YouTube is great for marketing, a fact backed up by a slew of amazing usage statistics.
These are some of the things that really stand out:
- 500 hours The video is uploaded to YouTube Every minute.
- YouTube is the second most popular social networking site, with over 2 billion monthly users. This third from Internet!
- Viewers 4 times more likely To use YouTube against another platform to discover information about a brand, product or service – which means there is a ready audience for your content.
- Millennials also spend a lot of their time on YouTube. Among millennials, YouTube reaches the 18-34 demographic more than any television network.
How can you make the most of the YouTube opportunity?
It starts with a great video. Check out these 13 key ingredients for a successful YouTube video.
1. Branded Intro Shots
The importance of branding in marketing cannot be overemphasized. Branding helps build loyalty.
Including branded intro shots helps loyal viewers instantly recognize your work so they will stick with you and keep watching.
Additionally, branding is important to ensuring that viewers remember your video, which is especially helpful when they need to refer someone to it.
Although they may forget the actual content and the name of the video, remembering your branded footage will help direct viewers to your channel.
2. An attention-grabbing introduction
Do you know that about 20% Who will leave after the first 10 seconds of your YouTube video?
Even worse, they might give you the thumbs up.
so, what are you doing?
It’s all about the introduction.
After including your branded introductory footage, convince the viewer to keep watching. Explain clearly what they are about to see, and how this benefits them.
If you’re showing them how to solve a problem, personalize it so they feel you’ve been affected, too. This builds trust and a sense that the solution is valuable.
3. Keep titles and opening credits short
As mentioned above, our attention span is incredibly short. Nothing is worse than the all-out start of a video that leads to a loss of interest.
Even worse, that long opening will discourage binge watching. Who wants to watch the same long opener over and over again?
More than half of YouTube viewers will watch the entire video when it’s less than 1 minute long.
Instead, strive for a 5-second opener that’s punchy and straight to the point.
4. Build trends in your video content
Using trending topics is a tried and true method of successful link building and can also be applied to your video content.
Think seasonal, newsworthy, local, unique, movies, games, music, even surprise topics, etc. These are all great sources of trending topics for you to incorporate into your videos.
Not sure where to start? Give trending youtube (country-specific) or Popular on YouTube (universal) try.
Google trends and even Twitter trends They are also great resources for discovering trending topics to tie into your video content.
5. Background music
Should background music be included? After all, people only care what you have to say.
However, thanks to technology, we get bored. fast.
There is nothing more boring than a boring YouTube video.
Including musical background Not only does it instantly grab attention, it sets the mood for your viewing session, and establishes an emotional connection.
In addition, the music drives the pace of the video, while the great soundtrack gives viewers one more reason to share the video.
However, beware of two things:
- That music evokes the desired emotions and aura.
- You are legally allowed to use the music in your video.
6. Being heard clearly
Unfortunately, a great intro and nice background music can’t help if you’re not clearly audible.
Remember, the ultimate goal is for your audience to understand what you are putting across. If your video is just a pictorial illustration, loud background music will suffice.
On the other hand, if your video includes an oral presentation, make sure you can be heard over the background music.
7. Briefness
Well, maybe not that short. However, this video has more than 11 million views.
With YouTube allowing users to search for videos based on duration, among other filters, it is clear that we cannot ignore the importance of video length in YouTube.
8. Personalized experiences
Take advantage of the subtle moments. These are the times when people need to know, go, do or buy something and head to the nearest device to help them achieve it.
Use data to give people what they want, when they want it.
This can take many forms. Consider creating a relationship between events on TV or teasing about big moments in popular culture, politics, sports, technology, and more.
Another option is to leverage data to deliver personalized video content.
To start this process:
- Visit Google Trends for help checking out the growing demand or topic.
- See what people are searching for and tailor your videos to current conversations. The keyword research tool can help you narrow down the right keyword targets.
- Next, this Free Chrome Plugin from vidIQ It will give you valuable competitive data for current ads that are going viral, including tags, social shares, average watch time, speed, and more.
- Finally, once the video is created, make use of YouTube Analytics to answer “who is actually watching” and “what are they really interested in”.
9. A call to action
As mentioned earlier, YouTube viewers are short on time. After all, there is a lot of content to view in one day. They have jobs and lives (presumably).
Thus, you need to be creative with how you include a call-to-action because your audience will increasingly disappear over the course of your video.
Participation drops dramatically between Two minutes, three minutes. This means that your CTA should not be placed at the end, and this is especially true for long videos.
Instead, consider clickable annotations in the first few seconds of the video.
Bonus tip: If you are looking to increase your YouTube subscriber base, add the following parameter to your url: ? sub_confirmation = 1.
Here’s an example: https://www.youtube.com/user/jonleeclark? sub_confirmation = 1. You’ll get a nice little popup asking the user to sign up.
Screenshot taken by the author, May 202110: Add end screens to promote your videos, channel or website
While end screens can only be added to the last 20 seconds of a video, these handy graphics can be used to link to everything from a website URL, YouTube channel or video playlist (like another video in a series), or prompt a viewer to subscribe.
When creating a video, be sure to leave a space, as the video ends, to add an end screen.
How to learn SEO quickly and effectively, Ahrefs, May 202111. Design thumbnails for YouTubers that they want to click
Of all the items on this list, thumbnails have the most potential to make or break your success on YouTube.
The reason is simple.
Suggested videos tend to be the main source of organic traffic on YouTube. In a sense, YouTube acts as a “validator” for your content by suggesting it as something the viewer might also enjoy.
Thumbnails that attract clicks are more likely to feed the algorithm which leads to more clicks etc.
Here are three simple best practices to keep in mind:
Do not deceive the user.
Make sure the thumbnail is appropriate and displayed on the title of the video. If not, you risk less watch time which will negatively affect the algorithm – the opposite of what we want.
Design thumbnails for smaller screens.
YouTube recommend 1280 x 720; However, most of the video consumption occurs on a smaller screen.
Make sure your image still stands out by playing with color saturation, cropping to a smaller area, or playing with the edges of the image.
Bonus tip: Can’t select a thumbnail? Consider testing a few of your thumbnail options with a simple Adwords test. A small investment of $10-20 per day will provide some insight into which thumbnail creates the strongest VTR (View Completed Rate).
Maintain a consistent style, look, and feel.
I realize this is open-ended, but some consistency considerations include the logo, common colors and shapes, consistent face and font, etc.
Over time, this consistency will increase video recognition during skimming; And if they enjoy your content, they are more likely to click on it. people over Keywordtool.io Do this well.
How to Research YouTube Trends (Tips to Grow Your Channel), Keyword Tool, May 202112: Create a “guest slot” for other YouTubers
Perhaps the most common example of a “guest slot” is an interview.
But no matter your structure, collaborating with creators who already have an audience is a great way to build your own because it provides exposure to an audience that may never hear about you.
Find creatives who are already in your niche or who serve an audience with similar interests. Social Blade is a tool that can help you find channels that serve similar demographics and channel size.
Make sure your guest is featured in a positive and prominent light so they are more likely to cross-promote your video.
13. Give the audience a chance to participate
It may sound strange if you don’t go live, but getting your audience involved has its perks.
For example, asking viewers direct questions gives you opportunities to generate and provide responses to comments – further fueling the engagement algorithm.
Viewer comments can also provide ideas for future content and opportunities to create content around responses through ‘fan clips’ or shouts of ideas.
way forward
To improve performance on YouTube, increase traffic to your site and increase revenue for your business, implement best practices in your video creation process.
These tried and tested YouTube video elements are sure to contribute to your video marketing success!
More resources:
- 7 It is imperative to have a successful YouTube channel
- YouTube for Beginners: How to Set Up Your Channel
- Social Media Marketing: A Complete Strategy Guide
Featured image: Alina Rozanova/Shutterstock
All screenshots were taken by the author, May 2021
