant platform to unleash your creativity. You can

repurpose content in the form of videos, but apart from that, you have the
opportunity to showcase original content that you create. It is easier to make
your brand or business more appealing and engaging to the viewers when
you post videos that are original and creative.
Promotion
Businesses can use YouTube to post promotional videos of an upcoming

event or the launch of a product. These videos are enticing and engaging for
the viewers and they encourage the audience to participate in your events or
even try the new product. YouTube helps build curiosity and promote your
brand.
Global Audience
YouTube is a global platform. You no longer have to concentrate on local

marketing and can instead target a global audience. Every video that is
posted on YouTube has the potential of being seen by customers across the
globe. The one thing that you need to make sure of is that your videos reach
your target audience. Once you identify your ideal audience, you can target
them easily with YouTube marketing. It helps you gain a global viewership.
The further the reach of your brand, the greater number of customers you
will have.
Information
It is a common misconception that for a video to gain hits on YouTube, it

needs to be humorous. You must be able to create interesting videos and it
will automatically entice your audience. Informative and interesting videos
will do the trick and you don’t have to worry about the humorous aspect of
the video.
Free
Advertising and marketing can be a costly affair. A great thing about

YouTube is that it is available free of cost. You can upload as many videos
as you want, and it will not cost you a penny. You can obtain all the benefits
it offers without spending any money. It does make sense to include
YouTube in your marketing strategy, doesn’t it?
Cross-Platform Marketing
You can easily share the videos that you post on YouTube on other sites.
When you share your videos on other platforms, you are essentially
increasing the exposure of your business and search engine ranking, and it
increases the chance of viewers clicking on any of your associated links.
These are the benefits that you can gain by using YouTube as a part of your
marketing strategy. It is an effective and efficient marketing tool. You need
to keep in mind that it does take a lot of time and effort to create the perfect
content that will appeal to your audience. You will learn more about this in
the coming chapters.
Chapter Two: YouTube Marketing 101
In this chapter, we will look at everything you need to know about YouTube
Marketing before you get started
Make YouTube a Part of Your Marketing Strategy
Businesses don’t usually appreciate all the different benefits of using videos
in online marketing and they often hesitate to use YouTube as a part of their
social media marketing. Well, if you also think like that, then you need to
reconsider your opinion about YouTube. In the previous section, you were
introduced to the various benefits of YouTube marketing. In this section,
you will learn about a couple of simple steps that you can follow to
successfully integrate YouTube into your social media marketing strategy.
Don’t Ignore YouTube
Whenever someone thinks of social media, people usually think about

Facebook, Twitter or Instagram. Everyone knows that these are important
social networking sites. It is true that these platforms are quite popular, but
they aren’t the only ones. If you want to increase your online traffic and you
want to create leads for your business, then you need to market your content
on YouTube as well. YouTube provides you with the opportunity to be
discovered by people who are searching for information. If you are creating
video content, then instead of hoarding it for your website where not a lot of
people will find it, it is a good idea to upload it on YouTube. YouTube is the
best video destination on the Internet and you need to exploit this
opportunity. Once you upload a video on YouTube, this platform does a
wonderful job of engaging the audience. You have the opportunity of your
videos coming up in the related videos section. For instance, if you sell
iPhone products and someone from Apple makes an announcement at a
convention and someone makes a video of it and uploads it on YouTube,
then you have the opportunity of coming up next to that video. Let us say
that someone at Apple announces that they are launching a new iPad and
your business deals in iPad cases and covers. If you experiment with a
couple of tags and titles, then it is quite likely that the video your business
makes will crop up in the related video section. For instance, if you search
for a specific video, then you will notice some suggestions that YouTube
makes and some of those videos might interest you.
Leverage Its Reach
You need to understand that it isn’t just the younger generations who are
active on YouTube. One of the reasons for this is that YouTube is the
second most frequently used search engine these days. The accessibility it
offers makes YouTube quite powerful. You can access YouTube from your
mobile phone or even your home television set these days. Video marketing
is quite a successful tool in any marketing campaign and if you want to
make the most of this feature, you need to get your business online on
YouTube.
Apart from accessibility, you must not forget that it is a social networking
platform. A lot of people aren’t usually aware of this aspect of YouTube.
Yes, it is a place for you to upload videos, but don’t forget that you can add
friends as well. You can subscribe to YouTube channels and others can
subscribe to your channel as well. You have the option to “like” and
“favorite” any of the videos you watch. Apart from this, you can even leave
comments on videos to interact with others. If something excites or interests
you, it is quite likely that you will find others who share your interests as
well.
In fact, you can treat your YouTube channel like a home page of a website
where each video you post will merely become a sub-page of your site. You
can link the videos from your channel and make your YouTube channel an
online destination where you can feature your content, the content you like
and the content that other channels make about you. You have the
opportunity for cross-platform interactivity with YouTube. If your business
has accounts on any of the other social media sites like Facebook,
Instagram or Twitter, you can link your YouTube account to all those
accounts.
Use It as a Destination
You can make your YouTube channel a destination. As soon as you get
started on YouTube, you need to select a name for your channel. When you
do this, make sure that you spend some time to come up with a name. Think
of your YouTube channel’s name like you will for your website. You must
consider some keywords that you can use to increase your online visibility.
You need to use some keywords related to your concerned niche that will
make the audience curious and will pique their interest to learn more about
you. Before you can start networking or socializing, you need to work on
visual branding. You need to fill out the description of your brand or
business in the “about me” section.
YouTube Terms and Conditions
Do you want to use YouTube as a part of your social media marketing

strategy? Then before you start posting videos online, you need to
understand YouTube’s terms of service. Are you familiar with the copyright
laws and YouTube’s Terms of Service? This is a simple aspect that is often
overlooked. If you don’t follow the terms of service of the platform, you
might find yourself in a world of trouble. In this section, you will learn
about three simple ways in which you can make sure that your YouTube
channel and the content you post on it are legal.
Never Charge People
Whenever you join a social media platform, you need to agree to their
Terms of Service. A lot of YouTube users are there to merely watch videos
and don’t pay much attention to the terms of service. As a social media
marketer, you will be using your YouTube channel to promote your brand
or business and to reach your target audience.
You can commercialize your YouTube channel, but there are certain
commercial uses for which you cannot use YouTube. One of the things that
you cannot do is sell the access to your content on YouTube. You cannot do
this without the approval of those at YouTube. Even if you create a how-to-
guide or a similar teaching video that imparts valuable content and post it
on your private channel on YouTube, you cannot charge the users to view
the content you post. If you want to charge others for accessing the videos,
then you will need to host your videos on another platform. You can upload
the video to YouTube and then embed it to any other paid-for platform.
When you do this, the viewer while watching the video isn’t doing so on
YouTube.
You cannot sell any outside sponsorships or advertising for the videos that
are on YouTube. It is quite obvious why YouTube has this restriction - it is
because they want you to utilize their advertising. There are commercial
uses that YouTube allows which make it a great marketing tool. Before you
decide to use YouTube, you need to familiarize yourself with the
restrictions it places on certain commercial uses.
Music in Videos
You need to secure permission before you can use any music in your
videos. You can find yourself in some legal trouble if you use a clip from
someone else’s video or use a snippet of music from your favorite artist’s
video. It is a good idea to include a consistent musical intro to create brand
recognition for the videos you post, but you cannot use music tracks
without the permission of the creator. If you do this, then you will be
violating the community guidelines of YouTube. Not just that, but it is also
considered as a copyright infringement and it can land you in trouble with
the artist or the creator of the original video or track. If you use a snippet of
music from the original video in your videos, YouTube has the right to mute
the specific audio you copied from someone else and it will not do your
marketing efforts any good. YouTube can also shut down your account.
Apart from this, any intentional or unintentional infringement of a copyright
has legal consequences too and you can be slapped with a lawsuit. If you
were to use someone else’s images on a social platform, you need to obtain
the permission of the creator, obtain the rights or use something that is
considered to be a part of the public domain (any musical work published
before 1922). Well, the same rules apply to videos on YouTube as well.
Before you decide to add some music from your favorite song, make sure
that you have the necessary permissions.
Respect the Video Copyright
When it comes to copyrights, you need to protect your work while making
sure that you don’t infringe someone else’s rights. YouTube is the leading
platform to post and watch videos on and it is only natural that it is quite
prone to infringement. YouTube spends a lot of time dealing with copyright
violations, almost like the sheriff who tries to maintain peace. YouTube’s
main interest is to make sure that they don’t get stuck in a lawsuit and they
do a good job of enforcing against any infringements. All the credit for this
goes to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. It provides direction on how
host platforms need to deal with copyright issues and how they can shield
themselves from any potential lawsuits as well.
Content ID on YouTube is a tool that goes through millions of videos on the
platform to check for any copyright violations. As soon as it spots a
violation of a copyright, they take that content down. Unfortunately, this
tool doesn’t catch all infringements and some users have come up with
different ways in which they can beat this system by making slight
manipulations to the video or the sound they use. For instance, if you are a
wedding planner and you decide to come up with a marketing strategy. The
video you decide to post includes a live intro for your business and then it
moves onto 30 minutes of “The Wedding Planner,” Jennifer Lopez’s movie.
If you do this, then you are infringing a copyright. Even if you post a small
portion of a movie or use any stills from the movie without their explicit
permission, then you are committing copyright violation. Since your
potential clients will watch this video for free, in fact, they are watching a
portion of the movie for free; the movie will not make any money. One of
the fundamental purposes of a copyright is to protect the profits and the
work of an artist. If you use such content, then YouTube will flag this
content and it will take down the video. If you don’t own the rights to a
video or you don’t have the necessary permissions to use content that
someone else created, then refrain from using it in any of your videos.
YouTube is a great platform for marketing and you need to make the most
of it. In your bid to optimize the benefits this platform offers, don’t commit
any copyright violations. Keep the tips mentioned in this section in mind
when you create your YouTube videos.
Start a YouTube Channel for Your Business
So, you want your business to take the plunge into the world of YouTube.
Well, it is a wonderful idea given that more than 300 hours of videos are
uploaded on this platform every single day. In this section, you will learn
about the simple steps that you can follow to create a YouTube channel for
your business.
The Basics
The first thing that you need to do is create a business channel - and it is
quite easy. All it takes is a couple of clicks and you can set up your new
channel. Open the app on your smartphone or your laptop, and then you
need to sign into YouTube and click on the user icon that’s present at the
top right side of the screen. Now, click on the gear icon to enter your
account’s Settings. Click on the “Create a new channel” option. Once you
do this, you need to select a name for your channel. You can use any name
that you want to but choose something that is in sync with your business
name. The final step is to add your Brand name and then you can click on
create.
The About Section
You need to complete your profile by adding information in the about

section and the channel description. In fact, this is the first option that will
pop up on your screen after you create a channel. In this section, you need
to describe your brand, what your viewers will gain from the channel and
what they can expect from it. It is also a good place to add the links to your
business website or any other social media network that your business is
active on. The description that you decide to include in this section will
appear in more than one place, so make sure that you include a good
description. The channel description needs to be precise, easy to understand
and interesting while conveying the primary objectives of your business.
Channel Art
When you go to your YouTube channel, you will find a large banner that
will display your channel name. This banner is quite similar to the cover
photo of your profile on Facebook. It is the cover photo of your brand and it
serves as an introduction to your business. It is up to you, you can make the
cover photo anything that you like, as long as it is the focal point. You can
make it seem as extravagant or minimalistic as you want it to. The cover
photo is the first thing that the viewer will see as soon as they enter your
channel. You need to make sure that it can make a good first impression and
it will make the viewer curious to learn more about your brand. Whenever
you want to upload an image as a cover photo, you need to follow the
specifications that YouTube requires. The image needs to be 2560 X 14440
pixels and the maximum size of the file is 4mb.
Understand Your Market
Since you have decided to start a YouTube channel for your business, you
obviously will have some material to work with and there are different ways
in which you can use to approach your video content. If you have a
complex product or you feel that users will need some guidance to use a
product, then you can create YouTube tutorials for it. If you want to show
off the great reviews you have been receiving from your customers, then
you can create testimonials. You know what is better? You can do both. In
this way, you can ensure that your YouTube channel has different content
that is directed at your target demographic. The more you can cater to your
target audience, the greater the chances of them looking into your business
services.
Trailer Time
You need to create a channel trailer in the same manner in which you create
your channel art. Channel trailers serve as a short and precise introduction
for new visitors. You can use a channel trailer to tell your audience about
your business, the kind of content they can expect from the channel and the
value that you will provide them. A channel trailer also acts as a good
introduction to the first video you posted.
Upload a Video
By now, you probably have done some research about your first video and
if you have already created a channel trailer, then the next step is to create
and upload your first video. Once you film a video, spend some time to edit
it and then you can upload it on YouTube.
Optimize for Search
Well, congratulations on uploading your first video. No, it is not the time
for you to rest and your work is just getting started. When you upload a
video, you will need to fill in the details for a title, description, and the tags
you want to include. These are extremely important elements and you must
not ignore them if you want your videos to be easily discoverable on
YouTube. If you have a website, then you know the importance of SEO
(Search Engine Optimization) and likewise, even YouTube has certain
parameters that you can use to optimize your video for search on YouTube.
While you are filling out these sections, you need to make sure that you use
descriptive keywords that suit your video and your niche. You need to use
certain keywords, but don’t use too many keywords in the titles and
descriptions. You can experiment with the length of the title and description
and see what works best for you. If you optimize your videos for YouTube,
then it can be extended to other search engines as well. As mentioned
earlier, YouTube is owned by Google and if you play your cards right, then
you can increase the ranking of your videos in both YouTube as well as
Google.
Be Consistent
If you want to be successful, then you need to be consistent in your efforts.

It isn’t merely about creating a channel and uploading one video. If you
aren’t consistent and you neglect your channel, then you cannot use
YouTube as a marketing channel. It takes effort, consistency and time to
create and maintain a successful YouTube channel. Once you upload your
first video, make sure that you have a couple of other videos to upload as
well. You need to create a schedule for shooting and uploading videos and
you need to stick to that schedule if you want to grow your channel.
Integration
Now that you have a website and a YouTube channel, the next step is to
share the videos on other platforms apart from YouTube. The content that
you create - you can share it on other social media sites, you can post the
links to your channel on your social media accounts on other platforms, if
you have a blog then you can include the videos in your blog and even post
them on your website. It is all about integrating your videos with all the
other social media accounts you have.
Engage
If there were no viewers watching videos or actively engaging with video

content, then YouTube might not have achieved the popularity that it enjoys
today. You need to build a community for your channel and you need to
engage with your viewers. If you don’t engage with your viewers, it is quite
likely that you will not attain much success. You need to reply to comments,
ask and answer questions and engage with your audience. A well-developed
and thoroughly nurtured community is important for your channel’s success
on YouTube.
YouTube Ads
Are you ready to take things to the next level? If yes, then you need to look
into investing in YouTube ads. It will help increase your brand’s reach.
Even if you are not sure where to begin, there is a lot of information that is
available at your disposal. You can use YouTube advertising to target your
audience according to their age, gender, their interest, location, and other
useful demographics. It is up to you whether you want to use YouTube ads
or not, but it is certainly a good idea to use this tool. You will learn more
about YouTube ads in the coming chapters.
Now that you have created a channel for your business, the next step is to
learn about YouTube marketing.
Chapter Three: Beginner’s Guide to YouTube
Marketing
If you had to compile a list of different social media platforms in the order
of most to least importance, which of the platforms will rank at the top? The
answer to this question for almost everyone is Facebook. Well, if this is
your answer, then you need to change your perception of YouTube.
YouTube can be quite beneficial for your business if you learn to use it
efficiently and consistently. Before you learn about YouTube marketing,
you need to understand how it is different from other channels of social
media and the ways in which you can use it optimally.
In this section, you will learn about setting up your channel, optimizing as
well as editing the videos, different strategies you can use, monetizing
YouTube and how to advertise on it.
Before we get to the how-to section, let us cover certain essential points that
everyone needs to know before you use this platform. Even if you have a
YouTube channel, you must still go through this section - do not skip it.
Before you learn about the ways in which you can grow your channel, you
need to understand why you need to grow your channel. As mentioned in
the previous chapter, there are different benefits that your business stands to
gain if you use YouTube as a marketing platform.
YouTube Demographics
YouTube is home to a large and diverse audience. They have over

1,300,000 active users and it has over 30 million viewers on any given day.
The audience on YouTube watches over 3.25 billion hours of videos per
month and more than a billion video views per day. That certainly is a lot of
videos! What about the audience and their general demographics?
Here is a summary of the statistics:
About 11% of the YouTube audience is in the age group of 18-24 years,
23% consists of viewers between the ages 25-34 years, 26% lies in the age
groups 35-44 years, 16% of viewers are between the ages of 45-54 years,
about 11% of viewers are in the age group of 50 years and above and the
remaining 14% are undetermined. When you think about these numbers, it
implies that 8 out of ten people who visit YouTube are between the ages of
18-49.
Not just that, there has been a considerable increase in the number of people
who own smartphones these days. It also means that there is an increase in
the number of people who use social media platforms on their mobile
devices as well. When you create content for your YouTube channel, you
need to keep in mind mobile viewers too.
If you want to use YouTube to succeed in your marketing campaign, then
you need to use a different approach for it from other social media
platforms. Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram are essentially for creating and
sharing content with the simple goal of creating awareness, encouraging
engagement and conversations. It is a simple definition of their purpose,
and these platforms are all for socializing. A lot of people don’t use
YouTube in this manner. The videos on YouTube are quite similar to blog
posts and are a better fit for content marketing that caters to a niche. People
will comment on videos, but these comments are quite similar to the way a
person might comment on a blog post. Viewers on YouTube come to view
and then assimilate the videos; they might or might not want to share their
thoughts about their day. You need to keep this in mind and the approach
that you use for YouTube must be more inclined towards content marketing
instead of social media marketing. Here are a couple of key differences that
highlight this point.
If a person needs to find your videos on YouTube, then they need to
specifically search for it or they can even stumble across your videos when
viewing any relevant content. On other media platforms, they can find you
through ads if they follow you or from any engagement with a friend of
theirs on your content. The primary emphasis of YouTube is obviously on
watching videos and not discussing them. You don’t see a lot of viewers
tagging each other in comments like people do on other networking sites.
YouTube is all about the viewer’s experience and it usually isn’t a social
one. If someone wants to do this, then they can share the specific video on
their social networking accounts. Most people who visit YouTube do so
with the intention of sitting down and watching something specific. They
don’t necessarily open YouTube to idly scroll through their feed the way
users do on Instagram or even Facebook. It is a good idea to approach
YouTube from the point of view of content and not for social networking,
then you can create better videos that will perform well.
YouTube Updates
Before we proceed to the how-to section, this is the last aspect of YouTube
that we need to discuss. YouTube has made some changes to its site recently
and it is important to address all the changes that it has made. Here is a
summary of all the important updates that YouTube has made to their site.
On YouTube, you cannot create annotations anymore. Instead of
annotations, they have come up with the feature of “End Screens.” If you
have annotations that you have created for any of your previous videos, that
will still be functional, but you cannot create any annotations after the
update. Now, mobile users also have the option to speed up or even slow
down videos. The developers at YouTube are currently working on a means
that will enable them to seamlessly adapt videos to any screen size. If they
do this, then YouTube will become more mobile-friendly.
There has been a major overhaul in the ad content on YouTube. All the
controversy surrounding some forms of extremism, hate speech and other
undesirable content being shown on ads has prompted various businesses to
show their displeasure about being associated with YouTube. Now, this
point affects those who run ads more than those who are monetizing their
YouTube channel by placing ads on them. Before you decide to apply for
monetizing your YouTube channel, you need to have at least 10,000 views.
This new update will affect all those who are interested in using their
YouTube channel to earn passive income. This update does benefit all those
who want to use YouTube for marketing purposes. YouTube introduced
certain comment moderation tools that make it easier for channels to
remove or prevent content that contains certain phrases or words from
appearing on their videos.
Well, now that you know about the basics of YouTube, the next step is to
learn about YouTube marketing and for that you need to learn to optimize
your YouTube channel.
Optimize Your YouTube Channel
Every business needs to optimize their YouTube channel before they post
their first video. If you have a channel that is up and running, you can still
optimize it. In fact, it is never too late to optimize your channel for better
results. In this section, you will learn about the different steps that you can
follow to optimize your YouTube channel.
You need to optimize your YouTube videos for SEO. You will need to
optimize your videos for search in different ways. You can add some of the
highest-ranking keywords to the title, add additional keywords to the
description and add the right tags for the video so that it will show up in
search engines for relevant content. You don’t have to necessarily choose
between a catchy title for your video and one that is filled with keywords.
There are plenty of amazing videos that use a catchy title and then add a
colon next to it and place a couple of keywords to the title later.
You need to include some description for every video that you upload, and
you need to make sure that you optimize it for better search ranking. You
need to add some keywords to it that you think will be helpful. For instance,
if you are uploading a video about baking a rainbow or a unicorn cake, then
you can include words like rainbow unicorn cake and classic rainbow cake
in the description. Both of these phrases can be search terms and if you use
them, then you have successfully covered all your bases.
Whenever you are searching for keywords that you can use, then it is a
good idea to research for your keywords in Google and YouTube. In this
manner, you can make sure that your search ranking improves on both of
these search engines. Better ranking will increase your views as well.
Create Videos that Convert
All that has been discussed up until now will not matter if you cannot create
good videos. The aim of a marketer is to create videos that will convert. A
video might not be good because the content is not good or maybe because
the video isn’t actionable. If a video cannot give you the results you desire,
then it is a complete waste of all your resources. When you create videos
for YouTube, you need to focus on certain goals. A common goal for all
businesses is to increase their leads and increase their sales.
There are different strategies that you can use when you create videos that
will convert. You need to create videos that you know will be searched for
by your target audience. You can organize such videos into a playlist and
then place a call-to-action at the end of the playlist to learn more. When you
organize the videos into a playlist, you inadvertently create a sales funnel
that will push the viewers towards conversion. The rate of conversion is
higher after a viewer watches a couple of videos, instead of just one, and a
playlist helps with this.
Whenever you create a video for a product, then you need to make sure that
the product offer’s some solution to a customer’s problem. You will learn
more about creating great YouTube videos in the coming chapters.
Better YouTube Marketing
Multimedia integration is an important part of digital marketing these days.

YouTube is one of the long-standing players in this field and it provides a
platform for businesses to connect with their audience via videos.
Therefore, it is quite natural that brands have been coming up with different
ways to increase the efficiency of their marketing campaigns with the help
of YouTube.
There is one aspect in which a lot of businesses falter and that is the context
of where they upload their content. YouTube is quite popular for all the
videos of fuzzy cats, cover music, viral videos and everything else that
represents a casual environment. The standard for content being posted on
YouTube is gradually increasing, but its origins have left an impression on
the true caliber of YouTube. If you want to consider the quality and the
context of videos you want to upload on YouTube, then there are a couple
of things that make all the difference. No, it isn’t the type of camera you use
or your editing skills. Instead, it is all about the way you execute it.
In this section, you will learn about a couple of simple rules that you need
to keep in mind if you want to increase the effectiveness of your YouTube
marketing strategy.
8-Second Rule
When was the last time you watched a video on YouTube? You probably
saw the headline, were curious and clicked on play. But if something
interesting doesn’t happen early in the video or if you feel that the video is
not interesting, you will immediately exit the video. Eight seconds is the
average attention span of a viewer. In these eight seconds, the viewer
usually decides whether to keep watching the video or not. If you don’t pay
attention to the very beginning of the video and don’t think about what will
appeal to your audience, then your video will not be favored in search. The
metric that tracks this activity is known as “Audience Retention.”
Regardless of how wonderful the aesthetics of the video are, and how good
the content or the optimization of the video is, your video will be devalued
in search if the audience retention metric is below the average. You need to
make sure that the videos you post will be able to retain your target
viewer’s attention beyond the initial eight seconds.
Subject
One simple way in which you can make sure that you follow the eight-
second rule is to ensure that you put your subject in the center. It means that
the main focus of the video needs to be on the video’s subject. It can be a
person’s face, a voiceover, a combination of these two or it can be a product
review. Regardless of what the subject of the video is, it needs to be put up
front. When you do this, you make the user feel that they will get to see the
content immediately. If you decide to start the video with a title sequence -
especially something that is lengthy and a little over the top with garish
graphics and loud music - your audience will lose interest rather quickly. It
is safe to say that you can skip the 15-second intro you were thinking about.
Your Audience
Here is a simple idea that can work wonders for your marketing strategy:
You can save the introduction for the end of the video. You can use some
graphics to provide the name of your brand or company in the early
moments of the video but save the introduction for the end. For instance, if
you approach your friend for some advice, did your friend try to introduce
himself or herself before offering advice? Well, the same rule applies to the
videos you post on YouTube. A viewer clicks on the video with a specific
goal in mind and if you waste the initial first couple of seconds on
unnecessary introductions, your viewer will exit the video without any
second thoughts.
Instead of beginning the video with an introduction, you must treat your
audience like they are your loyal viewers and have always been your loyal
viewers. You can directly start with the content and it will make the video
more appealing to the viewers. Treat your viewers like they are your loyal
viewers and soon they will become loyal.
Time for the Close
If your video lasts for about four minutes, then make sure that you save the
final 30-seconds for the call-to-action segment. Use this time to include the
introduction to your video. You can tell the viewers what they need to do
next: the call-to-action. Now that you have delivered valuable content to
them, the next step is to provide them with more details so that they can
stay tuned to your channel. Don’t merely depend on graphics and some text
in the description section of the video to include the call-to-action. You
need to verbalize the call-to-action and include it in your video without fail.
Content is quite important when you decide to make a YouTube video, but
it is not the only aspect that you need to concentrate on.
Chapter Four: YouTube Ads for Beginners
Now that you have spent a lot of time perfecting the script, storyboarding,
shooting and editing, what is the end result? The end result is a brilliant
product or brand video. You have invested a lot of time, resources and effort
to create a wonderful video and you cannot stop at merely embedding the
video on your website’s homepage or share it on social media and hope for
some views. Great content is bound to be discovered sooner or later, but
that doesn’t mean that you adopt a passive marketing strategy. It is
important that you take on a provocative role and try to increase your
brand’s reach and views. You can run YouTube ads to make sure that your
target audience finds the videos you created.
Advertising on YouTube is quite different from a paid social campaign or a
pay-per-click campaign. There are a couple of creative constraints in place
and a lot of options to choose from on this platform. You need to have a
basic understanding of all this before you consider taking up YouTube
advertising.
In the beginning of 2017, Google made some changes to AdWords to make
sure that the advertisers can reach more of their viewers on YouTube,
especially on mobile phones (the largest segment of YouTube users access it
on their mobile devices). One of the major changes that were made to
YouTube is that now the advertisers can target their viewers based on their
search history on Google apart from all the viewing behaviors that could be
targeted on YouTube. Marketers now have the option to target ads at those
people who have recently searched for a specific product or a service. If the
content of the video ad shares any similarities to what the viewer searched
for, then it is quite likely that your ad will pop up on their YouTube app. In
this section, you will learn everything you need to know about YouTube ads
and the ways in which you can make the most of these ads.
YouTube Advertising FAQs
Well, do you want to use YouTube as a platform for advertising, but aren’t
sure where to begin? If yes, then you aren’t alone. In fact, only a small
fragment of marketers use YouTube to run their ad campaigns. A lot of
people want to learn more about this fascinating platform and all the
benefits it offers. YouTube is an effective platform to reach the modern
audience. This service, owned by Google, is video-centric and is mobile
friendly with great global reach. How can you tap into the potential this
network offers? What are the things that you need to be aware of before you
run an ad campaign on it? In this section, you will learn the answers to the
most frequently asked questions that people have about YouTube
advertising.
What are the different types of ads I can run on YouTube and what are
the various formats available?
Like with most of the digital channels, it is important to understand the
difference between what is considered as advertising and not advertising on
YouTube. In fact, it can be quite difficult to differentiate between these two
on this platform and the lines tend to blur. There are a lot of things that can
blur the line between these two concepts like product placement and content
pieces created by a brand. With that being said, there are a couple of
methods that are clearly defined as advertising (when the brand directly
pays to serve the ad) and these methods are discussed here.
The particular kinds of units that can run on YouTube change rather
constantly. You need to check YouTube’s resources for advertisers to check
on any updates. At present, these are the different types of ads that you can
run on this platform.
Overlay ads - Semi-transparent ads shown at the bottom of the video.
Display ads - These are conventional ads that appear to the right side of a
video.
Skippable video ads - These ads give the user an option to skip the ad after
viewing it for 5 seconds.
Non-skippable ads - The viewer cannot skip these ads and needs to watch it
before watching their chosen video.
Bumper ads - These ads are non-skippable, and they last for only 6 seconds.
Sponsored cards - These ads are displayed in the form of text or display
units that tend to play alongside the chosen video.
All this might seem a little confusing initially. Don’t worry, you will learn
more about all these ads in the next section. The one difference between
YouTube and all the other channels is that on YouTube you have the option
of using skippable ads. You might wonder “Wait, why would I want the
viewer to skip my ad?” As a marketer, you might think that skippable ads
will not do you any good, especially when you are paying for it. It is
because TrueView ads tend to be not only cost effective, but they also have
a better rate of engagement.
What are the things that I need to keep in mind while creating YouTube
ads? What is the kind of ads that work really well on YouTube?
One challenge that you will face with advertising on YouTube is that a lot
of brands don’t feel comfortable creating video ads. Well, you need to use
video ads on YouTube for a simple reason - it is a video platform and
therefore, video ads will do better than conventional displays or text units.
That being said, what are the important features to create an effective ad?
There are no hard and fast rules about creating ads for YouTube. If you
want a high rate of engagement, then here are a couple of things that you
need to keep in mind while creating ads for YouTube.
The first thing that you need to do is create an ad that will hook the viewer
early. Since a lot of ads on YouTube are skippable and the viewers get
distracted rather easily, it is important that you grab their attention
immediately. Never, ever, start with a lengthy introduction and quickly
jump onto your brand’s message. You need to pay attention to the audio you
use. Yes, YouTube ads are primarily video ads, but that doesn’t mean that
the audio is not important. This is true given that often people tend to play
YouTube videos in the background. It means that they are effectively
watching and not necessarily viewing the ad. Therefore, it is important that
the audio you use is engaging as well. You need to target your YouTube ads
or else your ad campaign will not make much sense. You need to tailor your
ads according to your target audience in mind.
Another question that a lot of marketers have is the length of the YouTube
ad. What is the ideal length for a video ad unit? Well, there is no
straightforward answer to this question. As a rule of thumb, it is a good idea
to stick to short ads because if the ad is lengthy, then the viewer might lose
interest or even skip the ad.
What are the targeting options? How can I create a campaign and set
the targeting parameters?
One of the most important features of YouTube is that it offers an
advertising platform that seamlessly integrates detailed data on a massive
scale. It provides the brands an opportunity to target their ads. Some of the
most important aspects that you can use while targeting your audience are
their demographic, interests and their behavior. If you want to access all
these targeting options, then it is necessary that you use Google AdWords to
run your campaign. It might seem strange that you need to use AdWords to
run your campaign instead of YouTube itself? Google helps brands develop
campaigns that can be used on a wide range of outlines like YouTube,
search, display, on other partner sites and so on. You will learn more about
it in the next section.
How will I know whether the YouTube ads are working or not?
Whenever you use Google AdWords, you can check the performance of
your campaign on it. You need to go to the Video Campaigns section in
AdWords from the All Campaigns drop-down menu to check the
performance of the specific ad units. There are various metrics that you can
see on your dashboard and you need to use the metrics that matter the most
to your ad campaign. Different metrics include views, clicks, unique
cookies, video viewership and so on. You will learn more about the
different metrics and what they mean for your campaign in the coming
section.
Types of YouTube Ads
There are three types of video ads that you can invest in on YouTube and
they are TrueView, Pre-roll, and Bumpers. You will learn about each of
these ads in this section.
TrueView Ads
The standard or the typical ads that you come across on YouTube are
TrueView ads. Advertisers need to pay for a TrueView ad when the viewer
either watches or interacts with the ad and these ads can be easily
customized to share any kind of content that you want to create.
If you use this type of ads, then you need to pay for it only when the viewer
watches the ad for at least 30 seconds, the viewer takes a specific action
(clicking on the call-to-action button) or until it ends. A TrueView ad that is
skippable needs to be between 12 seconds to 6 minutes long and that a non-
skippable one needs to be up to 20 seconds in length and not more than that.
There are two kinds of TrueView ads that you can use to optimize your
channel on this platform and they are as follows:
Video Discovery Ads
These ads were previously known as in-display ads. These ads show up on
the YouTube homepage, the search results page and even in the related
videos section. Whenever a user clicks on such an ad, the destination video
page will appear on the right-hand side alongside a companion banner
display ad.
In-Stream Ads
The TrueView in-stream ad is the ad that plays before someone watches

their chosen video on YouTube. At times, the viewer has the option to skip
the ad after they watch it for five seconds. You can even make them play
anywhere in the GDN (Google Display Network) or any other sites that
have Google video ad space. These ads allow the marketer to customize the
ad with different call-to-actions and overlay text.
A TrueView video campaign can include dialogues, music (provided you
have the necessary permissions) and even people. It is better to not use
them like a regular promotional commercial since the viewer can skip the
ad. You need to work on creating an ad that will appeal to the viewer and
will make them watch the entire ad without skipping it. You need to use the
time you have wisely with this ad and try to tell a story. Viewers like case
studies or testimonials of people who have faced a struggle and it invokes
empathy. It is a source of entertainment that can make your ad memorable
and will prevent the user from skipping it. A marketer can also obtain a lot
of information about their ads with TrueView ads and can use this ad for
further optimization and for testing purposes.
By using AdWords, you can even collect data regarding the completed
views of an ad, partial views, the click-through rate of the call-to-action and
the views on the other content that you post which can be attributed to have
come from the viewing of an ad. All these actions will help the advertiser
understand the effectiveness of their ad campaign and accordingly work on
their marketing strategies.
Pre-Roll Ads
There are some in-stream ads that the viewer cannot skip, and they tend to
play before, during or after the main video ends. These ads are known as
Pre-roll ads and they can be anywhere between 15 to 20 seconds long.
Some of these ads can also appear midway through a video if it is longer
than ten minutes.
A Pre-roll ad gives you as much freedom as a TrueView ad does. You can
include dialogue, some audio, people or any other element that you think
will best represent your business within the 15-20 seconds that are allotted
to you. Since these ads are non-skippable, it is best to include a call-to-
action in these videos so that you can optimize the attention of the viewers
that you have. In other words, these ads encourage the viewer to click on
your ad. If you are looking for signups for a major event like a product
launch, then it is a good idea to use Pre-roll ads to market the event. You
need to keep one thing in mind when you decide to use Pre-roll ads and it is
that YouTube sells this Pre-roll video space on a PPC (pay per click) basis,
so you need to make every click count.
Bumpers
The third and the shortest type of ads on YouTube are the bumpers. These
ads last for only six seconds and they play before a video that the viewer
wants to watch. It can be quite difficult to tell a complete story in six
seconds, but they certainly make a good add-on for a larger video
campaign. You need to make every second count, even more than the
previous ads because these ads only last for six seconds. Since it is such a
short ad, viewers don’t usually skip it.
Set up and Launch a Video Advertising Campaign
Once you create a video that you advertise on YouTube, the next step is to
devise a video ad campaign. Here are the steps that you need to follow to
set up your advertising campaign.
The first thing that you need to do is go to Google AdWords and you need
to set up your campaign.
You need to select the campaign type from the drop-down menu that is
present on the right side of the red colored “+Campaign” option on the
Google AdWords homepage and then you need to select the video option
from the menu.
The next step is to enter your campaign’s name and ensure that you have
selected the Video option from the “Type” drop-down menu.
Once you enter the campaign name, you need to select the ad format for the
video you want to run on YouTube. Select the option “Video discovery ads
or In-stream ad” according to your preference.
Now, you need to set up your budget per day. You need to select a method
of delivery - standard or accelerated delivery. Standard delivery displays the
ads evenly throughout the day and accelerated delivery will drive the views
as quickly as it possibly can. If you want to capitalize on a current trend or
any other item that you think is relevant to your brand’s video that you
created, then you can capitalize on it with the help of accelerated delivery.
You need to decide the networks on which you want the ads to appear.
There are two options and they are YouTube search and the YouTube
videos. If you opt for YouTube search, then your video ad will appear in the
searches as well as on the homepage of YouTube, video pages as well as
channel pages. If you opt for YouTube videos, then the TrueView ads will
appear in the in-stream ads. If you opt for this option, then your video ad
will appear before or around the videos that are shown across the GDN.
You must always create different campaigns for YouTube Search and
YouTube Videos because it will increase the efficiency of tracking the
performance metrics. It is a good idea to monitor the performance of these
ads separately because each of these ads will be served to people carrying
out various activities and need a different quantity of commitment from the
viewer.
You also need to define the location of the users to whom you want the ad
to be displayed to. You can specify the locations for which you want the ad
to be shown to.
Apart from all this, AdWords also allows you to specify the language, the
operating system, the device and the various carriers as well. It is useful for
ads shown on mobile apps and you can increase or decrease the bid based
on whether the app is being shown to the viewer on the mobile device or
not.
The advanced settings section has various other parameters that you can use
to increase the ROI on the ad. For instance, you can create a customized
schedule for when you want the ads to be shown, the start and end dates of
the campaign and also limit the daily impressions for users.
You need to create the video ad creative now. You need to create a name for
your ad group and then insert the YouTube link for the videos on which you
want to run the ads. You can then choose if you want the ad to run as an in-
display or an in-stream ad. If it is an in-display ad, then you need to include
a title as well as a short description (in two separate lines). The title is
restricted to 25 characters and the description is limited to 35 characters in
each line. If you opt for an in-stream ad, then you need to provide the
option of the URL being displayed overlapping the video. You can use a
vanity URL that will direct the viewer to the final URL to make the ad more
memorable. You can also include an advanced URL tracking option for an
in-stream ad.
Once you do all this, you need to select the maximum price that you are
willing to pay per view and you can adjust this to increase the projected
views that the video might receive.
After you do all this, you need to define your target audience. The ad that
you create will be suitable only for a certain set of viewers and not
everyone. You need to be careful when you select this because your ad
campaign will be of no use if your ads don’t reach your target audience.
You can define your ideal audience according to their age, gender, and
parental status. Apart from this, you can target them according to their
interests like fashion enthusiasts, horror movie buffs and such. It is a better
idea to run different campaigns to target different sets of users to discover
the maximum engagement rate instead of trying to include everyone in one
campaign. There are a couple of advanced targeting options to choose from
as well. You can target the viewers according to keywords, topics or the
websites on which you want the ad to appear. If you combine keyword
targeting with in-display ads, then it can become a powerful tool to find all
those individuals who want a visual answer to a question. Ensure that you
do plenty of research and test the different groups of keywords that you can
use to increase your views, clicks as well as conversions. You can remarket
the ad to all those people who are already in contact with your brand by
using AdWords video ads. It increased the chances of re-engagement with
those who are familiar with your brand or business.
Don’t forget to link your YouTube channel where you host the video with
your AdWords account. Now, all that you need to do is click on “Finish”
and start to run your ad campaign.
Chapter Five: Optimize AdWords
If you are launching a visual campaign, then there are a couple of things
that you need to keep in mind if you want to get the best out of your budget.
Determine Your Metrics and Goals
If you want to run a successful ad campaign on YouTube, you need to

measure certain metrics to determine whether the campaign is successful or
not. Not just that, you also need to understand the various metrics involved
to gauge your audience’s reaction and the performance of the videos. There
are four main categories of metrics that you can track for every video.
These metrics are located under the “column” drop-down menu in your
campaign interface page. The four metrics are views, audience, branding,
and conversions.
The metric “views” will help you determine the percentage of viewers who
viewed the ad and how the ad increased the views. If you want to track all
the likes and shares your video received, then you need to use the
“audience” option from the list of metrics. The view rate is a means to
understand whether the creatives used, and the message conveyed, was
interesting or not for the viewers. If you can increase your VTR (View-
Through Rate), you can reduce your cost per view. The final metric you can
use is conversions. It helps you understand if the ad you are running is
driving the leads and yielding a high ROI for the business. According to the
goals of your brand and your advertising campaign, you need to select a
couple of goals according to these metrics. Once you formalize a plan, you
need to optimize it and use different targeting techniques to improve results.
The kind of content that you use in your videos will depend on your goals.
Low Performing Placements
If you opt for an in-display ad that will appear on the GDN, you can review
where the ad appeared by doing the following from your Google AdWords
Campaign dashboard.
Video targeting Placements Where ads are shown Display
network.
You can review this list to check the sites that are showing poor
performance of your chosen metrics. Once you go through this list, then
you can exclude certain platforms from your ad campaign to include the
cost-effectiveness.
Customized Thumbnail Image
You need to either design or use a high-quality image from the video to
make the viewer click on the video. The image needs to be visible clearly to
the user on different devices including mobile ones. If the image contains a
person, make sure that the person is directly looking into the camera. If you
decide to use an image featuring a product, then the background of the
image must not be distracting.
Buy with Cards
A YouTube card has a small “i” symbol on it and the viewer can click on
the symbol to expand. You have the option of timing the appearance of this
symbol so that only those viewers who are viewing the video or the content
will receive a notification. With cards, you can drive purchases by featuring
a product that is related to or that is featured in the video. You can also use
these cards for any fundraising activities, to drive traffic to a specific URL.
Call-to-Action
Whenever you are promoting a video on YouTube, you need to include a

CAT that overlays the link to a URL. You can use the link to a landing page,
information page, career page, a product page or anything else that you like.
You can also use a link to direct the viewers to a page featuring a favorable
review or a testimony featuring your brand.
YouTube End Slate
You can create an end screen to increase the traffic to your channel,
promote your brand on other social networks or even increase their interest
in your brand. If someone views a video until the end, then you can take it
as a sign of their interest and that they liked your content. For instance, The
Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon uses end slates or end screens to drive
their subscribers and followers to the links of interesting topics that the host
featured on the show.
Negative Remarketing
If you want to run a campaign for a long period, then your aim is to not
only attract new users, but you also need to consider all those people who
haven’t seen your ad yet. When you view the AdWords Campaign screen,
you need to select on the “Shared Library” option present towards the lower
left sidebar on the screen. Then select the option “Video Remarketing” and
“+Remarketing List.” When you do this, you have the option of showing
your ad to all those users who haven’t previously watched the video or have
not visited your YouTube channel yet.
Captioning
Closed captioning can be used to cater to the needs of the viewer. You can
use this tip for all videos that you upload on YouTube. It is a general
practice that a lot of brands follow. Google indexes only user-uploaded
transcriptions because the automatic captioning feature of YouTube is not
entirely reliable. According to your target audience, you need to include
transcriptions in other languages as well. You can give the viewer the option
of downloading or visiting a page with the complete transcript in your
video’s description.
Qualify Users
At times, people who are not interested in your product or your brand can
view your ad. You need to encourage such viewers to skip the ad if it is not
relevant to them. When you do this, you don’t have to pay for their view
and the viewer doesn’t have to waste their time watching something that
isn’t relevant to him or her.
A Longer Ad
If a TrueView ad is less than 30 seconds, then you don’t have to pay for it
unless the viewer watched it until the end. If the ad lasts for more than 30
seconds and the viewer watches it for at least 30 seconds, then you need to
pay for that view. In both these situations, you need to pay only if the
viewer interacts with the ad before it ends. You need to consider this aspect
of the ad while you design the ad. You might want to add some messaging
at a specific point so that an uninterested viewer can skip the ad, or you can
include a special offer towards the end of the video.
Best Practices for YouTube Videos
Over the last couple of years, a lot of production companies have been
launching big-budget productions on YouTube. A lot of companies have
been doling out millions of dollars to create original content. A lot of these
businesses opted to take a rather traditional route of approaching the videos
like they would for television. Huge budgets, great videography, brilliant
editing and even some mid-list "stars" have been the major characteristics
of these productions. A couple of them were successful, but a lot of them
failed. Well, their failure was because of their inability to understand the
opportunities that this platform offers and instead they were keen on
making content for TV instead of YouTube.
In theatre, there is a popular concept and it is known as a "fourth wall." The
fourth wall is the invisible fourth wall that exists in front of a regular three-
walled box set. The fourth wall is how the audience will see the play.
Whenever an actor acknowledges the presence of the audience, it is known
as breaking the fourth wall. This concept might be frequently used in
theatre, but it applies to the world of films and television too. In YouTube,
the fourth wall is almost always broken. Most of the famous YouTube
personalities make it a point to talk directly to their audience and this is one
of the reasons why they connect well with their audience. Everyone likes it
when their presence is acknowledged, and the famous YouTubers seem to
have understood this concept. Some of the most popular hits have come
from Pemberley Digital who managed to build an entire company based on
the concept of breaking the fourth wall. They have managed to produce
several successful stories where the characters are essentially talking into a
webcam.
When you watch videos on YouTube, there is always a sense that a person
created the video or at least liked a specific video enough to upload it. Your
viewers want to feel a sense of connection with you and build a
relationship. This is something that you need to embrace and don’t obscure
it with a lot of editing and flashy graphics that will no longer look hip or
cool the following year. There is no formula to create the perfect video for
YouTube. The format of the video, its length or the content that you can use
depends on one niche to another. There is no single formula that you can
use for all videos. The only thing that you can do is get started and pay
attention to the analytics and make the necessary changes to your strategy.
What might have worked for one person might not necessarily work for
you. All this being said, there are a couple of simple suggestions that you
can keep in mind to create a good video.
Format of the Video
Opening
You need to include a quick intro that will tell the viewer what the video is
all about. If it is a video about food, then make sure that you include a shot
of the finished dish within the first ten seconds. Ideally, it is a good idea to
end it with a joke or start with some good intro music.
Title or Introduction
The introductory sequence must last for seven seconds or less than that. You
can include some music and the title of the video. It helps to evoke the
overall feel of the video.
Content
Time is the essence of everything else that was leading up to this point.
Now, you can slow down a little and get to the video’s primary content. The
subject matter will determine the pace of the video. You can use annotations
or call-to-action towards the end of the video and ask the viewer to perform
a specific action like subscribing to the channel or you can recommend
other videos that might interest them. It is better if you recommend them
other videos you produced so that they can directly jump to it instead of
searching for it.
End Card
You can use the end card to continue the branding that you established
during the intro or the title sequence and include a call-to-action. If a viewer
has made it this far into the video, either they are already invested in your
channel or at least very interested. It is a great opportunity to give them
something to do next. You can direct them to another of your videos or even
your website. Once you upload a couple of videos, you can then go to the
Video Retention in Analytics and check your performance.
Try to see if you can understand the reason why people are bailing on your
video. If people are exiting the video at the very beginning, then perhaps
you need to go to the first step and start all over again. If you notice a big
drop-off right in the middle of the video, then perhaps you need to check
the content you are using.
Secret Strategies to Get More Views
One question that every marketer thinks about is “how I can get more
views?” Well, I am sure even you will have thought the same, especially if
you are just getting started. It isn’t an easy process, but for some, a massive
online audience can change their life overnight! Becoming a YouTube
marketer is not an easy job, and it can be tough to stand out from the rest. In
this chapter, you will learn about different hacks that you can use to gain
more views on YouTube. There are three major steps, and these are building
your brand, making brilliant videos, and promoting your channel. Read on
to learn in detail about these steps.
Step #1 Build Your Brand
Choose Your Identity
If you want to increase your views, then you need to get the viewers to
subscribe, and then come back for more. If you want the YouTube users to
subscribe to your channel, then they will want to know what they are
getting themselves into. There are numerous YouTube channels available,
so it is important that you create an identity for your brand. You can choose
any topic that you want to. Your channel can be about beauty, lifestyle,
gaming, sports, food, or anything else that you can think of as long as it is
in sync with your brand. Your brand identity and your YouTube channel
need to be complementary to one another. Regardless of the topic you
choose, you must make it quite clear to your subscribers so that they can
stick around for more. If you are looking for a little inspiration, then you
can check YouTube channels for popular brands. Or if you have found a
niche, then check the popular channel in that niche.
Create Videos that You would Want to Watch
It doesn’t make any sense to create videos that will not attract any viewers.
The first step to creating a video is to ensure that you, as a marketer, will
also want to watch it. Your aim is to create videos that will subtly attract
users to click on them when they show up in the results section. If that’s the
case, then you need to shoot and upload all your videos in HD format. You
need to ensure that the videos are shot in an environment with perfect
lighting. You don’t need to record hours of videos to pass on your message
to your viewers. In fact, people tend to prefer short videos to extremely long
ones. If you want to promote your brand or business on YouTube, you will
need a niche. In fact, it will be better if you are passionate about that niche.
Select a niche that you are passionate about. You need to enjoy the videos
that you make and if you don’t, you cannot expect anyone else to like them.
You can make a list of ideas about the kind of videos that you would like to
watch or the kind of videos that you want to use.
Video Thumbnails
To be honest, most of us tend to click on those YouTube videos that seem to

be descriptive of what we are looking for. We mostly judge this by looking
at the thumbnail. Therefore, you need to make sure that you have one that is
highly captivating to maximize clicks to your channel. Popular YouTubers
use thumbnails that are eye-catching and can retain the viewer’s attention.
The video thumbnail is the first thing that a viewer will see, so you must
make it attractive. Don’t use images that are boring or grainy, especially
when you are competing for views. Spend some extra time and make the
thumbnails visually attractive. A popular tool that you can use is Snappa for
images. The good news is that this app offers a free trial! So, check a couple
of similar apps and select one that works well for you. Once you find a tool
that suits all your needs, the next step is to use it to create the perfect
thumbnail. Here are a couple of points that you must keep in mind when
you create thumbnails for your YouTube videos.
You can use a close-up image of your business logo. If you use any human
faces in it, then make sure that they maintain some eye contact. The next tip
is that the thumbnail needs to convey some strong emotion to the viewer. It
helps set tone for the videos that you upload, and your audience will know
what the channel is all about. The next tip might sound obvious, but you
need to use a bright background. A bright background is always eye-
catching, especially when there are millions of other thumbnails next to
yours. A bright screen can grab the viewer’s attention and it sets you apart
from the rest. The final tip is to ensure that your thumbnails have a
consistent design. When you try to develop your brand or channel on
YouTube, it does help to maintain some consistency.
YouTube has a provision that enables the user to generate a preview of the
image when you upload a video. If you aren’t sure of the specifications for
a thumbnail, then don’t worry. Here is a list of specifications you must keep
in mind. The required resolution of the image must be 1280x720 and the
minimum width of pixels is 640. The image you upload must be .JPG, .GIF,
.BMP, or .PNG format. Make sure that the image size doesn’t exceed 2mb.
Use a 16:9 aspect ratio since that’s the most widely used one in YouTube
players.
TubeBuddy
A YouTube viewer will subscribe to your channel only if it is active and

posts new videos regularly. If you tend to be sparing with your posts and
updates, then you are giving your viewers a valid reason to not subscribe to
your channel. If you want to stay active, then a couple of tools will help you
to save some time. The first tool that you must check is TubeBuddy. If you
want to be discovered easily on the YouTube search results, then this is a
good tool to use. If you don’t post regularly, then you will lose your
viewership.
Use Good Art
It is not just about getting views, but also about growing your subscriber
base if you want your channel to grow. Therefore, it is quintessential that
you use attractive images. The images need to appeal to the viewer so that
they immediately hit on “Subscribe.” There are a couple of different tools
that you can use to gather amazing images which you can format and resize
according to your needs.
Channel Page
If you have a Facebook account, then you will know the importance of your
FB. Similarly, your channel page on YouTube is the home base for anyone
who is looking at your work. You need to make sure that the thumbnails
you use, your logo, and the banner are eye-catching. You can use the
previous tips to achieve this objective. It isn’t just about the images, but you
also need to remember that there are those who will read your channel
description too. If you are a storyteller, then now is the time to put your
storytelling skills to good use. You need to let your brand’s personality
shine through and capture the viewer’s interest. You can explain the various
benefits your channel offers to the viewers and you can also use a call-to-
action to make them subscribe now that you have their attention. You can
also use playlists to organize your content. It will help subscribers find the
content that they are looking for easily and it will not waste their time. If
you create a playlist, it will automatically play the next video of yours. If
you have a couple of videos, then the viewer can watch them in one go.
A playlist enables the viewer to watch more of your content in a single
sitting. Whenever you create a playlist, a video starts to play automatically
as soon as the current one ends. If you don’t have a playlist, then the viewer
needs to deliberately click on another video for it to play. You need to create
a custom list on your channel page. You can even compile a playlist using
other creators in the relevant niche. Playlists also improve the ranking in
search engines and target your keywords rather easily.
Contact Information
If you want to build your subscriber base, then you need to put yourself out
there. When you post some contact information, you seem like a real person
instead of an automated website or worse, a bot! It will give accessibility to
your page. You never know when an opportunity might come knocking on
your door. A fellow YouTuber, a potential client or even a fan might want to
connect with you. If you don’t offer any contact information on YouTube,
then they will not be able to contact you. You don’t want to miss out on an
opportunity for collaborations or lose a potential customer, do you? You
need to make it easy for your customers and potential customers to find
you. A simple way in which you can ensure this is by providing your
contact information.
Here are a couple of tips that you can keep in mind to create a compelling
profile for your YouTube channel.
Make sure that you keep the information consistent. You can customize
your YouTube profile page; however, make sure that the elements of your
brand like the color, background, icons, logo, and layout are consistent with
your profile on other social media channels and website. You must optimize
your YouTube channel description. The channel title along with the video
titles must not only be descriptive but must be optimized for search engines
as well. You can conduct a keyword search to improve the chances of your
rankings. The description section is where you have a chance to sell
yourself. The description you provide must answer certain vital questions.
Like what is the problem that your channel targets? What is the need that
you fulfill? Will you teach, entertain, or show the audience something that
they haven’t seen before? You must also publish your schedule in this
space. Include details about how often and when you plan to publish your
new videos. Let the viewers know these details so that they will know when
they should come back! Don’t just post your schedule; make sure that you
stick to it as well. Don’t forget to include some contact links. It is good that
people view your videos, but what can they do if they wish to contact you,
send feedback, or ask questions? You can always post a link to your website
or other social media profiles. Apart from this, include a contact email
address as well.
Recurring Segment
What is the one thing that Jimmy Kimmel’s channel, Tonight Show, and
Bill Nye The Science Guy share in common? Yes, you guessed it right -
they all have recurring segments. You need to have a recurring segment in
your channel or videos. For instance, Jimmy Kimmel has the Mean Tweet
segment where the celebrities read out mean yet mostly hilarious tweets that
others post about them. The audience likes a reliable structure that they are
familiar with. If you can provide them something that they can always
count on, then you can engage them easily. Think about the number of
clicks he gets whenever he posts a video on “Mean Tweets.” If you want
more views, then you think of a couple of structured segments that you can
perfect. Engage your audience and keep them waiting for more.
Channel Logo
Your channel logo isn’t a huge banner, but it is quite important. It says a lot
about the person who manages the channel. Never underestimate the power
of first impressions. If you have a great channel logo, it shows all the effort
and hard work that you put into your videos and all your other work. Before
you start to create any images for your logo or banners, make sure that it is
the right size.
Content Calendar
A calendar is a great way to stay on top of your work and to stay on

schedule. There is a lot of competition on YouTube and your subscribers, as
well as viewers, must know that they can count on your channel for
consistent content. There are two major decisions that you must make. The
first decision is about the number of videos you can produce during a week.
The second decision relates to the time frame within which you will want to
publish them. Once you are aware of your answers to these two questions,
you must be able to run your YouTube channel smoothly and your
subscribers will come to you like clockwork. Try to “publish” your video at
the same time or on the same day every week. Show some consistency in
your work and it will help. It is great to be ambitious with your work;
however, don’t try to overcommit. If you promise your subscribers that you
will release videos daily, and don’t follow through. It is quite likely that
they will unsubscribe from your page. If you promise them daily videos,
don’t expect them to stick around when you post just one video every week.
Good Titles
Images aren’t the only thing that will grab the attention of a viewer. In fact,
the title of the videos also defines the first impression your viewer will get.
The title must be such that it convinces the viewer to watch the video. Make
sure that you use plenty of intriguing and exciting terms like
“unbelievable,” “important,” “hilarious,” “amazing” or the like in the title.
Another aspect that you must think about is driving urgency. If you can
suggest that watching the video will have an immediate benefit, it will grab
the viewer’s attention. For instance, “How to dress better” or “How to start
dressing better today” - which of these sounds better to you?
The first thing that a person sees when he or she finds the video is not the
thumbnail, but it is the title. The title must be informative and eye-catching.
You must keep the title simple and stick to less than 50 characters. Not just
that, you must do keyword research with tools like Google Adwords and
Keyword Planner to check for one or two relevant keywords that you can
use. You can also tell the potential viewer why they must watch the video.
A blog has a headline that informs the reader what the post is about.
Similarly, a video must have a good title.
Brief Titles
Remember that the titles must be brief. It doesn’t have to be a synopsis of

the video you posted. At the same time, it must easily convey what the
video is about to the viewer. Keep the title short and leave them wanting
more. Try to limit your video title to less than 50 characters!
Cross-Promote
Your aim must be to successfully turn one view into multiple views.
Whenever someone watches a video on your channel, you can try to cross-
promote your videos. There are a couple of different ways in which you can
do this. You can mention a “suggested” video in the video towards the end.
You can also include a call-to-action button when the video ends. Or you
can even include a couple of links to other similar videos in the video
description you provide. You must promote your channel on other social
media and networking websites. There are various social networking
platforms these days and these platforms are the best way to reach your
potential viewers. If you have a profile on Twitter, Instagram, or anything of
the like, then you can drop a link to a video on these sites. If not, you can
simply post the link to your YouTube channel. Whenever you upload a new
video, you can inform your followers of the same on social media sites.
Tags Matter
A simple aspect that a lot of YouTubers tend to forget about is tags. You
might create a brilliant video that can garner many views, but you forget to
tag it. When you don’t tag a video, it will not come up as a relevant video in
any of the searches on YouTube. Tags help to direct your videos to the right
audience. Tags inform the search algorithm in YouTube whenever someone
searches for a video or content that relates to your video. It will also give
the viewers an idea about what your videos and channel are all about. Tags
help to improve the visibility of your video and your channel. A tool like
TubeBuddy can help to simplify this process.
End Screen Options
There are various features that are built-in to YouTube that help to lend an
interactive tone to your video. Not just that, they can even provide multiple
calls-to-action at the end of the video. You must fully utilize the End Screen
in all your videos.
Keywords and SEO
When it comes to titles, you must think about the specific words that you
use. These words can have a huge impact on whether a new viewer can find
you or not. YouTube is the second largest search engine on the World Wide
Web. There are people everywhere who use the search box to find a channel
or a video that meets their criteria. How do you use Google Search? You
type in a couple of keywords or phrases and Google directs you to all the
pages on the Internet that suit your needs. The YouTube search engine also
works similarly. No one can subscribe to your channel if they cannot find
you! And that’s where keywords fit in. Learn to use keywords and SEO to
improve your visibility.
Google Trends
Google Trends will help you to see what interests and doesn’t interest
people or viewers over a period of time. Do you know why it matters to use
Google Trends? If you want to garner more views, then you must post
videos about things that people want to see. After all, your idea is to cater to
a large audience. Did you know that funny cat videos are comparatively
more popular than funny dog videos? Well, the searches for both these tags
increased phenomenally during 2014; however, do you know how I know
this? Google Trends told me so! Take a moment and think about it, what do
you think will get more views? A video about celebrity gossip or a video
about the review of season 2 of The Addams Family?
Multi-Part Episodes
Nothing sells better than a little suspense. If you think about it, all the series
you’ve ever watched end their season with a cliffhanger. A cliffhanger
makes the audience curious about what’s in store and piques their curiosity.
Their curiosity ensures that they come back for more. For instance, Game
Of Thrones fans are willing to wait for two years to watch the final season.
That is some curiosity that the makers have managed to create. Likewise,
you must work on making your viewers curious. It is good to post a few
standalone pieces; however, if all the videos that you post are standalone
pieces without the mention of any follow-up, then you reduce the incentive
that a viewer might feel to subscribe to your channel. Create some suspense
and make a couple of your videos as multi-part episodes.
Audience
If you want to increase the number of subscribers you have, then you need
to do a little more than just create videos that they will think of as fun. You
must pay close attention to the different trends in the niche you chose. For
instance, if you want to talk about TV shows, then ensure that the shows
that you decide to talk about are popular shows. The content you create
must appeal to your audience.
Ask for Subscription

It is okay to ask your viewers to subscribe. Don’t be afraid to ask them what
you need them to do. Plenty of YouTubers tend to miss out on their
audience by forgetting to ask the viewers to subscribe to their video if they
found it enjoyable. It is good that you want to include a call-to-action in
your video; however, you must make sure that the call-to-action is quick
and simple. You shouldn’t bore your audience. You might want the viewer
to click on subscribe, visit your Instagram page, check the website, or
something else along these lines. Make sure that you select one or at the
most two of these options and not more than that. If you provide your
audience with a checklist of things that you want them to do, it will merely
overwhelm them. Not just overwhelm, but it will also discourage them from
taking any action whatsoever. Include it only at the end of the video.
Channel Trailers
A channel trailer is like a brief introduction to what your channel is all

about and why people must subscribe to your channel. Just like a movie
trailer, it must be a fast-paced clip that shows what the film has to offer and
manages to get the audience excited for more. Similarly, your channel
trailer can help you to retain and gain more subscribers.
Useful Information
Every video must include a video description. There are two reasons why it
is important to have a video description. When the title and the thumbnail
manage to grab the attention of the viewer. Once you get their attention,
they will check the description. If you don’t give the viewer a good reason
to stick around, then they won’t bother with the next video. The second
reason is that YouTube cannot listen to every word in your video, so the
search engine relies on the description. If you include a good description,
then it can easily show up in the search results and help you gather potential
subscribers.
Channel Watermark
You can create a custom-made watermark as a personalized backdrop on the
video. It is a subtle cue that the viewer must subscribe to your channel. It is
embedded in the video and will show up in the video content.
Attend Events
There are local as well as international events that you should attend. These
YouTube-related events provide you with plenty of opportunities. Make
sure that you use these events to network with other YouTubers, meet your
fans, and even network with other content creators.
Popular Videos
If you want to generate more views on YouTube, then you must certainly
check the videos that seem quite popular. Check the trends that worked in
the past and still work. Successful and popular videos can provide you with
inspiration. You can perhaps build videos of a similar nature. If you create
something that people seem to be interested in, then you can increase the
chances of gaining more views.
Ads can be Problematic
Ads help to earn money on YouTube. Not just that, they can help to fund
good content, but you shouldn’t go overboard with ads. There are different
options regarding the kind of ads that you want to permit on your videos. It
might seem lucrative and tempting to increase your earnings, but you must
keep your viewers in mind as well. You won’t get many subscribers if you
flood your videos with ads. No one likes to watch too many ads. If viewers
feel that you are merely in it for money, then you will lose your viewers
quite easily.
Transparency
If you do want to earn money with your videos, then make sure that you are
being honest about it. For instance, if you are doing a paid review for a
product, then make sure that you mention it in the video. It doesn’t mean
that you cannot give your genuine opinion, but be clear that it is a paid
review. It doesn’t just end with money issues, and there is so much more to
transparency than just that. You can gain your viewer’s trust by telling them
about what goes on behind the scenes or by sharing bloopers with them.
Don’t try to outsmart your audience and be honest with them. Your idea is
to make them come back for more and not drive them away.
Step #2 Make Splendid Videos
Camera
If you want to produce a show, then you will need some equipment. It is
quite easy to get hung up on this point and spend a lot of time on different
forums to do research. There are different types of cameras right now and
with all the technological advancements, you will merely be wasting your
time if you try to research on the best camera to use. It is quite likely that by
the time you purchase the “best” camera at present, by the time it arrives,
there will be a better model on the market. You need to find something that
will work well for you and will be ideal for the kind of work you plan to do.
The kind of camera you need will depend on the content that you want to
produce. Also, if you don’t have any kind of video budget in mind, then the
gear you have will dictate the content that you can create. For instance, if
you have an iPhone, you can always invest in a couple of inexpensive
accessories and apps that will help you shoot high-quality footage. When it
comes to equipment, here is a list of the bare essentials you will need to
shoot high-quality footage.
Canon released 5D MKII and it revolutionized the way media can be
captured by blurring the lines between video and still cameras. Some of the
highest quality video these days is the result of DSLR cameras. It isn’t just
the quality of the image that matters, but the quality of the audio matters
too. You need to be able to plug in a microphone to your camera if you plan
on shooting videos that include audio. You can always sync the sound from
an external recorder later, but that simply increases the time spent in post-
production. Usually, it is simpler to have an audio input jack.
At present, the most popular camera amongst the YouTube community is
the Canon Rebel series – T3i, T4i and T5i. The T3i model is quite useful
with its flip-out monitor, audio input jack and its image sensors. There are a
couple of things you need to consider when you decide to invest in a
camera. If you are always on the move, then you obviously need a camera
that you can carry with you and you don’t need anything bulky. For
instance, GoPro is the best-suited camera for quickly capturing a wide-
angle shot. You can use the Canon XA10 that provides a microphone input
and autofocus. At the end of the day, the camera that you opt for depends on
the kind of videos you want to shoot.
Jump Cuts
It is difficult to retain the viewer’s attention and that’s the hard truth. It is
especially more difficult when all you do is just talk to the camera. A
couple of jump cuts can make it feel like you have moved ahead in time. A
jump cut is a simple edit that helps to keep up the pace of the video.
Plan the Script
Jump cuts are quite helpful, but even the best editing will not be of any use
to remove all the “umms” and “you knows” from the videos. When you just
wing it, you tend to falter at times and the idea is to avoid this. No one will
want to watch a video of a person who delivers poorly. If you want the
subscribers to stay, then you must know what you are talking about. You
need to have a proper script, even if it relates to something that you do
daily. If the idea of a full-fledged script doesn’t appeal to you, make a
couple of simple pointers that you can use as a guide. Just winging it is not
a good idea even though it lends some authenticity to the video. Never
underestimate the power of planning and preparation. If you want to come
across as a professional, then you must practice a little to make the viewers
feel that it is worth their while.
Lighting Matters
Good lighting isn’t just important for movies. Even YouTube videos need to
be well lit. If you want the viewers to subscribe to your channel, then you
need the lighting to be of good quality. A major difference between the
work on an amateur video on YouTube and that of a pro is good lighting.
You don’t have to spend much time or money to acquire a good lighting kit
for yourself. A simple thing that you must keep in mind while filming is to
stay away from any areas that are exposed to natural light. You must stay
away from natural light because you cannot control it and it tends to change
continuously. The lighting in your video must be constant. It costs less than
$200 to buy a good lighting kit. Think of it as an investment for your future
prospects and it certainly does make a big difference.
Captions
If you don’t want to lock out people who have hearing problems, you can
use captions in your YouTube videos (captions are simply YouTube’s
subtitles). These captions also come in handy for those who want to watch
videos without turning on their volume. Additionally, the content is also
searchable on YouTube’s search, which in turn means you will find it easier
to rank. To add captions, click edit a video then choose the captions tab.
Replay Value
What do you think is better than getting a single view? Obviously getting
two, three, or four views is better! There are certain videos that are helpful
and can be viewed multiple times. For instance, a guide or a demo on how
to use something complex, to build a website or things like this can
generate multiple views. You can even share a video of a daily ritual that
you can do along with your viewers like yoga or meditation.
Videos must be Brief
Most of us tend to be quite impatient and don’t really have the patience to
sit through a 30-minute long video. Even if the video you make is a
masterpiece, no one will have the patience to watch a really long video.
Instead, you can produce short and impactful videos. The ideal length of a
video is 3 minutes. Try to stick to three minutes and if you want it to be
slightly longer, go up to 5 minutes but not more than that. Adhere to this
time limit, especially when you just start your channel. Optimize your video
and don’t make it too lengthy. You might lose your audience’s attention. If
that happens, they might even unsubscribe.
Editing Software
Regardless of the camera you use, you must spend some time to edit your
videos. It is impossible to record a perfect video that doesn’t need any edits.
Even moviemakers spend a lot of time and resources on editing. Good
editing can elevate a video from decent and passable to great! There are
different editing applications to choose from these days and a couple of
them are free as well. Go through the different editing software options
available and select one that appeals to you. You can even try a few out
before you decide to buy one.
Good Music
Music is a great tool for all marketers. It can set the tone of the video and
even engage new viewers easily. Make sure that you don’t use any
copyright materials! You don’t want to get stuck in any issues about
legality, do you? You can check different channels that offer free music like
NoCopyrightSounds.
Use a Tease
The longer a person views your video, the more likely it is that they will
want to subscribe to your channel as well. You can entice your viewers to
stay if you tell them what is coming up later on in the video. Provide them a
snippet that will grab their attention. If you do this, you will notice an
improvement in your view time!
Good Audio
You can make a brilliant video with great content and good lighting, but it
won’t make any sense if the audio isn’t good. To ensure that the audio
quality is good, you need a good microphone. A good microphone is as
important as a good camera for your videos. If you want to vlog from
different locations and are on the move, you can even invest in a shotgun
microphone. If you want to speak in most of your videos, then you need a
good microphone. The audio must be clear and there shouldn’t be any other
ambient noises dominating the video.
Creator Academy
If you want to learn about the fundamentals of making a good video, then
you must check the YouTube creator academy. The best aspect of the
creator academy is that it is absolutely free! So, take some time out of your
schedule and do check it out.
Step #3 Promote Your Channel
Optimize the Content
Have you ever tried to Google a particular entity? If yes, then you must be
aware of how Google shows you results, yes? Say if you typed in the search
bar ‘’Tiger,’’ it will show you all possible results related, remotely or
otherwise, to the animal tiger; however, if there has recently been a warship
named ‘Tiger,' and it has caused ripples in the social media world, then this
piece of news is going to appear before any other. Have you ever thought as
to why the results are arranged in the way they are arranged? The answer is
Search Engine Optimization.
The idea is very simple. When you write about your products or services,
you have to be as simple as a worker bee. You cannot afford to clutter your
blogs with content that has very little to do with what the core of your
business is or is supposed to be. Be precise while talking about your
product. If you have an associated website to your online business, make
sure its content does not beat around the bush and does not contain matter
that is irrelevant to the fundamental principles of your business. Search
Engine Optimization is a great way to regulate which search entries appear
first and which ones appear last when an innocent consumer decides to find
out about your merits on the Internet.
SEO or search engine optimization is very important for your YouTube
profile, channel, as well as all your videos. It helps to make sure that your
content is easily discoverable on various search engine rankings. The
algorithm of YouTube is created such that it takes multiple factors into
account when it searches for videos. You must include as much information
as you can, without overwhelming the viewer. Know the keywords you
want to use and use them in the video title, name of the file, description,
tags, annotations, and even in the relevant fields in your YouTube profile. If
you aren’t sure what keywords you will want to rank, then try to reverse
engineer the process of search. If someone were to watch your YouTube
videos, what will be the phrases or words that they can use on Google to
find those videos?
Once you know the keyword you want to use, you must include it in the
video title, the Meta description, and in the image file too. The video
description can include different keywords you want to use. Now, you can
link the video to your other profiles on various platforms. Always
encourage viewers to subscribe to your channel so that they will be
immediately notified whenever a new video is uploaded. Lastly, you must
create a playlist of keywords and it will provide YouTube’s search engine
with more information about the video and topics it is based on.
Your Own Website
If you want to achieve success online, then you shouldn’t depend on just
one medium. If you solely depend on your YouTube channel, there are a
couple of challenges that you will run into. If you want to promote your
channel and earn from YouTube, then you must think about creating a
website as well. Most of the successful YouTubers tend to have a
corresponding website that compliments their channel. If you want to build
a stronger relationship with your viewers and promote yourself, you need a
website. Post the link to your website in the channel information you
provide. Provide a clickable link and you can also direct your viewers to the
website
Comment
Most viewers tend to scroll through the comments on a video to know what
others think about a video. Make sure that you comment on similar videos.
You can easily find similar videos in your niche and you can leave some
insightful comments that will make the viewers want to check your channel
as well; however, don’t spam your video link everywhere. Be selective
about your comments and only add the link in a relevant conversation.
Relevant Communities
There are different communities on the Internet where people discuss a

wide range of topics. You can find a forum or a community that is relevant
to your line of work or something that interests you. You can identify such
forums and you can even mention them in your videos or on your channel
and provide a link to them. A simple Google search can help you to find
these communities. Reddit is a good example of one such platform. Again,
keep in mind that you shouldn’t spam other users. Be an active member of
the community and share credible information. You don’t want to get
banned, do you? If you have a video about cooking or makeup, then make
sure that the other forum members are involved in a discussion about just
that. You shouldn’t post the link to a makeup tutorial on a forum that
discusses international politics!
Podcast
A popular medium that goes quite well with YouTube is a podcast. You can
create a podcast for your subscribers and to attract new viewers as well. If
the vlogs you create are related to dialogues and conversation, then keep it
simple and convert the video into an audio file and use it for your podcast.
You can publish the podcast on appropriate channels.
Promo Services
Most of the ideas that are discussed in this section are free; however, there
are a couple of legitimate paid options available that you can use to get
discovered and to increase your views.
Blogs
Bloggers always look for good content, and videos help them make good
content. If you know famous bloggers whose content is similar to that of
your videos, then you can collaborate with them. It is a win-win situation
for both parties. Reach out to bloggers and share something insightful with
them. You can also mention that you have related videos that you can post
on their blog as a guest blogger. You can even mention their blog on your
channel. You can write a short intro and drop a link to your channel and
post it on the blog.
Pinterest
Pinterest has a new feature to add videos and you can use this to promote
your videos. It has more than 150 million users and that’s a huge audience
database that you can tap into. As mentioned earlier, you cannot solely rely
on a single platform to promote your channel. Make use of different social
media sites and platforms to increase your viewership.
Google+
Google+ certainly didn’t gain the kind of publicity that Google hoped for,
but it does have a lot of communities on it. Build a profile on Google+ and
you can post about your videos in that community.
Tweets
Twitter is a great option and you shouldn’t neglect it. Twitter has a huge
audience and it is easy to share content on this platform. If you want a video
to go viral, then consider Twitter.
Connect

Most of the successful YouTubers like Jenna Marbles tend to share their
spotlight with other vloggers. There are different reasons why it is
important to connect with others in a similar field. The most obvious one is
that you can learn from each other and it will help to make better videos.
Not just that, when you work with others you will learn about the things
that work and don’t work when you want to increase your presence on
YouTube. It also provides a chance to network and help each other out. You
can benefit from the viewership of the other person and vice versa. You can
feature them on your channel and get featured on theirs in turn.
Be a Guest
It is quite a big deal to show up on someone else’s channel. It gives you

access to a wide range of potential viewers and it also enables them to get to
know you. If you can manage to deliver some good content and bring your
A-game, then people will want to see what you are about and will visit your
channel; however, your work doesn’t end there. It is a two-way street and
you must get others to guest star in your videos as well. It provides a
friendly and feel-good vibe. Not just that, it is a great promotional tactic. If
your guest is good at promoting your channel on their social profiles, your
viewership will go up.
Your Friends can Share

If you are just getting started with vlogging, then you can reach out to
others for help as well. Make the most of your personal contacts and you
can bank on their contacts to increase your viewership. It starts a snowball
effect in a very good way. Get the people you know to share your videos as
much as they can. Exploit your personal contacts! Make the most of the
real-life connections you have as well. Even though we live in a digitized
world, don’t forget the real-life contacts you have. You never know who
might be able to help! Not all influencers have a strong presence on
YouTube. If you can manage to bring a few industry specialists into the
spotlight, you can engage more viewers.
Facebook
Don’t forget the power of Facebook. It is one of the best social networking
platforms today and has millions of active users. You can make the most of
Facebook if you can create a group with all your fans. Also, it is a really
easy way to promote your channel and stay in touch with your loyal
viewers.
Use Instagram
Did you ever wonder if you could gain more views on YouTube if you use
Instagram? Even though you cannot post long videos on Instagram, you can
always post a snippet to intrigue viewers. Most people tend to check their
Instagram profiles rather religiously and you must make the most of it as
well. Upload a small video and post a link to the original video on your
YouTube channel. Don’t forget to use the hashtags on Instagram when you
post a video!
Conduct a Contest
A contest is a great way to offer an incentive to your viewers. You can run a
contest on YouTube to increase your views, to gain more likes and social
shares as well. All these translate into more future views! If you don’t want
to give away expensive prizes, then you can offer a simple shout-out, cross-
promotion, give exclusive access, or you can even guest star the winner in
one of your videos.
Social Shares
You need to ask the audience what you want them to do. No one will
understand if you don’t expressly tell them. Don’t just assume that your
work ends when you post good content. You can ask the viewers for social
shares!
Engage in Comments
Most people will watch a video and then move on to something else;
however, there are some who will leave a comment. Don’t ignore those
comments. You should engage the viewer who left the comment. It helps
you to network and if they have a pleasant experience, they will come back
for more. Engaging in comments is a great way to build some positive PR.
Create Q&A Videos
You can ask your viewers to send you questions and then you can answer
their questions on video. It allows you to engage with your audience and
also helps to create a sense of community. A Q&A campaign is a great way
to establish a bond with your audience.
Use Annotations or End Cards
You can interlink YouTube videos through annotations (these can appear at
the top left and at the top right corner of each video whereby the ones at the
bottom link to the previous video while the ones at the top link to the next
video). You can use annotations to develop a menu screen at the end of each
video whereby the viewer is presented with other videos that he or she can
choose from. With this option, it will be a lot easier for people to navigate
between all your videos, which in turn results in more views. Additionally,
you can use annotations to point users to a playlist or the page that prompts
viewers to subscribe to your channel.
Do you know what annotations are? Have you ever noticed little pop-up
boxes that tend to pop up while you play a video? Well, those are known as
annotations. You can use annotations on the desktop version of YouTube
videos. Use the Video Manager settings to create and include annotations in
your videos. You can use annotations to ask users to subscribe to your
channel, join your email list, or simply click on the link for another video.
You must use End cards or screens to make sure that your video ends with a
bang! If you want to make sure that you hold your viewer’s attention until
the very end, then you must use end screens. End cards usually promote
subscriptions or they direct the viewer to another video from your channel.
This feature shows up on both the desktop and mobile versions of the
YouTube app. There are three functions that this feature serves, and these
are:
It points the viewers to other videos or playlists.
It calls for subscriptions for your channel on YouTube.
It also helps to promote your merchandise or any website.
An end screen will take about five to twenty seconds towards the end of the
video. If you want to use an end screen, then you must make sure that the
video is at least 25 seconds long.
Video Embeds
Make sure that you enable the embedding option in your videos. This
feature allows viewers to share your videos on other platforms. It is also an
effective way in which you can ensure that your brand reaches a larger
audience. Well, how can you tell whether the embedding feature is enabled
or not? You need to click on the Video Manager setting and go to the
advanced options. In there you will find “distribution options,” click on it
and then check the box that says, and “Allow embedding.”
Email Marketing
To grow your channel on YouTube, you must publish great videos;
however, that is just the first step. So, how can you ensure that your target
audience knows when you have posted a new video? Well, that’s where this
particular step comes into the picture. All those who subscribe to your
channel will receive a notification whenever you publish a new video. But
what about those who haven’t yet subscribed to your channel? The best way
to alert your audience is through their inbox! Email is still one of the best
channels for marketing and you can use it to reach your audience rather
easily. There are different ways in which you can reach your viewers or fans
through email. Let us look at a couple of options that you can use. You can
use your existing email list and let all the contacts on your list know
whenever you post a new video. You can even use lead magnets. If you
have good content with you, you can use it to create a lead magnet for
yourself. Advertise about your channel on multiple platforms and request
the email addresses of all the viewers who view your channel. It is a good
idea to include a call-to-action in all your videos; however, to do this you
don’t have to edit every single video you decide to post. Instead, you can
include an intro or an outro for your playlist to let the viewers know about
the email list and you can ask them to subscribe. Post a link in the
description and you just have to direct your viewers to click on that link.
The last option is to create a call-to-action card and ask your viewers to
subscribe to the email list.
Stay Active
It is good if you post content regularly, but you shouldn’t forget to engage
your audience in this process. Whenever a viewer leaves a comment on
your video, make sure that you reply to them promptly. Viewers will want
to engage themselves on your channel or the content you post if they know
that you will respond to them. Not just that, you must also make sure that
you are active in your niche communities (well, YouTube has plenty of
niche communities). Find a community that is ideal for your brand and you
can even subscribe to other relevant channels. Leave comments as well as
feedback on other videos. If at all you come across something that you
think will make sense to your target audience, then you can share it with
your viewers. You can promote other channels and even participate in
community activities to keep your brand active.
Advertise Your Channel
If you want to reach out to a new audience, then you should try the different
advertising options that YouTube offers. You can run an ad campaign on
YouTube. The ad budget isn’t extravagant, and it will not burn a hole in
your pocket. If you want to make sure that the ad resonates with your target
viewers, then here are a couple of tips that you must keep in mind.
Make sure that the ads are less than 60 seconds and you must always try to
make the most of the five seconds of any ad. After the first five or eight
seconds, the viewer tends to lose interest in the ad. You must always use a
clear call-to-action. You have to specifically tell the user what you expect of
them. Now is not the time to give subtle hints. Go all out and tell your
viewers to subscribe to the channel, share a video, or even sign up for the
email list. Ensure that you don’t seem aggressive when you try to do this.
Use the TrueView format of YouTube and make it work for you.
Email Signature
Make sure that you include a link to your YouTube channel in your email
signature. It might seem like a very simple strategy, but it really does work.
You must never pass on an opportunity to increase your viewership. Include
a link to your page within your email signature. Whenever you send a mail
to someone, you might find a potential viewer. You never know when this
technique will help. It is a very subtle way in which you can promote your
channel.
Just because it is the Internet and everything except the Internet connection
is free, does not mean that everything happens at the click of a mouse.
Remember, though online, it is still a business and businesses do not build
themselves overnight. Do not expect results when you start out. In fact, you
must expect some negative feedback. Underestimating yourself is the best
way to prepare for failure; however, do not overdo it. Coming back to the
original point, exercise some patience. It is only by being patient that you
will learn how success can be achieved through hard work.
Chapter Six: Grow Your YouTube Channel
YouTube has grown into an influential social media platform. What started
out as a fun medium of introducing the world to three-dimensional
interaction has now turned into a powerful tool of marketing. Just like in
every other social media channel, the secret to success is getting a following
or audience to broadcast your videos to. The more views you get, the more
popular your videos will be and the greater success you will have in ranking
highly in the search results. Here are some tips to get you started when
creating and promoting your YouTube channel.
In this section, you will learn about certain tips that will help you to grow
your YouTube channel.
It Is A Business
When you start a channel on YouTube, make sure that you view it as you
view a business idea. Don’t write it off as a mere marketing technique, if
you are serious about it. You need to think like a businessman and try to
make the most of it. Don’t worry about what others will think about you. It
is okay to be open about your intentions. It might not seem like a legitimate
career option to a lot of people, but that doesn’t mean that it isn’t one. If
you have good ideas and great content to back your ideas, then you are in
for a pleasant surprise. Try to maintain a proactive business mindset. Once
you start to gain a subscriber base for your channel, you can think about
other sources that will help to turn your business into a viable source of
income. You must think of different ways in which you can monetize the
audience you have. You can approach different companies or agencies that
engage in a field similar to the content you post, and you can ask them for a
sponsorship. Learn to take calculated risks that will pay off. You don’t have
to give up on creativity to run a business. In fact, creativity and business go
hand in hand; try to make the most of it.
Content Matters
Whenever someone says, “content is king” does it make you feel like you
are hearing a marketing pitch? Even if your answer is yes, content certainly
is king. One of the major hurdles that a lot of YouTubers face is that they
don’t believe in the “content is king” motto. If you want to build your
viewership, then you need to do more than merely turn your webcam on
and record yourself speaking about your day or anything of that sort. You
need to do more than this to grow your YouTube channel. When you look at
the marketplace, the first thing that you must ask yourself is what is missing
and what is the value that you can offer people. You can start with any topic
that suits you, but make sure that you deliver valuable content. There are
two options that are available to you. The first is that you can produce
content that isn’t already available and create a niche for yourself. The
second option is to use existing content and make it seem interesting. You
cannot grab the viewer’s attention unless you offer them something
different. You can always look for inspiration, but you shouldn’t just copy
the popular YouTubers. You must see what it is that they offer and the ways
in which you can make your channel different. Concentrate on the content
you provide. It is good to jazz up your videos and use graphics that are
visually appealing; however, in this process you shouldn’t compromise on
content. After all, you do want your viewers to come back for more, don’t
you?
Production Values
It might seem like an obvious point to all successful creators out there,
especially the ones that use the platform for their vlogs, but high production
value isn’t a must-have asset. Good production is essential. The video must
be well lit, the content must be good, and the sound must be fantastic;
however, high production values don’t help you to grow your channel. You
can use high-quality equipment; however, it isn’t a must-have. You don’t
have to invest in expensive equipment immediately, instead you can learn
and practice with affordable equipment, and once you get a hang of it, you
can always buy better things. The one thing that matters more than anything
else is authenticity. If your content is authentic and you are being authentic,
it will help. Even good lighting and great editing skills won’t do you much
good without authenticity.
Authenticity and Integrity
You need to understand that YouTube is a personality-based platform. Even

if all you want to do is make a simple tutorial, you need to make sure that
you can bring a little bit of your personality to the videos that you make. If
you want to make a tutorial, try to put yourself in front of the camera! Talk
to your audience and ask them what they want. Maintain authenticity and
integrity, because in the long run these things help to grow your channel on
YouTube. Not only will you gain popularity when you are authentic, but
you can get paid for it as well. For instance, look at the success PewDiePie
and H3H3 managed to attain. Regardless of whether you love or hate them,
you need to admit that their success isn’t because of their production value;
it is because of their authenticity, or at the very least their perceived
integrity. If you want people to invest in you, then you need to be able to
create a link between you and your audience.
Once you manage to gain this kind of traction, the other conventional media
comes calling. You need to understand your audience if you want your
channel to grow. When you understand your audience, you can create
content that appeals to them and it will increase your popularity. If you
compromise on your authenticity or integrity to just gain more sponsorships
or ads for brands, and it doesn’t go in sync with your usual content, then be
prepared for some backlash from your audience. Instead, you must actively
seek out those brands that you enjoy, whose objective goes hand in hand
with your content, and would likely advocate for, then it will pay to reach
out to them. Your audience will feel disconnected if you flood them with
information that doesn’t interest them, and you will lose subscribers.
YouTube is Fickle
You need to understand that YouTube is just a platform and it is a great tool
for content creators, but at the end of the day all it does is allow you to
upload a video on the Internet; however, there aren’t any hard and fast rules
about how you can make sure that your videos are viewed by a huge
audience, and there isn’t much that YouTube can offer in terms of a manual
for success. The algorithm that YouTube uses feeds content to users like
any normal search engine. Unless you specify a keyword, it will not lead
you to the page that you want to visit. You need to figure out a way in
which you can optimize your content to show up easily on search results.
You might feel like you are down in the trenches when you initially start to
figure these things out. You might feel that it works like a regular search
engine, but you never know, the algorithm can change at any time. The
thing about YouTube is that it is quite fickle. Especially when it continues
to evolve and grow daily. All that you need to do is make sure that you
improve your content constantly and come up with more videos.
Don’t Think It Will Be Easy
Don’t think that it will be easy to set up a successful channel on YouTube. It

is easy to create your channel, but to make it a success; you need to put in
the necessary time and effort. It is great that you have good ideas and
content to go along with it to execute the ideas. As mentioned earlier, you
need to treat your YouTube channel like you would treat any other business
of yours. You need to understand the audience you cater to, develop a
business mindset, create good and authentic content, make great videos,
work on your PR and marketing, and develop a relationship with your
audience. A lot of elbow grease is required, especially in the initial phase.
Do not take your audience or the content you create for granted. Take all the
criticism you receive in a positive manner and constantly work to improve
yourself. The last step is to just do it. You just have to put yourself out
there, start to record, and publish content. That’s the only way in which you
can grow your channel. All your ideas and videos won’t make any
difference if you don’t post them.
Don’t Use It to Constantly Pitch
YouTube is perceived as a domain where people can share videos with one
another. If you want to make it big on YouTube, then you need to make sure
that you are a part of a community and you are not the outsider who is
trying to sell rather aggressively. There are a couple of things that you must
avoid at all costs. The first thing that you must never do is use your
YouTube videos as a sounding board for all your sales pitches. You need to
use it wisely and show some restraint when it comes to advertising. You
need to make sure that you limit the usage of advertising slogans, don’t post
multiple times about the same product or service and don’t provide any
excess information about a product or service that is not related to the
conversation. If you don’t want your followers to unfollow you, then you
need to understand that YouTube is a place for networking and not just for
delivering your sales pitch.
Create a Human Side
In general, a user on YouTube or any other social media platform will want
to communicate with another person and not engage in a conversation with
an impersonal business. You need to make sure that you lend a human feel
to your business. To do this you need to make the page more welcoming
and likable. It is a good idea to maintain some professionalism, but if
everything you post sounds stiff and formal, then you will lose your
followers. Your YouTube channel needs to have the perfect mix of
professionalism and some casual conversation. Also, if you want to make
users feel like they are communicating with another human being and not a
bot, then you need to reply to their comments quickly.
Posting Regularly
Unlike all the other forms of conventional media like television, magazines,
newspapers and such, social media offers you the option of posting your
content rather regularly. Most YouTube users do check their app at least
once on any given day. When they check their app, they want to see some
new content. You need to make sure that you post content regularly. It
doesn’t mean that you upload ten videos per day; it simply means that you
upload videos regularly. You can upload one video per day so that your
followers know what to expect.
Encouraging Comments
You must encourage YouTube users to respond to your posts and to

comment on posts about your business or a topic that interests them.
Whenever a user comments on one of your videos, make sure that you reply
to that comment within 24-hours. If you don’t reply to their comments, it
will make your followers feel a lack of interest. Also, remember that
replying and engaging in comments is a simple way to network with others
on YouTube.
The Engagement Pattern of Your Followers
Make sure that you are posting actively on YouTube according to the
engagement pattern of your followers. When it seems that they are most
likely to engage, that’s when you must post. It will take you a while to
figure out the optimal time to post. To understand this pattern, try to post on
different days and at different times and keep a track of the views you
receive. The day and time at which you receive the most views are when
most of your viewers are active on this platform. It might not seem like an
important step and timing your posts might seem trivial, but you will realize
this only when your followers and the number of “views” your videos
receive will grow.
Chapter Seven: Factors that Determine Video’s
Rank
In this section, you will learn about the different factors that determine the
way a video ranks in the YouTube Search Engine.
Title and Metadata
You cannot accurately index video content, at least not yet but they are
certainly getting closer. If you don’t believe this, then take a look at all the
default captions. The automated transcripts are often hilarious. The
algorithm doesn’t understand what your video is all about, so you will need
to tell it. The easiest way in which you can do this is by carefully filling out
the title, description and the tags in the video. If you neglect this step, then
the algorithm will not know where it can start. You can improve this by
transcribing your videos and by adding text captions.
Titles, as well as metadata, are extremely important during the first 48 hours
of launching the video. At this point, YouTube doesn’t have any usage data,
so you need to make the most of this opportunity. Watch time becomes a
priority only after the first 48 hours.
Watch Time
How long is the viewer watching the video for? In an official statement,
YouTube stated that watch time is one of the most important factors that
you need to take into account while ranking a video. If viewers keep
bouncing off your videos after the first 30 seconds, then the YouTube
algorithm will consider this to be a sign that it is not a good video or that it
doesn’t meet the requirements of the viewers. You can improve your watch
time by structuring your videos in such a manner that it is engaging, makes
great thumbnails and also accurately describes the video in the title,
description and the tags too. Likewise, if a lot of viewers spend a lot of their
time watching a video, it tells the algorithm that the video is of good
quality. YouTube also pays attention to the session time. Session time refers
to the overall time that a user spends on YouTube during a specific sitting.
If your video leads the viewer to another video, even if it is not on your
channel, your channel gets partial credit for this. YouTube wants viewers to
stick around and watch a lot of videos. If your videos promote longer
sessions times, then it will help improve your rankings.
Subscribers
The number of subscribers you have will determine the number of views
and comments you will receive. Your subscriber count pretty much dictates
a lot of the other metrics related to performance. The first 48 hours after
uploading a video are critical and the more active and engaged your
subscribers are, the higher the views and engagement on the video.
Comments
The comments on a video show that the video is alive and that people are
not merely watching it but are interacting with it as well. As a marketer, you
must never turn off the comments, because if you do, you will be
effectively shooting yourself in the foot. Never disable the comments if you
want to increase your traffic. Comments on YouTube might seem slightly
annoying at times, but you need to take it with a grain of salt and you need
to be proactive while responding to it. Now that the YouTube comments are
integrated with Google+, they are more important than ever. They are
important because these comments seem to have a ripple effect on Google+
and Google search. A positive aspect of this integration with Google+ is
that it enables you to blacklist certain words in the settings for comments. If
abusive comments are harming you, then you can blacklist such offensive
words. You can also avoid trolls using this technique.
Backlinks
All the links that point to your video are known as backlinks. They are the
most critical aspect of SEO. Search engines think of these links as votes.
These votes will tell the automated robots that the content linked to it is
legitimate and it is what it says.
Chapter Eight: YouTube Marketing Tools
Even though there are different platforms for video marketing like
Facebook or Twitter, YouTube is the only platform where the users come to
it with only one intention - to watch videos. YouTube is the leading
platform for long-term video engagement. If you can leverage YouTube’s
potential of providing fresh content, you can target and influence more
users to show interest in your brand. If you want to grow the rankings of
your YouTube videos, then you need to use certain marketing tools for
YouTube. In this section, you will learn about the best marketing tool for
YouTube.
YouTube Search Filters
The first marketing tool that you must use on YouTube is its Search Engine
Filters. You can use these to check out all the other videos that offer content
that is similar to the ones that you want to create. Doing this will allow
marketers to understand whether a specific sort of content is working or not.
It will also help them get an idea of the direction that they need to follow
for creating a better campaign. In YouTube Search Filters, you must search
for all the top-ranking keywords in your specific niche. Once you go
through all the top-rated videos in your niche, you can go through their
descriptions, thumbnails or tags to determine the reason for their reach. For
instance, if you want to create a video on social skills, then you can search
for videos using a keyword like “being charismatic.” Once you do this,
YouTube will automatically display all the top-ranking videos related to this
keyword. You can go through the descriptions and other details of all the
top-ranking videos. This tool helps you search for a keyword and you can
also sort the videos according to their relevance, number of views, date of
upload and so on.
YouTube Search Auto Suggest
If you want to develop an effective marketing strategy for YouTube, then

you need to go through YouTube Search Auto Suggest. It will help you find
long-tail keywords relevant to your niche quite easily. It will help you rank
all those keywords that are specially customized for businesses similar to
yours and it will help you drive traffic to your site. You can type some
short-tail keywords and it will help you see all the relevant long-tail
keywords that your target audience searches for. You can even use a tool
like SEOChat to check all the long-tail keywords you can use to increase
the ranking of your videos.
SerpStat
This tool offers the best keyword research features that you can use to gain
knowledge about the keywords that your competitors are using to increase
the ranking of their videos in YouTube searches. You need to input a “base”
keyword into this tool and it will provide you with a range of suggestions
that you can use in your videos and increase your video’s ranking. You can
use this tool to discover all the search terms that your target audience
usually uses, and it also helps you compare your performance with your
competitors. Apart from this, it generates automated reports of the
comparison it makes. You can use SerpStat to understand the questions that
your target audience usually searches for. You can use this information
when you create your video content so that it specifically answers those
questions that your target audience has. SerpStat also provides keywords for
SEO. PPC ad campaigns help determine the value of the keywords,
analyzes the keyword trend, analyzes the relevancy of web pages and gives
long-tail keyword recommendations.
Brandcast
It is Google’s promotional tool for YouTube. It is amongst the best

marketing tools for YouTube and is available for both browser and mobile
usage. This tool helps you build channels, share different sorts of content,
promote brands and do everything else that is important to ensure the
success of your YouTube content. If you incorporate their sponsor program,
then you can add a new dimension to the results you can expect from any of
the usual YouTube marketing tools.
Tube Toolbox
It incorporates some of the best YouTube marketing tools that you can use
to optimize your YouTube marketing campaign’s success. This tool helps
gather information, engage with the audience directly, automate tasks and
manage lists. You can use the services of this tool to increase your views,
shares and subscribes of the channel. The cost involved is far lower than the
ROI, so it is a good tool to use.
YouTube Reputation Tool
If you want to know the popularity of your channel or your brand on

YouTube, then you need this tool. It allows you to search for different
names and keywords to gauge your reputation on YouTube. If you use this
tool, you can search for your domain name, separated domain name
(including commas), your full name, the name of your social media profiles
and much more. You can also use this tool to search for series or other
video titles related to your niche and the keywords related to your videos. It
helps you zero in on the areas that you need to focus on to optimize your
videos.
VidIQ
This tool helps you build a loyal audience for your brand on YouTube. It
increases your library tags by ten times and aids in increasing the ranking of
your YouTube videos. The tags that VidIQ suggests will help your YouTube
videos get discovered in the sidebar - the related videos section on
YouTube. It helps you understand whether it will be helpful to try and rank
for a specific keyword or not. With VidIQ, you can find all those keywords
that don’t have too much competition and you can use them to increase
your reach. It also helps you understand the right time to upload a video, the
top performing videos and assists in managing your YouTube videos as
well. Apart from all this, it helps you maximize your organic reach,
provides the best SEO practices, assists in engaging your audience and
tracks other social conversations.
Google Explore
It is a free marketing tool that helps you understand the keywords related to
your niche. You can also use this to become aware of the user-generated
content that is relevant to your niche. This tool also helps you obtain a full
picture of the conversations your audience has and helps you create videos
on trending topics and other time-sensitive topics. If you are aware of the
conversations your audience is having and the topics that are frequently
discussed, you can create content that will appeal to them. It also helps you
create videos that are more likely to be searched for on not just YouTube,
but Google too.
Cyfe
Cyfe is a famous YouTube marketing tool that will help you view all your
data from content marketing under one roof. You can use this tool to
monitor any mentions of your brand or business on different networks and
also monitor all your marketing channels like social media, SEM, SEO, and
email. It also helps you keep track of your business finances like available
balances, expenses, and revenue. The sales board it provides will help you
view your sales goals, new customers you have acquired and many other
features you may need.
TubeBuddy
This tool is an extension of Chrome and it is amongst the best tools

available for YouTube marketing. You need to download this extension to
manage your YouTube channel. It offers different tools for management,
optimization, and promotion of your YouTube videos. Apart from this, it
also offers certain advanced analytical tools that will help optimize your
SEO. You can use this tool to understand which of your video tags are
ranking well and what other tags you can use in the future. TubeBuddy
provides a caption service, Video A/B split testing, opportunity finder and
much more.
If you want to increase the efficiency, effectiveness and the reach of your
YouTube marketing campaign, then you need to use the marketing tools that
were discussed in this section.
Chapter Nine: YouTube Metrics
The rise of video consumption has increased tremendously in recent times.
Therefore, it is not surprising that a lot of social networks give prominence
to videos in their algorithms. Similarly, even marketers are including videos
in their marketing campaigns because of its popularity and also because the
latest video creation solutions make production quite easy. This
combination of consumer’s interest and the intuitive tools available means
that a lot of marketers are now heading to YouTube with all their visual
creations. If you want to know the impact that these videos are making, then
you need to know how they are performing so that you can make necessary
changes. It means that you need to identify certain metrics and track them
to serve as your KPIs (Key Performance Indicators).
So, why must you use KPIs? If you use KPIs you can understand if you are
meeting your goals, the kind of content that appeals to your target audience,
who are watching your videos, how are users discovering your videos,
whether the videos are driving the action they were aimed for, and the
effectiveness of your marketing strategy. If you want to make sure that the
strategy you are using will yield the returns you want, then here are the
metrics that you need to monitor and analyze.
For any marketer, optimizing the rate of engagement is a top priority. On
YouTube, engagement is measured in terms of views, number of
subscribers, likes, dislikes, comments and the number of shares a video
receives.
One aspect of YouTube that typically scares new creators is the Analytics
tab on your creator dashboard. It can be quite a daunting button to press
given that you need to analyze a lot of graphs, charts, and data. You don’t
have to worry about all this because, in this section, you will learn
everything that you need to know about Analytics. Once you know what it
is all about, it is quite easy to use. When you create a channel on YouTube
and load your analytics dashboard, there isn’t going to be much there.
Before you can draw any conclusions from the analytics data, you need to
get some views on your channel. We discussed various steps that you can
follow to increase the traffic to your channel and the ways in which you can
grow your channel in the previous chapters. If you have not yet put those
steps into place, now is the time for you to do so.
Watch Time
In recent times, YouTube has been tweaking its algorithm to focus more on
watch time. Watch time refers to the number of minutes that a viewer
spends while viewing a video. If you have a channel with 10-minute long
videos and the viewers usually watch only half of this (5 minutes), then
your average watch time is 5 minutes or 50%. For a YouTube channel, the
higher the watch time is the greater the revenue generated. A higher watch
time means that the content you create can clearly hold the viewer’s
attention. Most importantly, it’s all about the number of minutes that are
being watched and not the percentage of the video that is being viewed. For
instance, let us say that a channel has a 75% watch time average and the
videos on the channel are quite short and last for only about 2 minutes.
Even though the viewers are watching most of the video, it still doesn’t add
up to a lot of minutes.
YouTubers have come up with a clever solution to this problem and the
solution is to make videos longer than usual. It might solve the problem,
temporarily, but it has certainly reduced the quality of videos on YouTube.
Most people tend to merely add content to their videos for no apparent
reason other than to make it last longer. In the end, it does help make
YouTube more money because it will help you make more money. Watch
time percentage is a useful metric. You need to aim to increase the
percentage of your watch time because it means that viewers are seeing
more of your videos. This is one of the main reasons why you need to
monitor this metric regularly and inspect any changes in it.
In general, a 50% Watch Time is a good mark to shoot for on any video. If
your videos are 5 minutes long, you must aim for a Watch Time of two and
a half minutes. You can increase your watch time by tweaking the format
and the content of the video. The idea is to make your videos more useful to
the viewer. If the viewer derives some value from the video, then the watch
time will automatically increase. You can use some cliffhangers to increase
the watch time.
Other Metrics
Watch time is perhaps the most important metric, but it certainly isn’t the
only one that you need to monitor. In this section, you will learn about all
the other important metrics on the Analytics dashboard.
The first metric that we discussed was watch time. It shows how effective
the video is.
Subscriber to view ratio is the next metric you need to look for. It indicates
how engaging the video is to your subscriber. If you have 1000 subscribers
and your video receives 100 views, then it means that the subscriber to view
ratio is 10%. An ideal percentage for this ratio is anywhere between 20 to
30%.
The video views within the first 24-48 hours indicates how engaged your
subscribers are and the rate at which your video begins ranking in searches.
You can increase this by encouraging your subscribers to enable their
notifications. Whenever the subscriber enables their notification, they will
receive a notification as soon as you upload a video on your channel. You
can mention this expressly in your video and also demonstrate how the
viewer can enable their notifications.
How are users finding your videos? You can obtain this data from your
traffic sources. If you know the source or sources that are driving traffic to
your channel, then you can further optimize that source to increase your
traffic.
The content you create needs to perform at the same level in all countries.
In fact, it is likely that your content might resonate more with a specific
country. To ensure that you understand all this, you need to monitor your
traffic locations in the analytics dashboard. For instance, if your content
seems to be resonating well with those in Central America, then it might be
a good idea to translate the videos into Spanish or make the videos more
specific for that specific audience.
You must always look for those videos that receive the highest daily views
and total views to understand why they are doing so well. To understand
this, the performance metric you need to use is your most popular videos
option. You will find this under the “overview” section on your Analytics
dashboard. Once you identify your most popular videos, you can look at
their individual analytics, their traffic source, watch time, like rate and other
metrics to uncover a pattern that you can replicate with other videos.
Chapter Ten: Successful YouTube Marketing
Campaigns
Social media marketing has taken the world by storm. Facebook, Twitter,
and Instagram are still the go-to social media channels for most digital
marketers in today’s world. But with the advent of more social networking
applications, digital marketers have been looking for ways in which they
will be able to expand into other social media platforms as well to improve
their scope for marketing. In the recent past, brands have been willing to
turn to newer social networking sites and are open to the idea of
experimenting with campaigns that are more edgy, funny and simply
different from their regular campaigns. In fact, with the advent of digital
marketing, the role that YouTube plays has certainly increased. These days,
all marketers seem to be in a hurry to start integrating YouTube into their
usual marketing campaigns. In this section, you will learn about certain ad
campaigns on YouTube that will inspire you to design your own ad
campaign.
Canadian Tire - Wheels
In 2016, Canadian Tires ran an ad during the 2016 Summer Olympics and it
became a massive sensation. The commercial focuses on a young boy in a
wheelchair who is excluded from daily activities like playing basketball
with the other children in the neighborhood. One of these children meets the
boy in the wheelchair and comes up with a basketball game that even he
can play. Canadian Tire barely brands this video; it showcases its support
for the Canadian Olympic team so that others can empathize with it while
subtly calling focus to its product - wheels.
The takeaway from this ad is that you don’t have to be scared to show your
support for those things that aren’t directly involved with your business.
The aim isn’t to merely sell your products, but it is about associating your
brand with the community.
Google Android: Friends Furever
This video was quite simple, cute and well curated. In fact, it was amongst
the list of the most-shared video ads in 2015. The curation of the video
probably took a while since it is just a series of clips of unlikely animals
mingling. Who doesn’t want to watch a parrot feed spaghetti to a husky? Or
a monkey climb a tree and then promptly fall off a horse’s back? All this
might sound rather silly, but this video was shared more than 6.4 million
times.
The takeaway from this video is rather simple. You can create a simple
video that can be shareable if it has the right subject matter. In this ad, the
subject matter is animals that the team at Android used to focus on shared
experiences. They managed to tap into the viewer’s emotions and built an
ad with broad appeal and shareability.
Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams: Build Your Own Ice
Cream Sandwich
Before you come to any conclusions, you need to watch this ad at least from
its 20-second mark. This ad is about a modest ice cream shop in Columbus,
Ohio. This ad proves that you don’t need any high-tech or fancy equipment
to create lovable videos. The ad uses catchy music and manages to make
the viewer crave for a scoop of ice cream. This video shows how they make
their ice cream and there is something quite satisfying about watching it.
The takeaway from this video is that even a small business can use
YouTube for marketing. Whenever you decide to post something on
YouTube, you need to hit the ground running with content that is 100%
authentic to your brand. Add some style and tone to this authentic content,
and voila, you have a brilliant ad to market.
Reebok: 25,915 Days
An average human being lives for 25,915 days and Reeboks wants you to
use those days to honor and push your body to its physical limit
continuously. Reebok’s campaign #HonorYourDays doesn’t include any
spoken words but it does manage to convey a rather powerful message -
make the most of the days you have.
The ad shows a woman’s relationship with running, but the catch here is she
is running backwards. While running, she is wearing her Reebok-sponsored
Spartan Race. The first scene shows her as a middle-aged woman, and in
the next shot she is running track at high school as a teenager, and
eventually it shows her on the day of her birth. It is a great way to
communicate the brand’s mission of changing the way people perceive and
experience fitness at different ages and to let their customers know that they
have all the athletic gear you will ever need.
The key takeaway from this ad is that adding a sense of urgency to your
message is a useful psychological motivator. It can drive the message home
and makes it more actionable.
Code.org: What Most Schools Don’t Teach
This marketing video certainly includes a couple of big names you will
recognize. The video opens with a quote by Steve Jobs and is followed by
an introduction given by Bill Gates. Code.org is a non-profit organization
that promotes access to computers in schools. This video is a good example
of influencer marketing; however, the one reason why this video works
really well is because of the tech titans this video features. The faces of all
the leaders of the popular software companies and their humble beginnings
inspire a sense of confidence in the viewer that anyone can succeed.
The takeaway is that at times your field might seem a little intimidating to
someone on the outside. If you want to increase your audience base, then
you need to level with it. Customers will always view your business
through the lens of the industry that you are a part of. It is your job to lower
the barrier to entry.
You can go through these campaign ideas for some inspiration.
Chapter Eleven: Social Media Principles
Use Only the Platforms that Your Business Needs
Merely because you want to use social media as a part of your social media
strategy, doesn’t mean that you should decide to include every single
platform that is available. Take a moment and think about all the different
social media that are available. Not only must you be fluent with the
marketing concepts on each of these platforms, but you must also be an
expert at using these channels. Well, it isn’t possible that one person can
start and manage a marketing campaign across all of these platforms. Not
even a seasoned marketer can handle all of this at once. You need to
carefully evaluate the pros and cons of each of these platforms according to
your marketing goals. Another thing that you need to take into account is
your target audience. You need to use only those platforms on which your
target audience is active. It doesn’t make any sense to invest a lot of your
resources to design a wonderful campaign for a specific platform only to
realize that your target audience doesn’t use it. For instance, if you notice
that your target audience is active on Facebook and YouTube, then it
doesn’t make any sense to develop marketing campaigns for Twitter and
Instagram.
Evaluate Everything
If you want to determine whether your efforts are paying off or not, then
you need to do one thing - evaluate all the data available.
There is only one way to determine if your efforts are working effectively
and that is to evaluate all of the data. Some social media platforms have
built-in tools that will help you do this. Apart from these tools, there are
plenty of third-party options for analytic tools. You can use all the data
available and determine the content that receives the most responses, the
engagement rate of the viewers on a particular video, the ideal time to post
and so on. Make sure that you make use of the different marketing tools that
were discussed in this book up until now. These tools will help you with the
analytics and fill any gaps in your marketing campaign.
Make Sure You Post at the Right Time
It is not merely about what you are posting that tends to have an effect on
the number of views it receives and its engagement rate. It is imperative
that you time your posts if you want to increase their reach. Most of the
B2B businesses tend to stick to posting only during regular working hours,
but even then, there will be a couple of days on which you will receive a
better response than on the rest. You need to do your homework and
schedule your posts when a majority of your target audience is active. For
instance, if your target audience consists of individuals in the age groups of
25-35, then most of them might be working between 9-5 daily and it doesn’t
make any sense to post content during their working hours.
Build Your Connections
A common mistake that a lot of social media marketers make is to talk at

their audience, rather than to them. You need to try to initiate a dialogue
with them instead of a monologue. You need to talk to your followers,
engage with your audience and interact with them. If you want to market
your brand, then you need to successfully build a strong audience base. You
need to make your followers feel that they are interacting with a human
being and not an automated bot. You can initiate conversations by asking
your followers for their opinions, their thoughts or even by simply
responding to their comments. If you ignore their comments or don’t reply
to them in time, then it will make them feel like they aren’t valued and that
you aren’t interested in interacting with them.
Go Visual
Large blocks of data can be quite a turn-off. No one likes to read pages and
pages of information. Instead, try to opt for visual media. You can use
images, videos and infographics to convey your message and not just text.
You can use a combination of any of these two media to create attractive
ads. Strong visual content can work wonders for your business’s marketing
campaign.
Each Platform Needs to be Unique
There are various tools that you can use to share content across different
platforms. It is a good idea to share content across different platforms, but
you need to make sure that you don’t share the same content everywhere.
You can always repurpose the content that you share, but don’t use the same
content. For instance, if you write something on your blog, you can
repurpose it and make a video of it and post it on YouTube. You must avoid
posting identical content on various platforms. You need to remember that
the user who is following you on one network most likely follows you on
another network as well. If the user sees identical content everywhere, it is
quite likely that they will unfollow your account. If you make each of your
accounts unique it will help you draw more people in and gain you more
followers as well as potential customers.
Make It Useful
When someone follows you on a social media account, they want to feel
appreciation for that. You can offer rewards to users for subscribing or
following you. You can even offer a small discount on a product or free
entry to an event. People need to know that subscribing to a channel is
worth their while and it will give them something of value in return. If you
want to engage your audience and you want to keep them engaged, then
you need to offer them something of value in return for their loyalty.
Being Personable
You can certainly be more relaxed while marketing on social media, but it
doesn’t mean that you don’t maintain a little professionalism. You need to
strike a balance between making your brand or business seem professional
and slightly casual. You need to make sure that the audience feels like they
are interacting with a human being and not a brusque professional. Try to
engage your audience with some casual banter.
Don’t Keep Selling
It might seem odd that one of the principles of social media marketing is
that you must not keep selling. Yes, you are on social media to sell, but that
doesn’t mean that you keep giving sales pitches all the time. If you do this,
you will certainly lose your followers. You need to make sure that the
content you offer to your audience is a good mix of promotional and non-
promotional content. In fact, ideally, the ratio of non-promotional content
and the promotional content is 80:20. You need to make your audience
realize that they will gain valuable content by following you and not just
sales pitches. If you come across something on social media that you think
your friends will enjoy, what do you? You will obviously share that tidbit
with them. Likewise, if you come across any content that you think that
your audience will enjoy, then don’t hesitate to share it. Share it as long as it
isn’t content that’s created by your competitors.
Check the Content
You need to check and then recheck the content you want to post. You need
to go over the content you want to post with a fine-tooth comb. There must
be no typos, spelling mistakes, factual errors, grammatical mistakes or any
other mistakes. Also, make sure that the content you are posting does not
violate any of the terms of service of the platform that you are using.
Content is crucial to any marketing campaign on social media and you need
to use it wisely. The content you create needs to be such that your audience
will enjoy it. Remember, as a marketer your aim is to create content that the
audience will enjoy, and it isn’t for your enjoyment.
Social Media Manager
If you think that you aren’t equipped to handle a social media marketing
campaign by yourself, then please don’t hesitate to ask for some help. You
can always hire a professional to help you with the campaign. In fact, there
are social media managers you can hire. Before you hire someone, you need
to make sure that they are qualified for the job. These days, anyone and
everyone seems to be calling themselves a social media expert. You need to
make sure that the person you hire doesn’t just talk the talk but can walk the
walk as well.
Never Post on the Hour
You must never post on the hour. Usually, meetings and tasks tend to be
scheduled to start at the top of the hour. As soon as the clock strikes, people
are up and about, and no one is looking at their social media apps. You need
to make sure that you don’t post anything during usual working hours. It is
always a good idea to post when a majority of your target audience is active
on the platform.
Sharing Content
If you notice that someone shares a link to your content or even retweets a
message, then please take some time out and thank them. You need to keep
these people on your side because they are the ones who will help you
establish a loyal audience base. You need to not only establish good
relationships with them, but you need to make sure that you nurture such
relationships. Anyone who carries out any form of free advertising for you
is desirable for your business.
Learn the Platform Guidelines
Every platform has certain guidelines that you need to abide by if you want
to continue using the platform. Before you post anything on any social
networking sites, you need to make sure that you carefully go through their
terms of service to ensure that you aren’t breaking any of their rules. For
instance, some sites prohibit commercialization on their platform and some
don’t allow the usage of third-party marketing tools. You need to carefully
consider all these guidelines before you decide to use a social networking
platform for your marketing campaign.
Include Location in your Profile
You need to make sure that you include your business’s location in your
profile. If you do this, then interested parties can contact you directly.
People need to know where your business is based. If you don’t provide
them the location, then you might miss out on certain potential customers.
For instance, if a viewer liked your advertisements and wants to make a
purchase, but there is no forwarding address or URL to the main website,
then what can that potential customer do?
Ensure that you use the tips discussed in this chapter while you are
designing social media marketing for your business. You need to understand
that the world of marketing has undergone a dramatic change and social
media is a critical portion of this new world of marketing. You need to
understand that your business needs to integrate social media into its
marketing plan if it wants to grow.
Conclusion
YouTube is the most visited video sharing website and the third most visited
website in the world. YouTube integrates a number of social features that
make it a vital tool in your social media marketing campaign.
YouTube is a free platform that you can use to publish videos – tutorials on
how to use your product or service, reviews of products and much more. It
has its own program for paid advertising, which means your ads can show
up on other people’s videos. Some of the important social features that are
integrated with YouTube are the ability for people to comment on your
video, share your content on Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and others and
like or dislike your content, providing you with a rating on the site.
Once again, I want to thank you for choosing this book and I hope you
found it of some help. YouTube marketing is here to stay but setting up
your campaign on this platform is only the first step. Once your community
is defined and your presence is firmly established, it’s up to you to keep
your activities online at a long-term professionally high standard.
You must constantly research your audience. You must determine when is
the best time to post on your sites and, perhaps more importantly, what to
post. You must make good use of tools that will help you track your
performance, such as Google Analytics. Listen to feedback from your
customers and make sure you are in constant touch with what’s hot and
what’s not.
Above all, make sure you approach your customers, both existing and
potential ones, in the right way. Use the tips in this guide and, as time goes
by, you will find that your customer relationships are strengthened and you
have more leverage to reach out to new ones.
I want to wish you every success in your social media marketing campaign.
Thank you and all the best!
Resources
https://www.convinceandconvert.com/digital-marketing/better-youtube-
marketing/
https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/youtube-video-advertising-guide
https://neilpatel.com/blog/youtube-marketing-guide/
https://www.digitalvidya.com/blog/youtube-marketing-too
https://www.ngdata.com/youtube-video-marketing-tips/ls/
https://adespresso.com/blog/youtube-marketing/
https://www.puremoderation.com/single-post/YouTube-Marketing-10-
Benefits-That-Will-Help-in-Your-Online-Marketing
https://www.impactbnd.com/blog/6-tactics-for-an-effective-youtube-
marketing-strategy
https://thenextweb.com/contributors/2018/01/09/5-things-every-youtube-
marketer-needs-track/
https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/lovable-video-marketing-campaigns
https://vidooly.com/blog/youtube-glossary-terminology-that-every-video-
creator-should-be-aware-of/
https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/how-to-work-with-influencers
https://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/youtube-terms-of-service-marketers-
creators-need-to-know/
https://www.mdgadvertising.com/marketing-insights/youtube-advertising-
101-what-marketers-need-to-know/

Youtube Marketing

Uploaded by

Document Information

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Youtube Marketing

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Youtube Marketing

Comprehensive Beginner’s Guide to

Under no circumstances will any blame or legal responsibility be held

By reading this document, the reader agrees that under no circumstances is

A lot of brands and businesses frequently use YouTube to increase their

Image courtesy: Pixabay

YouTube provides a brilliant platform to unleash your creativity. You can

Businesses can use YouTube to post promotional videos of an upcoming

YouTube is a global platform. You no longer have to concentrate on local

It is a common misconception that for a video to gain hits on YouTube, it

Advertising and marketing can be a costly affair. A great thing about

Image courtesy: Pixabay

Whenever someone thinks of social media, people usually think about

Do you want to use YouTube as a part of your social media marketing

The About Section

You need to complete your profile by adding information in the about

Understand Your Market

Optimize for Search

If you want to be successful, then you need to be consistent in your efforts.

If there were no viewers watching videos or actively engaging with video

YouTube is home to a large and diverse audience. They have over

Image courtesy: Pixabay

Multimedia integration is an important part of digital marketing these days.

Time for the Close

Video Discovery Ads

The TrueView in-stream ad is the ad that plays before someone watches

If you want to run a successful ad campaign on YouTube, you need to

Whenever you are promoting a video on YouTube, you need to include a

Choose Your Identity

Create Videos that You would Want to Watch

To be honest, most of us tend to click on those YouTube videos that seem to

A YouTube viewer will subscribe to your channel only if it is active and

Use Good Art

A calendar is a great way to stay on top of your work and to stay on

Remember that the titles must be brief. It doesn’t have to be a synopsis of

End Screen Options

Keywords and SEO

Ask for Subscription

Image courtesy: Pixabay

A channel trailer is like a brief introduction to what your channel is all

Ads can be Problematic

Plan the Script

Videos must be Brief

Optimize the Content

Your Own Website

There are different communities on the Internet where people discuss a

Image courtesy: Pixabay

It is quite a big deal to show up on someone else’s channel. It gives you

Your Friends can Share

Create Q&A Videos

Use Annotations or End Cards

Advertise Your Channel

You need to understand that YouTube is a personality-based platform. Even

Don’t think that it will be easy to set up a successful channel on YouTube. It

You must encourage YouTube users to respond to your posts and to

Image courtesy: Pixabay

If you want to develop an effective marketing strategy for YouTube, then

It is Google’s promotional tool for YouTube. It is amongst the best

If you want to know the popularity of your channel or your brand on

This tool is an extension of Chrome and it is amongst the best tools

Use Only the Platforms that Your Business Needs

A common mistake that a lot of social media marketers make is to talk at

You might also like