YouTube vs. Instagram: Which One Can Really Help You Grow?
Everyone’s entitled to their own opinion but mine is definitely that YouTube is a million times better than Instagram — especially if you’re trying to sell online courses. Don’t get me wrong, I like Instagram. Otherwise, I wouldn’t even be on the platform to begin with.
But it can’t do what YouTube can do for your biz. It’s much easier to grow, and sell, when you’re on there. How do I know? Because I’ve pretty much published a video each week for the last 7+ years. And I have clients who have found success with YouTube too.
Still not convinced? Well, let’s get into it then!
YouTube has better searchability
I think it goes without saying Youtube is the second largest search engine only behind Google and psssst…it even pushes YouTube videos to the top of their searches. So…it’s already got a lot going for it.
Plus, people come to YouTube when they have a problem. And channels have a solution. Prime search material.
People are not going to Instagram to search for things like that. Have you ever looked for a how-to video on your Discover page? Didn’t think so. You’re probably there to be entertained instead.
With YouTube, you can literally just provide valuable content without needing to worry about lip-syncing, memorizing dance moves, or finding trending audio!
YouTube content lives longer
It’s honestly kind of a bummer to create a bunch of content and not see traction on it. I dunno about you but I feel like even those short Reels take me way too much time some days, and I often don’t see significant ROI from them.
At least, not the kind of ROI I see from YouTube.
When you create a Reel, you have about 24 hours to squeeze it for all it’s worth. It has a short life span. But with YouTube, you can put time and effort into creating valuable content and watch it do what it needs to do for a long time (I have videos from years ago that still drive traffic!).
YouTube has more repurposing power than Instagram
When I create one YouTube video, I’m not just creating that video. I’m also creating the basis, and even some of the actual content itself for the rest of my marketing plan. I make one video, and from there, I can create Reels, blogs, emails, social captions, and Story prompts. Everything.
That one video can be repurposed into several pieces of content!
That’s because the content inside is value-packed and easy to break up into smaller pieces of content. But when a video is as short as let’s say, a Reel, it’s hard to divide and conquer.
How to start harnessing the power of YouTube
Now that you know why YouTube is so good, I want to show how you can really maximize the content you create.
Understand your audience
You need to clearly understand who your audience is. Because if you aren’t, how do you think the YouTube algorithm will? AI is pretty advanced these days but it's not that advanced yet.
So if you want to make sure your content is getting in front of the right people, you have to know who you’re talking to. And yes, this includes niching, but it also needs to dig a little deeper. You should also know who your ideal customer is.
Who is the perfect person to buy from you? This will help you make sure you get specific and talk to specific pain points rather than just being too generic and talking to the masses.
Make connections
Don’t fall into the trap of just creating how-to videos. They’re helpful, but what a lot of people don’t realize about YouTube is that it’s also a great way to build community.
JUST creating tutorials will drive people who will come to get their questions answered and peace out. People buy from people. And what’s going to make them want to work with or buy from you is the connection they have with you.
Include CTAs to other videos
It’s a lot easier for people to binge your content when you’re pushing them to another video afterward — which is exactly what the YouTube algorithm wants you to do. Make sure you link relatable videos on the end screen so people know what to watch next!
Bingable content is everything on YouTube.
