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SUMMER 2015
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n the 10 years it’s been around, YouTube has become much
more than just an online entertainment phenomenon.
The popular video site is now being used successfully by
many businesses for a variety of marketing, customer service,
recruiting, and training activities.
Why are businesses turning to YouTube? One reason is that when
you upload a video, you put your business in a position to be
found by customers; the search potential for YouTube approaches
that of Google. Online videos can also help build trust with your
customers by matching a friendly face with your brand and giving
you the chance to do product demonstrations.
How could your business use YouTube? Consider these ideas:
Video Marketing
Use this method for engaging potential customers when words
alone don’t do the trick. Provide details about your products and
show how they’re used. Or, do something completely unexpected
that’s likely to go viral.
Product Information
For customers who are already doing business with you, videos
are a great way to keep them happy. Provide step-by-step product
instructions that will help them use your products.
FAQs
While Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) can be written, why
not take it a step further and provide a personal touch? As with
product information, you can demonstrate some things much
more easily using video.
Recruiting
Consider creating a series of recruiting videos that show your
various departments, give a tour of the facility, and talk about
company values and expectations. Upon applying for work,
potential candidates will feel more comfortable if they have
already gotten to know you online.
News
Tired of the media chopping and slicing your well-crafted news
releases? How about releasing them on video? Record a promi-
nent company representative broadcasting your news item.
Training
Rather than always spending money for employees to travel
to training sessions, create videos to disseminate some of
the information.
Testimonials
What’s better than a potential customer
reading about a raving fan? A potential
customer seeing that raving fan! A video
can bring a customer testimonial to life.
For best results with online videos,
keep these guidelines in mind:
• To avoid “gobbling up” company bandwidth, reserve a
channel on YouTube and use it to store your videos.
• For search engine optimization, enter a title, description,
and tags when you upload each video.
• Try to keep the length of each video to less than two minutes.
• Promote videos within your other online communities,
such as your blog, Facebook, and Twitter.
Finally, don’t make this harder than it needs to be. Your video
doesn’t have to be a polished production, and uploading to YouTube
is free and easy to do. Give it a try and put your communications
plan in motion.
Online videos help customers find you
and better understand your products
Get Down to
Business on
YOUTUBE