You’re not just an entrepreneur. You’re also a salesperson and marketer for your brand. As such, you have to identify the widest avenues to broadcast and showcase what makes your company unique. And that means you can’t overlook YouTube.
As the second biggest search engine on the planet, YouTube boasts more than two billion users monthly. Combined, those users log more than a billion watched video hours daily. Not only do visitors come from all walks of life, but they cover populations from GenZers to Boomers.
From an entrepreneurial perspective, this makes YouTube a potential goldmine as a branding vehicle – just like Instagram can bring awareness to the #FOMO crowd, Twitter can help you engage in dialogues, and your PR firm’s online newsroom can get you into your customers’ news feeds. However, you’ll need to keep some considerations in mind before launching a YouTube channel. The last thing you want is to go live, only to have your messaging languish.
To help you determine whether YouTube belongs in your branding stack, ask yourself the following questions. Your answers will help guide your strategy and pinpoint where you should put your resources and energies.
1. Are you willing to give away your secret sauce?
People frequently head to YouTube for discovery purposes. They want to broaden their mindset through self-education, which is what AdOutreach’s Aleric Heck dubs a “learner’s mindset.” Specifically, Heck notes that YouTube visitors come “with the agenda to learn more about something.” For that reason, how-to videos on narrow topics tend to do well. So do inspirational, motivational, and business-geared TED Talks.
Here’s the snag, though: You have to be comfortable giving away some of what you know as part of your branding. Are you prepared to reveal your proprietary algorithm’s inner essence or detail precisely how you leverage your CRM to maximize lead capture? A YouTube video that promises secrets but doesn’t really say anything new won’t be valuable to watchers. On the other hand, a video sharing “from me to you” content could cement your place as a thought leader.
2. Are you open to branding on multiple advertising platforms?
Blanketing the Internet with your branding may necessitate a high degree of digital advertising. In addition to investing in Google Ads, consider adding YouTube Ads to your marketing mix as well. YouTube Ads tend to be inexpensive and allow you to get creative. Anything from text-only banner advertisements to non-skippable commercials are fair game.
As a side note, you won’t need to launch a YouTube channel to get a branding bump on the platform. Instead, you can direct clicks back to your website or other digital collateral.
3. Does your brand translate well to video?
As you flesh out your brand, consider whether or not video will be an asset for you. For instance, does your company do something that provides a good visual? If your IoT offering remote-controls a factory, perhaps yes. If your insurtech app reduces back-office expenses, maybe not.
Are you or your colleagues comfortable on camera? If not, could a video featuring graphics and text serve your purpose? Be honest and spend time weighing all aspects of your brand.
You might realize that you could get further by embracing a different messaging portal, like posting articles on LinkedIn or images on Instagram. That’s fine, although you should plan to reevaluate YouTube content creation down the road.
4. Are you already creating social media content?
The right social media vehicle can amplify your brand — fast. Chances are you already know this and are testing out at least one channel. What you might not have considered is how you can repurpose your current social content for YouTube.
For example, many TikToks translate well to YouTube because they’re essentially video snippets. You could whip up a “behind the scenes” YouTube video of your most watched TikTok. Or you might use your YouTube channel to post amusing outtakes from your Instagram IGTV content. Not only will you get the chance to bulk out your branding efforts, but you’ll find clever, interesting ways to recycle ideas.
Sprout Social’s Jenn Chen suggests establishing goals for all of your social media videos before you start actually creating them. That way you can ensure each video has a purpose and is helping to accomplish your business objectives.
5. Will you make time to generate useful video content?
If you’re thinking about leveraging YouTube by building out a channel, you need to devote time to the process. While you don’t need special cameras or lighting, you will definitely need a calendar of video themes. This helps you stay on track and not lose momentum. In fact, many YouTubers film their branding videos months in advance, which front-loads their content cache.
Remember that to retain subscribers, you’ll need to keep them engaged. This means releasing videos regularly, as well as responding to their comments. Not convinced you’ll have the time to juggle everything? You can outsource some of these duties to assistants or freelancers if needed.
You can’t expect to reach the branding recognition level of companies like Apple or Google overnight. However, YouTube could help you brand your company much faster than you thought. Just make sure that you’re 100% committed from your first post.
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