Tips for

Businesses

INTRODUCTION Ahhh, the paradox of YouTube. Often it’s the red-headed stepchild of the social business world (just above G+),

while the newcomers to the game concentrate on Facebook and Twitter. Don’t make this mistake.

Did you know that YouTube is the 2nd most used search engine in the world, right behind Google? (of course

YouTube is Google, but shhhh...) That’s right, more people search through YouTube than they do through Yahoo or

Bing. Yes, Yahoo and Bing are still around. I was surprised too.

So how do you use YouTube effectively? Start by embracing the 9 golden drops of wisdom below. Then check out

the recent changes YouTube has made in the last section.

1. DON’T PUT THEM TO SLEEP

You have to start somewhere, and in this case it’s actually creating the video. Before you get to editing

the video, you have to shoot it. Two basics to never forget: keep it short, and say it well.

Your video needs to be long enough to get your point across, but short enough to keep their attention.

YouTube has a 15 minute cutoff, but I recommend staying within the 5 minute length if possible.

Make sure that you write out a script of what you want to say and, if you are actually recording

someone speaking, have them practice it - more than once. Watching someone say “um” over and over

and search the corners of their eyes for what they should be saying is annoying.

Not everyone comments on or likes the videos they watch, but they may share it with a friend or tell

someone about it online. Tracking social media channels for feedback on keywords related to your

content will give you a wider view of how well it is received than Google’s analytics tool alone.

2. Pimp your Tube

Making your video is one thing, making it attractive is another. Good lighting, sound, and editing are

important, but another great tip is to have the video branded and personalized. You can watermark your

videos with a logo to keep your brand front and center, and having an intro or outro that emphasizes

your brand can be a good idea as well.

In addition to the video itself, having a branded landing page for your YouTube channel is a great way to

show off your company through personalization. YouTube also includes features such as annotating your

videos and adding subtitles for the hearing impaired. Just be sparing in the annotation, it can get

annoying.

3. Everything in its Place

Once you have multiple videos uploaded and you are continuing to add new videos, it is a smart idea to

organize them. If you upload 20 videos in a row that are on varied subjects, your viewers will see them

in the linear fashion that you upload them unless you change that.

Two great ways to organize your YouTube content are with folders and playlists. Older videos, once you

have a decent collection on your channel, can be placed into folders by month or year, similar to

archiving old blog posts.

For current content, create playlists similar to your personal music playlists. If you have several videos

that are about “hiking”, you can make a playlist called Hiking so that all of the related videos are easier

to find and share.

4. Tag! You’re It!

Tagging is the great organizer of the new web. Folders and playlists are nice, but if you really want to

cross-reference multiple ideas and make things the easiest to find, you’ve got to tag them. All software

and sites worth their salt have great tagging systems for organization. It’s the key to maximizing tools

like Evernote, and the reason that the old tree-file system is considered a dinosaur by the informed

crowd.

As an example, let’s say that you have a site that sells clothing and you sell 100 different brands in every

size and shape known to mankind. Oh, and don’t forget colors. Adding a list of tags to every video of

size, gender, color, season, and style would make it much, much easier for someone to find a size 8

women’s red sleeveless blouse for summer (tagged with size 8, women’s, red, sleeveless, blouse, and

summer - see how that works?)

5. Links - They Aren’t Just for Sausage Anymore

I know, you’re thinking “how can I add a link in my video?” Well, you just add it in the description! And

you should - every time. Remember, your channel is not a standalone site, it’s a part of your business

marketing plan, and an important one.

In addition to tagging and organizing your videos, linking to your website, your Facebook Page, Twitter

page, or other social sites (and non-social sites) is a key part of spreading the message of your awesome

company. Help them find you everywhere!

6. Moderation in Excess

One thing you will notice on YouTube channel pages is that they are (overly) prone to negative or

disparaging comments. I believe this is primarily because of the (*ahem*) younger generation’s

proclivity to the site, but hey - that’s just me. Regardless of the reasons, they show up often.

Removing a negative comment simply because it is negative is not a good practice. Negative comments

that reflect an issue which could be addressed and/or corrected should be responded to in order to

attempt to convert a detractor into a promoter. These are opportunities for improvement. However,

comments which are nothing more than slander or obscenity for their own sake should be moderated

out - immediately. Like now. Within a few hours maximum if at possible.

Negative comments that are left unmoderated are like a slow poison. They will kill your reputation on

search engines and elsewhere. Thankfully, there are social media management tools to help with this.

7. Analysis is Vital - Just Ask Your Shrink

Keeping track of your engagement, analyzing positive and negative sentiment, measuring the reach of

your videos, and determining your ROI is just part of business, and it is an extremely important part of it.

Keeping up with a single YouTube channel properly can be a daunting task, especially if you get a lot of

views and comments (which is the goal, of course). Add to that a Facebook Page, a Twitter account, a set

of Pinterest boards, your LinkedIn profile, your blog, your Google+ page...whew, I’m overwhelmed just

thinking about the man-hours that would require for a business with any kind of presence.

There is an answer, however, thanks to the miracle of modern social media measurement tools. These

dashboards will track all of the above for you and give you the results in reports and graphs that will

keep you from having to add a new division to the company. They are indispensable and affordable for

any size company, from a solo-preneur to a fortune 500 monster.

8. You’re Up for a Promotion!

It’s so easy! Shoot a video, put it up on your Youtube channel, and voila! Everyone stops by to see it,

right? Ummm, no.

Just like anything else online, promotion is necessary to get the word out and, hopefully, get some

traffic. As I have covered before in many articles, cross-promotion of your business’ various online

channels is not only a good practice, but a necessary part of extending reach.

Whenever you post a new video, it should be announced through a tweet, Facebook post, blog entry,

and any other site or page maintained by the business. Youtube has so many videos added every hour

that it boggles the mind, so the chance that yours is the one that will be viewed just because it’s there is

ludicrous and wishful thinking. Promote it often, and encourage your audience to subscribe to your

channel - every time.

9. Make friends, play nice

Although Youtube is a slightly different animal than other social sites, the social aspect is still important.

In fact, it may be more important simply because of the difference in platform. The site is based on

watching the videos, not sharing short, cute phrases or snippets of information that can be squeezed

into a sentence or two. In order to make it a social interaction, it takes a little more effort.

Youtube is a community like any other online community though, and regular users want that

interaction. Just as you would follow or friend someone on another site, you should subscribe to

channels that are in the demographic you are after. This will not only gain you a little favor (because you

now like them), but it will give you insight into what they like, which will help you to create videos they

will enjoy more. Comment on others’ videos as well, just as you should on blog posts, or retweeting, or

liking and sharing. It’s the interaction that garners followers, in addition to quality content.

WHAT YOUTUBE'S CHANGES MEAN FOR YOUR BUSINESS

Now let's discuss the recent changes that the Cupertino gang has made to the incredibly popular video

social network and see how they affect you.

There are three significant pieces to your channel that have been changed, and while you may not have

been forced over to the new format yet, it's coming.

TRA ILER The trailer option is actually a pretty nice feature, although (as pointed out in numerous forums) an

unnecessary one except in one aspect. It allows you to record a video which could be considered the

introduction to your channel, so when you set this up remember to keep it short and sweet but packed

with relevant information.

A trailer is essentially the same as a movie trailer. It's like a commercial for your channel, a way to build

interest and attempt to sway viewers to subscribe. The trailer will only be shown to viewers who have

not subscribed to your channel, so it will not be an annoyance to users who come regularly to your

channel.

Channel Art

This is your banner. The downside to this feature is that the customization options that were available

before to make your channel page unique and let you flex your creative muscles are gone. This has been

widely discussed in Google forums and generally poo-pooed by the loyal and hardcore crowd.

There are two advantages to the new layout, however, even if you think the tons of white space on the

new page make for a bland and conformist look. First, if you are new to the game and setting up your

channel for the first time, it is much easier to do and lets you play with the experts right out of the gate.

Second (and ostensibly the reason for the move), it's a responsive design banner, meaning that it will

display well and uniformly on desktop/laptop, tablet, or mobile phone. Again, a level playing field with

the designers who have had to spend lots of time in the past accommodating for the different devices.

Sticky Guide

This shouldn't affect you much as a marketer, but it's a nice feature change for the viewers and will help

subscribers to your channel get to your riveting videos quicker. The guide for channels is now sticky,

meaning less searching and more clicking through for the viewers.

If you look through the YouTube forums, you will find that the changes in layout are widely, um, not-

liked by the faithful long-timers. For a small business looking to make their mark however, Google may

have just given you a gift that you can't afford to pass up.

Google's analytics tool has also been made easier for admins to access with the new design, which is a

good thing if you are tracking your success on the site. If you are a business, this is something you should

definitely be doing, or you are just playing with a hobby. If you want to get an even better handle on

your social media ROI though, you should really be using a full fledged dashboard to track your

engagement across all of your online platforms

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