Everything You Need to Know About YouTube Marketing Strategies

There are countless ways to publicize a message, but nothing quite communicates like video.

Take YouTube, for example.

The top video-streaming site is also the most visited website behind Google, the leading search engine online. Google even bought YouTube in 2006, assuring its status as the premiere video-sharing platform from the start.

Over 2 billion viewers (and creators) log into YouTube every month. Among these users is your target audience, but you need the right strategy to identify and attract them.

Start leveraging video with these data-driven YouTube Strategies.

Finding Your Message

Every memorable marketing campaign needs a compelling message that demands attention. Finding this message is the first phase of your YouTube marketing strategy.

How do you find a message?

Good question!

You can’t find your message without writing your brand story first.

Start by asking yourself a few simple questions:

— Why am I passionate about my product (or company?)
— What’s the mission behind my brand?
— What’s my competitor’s message?
— What makes my product stand out?
— What problems does my product solve?

Asking these questions will help you discover your brand story. Consumers crave stories; that’s why storytelling is so vital to viral marketing campaigns.

Once you’ve identified your brand story, you need a brand awareness message that connects with your target audience, but this begs the question: how do you find your viewer base?

How to Find Your Target YouTube Audience

Marketing messages that miss the mark reveal a lack of market research.

Market research identifies target audiences through data collection. Researchers create customer profiles based on household size, annual income, purchasing power, gender, problems and solutions, age, and more data sets.

This phase also includes social listening, the process of monitoring relevant social media activity, including mentions, hashtags, conversations, opinions, and competitor accounts. Social listening is a vital tool for uncovering messages that work or fall flat.

Like brand stories, asking questions gets to the root of great messaging.

Consider the following demographic questions:

• Which causes or values are important to your audience?
• What are their hopes for the future?
• What are their preferred social media platforms?
• What are their favorite commercials or ads?
• What events or personalities do they prefer?
• What music do they enjoy?
• What do they like to read?
• What is their preferred style?

These questions get to the heart of viewers’ content preferences.

Social listening is one way to gather this information; there’s also focus groups, feedback forms, surveys, beta testing, usability tests, web analytics, and trend reports.

Once you flesh out your “ideal customer” profile, draft marketing messages that speak to your profile’s values, hopes, personality, and desires. Messages also present solutions to problems shared by your target audience.

Types of Video Content

Once you define your message, you need a vehicle to communicate that message.

YouTube marketing strategies employ a host of content formats, including explainer videos, sponsored influencer videos, DIY tutorials, aerial drone videos, interviews, commercials, and more.

Market research reveals the content types trending with your audience, while A/B testing nails down which formats work best. A/B testing is the process of testing multiple versions of a strategy to see which converts the best.

If you’re creating a YouTube video ad, create two or three versions before investing further into one strategy. Since YouTube’s ads are pay-per-click, you don’t have to waste your budget on low-performing ads.

Inbound YouTube Marketing Strategies

Market research can only guide you so much. Companies are embracing inbound YouTube marketing strategies and for a good reason.

Inbound marketing follows the buyer’s journey. The buyer’s journey is simple; most consumers follow a series of steps before buying a product.

First, consumers recognize a problem; that problem could be back pain or hair loss.

Next, they look for information about their problem, including solutions.

After gathering enough data, consumers compare competitors to find the right product.

The final stage of the journey is the purchase; however, many inbound strategies recognize a fifth “post-purchase” stage. Post-purchase content is usually thank you messages, confirmations, or other follow-up marketing material.

YouTube content works at nearly every stage of the buyer’s journey.

Video commercials help consumers recognize problems, which makes them ideal for the “problem recognition” stage. Sponsored influencer videos also work, especially if the influencer can relate to the problem.

How-to videos are excellent content for the information research stage. Title your video content to match search phrases relevant to this stage, like “how to fix a dent in a car” or “causes of hair loss.” Product demo videos and explainer videos also work for this step.

You can also use SEO tools to uncover the best keyword opportunities with the lowest ranking difficulty.

Company background videos and “behind the scenes” content works well for the decision-making stage. This method is especially effective in employer branding campaigns.

In-House or Outsource?

Do you have a plan for production, promotion, and distribution? Without proper execution, your YouTube strategies are bound to fail.

Your next step is to design a foolproof execution plan.

Consultants can help craft a marketing plan, but you need creatives to bring your message to life. You can find creatives in-house, contact freelance agencies, or outsource creative work from marketing agencies.

In-house marketing campaigns are pretty doable. There’s a wide range of tools that make beginners look like pros.

You can use free video templates, stock footage, or compose your own audio at https://setapp.com/app-reviews/best-youtube-to-mp3-converters.

Don’t forget your script!

Scriptwriting is the unsung hero of YouTube marketing. Watch viral video campaigns from Dollar Shave Club, the Purple Company, CarMax, Carvana, and Old Spice to discover clever scriptwriting secrets.

Make An Impact With Video

Are you ready to communicate your message to the world?

Craft YouTube Marketing Strategies that follow your viewers through the buyer’s journey.

Remember these tips as you design your strategy, and visit the blog to discover even more tricks to video marketing success.