Video Marketing with YouTube
There are a broad array of other video sharing sites, including Google Video, Metacafe, Dailymotion, blip.tv, Revver, and Vimeo - but by far, YouTube has overshadowed them all and has become the leading video hosting site. As an aside, the author mentions that some of the other services have better features, but sheer popularity and ease of use have kept YouTube ahead of other services that are "better" in some regards.
The site was founded in 2005 as a video sharing site, at a time when there was a high user demand, but photo-sharing sites would not support video sharing. This collided with the emergence of cheap hardware (video cameras are even built into cell phones and iPods now) that give more people the ability to shoot the kind of low-res video YouTube is designed to accommodate. The site is currently the eponym of online amateur video and is a household word.
YouTube as a Marketing Channel
YouTube is popular and gets a lot of attention. The author cites that young people spend a lot of time on the site, and there is a high level of interest in video content. Youth (under 20) in particular are used to the medium, comfortable with the hardware, and (arguably) competent with the tasks of editing and saving video clips; not to mention they spend a "staggering" amount of time viewing online video. Given its popularity, videos are also increasingly accessible to search engines (which used to handle them poorly) and are commonly picked up and republished to blogs, other sites, and even the mainstream media is rebroadcasting YouTube clips.
In most instances, YouTube is used to archive videos that are part of a campaign (an archive of television ads), but a video can have greater draw if it has value in itself -a "funny" video clip will be seen by many people, or a helpful how-to clip may be used as a resource. In these instances, the video builds brand associations, in and of itself, and may create a small stream of traffic if a Web site address is provided.
(EN: many "viral" videos tend to be edgy and inappropriate, which may be effective in grabbing attention, but may not be in line with the corporate image you wish to project. Be careful.)
The author has an aside about expectations: since YouTube is a common word, there is the expectation that any video will draw millions of views immediately, but this is not so. There's also a caution about service s that promise millions of views - they use a number of nefarious tricks to get people to request a video, sometimes without intending it, and generate a lot of false numbers from people who don't actually view yoru video.
Setting Expectations and Measuring Results
The author uses the old "marathon not a sprint" saw about marketing: it's slow growth over time, not a sudden explosion. And while YouTube has a reputation as a place that attracts lots of attention in a short amount of time, few videos explode onto the scene, and a very small portion of the people who view a video will take immediate action.
Metrics for YouTube videos should be:
- The number of vides
- The number of people who rated the video
- The number of people who "favorite" the video
- The number of comments and video responses
- The number of sites and blogs that link to or embed the video
- The video's position in search results for specific keywords.
YouTube has some built-in statistics packages (insight) to provide the basics, plus give a bit more demographic information about the viewers, though this is suspect as it reflects only viewers with YouTube accounts, and it's common for people to provided false information.
What Makes a Popular YouTube Video?
The author draws an analogy between creating a popular YouTube video and creating a popular television show, and lists some of the characteristics of successful videos.
(EN: I wonder if that's quite the right analogy. While YouTube video is much more like a show than a commercial, it's not serialized, doesn't broadcast at a specific time, etc. It's not really a good analogy in the end, but I'm not sure what would be better.)
- Videos that are recent and topical draw a great deal of attention, but for a very short period of time.
- Sex sells. If the video contains attractive people, especially if the preview image is suggestive, then you'll get a lot of attention.
- Surprise, in terms of misdirection or an unexpected outcome, is a form of humor that gets views and gets syndicated
- Original or unusual videos get attention. Especially on YouTube, you get no credit (and lots of criticism) if you try to latch onto a trend that's been done before.
- Extraordinary or unusual skills gets a lot of attention, even if they seem completely pointless (e.g., see the cup-stacking videos)
- Brevity is also important. If your video goes over a couple of minutes (two, to be precise), you will get far fewer viewers unless they have a high level of interest and are willing to "invest" ten minutes of time.
- As a sidebar, the author mentions that the message should fit the medium: videos that are professional and polished get little attention and often turn off viewers.
While videos that have these qualities succeed in getting a mass audience, informational videos draw a smaller crowd over a longer period of time, and may be a more appropriate way of reaching a target market. As an example, Home Depot offers over 100 "how to" videos for the home handyman, none of which are major sensations, but which cumulatively have drawn a large audience of likely buyers over time.
Stealth Videos
Another common tactic is the "stealth video" or "guerilla video," which doesn't feature any obvious corporate endorsement at all, but may feature product placement. The author admits to being "puzzled by this tactic" and has some doubt that it produces results. It's also likely that if the video catches attention, you'll want to step out from behind the curtain, or if it doesn't, someone may discover the video's originals and let it slip.
A more productive tactic would be to "sponsor" the video and reveal your involvement at the end of the video, so that you can take advantage of it by redirecting interest to your site (or a micro site) and be forthcoming about your involvement right from the start.
Recall that transparency is one of the expectations of the social media audience, and there can be backlash if you go to far in misdirection viewers about the source of the video, even if your attempt is to create a sense of surprise when you step out from behind the curtain. You're more likely to get egged than applauded.
Your Latest Picture
A reference to a saying in the film industry that "you're only as good as your last picture," and this holds true on YouTube as well. A good video will draw a larger audience to your next one, but a bad video will turn people away, even if there were several spectacular ones before it. And serialized videos commonly have a drop-out rate as more of the audience loses interest with each video in the series.
The author further advises against serializing by suggesting you post multiple videos at once rather than stringing them out over time to sustain interest, because there is too much content out there for people to maintain much anticipation for the next video in your series - they'll click to the next thing and forget about it.
On the other hand, videos released at regular intervals over time can be done for a campaign that is designed to run over the course of a few months, and the loss of audience is acceptable in exchange for having more staying power.
Marketing with YouTube Videos
Aside of the task of creating the video file, there are a number of other tasks for which the author provides instructions and tips:
First, develop a YouTube profile - all videos you post will be associated to your profile (as will the ratings/comments you post on other videos) and it's good to have more than bare-bones. If possible, ensure the username is the same as your other social media accounts for recognition, and use the same photo and profile information.
An aside on user names - they are often used as shortcuts to create an address that links directly to a profile (www.youtube.com/username), so choose a username that isn't too oblique, as it will be seen by users as well as used in search engines.
In addition to associating videos with your username, you also have the ability to create "channels" that group videos of a similar theme, which is useful if you post videos of different flavors (television commercials, how-to videos, event footage, etc.) This is different to playlists (mentioned later).
When you upload a video, you can provide a text-friendly title. Avoid the temptation to grab attention by using a title that contains keywords that have nothing to do with the video - but at the same time, make sure the title contains relevant keywords such as your company, product, or brand name (example, "abuse test for [brand] lock " is a better title than a generic "lock takes a beating"). In addition to titles, videos can have brief descriptions and keywords. Use them, and choose a description with an eye toward being accurate while providing enough terms to get attention.
You can also add categories and "tags" to your video to help people find it. The author recommends being very conservative - don't spam it to categories where it doesn't logically belong or add misleading tags.
In general, you should also take the time to view and comment on other peoples' videos. If you post videos but don't participate, the people who are most avidly interested in certain topics will be turned off. Conversely, if you're active in the community, they will turn up to see any new content you post and help spread the word.
Likewise, you should join and actively participate in groups on YouTube to make connections with people who have an interest in certain topics. If no groups exist relevant to your product or brand, create one (but don't be too aggressive in getting members to join)
You can also create "playlists" to assemble a collection of videos - but it's generally understood that people create playlists of other peoples' videos (rather than just their own - use a channel for that) which generally contain 10 or 12 items on a similar topic. The author's suggestion is to create playlists not to promote your own videos, but to establish your profile as an authority on a topic of interest, which will drive traffic to your videos indirectly (people will view the profile of a playlist creator, or add your videos to their playlists when you add theirs to your own).
As an aside, the author provides a warning about comments, citing that "YouTube commenters seem to have the language skills and sense of humor of a dimwitted eleven-year-old." The general advice is to speak at the level of the audience, as being too polished/formal seems arrogant and disingenuous - but in this case, don't' sink to quite the same level. Also, when moderating comments, it's fairly common and accepted on YouTube to be a bit more draconian in eliminating remarks that are puerile and/or contribute nothing to the conversation.
Your videos will get some traffic simply from being on the YouTube site, but they will fare better if you call attention to them in other places - your blog, twitter posts, e-mail newsletters, etc. The site provides analytical tools to help you isolate the traffic. You can either do a general promotion ("See our videos on YouTube") or link./embed a specific item - but do not go to the extreme of creating a separate/redundant video archive on other sites.
A recent feature enables video authors to "annotate" their videos by overlaying text, graphics, and other items on top of the video as it plays. The author states that the audience is split over whether this is helpful or annoying, and advises being very conservative. A pop-up at the end with a link to other videos seems inoffensive and helpful.
Case Study: Elastic Path
The author mentions a 2007 campaign for Elastic Path, to use YouTube videos to drive traffic to their blog. They created a series of seven videos that made fun of the difficulty encountered in making purchases online (not directed at any specific competitor, just in general), which caught the attention of viewers, journalists, and industry pundits, and got 40,000 views (the author concedes that's not "superstar" numbers, but it's quite a lot of eyes). The reported results were an increase of "subscribers" to its blog from 100 to 2,000 within a period of seven months.
Sidebar: Memes
The author does a sidebar on internet "memes," which he compares to catch-phrases that other people pick up and start using themselves. On YouTube, a popular video will get others to create their own "versions" of the same joke, intended as a playful parody that may (or may not) credit the original concept. This may be short-lived, or a meme can drag on for years.
(EN: The author does not give advice on dealing with memes - but the worst thing you can do is try to shut them down or throw a public tantrum. Seems to me the best response is to acknowledge them, laugh along if you can, or try to distance yourself if they are harmful.)
(EN: I've also heard of companies/individuals who have made an overt attempt to start a meme. It may be possible, but it seems to me that it can easily backfire and be perceived as a lame attempt to call attention to yourself, which sullies your reputation online.)