Are you currently struggling to generate traffic and sales?
What if I tell you that there’s one single channel that has this amazing power to solve all these issues, would you be surprised.
Of course, you will.
It’s called YouTube.
YouTube currently has more than one billion users. More importantly, brands are generating revenue from YouTube. According to the star, “the top 1,000 YouTube channel makers are earning an average of $23,000 a month.”
Not having a YouTube channel means your business is not reaching these one billion YouTube users. As much as 78% of people watch videos on the internet every week.
Businesses that use videos receive 41% more traffic from search engines, there’s no point in not having a YouTube channel. Is there?
This guide will show you how to create your own YouTube channel in minutes, how to post the first video that gets noticed, and how to convert viewers into subscribers.
Let’s dive in.
1. Define goals and objectives
The first practical step is to decide what you want to achieve from your YouTube channel. There are a whole lot of things that you can achieve from videos for your business, such as:
Get new customers
Acquire new subscribers
Encourage repeat customers
Generate organic traffic
Build engagement with customers
Generate and increase sales
Based on the primary objective of your YouTube channel, you will decide the target audience and the type of content you will create and publish. This is why having having an objective in the first place is critical. Don’t take it lightly.
After you have selected the objective of your channel, you need to develop viewer personas – what type of person will watch your videos. Is it for:
Beginners
Experts
Existing customers
Satisfied customers
People who have had a bad experience with your business
People from a particular city
Buyers from a particular state
On one hand, if you’re selling Solar Panels for example, and you want to target new beginner buyers, you will have to create product-specific videos such as reviews, demonstrations, etc. Your existing customers will not be interested in these videos.
On the other hand, if you’re targeting expert buyers, then they may not be interested in reviews instead, they will be more interested in educational videos.
You’ve got to understand the various types of videos that you can create. This includes:
Tutorials
Reviews
Education
Demonstration
Tutorials
Product-specific
Resources
The more specific your YouTube channel is, the better. Stay focused. Choose a niche, preferably one that’s missed by your competitors. Micro-targeting and one-to-one marketing work best for YouTube channels.
Choose the objectives, select the type of target audience, and the type of videos you plan to create.
Note: If you have to target multiple types of audience, it’s always best to create separate channels.
2. Create a YouTube channel
Creating a new channel on YouTube for your business is fun.
Follow the steps below to set up a new YouTube channel from scratch:
i). First step: Visit YouTube. Make sure you are logged in to your Google account.
ii). Second step: Click on the image thumbnail located at the top right corner. A drop down menu will appear. Click on Creator Studio or click on the icon next to it.
iii). Third step: On the next page, click on Create a channel.
iv). Fourth step: A new dialogue box will popup. Since you’re creating a YouTube channel for your business, click the ‘Use a business or other name’ at the end of the dialogue box.
v). Fifth step: You will move to the next page where you will choose a name for the channel and will be asked to choose a category as well.
Once you’ve clicked on “Done,” you know that you have successfully created a new YouTube channel for your business.
Tips for choosing a catchy name for the channel
The first thing that viewers see on a YouTube video is the channel name. It has to be relevant, meaningful and catchy. Here are a few pro tips for channel name:
Keep it short. Most of the viewers will recommend or search your channel with its name. If it’s long or complicated, they won’t be able to do so.
It has to be unique.
Choose something related to your business or brand.
Do not make it too specific such as ‘Product series xx tutorials’.
Social integration
You can automatically share new videos on Facebook and Twitter. There’s no need to waste time in manually sharing the videos.
Visit account sharing settings. Connect Facebook and Twitter accounts.
New YouTube videos are posted on Google+ automatically.
3. Posting your first video
Before posting a new video on Youtube, here are a few basic rules of creating engaging videos:
Create a video for accomplishment or for entertainment. Do not try both.
Be personal. Corporate and business-specific videos rarely go viral.
Funny and heartwarming videos outperform all other types of videos.
Rival IQ analyzed the anatomy of the most engaging videos on YouTube and found that global funny videos dominate YouTube.
Here is Tomorrowland 2012 video that garnered more than 139 million views.
Creating such an epic video should be your ultimate goal.
Let’s briefly talk about video creation.
Video creation
Just as every blog post has a specific purpose, a YouTube video should have a purpose as well. Ask yourself these questions:
Why exactly are you creating this video?
What do you plan to achieve from this video?
What are the viewers expected to do after watching the video?
These are just a few basic questions to ask before getting started with the video creation.
You can create the video in-house or it can be outsourced.
In any case, it should look professional. Never ever publish a low-quality video. Truth is, a high-quality video will cost you a few hundred bucks but it’s worth it.
Initially, hire someone on a freelancing website or choose a gig on Fiverr.
Video SEO
Your video will be lost (forever) if published without optimization. It must be optimized for YouTube search engine, Google, and other search engines.
Here’s how to do it:
i). Video metadata: Every YouTube video has a title, description, and tags. You have to make sure that you have filled them. Not just filling, you have to use primary keywords to help YouTube search engine find your video.
The title should be descriptive and must include the main keyword.
The description is the meat of the video. You can add as many words you like. Do not stuff keywords here. Add CTA and links in the description.
The tags should be used sensibly. Do not stuff them with your keywords.
Brian Dean uses long descriptions for his videos and uses a right mix of keywords. His videos perform well in search engines.
Use the CTA at the top of the description so that viewers can see it without expanding the description. The clickable URL and the CTA must appear in the first two lines of the description.
This will tell the viewers what they are expected to do.
ii). Use annotations: Use annotations to create powerful CTAs.
BBALLBREAKDOWN increased its channel subscription by using annotations on the videos. It resulted in 31x more subscribers.
When uploading a video, use annotations to create CTAs.
Video promotion
Once you have published the video, it has to be promoted. Optimizing and publishing aren’t enough.
Videos with more views rank higher. New videos do not have enough views so the first task is to get views.
To promote your new video, follow this approach:
Share on social networks.
Share the video on your blog and send it to your list.
Share with business partners and influencers.
Use YouTube ads to promote your video.
Tips for a successful YouTube channel
The journey from the development of a YouTube channel to a successful channel isn’t simple. It might take years before you will start seeing good results.
Be consistent and wait for it
Vat19 has over 3 million subscribers and over 700 videos. It took them well over eight years to reach there. Interestingly, 50% of their website’s traffic come from Facebook and YouTube and 75% traffic is free.
Don’t expect results in weeks or months. Sit back and keep posting videos regularly.
Count the years – not months.
a). Keep videos short
Remember that when you start a new channel, it’s obvious that viewers do not know you. All you have to make them click on your video is the title, thumbnail, and the video length.
Title and thumbnail should be catchy while video length should be under 2 minutes. Long videos tend to perform poorly unless people know you.
Initially, you should keep videos short.
b). Post high quality videos
A blur video with poor lighting will not impress viewers much especially when you’re new in the market.
Therefore, invest money on creating quality videos. No need to buy equipment, if you can’t afford it. Sure you can outsource video creation and save both time and money.
Examples of best YouTube channels
Need inspiration, you have it.
i). Jenna Marbles: With over 16 million subscribers, Jenna Marbles has only 200 videos on her channel. She started the channel 6 years back. She currently posts a new video every Wednesday.
Her channel has made to the 18th spot on the top 50 most subscribed channel list. Guess what, the channels ahead include some of the big guns such as Katy Perry, Justin Bieber, Rihanna, and a few others.
Impressive, right?
Here is the best part, she’s the only one in the team. No production team, no video equipment, no one to support her, and she does all the work ranging from writing to filming to editing to marketing.
Marbles is an inspiration for all those who think they cannot run a YouTube channel without expensive professional equipment.
You can start now.
b). PewDiePie: A funny YouTube channel that is run by a guy from Sweden. PewDiePie has over 49 million subscribers and growing.
It took him 6 years to become the YouTube Celebrity. He posts multiple times a week and his videos have views in millions. A video posted three days ago has more than 3 million views.
c). Casey Neistat: This is one of the fastest growing channels on YouTube with over 5 million subscribers. Casey Neistat posts daily and this is what keeps his channel alive.
Not to mention, his videos are of exceptional quality. This is what viewers love.
Conclusion
A YouTube channel, clearly, is a long-term investment and commitment. Once started, there is no turning back.
The future of the internet is TV. For you, it starts the very first day you launch a YouTube Channel. Will you do it today?
As you build your community, gain more traction for your brand, you need to start leveraging on video marketing via YouTube. You will hardly regret it.