Dan Stoner is the lead cinematographer and creative director at Viddyoze, an online animation template and software service that allows you to produce high quality, engaging content. In a recent FSB webinar, Dan explained the power of video content and why all small businesses should have a YouTube channel.
Watch a replay of the webinar or see below for a summary.
Why is video content and having a YouTube channel as a small business so important?
YouTube is such a valuable platform for small businesses that is massively untapped in terms of the audience you can reach. If you're putting out useful content that's relevant to your industry, market and service, then people are going to watch it. In turn, people are going to be directed to your product, your service and your website.
Unlike traditional TV and radio, online video content is more about the time and effort you put in, rather than the money and connections like traditional media. It costs you nothing, for the most part.
One of the biggest advantages is even the smallest of individual products and services have the potential to go just as viral - if not more viral - than the bigger, more established brands. Video and imagery are some of the most circulated and widely viewed content anywhere on the internet.
Why you should use YouTube for your small business
So, what are the benefits of posting regular videos?
✔️ Increases target audience and your marketing reach at minimal cost
✔️ More video content is consumed and watched on YouTube than any other platform in the world.
✔️ Having a YouTube channel is like having a second website, except with more reach and minimal upkeep.
It drives sales
✔️ Small businesses can use YouTube to promote their products and services to gain more valuable leads.
✔️ A video on YouTube is a great referral or call back to your home website.
✔️ Your video can be seen by many more people if it’s optimized and shared across other platforms like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
✔️ As each video has a specific keyword and tags associated with it, your video can be found by people looking for you or your product on search engines.
70% of people bought from a brand after seeing a YouTube video.
SEO (search engine optimization)
✔️ You can describe each video individually and provide tags, which helps optimize your videos and attract the views that you want.
✔️ Tagging your videos for the purpose of SEO will give you the advantage of being found in a general search.
✔️ Use your keyword in your video title - doing this allows search engines to easily index it, which makes it a lot easier if your target audience to find.
✔️ Each search engine results page provides results for videos, as well as other content like article, images and blogs.
Audience reach
✔️ Over 500 hours of video is uploaded to YouTube every minute – most small businesses don't take advantage of this!
✔️ People spend hours, looking for video content, product reviews and explainer videos.
✔️ By creating useful, relevant content for your channel, you're much more likely to guide a relevant audience to your website.
Product and service support
✔️ Chance to provide useful videos and content to your customers on the most asked questions or problems relating to your service or product.
✔️ Educational videos are a great way to bridge the gap between you and your customers, as it allows them to learn at their own pace.
53% of people who watch videos felt more connected to the brand and the channel.
Product training
✔️ Use YouTube as a product training and employee training platform and provide short online training videos.
✔️ Simply upload it to YouTube, make it private and share the link.
✔️ Create a consistent message that all your staff and employees will see.
✔️ If you've got new starters or people joining the company or about to join the company, send these videos to them in advance of them starting.
Engagement
✔️ Communicate with customers and provide feedback.
✔️ Answer questions that they might have when they comment on the video.
✔️ Gather any suggestions or comments about other content you might make - take these ideas and produce some more valuable content for them in the future.
✔️ Asking your viewers to share your videos gives you even more reach on other platforms like Facebook LinkedIn and Twitter, and grows your audience and potential customer base.
Testimonials
✔️ You're opening your audience to a physical entity: a real person with real thoughts who is more relatable and trustworthy.
✔️ Client success stories and opinions on your products or services is a better form of validation than a written testimonial.
✔️ Solid proof of your dedication to your customers and their results
✔️ Can be used anywhere online, from social media to adverts.
✔️ Long term content that you can release any time.
✔️ Honest and authentic account of your products or services - you can't put a price tag on that.
Insight
✔️ Every video you upload to YouTube provides you with statistics that you wouldn't normally be able to have access to, such as views, demographics, community and subscribers.
✔️ Find out how your customers have found your video, where your video is being played (desktop, mobile, YouTube player) or if they're embedded on your website.
✔️ YouTube provides you valuable information on how your videos are performing that can shows you the kind of content that your viewers want.
✔️ If you have a marketing video or sales video, they're able to track to determine what works, what doesn't, and then adjust it as needed to make it perform better.