What is YouTube?
Owned by Google, YouTube is the web’s most popular video sharing website and the fourth most popular site overall. Although it carries a bit of a reputation for users uploading copyright-infringing material, the site is also a haven for video makers, producers and companies sharing original work and is used by some of the world’s top brands.
Adding videos to your repertoire of marketing tools can lead to a huge upsurge in your site traffic and press coverage. YouTube is big on sharing its videos and anything uploaded on the site can be shared on Twitter, Facebook and many of the smaller networks with a few clicks.
It’s also possible to comment on videos and get feedback from your customers that way and many companies use YouTube as a way to hold contests with a bit of pizazz.
General use of the site is free, but by becoming a YouTube Partner you can get extra benefits such as customising your profile page, generating revenue and keeping hold of the copyright of videos you upload. Becoming a partner is also said to boost your video up the searches made on YouTube.
Benefits
There’s a lot of talk about videos going viral – that is that they become so popular everyone has seen them and talks about them – but this is easier said than done. If achieved, your business will enjoy the limelight of the internet and articles, Facebook fan pages and like after like will find its way to you on YouTube. The problem, however, is that what goes viral is rarely a deliberate act and is more likely to be made by an individual than a company.
YouTube is not only a great platform for sharing your video with users of the site, it’s great for hosting large videos that would otherwise eat into your hosting space. These can easily be embedded on your homepage, your blog and be used by others, further spreading your message.
Having a host of videos helps with your SEO as you can take advantage of universal search results. Google continues to experiment with what it can place on the pages of search results and videos, especially from the site it owns, often feature prominently.
Use videos to show a more creative and personal side to your business. Instead of releasing a press release with your CEO’s words in print, film him and embed that with your PR. Film ‘how to’ videos or speakers at a conference to share your expertise on your industry.
When looking for videos, most web users head straight to YouTube so it makes sense to have your content where they’re likely to find it. This will increase your exposure and your chances to connect with your customers.
Risks
Going viral works both ways. Create something terrible that you’d rather forget about and it could quickly spread round the world. Still, there’s no thing as bad publicity…
If you don’t sign up as a partner, the copyright and distribution rights for any video you upload are handed over to YouTube.
Many people watching videos on YouTube are there to do so for pleasure. There’s a fine line between joining in and trying to takeover by posting business-related videos there.
Although comments and communication is encouraged, there are many people who may take the chance to badmouth your company or product. How you deal with those comments, and how many times they are read, can have serious implications for your company. There’s also no control over the related links that YouTube decides to show with your video and they may show videos that people think your company is suggesting which you’d rather distance yourself from.
Make sure that you upload videos in high quality that reflects well on you. Check your upload as soon as it’s online to make sure it gives a good representation of your company. Low level quality videos often get stopped before a user has finished watching them.
If you use music or any clips in your video, be sure that you have the correct permissions or that they are royalty free to include these.
Tools
YouTube editor is an online tool that makes minor tweaks to a complete video. You can’t edit individal frames, but you can tweak the brightness, contrast and iron out the bumps created by an unsteady hand.
As well as the Google Adwords tool, there’s a tool available specifically to help you find keywords for your videos, using data specific to YouTube to help you rank better on the site.








