Youtube is just another social media platform you don’t have time for right? The time it will take you to make a video, let a lone edit a video, just doesn’t really benefit you to start on Youtube. Plus Youtube is where people watch cat videos and funny videos of people doing ridiculous things.

Wrong!

YouTube has become a power player for brand marketing campaigns, building brand recognition and creating loyal followers! Video content has been growing significantly in the past few years and is only expected to become more popular in the future.

Take for example, the online retailer ModCloth. They drove 4000 subscribers and 1 million YouTube views, resulting in more sales, for just a ninth of the cost of their average search campaigns!

One of the biggest success stories is GoPro. So how did GoPro become the huge business success it is just by using Youtube? In 2013 thousands of GoPro customers uploaded over two years worth of Youtube video content all using “Go-Pro” in the title. Go-Pro immediately recognized this and created the GoPro Network, which is a media channel that focus on programming across a variety of platforms.

Customers submitted all the video content they had promoting their wearable camera! It cost GoPro nothing to create these promotional videos and by sharing their customer’s videos they were creating loyal customers who loved seeing their videos across the Go-Pro Network.

By 2014 the GoPro channel had over 450 million Youtube video views and over 1.8 million subscribers. Not only did they create a successful YouTube channel, this strategy increased their revenue from $234.2 million in 2014 to $985.7 million by the end of 2013! GoPro was able to skyrocket their revenue by recognizing the importance of Youtube and what Youtube can do for your brand.

As a solo-entrepreneur, a start-up, or a small business that has been struggling to see your business really grow to the next step you want to take it, what are the benefits Youtube can really provide your business?

Click below to watch the video version of this post!

Youtube is the second largest search engine in the world

Over 1.3 billion people use YouTube each month and over 5 billion videos are viewed daily! Some of these people might be going to Youtube to watch cat videos, but a lot of people are now using YouTube to have their questions answered! Using Youtube for your business will allow you to easily reach your targeted audience not only by creating videos but also by advertising on other people’s videos!

According to Nielsen, YouTube reaches more US adults aged 18-34 than any cable network. You have the opportunity to reach a new audience who wouldn’t have found you. The number of hours people spend watching videos on Youtube is up 60% year-over-year which is the fastest growth Youtube has seen in 2 years!

PLUS only 9% of U.S. small business use Youtube.

So the market isn’t saturated yet! Its time for you to start utilizing Youtube for your small business!

Youtube analytics

YouTube provides FREE amazing analytics and statistics on every single one of your videos. These statistics can really help you focus your business on the audience that is most interested in what you have to share. YouTube analytics can tell you exactly who is watching your videos and how long they are watching! Male, female, 20’somethings, teens, 40’somethings and where they are watching from; USA, England, Australia, Japan. These types of statics can really help you focus your marketing strategy to the people who are really interested in you.

These statistics can also help you determine if your video content strategy is working. You can see how long people are watching your videos and when they click off. This statistic is essential in figuring out if your content is valuable to people and if you should shorten your video length. It’s a great statistic to see what your audience is really responding to and building your campaign and videos around what your audience really wants.

Content gets better with age

Unlike Facebook, Twitter or Instagram once you post anything it gets lost on the feed within 15 minutes to an hour. But once you post a video on Youtube it only gets better with age! Your content on YouTube is there forever. It can constantly be found through YouTube search results! Just because your video is 2 years old doesn’t mean it drops in the search results. You are constantly getting views, shares and likes!

You can also take previous content you created and repurpose it for YouTube. Repurpose your Periscopes, Facebook Live videos, speaking engagements, podcasts, even SnapChat stories to get more life out of amazing content you created!

Build your brand’s recognition

Videos that are more personal and down to earth increase a conversation. I’ve said it before but people will not buy from just anyone. They will buy from someone they know, like and trust. By creating videos and showing you and/or your brand’s personality, you are creating a relationship with the viewer on an emotional level. Having a emotional connection with your audience will not only convert more leads to sales BUT it will make your viewers want to share your videos and content with all their friends! The more shares you have the more sales you have!

Convert more leads to sales

You can actually use YouTube to not only to build your email list, but to get more people to your sales page to see what you are selling. You can get people to click to your email list sign up or sales page by using features in YouTube like Cards and Annotations. These features allow you to insert the exact link people will be directed to when they click on the image. You can also add your call to action and URL to sign up in the description box of each video. You will want to have a strong call to action in your video while this link is showing on your video. Just simply tell the viewer “if you want more free information from me, click the card right above my head and sign up!” Or “To get your free sample make sure you click the link in the description box below.” If people liked your video and what you had to say, they will be more likely to click on that link to hear more from you or buy from you.

Get your business ranked higher Google

You have probably noticed more videos are appearing more often in Google search results. This is proof Google considers video to be as important as text-only pages. It might also help that Google and Youtube are now the same company. A great way to utilize this new trend is to create a complimentary Youtube video when you write a blog! Add the video to your blog post just like I do with my posts. This builds backlinks to your site. Building backlinks is one way you can increase the authority on your website. Creating a more authoritative website in Google’s eyes will get your website ranked higher in search results.

Ensure your Youtube Channel looks professional, stands out and attracts your dream clients, take me FREE 4 day challenge to professionalize your channel. This challenge only takes about 15 minutes a day and at the end of the 4 days your channel will be attract dreamy new leads!

Have you created any video content for your business yet (Periscope, Facebook video, Facebook Live)? How did it go? Lets talk about it in the comments section below!

6 Reasons Your Business NEEDS a YouTube Channel