Social Marketing 2.0 - YouTube

What is YouTube?

YouTube is a online community that allows its users to share video with others. Anyone can register with YouTube and upload, watch and share movies for free. Users can give any videos a 1 - 5 star quality rating and post comments for other users to see. This allows users to decide whether content is worth looking at.






Interesting stats:

• YouTube is currently one of the top 5 most visited sites online!


• More then 65, 000 new videos are uploaded every day!


• Over 200 000 000 (two hundred million) clips are watched every day


• Its growth far exceeded other online communities such as myspace, facebook, blogger and e-bay and is one of the largest Social networks online!

Leverageing YouTube to generate business?

While a majority of the videos posted on YouTube are posted by amateurs looking for laughs a good Internet marketer will find that YouTube can be used to drive traffic to websites and generate business. This traffic is very inexpensive. The use of YouTube is free! so the only investment you will need to make will be producing the video and a bit of bandwidth needed to upload your video.

Step By Step

1. Create an account - Go to YouTube.com and register with YouTube.
2. Make a video worth watching - While it is true that there are thousands of badly made videos on YouTube that have generated thousands of hits, having a good video that other users will want to share with friends will have a huge impact on the end result. Not only will it generate more views (if marketed well) but it will also increase your conversion rate (number of people that watch your video and take the desired action e.g. buy your product, click on your link etc.)
3. Choose your keywords - YouTube uses search to allow users to find content that they are looking for. It is important that YouTube knows exactly what your video is about so it can bring it up on the result page of relevant search queries. Spend some time making a good list of keywords, the more the better. YouTube has a keyword refinement feature that, as the name suggests, will allow you to refine your keywords and and get the most out of your efforts.
4. Customize your channel - Spend some time creating a custom profile and your own custom channel information. You should also create at least one group and a playlist. This will allow people to find you when they search for channels, groups or playlists.

Movies that work

• Funny - "Funny" is one of the most searched words online. Internet users like to laugh. By having a funny video you increase the chance of viewers sharing it with their friends. Funny movies, have mass appeal and have the potential to go viral. The below link is an example of a funny video advertising Chicken Mc nuggets. Macdonald's created a competition where users could create an advert for their "new" chicken Mc nuggets and this is the winning entry. Example 1 This video has just under 1.8 million views as of this moment.
• Demonstrative - Sometimes a simple demonstration of your product or service can be very effective as a selling tool. This often wont generate the same volume of hits as other types of videos but they will often have a good conversion rate. The below link is a good example of a product demonstration. Example 2
• Interesting - If you can spark curiosity in your viewers through your YouTube video, there is a good chance they will visit your site to find out more.
• Instructional - A how to video is often very affective. The below link is an example of aninstructional video. It has just over 1 million views as of this moment. Example 3
• Shocking - Shocking videos have a big audience online. More so in video form then in writing on someones website as the video proves that the shocking thing is actually true. The below link is an excellent example of a shocking video clip. This particular video spread around the Internet and caused quite a stir. It has almost 7 million views as of writing this article. It was produced by a company that produced bluetooth headsets. Viewers flocked to their site where they were told the video wasn't real... but look at all our products anyway. Example 4
• Sexy - Everyone already knows this point, Sex sells. It can however negatively affect your brand if don in a tasteless way. Before using this, make sure your product lends itself to this kind of video and do it in a tasteful way.

Creating a YouTube video
Brainstorm

Start by having a look at what other people are doing. Find videos that are marketing similar products or are using similar styles to the one that you have in mind. Once you have a few examples, sit with the relevant people in your organization and come up with an idea. Keep in mind that short movies do much better then long movies. 1 - 3 minutes is ideal.

Write a script

Once you have a direction for your YouTube video, spend some time writing it out. This doesn't have to be the exact script that you will use, you may come up with ideas as you go. This is a guide that will help you to keep moving in the direction you want.

Filming

This is no different to filming any video:

• Make sure you have good lighting. This radically affects the quality of the end product. Position your lights so as not to cast shadows etc.
• Select the location that will best suit your video.
• Use a tripod to support your camera. Nothing looks more un-professional then a shaky hand.
• Make sure you have good sound quality. Don't just rely on the sound of your camera.

YouTube formats

There are limits placed on your YouTube videos. They cant be longer then 10 minutes and they cant be bigger then 100 megabyte in size. It is therefore important that you chose the correct format to allow small file size, as well as good quality.

YouTube supports various video formats: .WMV, .AVI, .MOV, .MPG

YouTube recommends

• .MPEG4
• 320 x 240 resolution
• MP3 audio
• 30 frames per second

This gives the best size to quality ratio and streams the best on YouTube.

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