youtube downloaderYouTube Marketing For Brands & RetailersYouTube is an outlet where most brands are missing the mark. Why? Because they are only using it for one purpose and not connecting it to multiple marketing objectives.
Brands and retailers that are using YouTube need to ensure that their content is engaging community members through channel participation. At the same time, brands and retailers need to use Youtube to drive online traffic to select destinations and enhance website search engine optimization strategies.
Creating Participation & Community Engagement
The first thing fashion brands, retailers and marketers must understand is that YouTube is a platform built entirely around the concept of engagement; its community is built around connections related to the website�s content. The second thing you must understand is that YouTube community members are very vocal about the content they do and don�t like; they are going to voice their opinions via comments, likes, share, or even direct video replies to your posted videos.
Just before YouTube launched branded channels in 2006, Tony Nethercutt offered great insights for creating community engagement via YouTube video marketing: �Create video ads that are built for the audience that is viewing it; make it as unique and as engaging as possible. Avoid the interruption model.�
Moderating Democratically
In order for brands or retailers to maximize YouTube as a community building tool, they have to make their content accessible. This means moderating comments democratically; deleting profane, vulgar comments is okay, but make sure you refrain from silencing consumers in the name of �brand control�. Your customers have opinions, these opinions serve as valuable market research.
Don�t Put A Muzzle On Your Audience
Brands shouldn�t disable video sharing capabilities. Let your community members spread content. After all, wasn�t it the brand that approved the video and its content? Why wouldn�t a viewer be allowed to embed the video to their blog or share the video via another social network?
Brands that want to get the most from YouTube in terms of RETAIL ROI (sales, new customers and traffic) should actively participate in the YouTube community. They need to take part in the discussion of the community members� content that�s relevant to their brand. This will increase positive votes of the brand�s main content which then boosts the visibility on YouTube and search engines.
What�s Search Got To Do With It?
Most YouTube videos, as well as YouTube channels, aren�t properly optimized for higher ranking on search engines. This presents an amazing opportunity for smaller retailers to gain online market share and traffic by outranking larger retailers.
According to comScore, YouTube ranks #2 in terms of search engines; it�s second only to Google (which now owns YouTube) and outranks Bing, Yahoo and any other search service. If a brand or retailer using YouTube as a marketing outlet isn�t optimizing their content, they�re not maximizing the money spent on video marketing. In fact, they�re losing online traffic that could be converted to sales.