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New Study: Get On YouTube, NOW

Still wondering if creating a YouTube channel is worth it for your brand? Well, I think you may be convinced by the time I get through with you (cue the evil laugh).

 

 

Woah. Ok, that was completely terrifying. Moving on -

Pixability has released a new report, Top 100 Global Brands: Key Lessons for Success on YouTube, that’s got some pretty tantalizing and alluring stats underscoring why you should set up a YouTube account, like, yesterday.

Well, let’s just start with a disclaimer. Taken straight from Pixability’s About Us page, the company is a...

“…YouTube-certified marketing and advertising company that works with brands, e-commerce firms, agencies, and innovative organizations to drive business and awareness with online video and YouTube. Using its powerful, proprietary, cloud-based video marketing software and online.” (Emphasis mine.)

Yes, there actually is a YouTube Certification Program, and by my reckoning, it looks like a pretty exclusive club.

Now before we all go for Pixability’s head with claims of “bias” and “arrogant self-promotion,” let’s remember that we are all arrogant self-promoters (i.e. marketers) and shouldn’t take ourselves so seriously. Besides, we all rely on these kinds of studies from the cool kids to add rhyme and reason (i.e. value) to our work. So let’s just try and keep a dash of rational perspective as I relay these pretty convincing numbers:

(One thing to note: Pixability used Interbrand’s Best Global 100 Brands for their study.) 

  • Only 1 out of the Top 100 Global Brands does not have a YouTube channel (I'd hate to be that guy).
  • 56 of the Top 100 have 10 or more YouTube channels.
  • Since 2009, video publishing rates on YouTube by the Top 100 Global Brands have increased an average of 73% annually. By 2015, Pixability predicts they will likely create over one million new YouTube videos.
  • In the past eight years, these brands’ have attracted 9.5 billion video views collectively.
  • Over 30% of the total aggregate video views for these top brands occur 12 weeks after publication. That means these YouTube videos may have a longer lasting marketing impact than social media.

Oh, those crazy kids and their videos. Most of these top players may have all jumped on the YouTube bandwagon, but that doesn’t mean they’ve all figured out the secret to YouTube success. It looks like some are suffering from flawed video marketing strategies:

"Many of the Top 100 Global Brands fail to reach their audiences because they focus more on video production and less on video marketing. Over 50% of the videos produced by the Top 100 Global Brands have less than 1,000 views."

Given all of this data and insight gathered by Pixability, here are some best practices to invigorate your brand’s YouTube marketing. YES!

Integrate your YouTube videos with your other marketing efforts.

Your YouTube channel should not be a stand-alone effort. All of the content produced for it should be integrated into and pushed through your social channels and blog. At Synecore, we do a weekly Marketing Technology Minute, where we use the #MarketingTechMin hashtag to promote the YouTube video on our other social channels. We also place it as a post right here on our Marketing Technology for Growth blog. 

new-study-get-on-YouTube-now

Maintain brand consistency on your YouTube page.

Just like on any other social platform, make sure that your brand messaging is consistent on your YouTube page. YouTube’s One Channel layout provides a more cohesive experience for both the brand and consumer, offering an optimized experience on all devices. Some of the features include a landscape photo at the top (think Facebook’s timeline photo), a spot for a video to highlight your brand and YouTube page, and the opportunity to create playlists. My colleagues Jacey and Spencer outline some excellent tips to optimize your YouTube channel in a recent #MarketingTechMin:

 

 

Also, while it may initially be appealing to create multiple YouTube channels to target different audience segments, first make sure you have the resources to manage all of the channels. This includes regularly posting fresh content that honors your brand’s unique voice. A good thing to remember: more content > more channels.

Like any other content, optimize your YouTube content for SEO.

After all, YouTube is the second largest search engine behind Google, and video content is 53 times more likely to achieve first page ranking status over traditional content, according to Forrester Research. Ahahahaha Google owns YouTube, so yes, being a very irrational fan of conspiracy theory, I do indeed believe that Google is going to take over my life.

How do you optimize your video content? Integrate the keywords that you’re currently using in your content strategy into your meta tags, descriptions and video titles on your YouTube channel. Viola!

Good content is varied and doesn’t necessary mean overproduction.

As Pixability’s study highlights, your YouTube content may have room for commercial, professional-grade (i.e. Hollywood) standard video, but there may also be room for user-generated content and more personalized, event-focused video.

A great example of more event-focused video comes from Intel that highlights the Intel Ultrabook Project in London featuring will.i.am (yaaaaa-uuhhh.)

 

One thing to note in this example is that it is coming from Intel, a brand with a big budget. When it comes to producing videos for you and your brand, focus on the content over the fancy production.

Remember, your YouTube channel is just another part of your integrated marketing strategy and, as such, should be focused on the consumer journey. Therefore, there is opportunity for longer, richer content as well as shorter content as well.

The Takeaway

While I do not wish to exhaust you with a repetitive refrain of video, VIDEO, VIDEEEOOOO, I totally am. But it’s because I care. And you just can’t ignore the power of a great video. So there you be – some YouTube stats that you can hide from and ignorantly and, perhaps, blissfully ignore. Or, you can face them like a marketing industry superhero and make that YouTube channel your bi-

Well you know what I mean.

P.S. And seriously – can we all agree to just stop trying to make the next viral video? As Craig Key and I have said before and Pixability alludes to in their study, #viralsucks.

Please and thank you.

 


 

 

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