For many businesses and brands, success on YouTube remains elusive, and to many, the challenges the platform presents can seem insurmountable.
There are, however, some powerhouse brands that are thriving on the platform, though we might more typically refer to them as ‘YouTubers’.
Through interviews with several top YouTubers, a recent video on FastCompany sheds some insight on what it takes to be successful on YouTube, much of which is directly applicable to more traditional business and brands.
Many of these lessons are also pertinent to other social media networks, so even if making your business a YouTube juggernaut isn’t a top priority, you may have interest in reading on.
BUILDING A COMMUNITY TAKES TIME AND DEDICATION
No, those three videos you created for YouTube during your last TV shoot as an add-on aren’t going to do the trick. Like any social media network, building a community takes time and dedication to prove to your targeted audience that you’re worth spending time with, and deserving of sustained attention.
BE TRUE TO YOUR BRAND
Short-term opportunities can be tempting, but if they force you to stray from your brand, results will be lacking substance and impact, and you’ll risk confusing – or worse – misleading your audience. Staying true to your brand will ensure the relevance of your content and the audience you attract, which will result in maximizing your business results.
KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE
Knowing your audience and having a firm grasp on the role that your business and brand plays in their lives is tremendously important. Insight in these areas will help you to determine what content will be of most value, which will ultimately earn your brand an invitation to participate in your target audience’s lives.
MARKETING IS REQUIRED TO GROW YOUR AUDIENCE
Just being on YouTube, or any social media network for that matter, does not mean your business will have an automatic audience. Building an audience frequently requires a great deal of effort through ancillary marketing strategies and tactics. Devise platform marketing or promotion plans to raise awareness of your presence on YouTube, to demonstrate the value your business is offering, and formulate methods to convert viewership to subscriptions.
MANAGEABLE PRODUCTION IS A MUST
Long-term success on YouTube requires ongoing dedication and effort to regularly create content that is going to be of value to your audience, and sustained success will be impossible if content isn’t created for your audience with relative frequency. In order to create video content on an ongoing basis, you’ll need to figure out how to do it in a manageable, cost-effective fashion. This will mean something very different for every business as resources, expertise and budgets are all factors that play a role in what is manageable.
CONTENT COMES FIRST
In the world of YouTubers, content comes first, which means they have to nail down their value proposition, even before they think about making a buck. Ultimately, when they do monetize their efforts, they have a strong understanding of their brand, their audience, what their audience wants, and how these elements contribute to a cohesive, customer-centric business strategy. The more that traditional businesses can adopt and apply this kind of focus to their business and content efforts, the more successful they’ll be.
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How has your business achieved YouTube or video marketing success?
How have you been able to manage producing video content on a regular basis?
How does audience insight play a role in your business and content marketing strategies?
It would be great to chat with you more about this in the comments, or on Twitter @RGBSocial
Social Articles | Business 2 Community
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