Starting a YouTube channel can seem like a huge pain, especially for a business owner or time-strapped marketer who now has to deal with a video-obsessed target audience. Well, it does suck, but it has become increasingly apparent that most brands should have some form of video content in order to engage their potential audience.
READ MORE: 8 tips for good video editing by a video editor for your Singapore business
However, it’s not too late to start a YouTube account for your business if you haven’t already. The numbers don’t lie: YouTube’s growth in traffic, revenue, and a rabid user base that can’t get enough video content for any brand’s target audience or budget are unparalleled.
That’s because YouTube has it all, from bite-sized commercials to attract customers to how-tos and tutorials to behind-the-scenes looks at your company culture.
How big is YouTube really?
Every minute, 500 hours of video are uploaded to YouTube. While that may appear to be a difficult channel to break into, YouTube is still an invaluable way for many businesses to increase brand exposure. And, with YouTube Shorts, a new micro content format that competes with apps like TikTok and Instagram Reels, creators now have another way to reach audiences in novel ways.
Here are some stats that you should know:
- YouTube has over two billion users.
- YouTube is the world’s second most popular search engine.
- Viewers are four times more likely to use YouTube to research a brand, product, or service.
- Behind Google, YouTube is the second most visited website.
- Every day, users watch over 1 billion hours of content.
- 70% of viewers say YouTube increases their awareness of new brands.
Is it easy to set up a YouTube channel for your business?
The first thing you’ll need to do is create your business channel, which YouTube makes incredibly simple. With just a few clicks, you’ll be ready to start building your new channel. Here’s how to get started with a YouTube channel:
- Sign in to YouTube and click the user icon in the upper right corner of the screen.
- It would be advisable to use your company email or YouTube account as the primary owner
- To access your account’s YouTube Settings, click the gear icon.
- Select Create a new channel.
- Enter your brand name and click the Create button.
It is an easy process, but remember that is just the start. Developing the content strategy, making sure you optimise the descriptions and tagging requires time and effort to get right.
Why a YouTube channel for your business makes sense?
We are focusing primarily on Singapore and Malaysia with this article, so we need to see if a YouTube channel makes sense for your business.
There are over 5 million YouTube users in Singapore. On average they spend almost 21 Hours a month on the platform. This makes the platform the largest by user numbers in the country and I can safely say your customers are on the platform.
In Malaysia, YouTube has 23.6 million users, which is equivalent to a staggering 71.6% of the population. It is safe to say that the platform has great reach. That alone should be a sufficient reason to start your own business YouTube channel.
How do you use your YouTube channel for growth?
YouTube is a competitive marketing environment because you’re thousands of brands and creators. So, first and foremost, you need to create a YouTube channel rather than just a YouTube account. Your channel offers a library of all your content from which visitors can choose, as well as more branding and customization options.
Take advantage of YouTube shorts
If you have a YouTube business channel, you are already aware of how difficult it is to increase your subscriber base. The market is oversaturated, and the big guns are catering to the majority of the audience.
Content creators now have a golden opportunity to scale their YouTube channel growth and increase their engagement rate with the introduction of YouTube Shorts.
YouTube Shorts can help you gain new subscribers faster and more effectively than any other marketing strategy on YouTube. Despite its youth, YouTube wants to expand this segment and raise awareness of YouTube Shorts, so the algorithm also assists creators in increasing their organic reach.
YouTube Shorts has one of the highest organic reach percentages on the platform. Nothing can stop an increase in your engagement numbers when you create an engaging Short with all of the SEO-focused tags and keywords.
Use your YouTube channel as an education tool
We use our YouTube channel to educate and engage our customers. We all know that YouTube is a social media platform where businesses and individuals post a variety of content intended to entertain. However, content that helps a business grow, should be more than just entertaining.
Businesses have experience and expertise in their fields that their customers can benefit from. Presenting that expertise creatively allows businesses to communicate directly with their customer base on a new level.
Some brands educate their customers in novel ways, such as by displaying products and explaining functionality or insightful applications. A company could also make a demonstration of their service or testimonial videos to promote its brand.
Use SEO to boost your views
Great content needs to be seen by enough people to really matter. Every day, YouTube’s 2 billion users watch approximately 1 billion hours of video content. So, how do you stand out from the crowd and get YouTube’s algorithm to show your videos?
If you’re familiar with SEO and Google’s algorithm, you’ll notice that YouTube works in a similar fashion, with one major difference: personalization.
When you Google a phrase, you get roughly the same website results as other people. I say “roughly” because some results vary depending on location.
However, if you and a friend sat in the same room, connected to the same Wi-Fi, and searched for the same keyword, you’d get the same results. However, when YouTube displays search results, it considers the keyword and other factors that Google looks for, such as how popular a video is already, keywords in the title, and so on. However, YouTube considers your viewing history as well as the types of videos you enjoy watching.
As a result, no two users’ YouTube homepages or search results will be identical. Personalization helps, but it’s still necessary to do all of the other YouTube SEO things to get your videos found in search results.
Make the content human – be the face of your brand
Many small businesses want to provide a personalised touch for their customers, and YouTube can help with that by putting a face to a brand. Make use of your content to address your audience and connect with your following.
Inform them of your objectives, upcoming projects, or community outreach. This allows them to see your company as more than just a business.
It doesn’t have to be on every video, but try to connect with your audience on a personal level every few videos. Even a still image with audio in the background will suffice!
Leverage existing content for your YouTube channel
Established businesses should abandon the notion that they lack content ideas. Not every video concept has to be original and created from scratch. Repurposed content has produced some of YouTube’s best videos.
This does not always imply constructing from old videos (though it can!). It means you can convert old webinars, podcasts, blogs, case studies, and even PowerPoint presentations into the content.
READ MORE: Why you should repurpose your content all the time
If your company hosts a webinar with thousands of attendees, for example, create some supporting content and repurpose the webinar into a video tutorial that is both valuable and engaging to your customer base.
Do you have an old blog that serves as a how-to guide for one of your best-selling products? For a quick solution, convert the blog’s content into a script for your new video, or screen record the blog with a voiceover presentation.
Be clear with your call-to-actions (CTAs)
YouTube is brimming with call-to-action (CTA) methods that businesses can use to boost growth.
The most visible method is to explicitly state these CTAs to customers in the content. When creating your video script, consider the following: What do I want my customers to do? Then state or request it directly!
Do you want them to follow your YouTube channel? “Please like, share, and subscribe to our channel!” include a line.
Do you want visitors to your website to see a product line? Include a detailed audio call-to-action with a link within the video and in the description section.
You can also include calls to action in your videos by using button links. Include a subscribe button at the beginning and end of your video, as well as video recommendations for other content on your channel. Then, within the video, include buttons for all social media channels.
Should you set up a YouTube channel for your business?
We like to ensure we provide you with the truth. So, yes you should set up a YouTube channel and use it to promote your business, but no it won’t be that easy. It is however worth it, especially when you are building our your brand and want to create something that is memorable and engaging.
This is applicable to both B2B and B2C companies, because customer education and engagement is important to any business.
If you need help setting up your YouTube channel, from building out the description, designing the banner image and developing a content series for you, drop us a message at hello(@)syncpr.co and one of our consultants will get back to you within 24 hours.