Complete Guide to YouTube Marketing: Strategies, Tools, and Tips

We are in the video age. Through platforms like YouTube, technology and the internet have given individuals more reach than media firms. 73% of customers say watching videos on social media has affected their shopping decisions, making videos their preferred sort of material to view from companies. YouTube Marketing.

Your video marketing strategy's multiplier is YouTube. Things that previously appeared unattainable are now within your reach once you get the hang of them.

With advice from successful companies and creators, this book will show you how to sell yourself on YouTube.

Is YouTube effective for marketing?

In a word, yeah. The greatest approach to reach your audience as an internet business is through YouTube marketing.

The second most viewed website in the world is YouTube. With 42.9% of the world's internet users using YouTube each month, it has a global consumer base. Every day, more than one billion hours of material are seen on YouTube.

More than 100 countries and 80 languages are represented among the 2.3 billion monthly users of YouTube. There's a good likelihood that your target audience is on YouTube at least occasionally if they're online at all.

Additionally, you could believe that YouTube is solely for “large businesses” with millions of viewers. However, because it's such a powerful platform, even tiny companies may gain market share the number of small companies running YouTube ads has quadrupled over the past two years.

Additionally, because 68% of YouTube viewers viewed videos to aid in their purchasing decisions, having YouTube videos displaying your brand, goods, and reviews can increase your bottom line.

As you can see, YouTube offers a lot of chances to sell your business internationally. After that, we'll take you through the process of setting up a YouTube account for your business so you can start taking advantage of those chances.

How to create a YouTube channel

A Google account is required to create a YouTube channel for your business. You have the option of using a personal or brand account linked to your business.

You may be able to grow in the future by managing your channel through a brand account. Through their own Google logins, you may include other users in a brand account. For your email account, refrain from exchanging passwords.

The methods for creating a new account for your YouTube channel are outlined here.

1. Create a YouTube account

Go to the YouTube Channel Switcher after logging into the Google account you wish to use to administer your account.

Your personal account, any brand accounts you presently oversee, and the choice to establish a new channel should all be visible. Then choose to CREATE A CHANNEL.

Choose a channel name and click CREATE.

Congrats! You’re now the proud owner of a YouTube channel for your business.

2. Create your channel art

You've already set up your channel at this stage. Let's spend some time making it seem lovely.

Follow these instructions to give your channel a professional appearance and make it easier for clients to locate you online. You'll need to go to YouTube Studio to achieve this, so click CUSTOMIZE CHANNEL in the top right corner.

You’ll land on the following page.

Click Branding to start your first step: creating your channel icon.

To upload your channel art, follow the instructions provided under each section. You'll be required to include:

• Profile picture, This displays when your YouTube channel is offered Use a picture that is at least 98 by 98 pixels in size and no more than 4 MB. Use a PNG or GIF file with no animations.
• Banner image, It is visible across your YouTube channel For the best effects on all platforms, choose an image with at least 2048 x 1152 pixels and a file size of 6 MB or less.
• Video watermark, displays in the lower right corner of your videos Make use of a 150 × 150 pixel picture. Use a 1 MB or less PNG, GIF (no animations), BMP, or JPEG file.

Click Upload in each section, then upload the files using the specified file sizes.

3. Fill out your profile

In the Channel customization tab, click over to Basic info.

Give a brief description of your business, your products, and your goal under “Description.” Keep in mind any important keywords for your business. Use them in your channel description to make it easier for people to locate you on YouTube.

Include your email address as well. Links to your social media pages and online store should also be included. These links may be made to show above your channel art, which will make them quite noticeable to viewers.

Most of your links will just display the favicon by default (the small image that shows up at the top of your browser). Make the most of those 30 characters because the link title for the first link in the lineup will also be shown. Take a look at what 100% Pure has accomplished with its “Shop Now” call to action.

4. Bonus: Create your channel trailer

Before you start creating material for your brand-new YouTube channel (we know it's exciting! ), click the Layout option in Channel customization. Here, you may edit your channel's design and add a channel trailer.

Consider your channel trailer to be similar to a movie trailer. It gives potential subscribers the chance to discover your brand and channel. Start with a compelling introduction to get visitors to subscribe to your channel. A compelling trailer may compel viewers to act because first impressions count.

Popular types of YouTube videos

Let's look at different video kinds you may publish to fit your audience and social media marketing goals now that your business has a channel set up on YouTube.

With examples, this section will provide you with an overview of the many video formats that work well for small businesses.

• Customer testimonials
• Product demos
• Explainers and tutorials
• Reviews and case studies
• YouTube Live
• Vlogs
• Educational

Customer testimonials

Testimonials are remarks made by actual consumers of your product or service, making them one of the greatest sorts of videos you can employ. Similar to why consumers read reviews, prospective buyers want to know that your product has been used and is worthwhile investing in.

In fact, two out of three individuals are more inclined to purchase after seeing a video testimonial, and 79% of people have viewed one to learn more about a business, product, or service.

Boom! by Cindy Joseph, which was reviewed by the video's author Beth Buchanon (2,590 subscribers), is an illustration of a video testimonial that has, as of this writing, racked up over 220,000 views on YouTube.

Real client testimonials have the greatest impact, but you'll also want to make sure they're comprehensive. They should dispel skepticism, emphasize key product advantages, and create a gripping tale.

Product demos

A product presentation video is yet another valuable genre you may produce. The features and use cases of a particular product are shown in this style of video. Demonstrations of products enable consumers to visualize using them and achieving similar outcomes.

69% of consumers said that product demos would best help them in making a purchasing choice, according to Wyzowl's study. Then how can product presentations appear?

Here is a demonstration of the BOSS eBand JS-10 product from Long & McQuade Musical Instruments (21,800 subscribers):

Over 118,000 people have watched the movie as of the time of this writing, and many of the comments indicate that they intend to purchase it as a consequence.

A good product demonstration should include a summary of each feature and show examples of how to utilize the product by those characteristics.

Explainers and tutorials

The next sort of video is an explanation or instructional. These videos often address specific questions or functionalities of your product rather than providing an overview, not to be confused with product demos.

While tutorials may assist ensure that both current and future customers utilize the product appropriately for optimum results, explainer videos are a wonderful method to highlight your product's top features and how they can benefit viewers.

Check out Snow Peak USA (1,200 subscribers), which provides viewers with instructions on how to set up, use, and clean its selection of charcoal grills:

The aforementioned sample combines both explanation and tutorial parts into a single movie by showcasing each grill's top qualities before transitioning to the lesson segment.

Reviews and case studies

Reviews and case studies are like testimonial videos. Reviews and case studies frequently compare many products side by side, but testimonial videos typically only discuss one product experience.

The format of many review or case study videos will be a showdown, such as “X product vs X product,” or they may be listed, such as “top X items for Y.” These kinds of videos add significant value by increasing income per web visit by 62%.

Looking to Jeremy Fragrance (1.5 million members), who now owns his own online business, Fragrance One, can provide you with an excellent example of how this is done:

Jeremy reviews ten various perfumes in the aforementioned sample video, which has had over 820,000 views to date. This specific style of video does especially well if it is based on first-hand knowledge of each product being evaluated.

YouTube Live

You may concentrate on the manner of dissemination in addition to the substance of the videos you produce. Thanks to pushing alerts and a special Live tab on YouTube recommendations, going live there is a terrific method to get rapid attention.

Several business livestreams have cracked the top 100 YouTube livestreams, according to Google (ever). A variety of content, including live demonstrations, behind-the-scenes videos, live Q&As, and more, can be broadcast live on YouTube.

Bésame Cosmetics is one business that broadcasts live interviews and how-to videos nearly solely on YouTube:

Planning for both the material (and its time) and considering any potential challenges you could face are crucial to producing a seamless live video experience.

Vlogs

The video blog, also known as a vlog, is arguably the most well-known form of video on YouTube and allows your business to convey tales in a more approachable, genuine way.

In a nutshell, these are often videos you publish regularly that include events, either in a “day in the life” manner or particular events involving your brand. They may also be repurposed blog posts that highlight or summarise key aspects to provide your readers with another method to consume material.

A video by BluMaan (1.6 million subscribers), in which the owner Joe Andrews gets his hair trimmed in three distinct styles, serves as an illustration of this kind of material.

Given that Joe's specialty is hair products, this kind of video is entirely consistent with BluMaan's brand. This video exemplifies how to mix producing entertaining or instructional material with connecting it to the brand for possible sales possibilities.

Educational

The final piece of information on our list, the instructional video, is by no means the least beneficial. These kinds of videos assist your audience in learning more about a certain subject related to your brand specialty or in resolving a dilemma they are facing.

Because educational videos often don't heavily promote sales, they are far more likely to be shared with friends than other types of material. By providing value in this manner rather than with a blatant sales pitch, you may build consumer confidence in your brand.

Fashion designer Justine Leconte shows what an instructional video looks like (in contrast to explainers or tutorials) by demonstrating how to dress well on a budget:

Over 1.2 million people have seen this Justine video, and there have been approximately 2,000 comments, demonstrating how interesting this kind of video can be.

YouTube channel promotion tactics

By this time, you will have developed your YouTube channel and come up with enough material for several months. From here, one error you might make is to assume viewers will find fresh videos on their own.

Most of the time, views and subscribers won't come naturally; you'll need to discover effective strategies to market your YouTube material if you want them. So let's look at some of the ways you might expand your channel.

• SEO
• Social media
• Blog posts
• Email
• Partnerships
• YouTube ads
• Playlists

SEO

The fact that YouTube is the second-most popular search engine in the globe, as we have established, necessitates the usage of SEO. Before producing your videos, you should prepare your SEO.

The first step in developing a YouTube SEO strategy is to perform keyword, competition, and trending tag research. The more technical components, such as the title, thumbnail, and description, are then included.

A YouTube SEO strategy has two main advantages:

Google snippets and extra visibility

Since Google owns YouTube, it will show YouTube videos it believes the user will click on if it determines that a search question may be best answered with a video.

Better chance to appear on YouTube recommendations

The likelihood that the YouTube algorithm will be able to suggest that video to your target audience increases with improved video SEO.

Chocolate Alchemy (operating under the pseudonym How To Make Chocolate With Home) is an illustration of a business that excels at YouTube SEO:

When someone searches for various steps in the making of chocolate on Google or YouTube, the video's description and titles contain certain keywords that YouTube can recognize.

Social media

You'll want to spread the word after developing your SEO strategy, optimizing your YouTube video, and publishing it. Social media can be used in this situation. Cross-posting and content repurposing are both very easy to do on social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

The following advantages—which are not exhaustive—come from this strategy of cross-posting information on social media:

• More reach. Uploading your video on the three social networks previously mentioned will result in a wider audience than just posting on YouTube alone because these platforms have a combined user base of over 4.5 billion.
• Opportunity to intrigue. If done correctly, posting on social media may help pique interest and act as lead-generating “previews” of your video—especially when leading up to a live video in advance.

As you can see below, Allbirds is one business that consistently posts its material to several social media websites:

In this instance, it produced a YouTube video addressing G7 summit leaders. It then made a discussion on Twitter with a lead-in context link to its YouTube video at the end.

Blog posts

Incorporating your YouTube videos into blog posts is another approach to advertising your channel. Vlogs, as we have discussed, can be supplemental material or summary (or detailed) videos of your blog entries.

The major benefit of integrating videos in your blog articles is that they not only increase traffic to your YouTube channel from your website, but they also improve the page's SEO. Therefore, both your website and your YouTube channel stand to benefit.

SUGAR Cosmetics is one business that excels at using this tactic:

In the article linked above, SUGAR Cosmetics uses text, infographics, and a YouTube video to demonstrate to novice readers how to contour and highlight their faces using cosmetics. Keep in mind that they positioned the video near the bottom of the page so that anyone who is still unsure may watch it in action.

Email

Email is a fantastic way to advertise your channel that you may not have considered.

Because you control your email list and may contact subscribers through any email service provider, email marketing is unique because you aren't dependent on follower platforms that regularly “go down” and become inoperable.

There are several methods to handle email marketing for YouTube:

• Embed a video in the email. People may watch videos you directly embed into emails, which still counts as views, or you can utilize a thumbnail of the movie and link to YouTube in the email body.
• Link to your channel in your signature. Use the area below your business signature, which should be at the bottom of each email, for social media icons, such as YouTube.
• Feature in a newsletter. Whether sponsored or not, included in a well-known email newsletter can help you expand your specialized audience's reach.

Here is an example of an email from the brand Too Many T-Shirts that incorporates a YouTube video. It also came with a video tutorial on how to name and organize your t-shirts for internet publishing.

Partnerships

Collaborating with other YouTube channels, sometimes referred to as “collabs” or “collaborations” in the community, may be a terrific method to promote your channel.

As you'll see in the example, it's not always necessary to partner with a channel that has similar material to yours or a similar audience. In essence, you and the other channel owners will create videos jointly, either engaging in an activity related to your items or discussing them. Then, each will upload their videos to their separate channels.

For instance, while in Denmark, Beardbrand chose to work with Chili Klaus, a Danish expert in chili peppers:

A screenshot from Beardbrand's video is shown above; Klaus's video is shown below:

The cooperation first doesn't appear important (i.e., haircuts and chili pepper tasting). It turns out that both, which largely appeal to males who like pushing themselves, have comparable audiences.

YouTube ads

You may advertise your channel on YouTube itself by using YouTube advertising. According to Google's research, companies who run Google Ads and YouTube video ad campaigns see 3% higher search conversion rates and a 4% cheaper search cost per acquisition than those that only use Google Ads.

Repurposing your channel introduction video may make creating an ad for your channel easy. If you want to be more inventive, you may focus your target audience on viewers of your rival channels and hilariously entice them to switch to your channel by saying, “If you like this, you'll love us!”

Playlists

Making playlists is the last recommendation on this list for advertising your YouTube channel. Playlists on your channel are beneficial in the following ways:

• Better organization. Playlists make it easy for your subscribers to discover the videos they want to watch if they just want to watch a certain kind of material you provide.
• Encourages people to watch more videos. YouTube will automatically play the next video in a playlist when a user finishes watching a previous one, keeping them on your channel rather than another.
• Better discoverability. Other videos in a playlist are more likely to show up in their suggested videos section even if your audience doesn't keep watching through autoplay.

Returning to our Beardbrand example, its playlists go one step further in an organization by combining different playlist categories:

Because they are arranged by the barber in the first playlist, viewers will benefit even more if they, for instance, want to watch a certain barber in a particular kind of video.

Now that you have a tonne of suggestions for ideas for your YouTube channel, let's look at how you may make money from your growing following.

How to make money on YouTube

Are you interested in how to make money on YouTube? Uploading worthwhile material, receiving millions of views, and collecting money from advertisements used to be simple. A million views aren't always possible for accounts that are just getting started, though. Today, there are several methods for companies and creators to make money off of their YouTube videos.

There are six main ways to get money from YouTube outside advertising:

• Become an affiliate marketer and sell other people’s products.
• Start an online store and sell your products.
• Work as an influencer and post sponsored content from brands.
• Crowdfund your next creative project.
• Receive money through tips and fan funding.
• License your content to the media.

According to Kelly Noble Mirabella, the founder of the business, “My YouTube channel, Baby Got Bot, has brought me a tonne of money in terms of collaborations, speaking engagements, and consultancy.” “Just because people find me on YouTube and watch my videos, I've gotten a lot of business.”

Kelly sets herself apart from rivals by using her web videos as a marketing tool. She frequently submits her YouTube channel as a portfolio when applying for speaking engagements. Event planners can examine her skills and manner before deciding whether they wish to collaborate with her.

This served her well when she competed with the CEO of a reputable corporation for a significant speaking engagement and won the job. For me, it was a pretty significant opportunity. And it wasn't the first or last time that my videos have led to chances for me, Kelly says.

It's not necessary to have a large channel. You don't require a large number of subscribers. Additionally, you may make money from videos without being monetized. It's a fantastic method for spreading awareness of your business and establishing credibility and a clientele. Whatever your definition of artistic achievement may be, video marketing might be useful.

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YouTube marketing tips

You now understand how to make money in your channel in a variety of ways, but do you know how to establish a profitable following?

Following that, we'll go through digital marketing methods that don't entail advertising your channel across several platforms.

Find your niche

No matter the platform you choose to build your brand on, you must be careful to discover your angle in a certain market. Even online merchants who “offer some of everything” have a certain customer base in mind.

Finding your niche is crucial since YouTube is the home of people with diverse interests and passions, making it even more crucial. They may go there to learn more and connect with others interested in a certain niche product area.

As an illustration, the high-end cookware brand Made In caters to both expert chefs and everyday people.

Targeting the high-end cookware niche/foodie helps Made In stand out above other businesses, as you can see from its view counts. Specifically, the slogan in its channel opening video reads: “Made In provides professional-quality cookware to the home chef.”

The YouTube algorithm is also favored when videos are shown to a certain niche. The correct audience will read your material for a longer time and click through more often if you deliver it to them. As a consequence, you may rank better in search results. It will also instruct YouTube to display your material to appropriate viewers based on their interests.

Plan content

Planning your material and sticking to your timetable are two of the suggestions on this list that are perhaps the most crucial. Being inconsistent is one of the worst mistakes you can make on YouTube as a business. Consistency provides viewers with a cause to anticipate your next video and lets them know what to expect.

It's up to you to decide how to organize and arrange your content and what suits your brand best. Is it wise to plan and produce Christmas content? Would it be possible for you to start a regular series in which you publish every week on a certain day of the week?

The most popular posting structure can be a weekly content plan, which Beardbrand uses as an example:

As you can see, it publishes its lengthier, expertly crafted video once a week. However, since YouTube Shorts, a ripoff of TikTok came into being, Beardbrand has also released at least one of these “shorts” each day.

Consider design

You probably won't be surprised to learn that the majority of the videos in your YouTube recommendations have a personalized thumbnail. The bulk of them are custom-made rather than just a single clip from the video itself for one key reason: they attract attention.

You may add the video's title as text to the picture or a combination of supplemental text and visuals to your thumbnail in a variety of ways. Look at this illustration from BluMaan:

This thumbnail quickly highlights the stylistic disparities between the creator's hair and the model's, as well as raising a possible self-reflection for the viewer.

The end screen is another aspect of design that you should take into account. Even a straightforward “Thanks for watching!” at the conclusion lessens the abruptness of the video's closing and is a preferable alternative to a fade to black. Consider the closing screen of Bésame:

However, you can also use your end screen as a prompt to get people to watch more of your videos by being just as imaginative with it as you are with your thumbnail.

Include product links

Not providing links to their products is another error individuals make while building their brand on YouTube. Selling products is, after all, the primary goal of brand promotion on YouTube.

By omitting links, you essentially deny your potential consumers the chance to learn more about what you have to offer. Fortunately, there are two primary ways to add links to YouTube videos:

• Include the link in the description. The way that is by far the most popular allows for several links to be added to videos. This is helpful if you want to connect to your storefront or if you want to refer to various goods you've discussed in your video.
• Integrate your store on YouTube. Because you must be in the YouTube Partner Program and qualify for revenue, this option is a little more challenging. You can, however, display your items underneath your videos and connect to your store provided you match the conditions.

To link to its items beneath its videos, Beardbrand has activated the store tab on its channel, as shown in the screenshot above. For good measure, it has also added a link to its store in the video description.

Keep tabs on trends and competitors

Being aware of what your rivals are doing and keeping an eye out for fresh, relevant trends never hurts as Beardbrand has done with YouTube shorts.

You'll be able to capitalize on any trends by keeping an eye on these two areas often, giving you the early adopter edge. Additionally, by seeing what rivals are doing, you'll be able to pick up tips and inspiration for your videos.

Copying the video content or style of your rivals is one of the major mistakes to avoid since viewers will quickly draw parallels and dismiss you if they do. Instead, concentrate on contributing your brand's (or your own) point of view.

In light of this, attempt to set aside time once a week to search YouTube for trends and rival videos. Take notes on how you would approach a specific subject or how your brand may advance a trend.

Follow the 3 keys to success

Our final advice is three pieces of advice in one. In our Founder Stories section of the Shopify Blog, we interview Wil Yueng, a serial entrepreneur. Wil created a YouTube vegan cooking channel more recently, and since then, it has racked up over 470,000 subscribers.

In the interview, he expressed his thoughts on the three components of YouTube success:

1. Consistency. Wil pushed for consistency in the style and topic matter of your videos, as well as regularity.
2. Listening. He believes that you must learn from comments and change your material in response to what your consumers and audience say.
3. Adding value. As we briefly said in the last advice, creating value is the final essential to success. Wil believes that while creating content, you should consider what will be of value to your audience, and the money will follow.

You'll quickly become an expert at your YouTube marketing strategy by using these keys to success as general guidelines and the more detailed advice as stepping stones. Next, we'll look at some tools you may utilize for your video research and production to assist you to get there.

YouTube marketing tools

YouTube Analytics

You may utilize YouTube's analytics to learn more about the effectiveness of your videos and channels. Key data and analytics are available to YouTubers in YouTube Studio.

You may see a variety of tabs in YouTube analytics to assess how your channel is doing:

• Overview: this provides you with an overview of the success of your channel and individual videos. Views, watch time, subscribers, and estimated income (if you're a member of the YouTube Partner Program) are just a few of the data you'll notice.
• Reach: This displays how your channel is being found by your viewers. Metrics like impressions, click-through rate, views, unique viewers, and traffic source kinds are among those you'll find.
• Engagement: this provides you with a general picture of how your audience engages with your material. Top videos, watch time, average view length, top playlists, and statistics for audience retention at the video level are just a few examples of important data.
• Audience: provides you with a summary of the viewers of your videos. Metrics include age, gender, other channels your audience watches, top regions, returning and new viewers, unique viewers, total subscribers, and other demographic information.

VideoWise

VideoWise is a Shopify software that allows you to integrate YouTube videos on your product pages. It's ideal for converting shoppers who may need a little prodding to buy on your site.

They can quickly see whatever video you load, such as demos or client testimonials, and decide whether or not to buy. You may also use video pop-ups and shoppable videos to influence customers and increase sales.

POWR

POWR YouTube Video Gallery transforms your business into a stunning video gallery. You may quickly use YouTube videos to promote new product releases or showcase testimonials, which increases the time spent on the page.

Brandable buttons, colors, calls to action (CTAs), and text makes it simple to personalize videos. POWR also allows you to add product links to your gallery to direct visitors to particular goods relevant to your videos.

Tolstoy

Tolstoy is a free movie creator software that was chosen as a Shopify Staff Pick for May 2021. Tolstoy allows you to customize videos for your shop to greet customers, provide personal style, answer FAQs, and collect videos. Once you've gathered video reviews, you can post them to your YouTube channel to provide social proof and increase sales.

TubeBuddy

TubeBuddy is an excellent YouTube channel management solution for businesses and content providers. It is a browser plugin that assists you in increasing views and subscriptions by using optimization techniques for:

• Productivity, To simply edit and embed videos, use tools like as card layouts, thumbnail generators, end screen templates, and scheduled posting.
• Bulk processing, Card updates, and thumbnail overlays, for example, can help you save time maintaining cards across all of your videos.
• Video SEO, Keyword research, rank tracking, tag ranking, A/B tests, and other methods can be used to help visitors find your channel.
• Promotion, such as appropriate post-time tools, advertising materials, and share trackers to publicize your channel.
• Data and research, to keep track of your videos, manage comments, and keep your audience.

Give TubeBuddy a try if you want to be a happier, more successful YouTuber. A 30-day money-back guarantee is offered to everyone. You might also get 50% off the Pro plan if you're a new channel with less than 1,000 subscribers to help you get going.

Building your YouTube marketing strategy

YouTube marketing is without a doubt crucial for e-commerce brands and content producers.

If you're going to spend on content marketing for your brand, whether you're an established business or just starting, video is the way to go. With this manual in your hands, you'll be well on your way to launching and expanding a YouTube channel that increases brand recognition, engages your audience, and converts viewers into paying customers.