Gary Vaynerchuck, the author of Jab, Jab, Right Hook, had this to say about social media in today’s world. “Our collective BS Radar today compared to 15 years ago is dramatically better”. And he goes onto say that kids’ radars are even better. They just know when they’re being sold to. So let’s talk about 5 points to help your branding presentation on YouTube.
Tip # 1
GIVE. GIVE. GIVE. THEN ASK.
In his book, Vaynerchuck hammers businesses to give, give, give, then ask. Give people value and funny stories. Give them an animated GIF that just makes them laugh. Just saying happy Monday gives them value. It’s fine. You don’t need a business objective for every
piece of creative because we live in a world where it’s just not about campaigns. We live in a world where we actually have creative freedom to actually act human, and bring a little value to your customers. Make it fun like this American Airlines safety video.
Make it newsworthy. Then, ask for the business. Just be authentic about it.
Tip # 2
ACT HUMAN
As I just said, being authentic is really important in today’s social media noise. Authenticity today has become an art where selling is now the easy way out.
People don’t want to be sold to, especially on YouTube. They want to be entertained. If you can find that comfortable balance between entertainment and branding, you’re on the right track. Do you think Geico customers care about all the insurance incentives that Geico has to offer? No, not really. They just know they have really funny commercials.
But what does 99% of Geico consumers know about their product? That’s right, that they can save 15% or more on car insurance by switching to Geico. That’s it. Their ad company, the Martin Agency gets it. I wouldn’t say they’re bold. They just don’t treat selling car insurance as rocket science.
Tip # 3
YOUR GOAL IS COMMENTS LIKES AND SHARES. NOT JUST VIEWS
Comments and likes, human interaction will lead to views not the other way around. How many of you have posted a video and thought 2000, or 3000 views was well worth the time of money you put into the video only to notice that not one soul has commented on your video? That’s right, not one comment.
YouTube is a social media platform. And if no one’s commenting then no one’s being social. And if no one’s being social, no one cares. And if no one cares, no one is sharing. And if no one’s sharing well, then who cares? Your number one goal should be to get viewers to engage and interact.
Tip # 4
KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE
If you don’t know what your audience wants, then they won’t get what they deserve. Finding your niche audience can take time. But if you want to create a YouTube channel with a lot of subscribers, you need to at least specialize in something. What that something is well, that’s up to you to decide. Once you find your groove, keep it going. But repeating the same formula that isn’t working is not a good plan.
When I posted a video about making killer kickstarter videos, or how to mount a Canon C300 video camera to a DGI Ronin people were tuning in. They were being fed something that they value. I earn my living by producing all sorts of videos for big and small companies. What my audience doesn’t want see on my YouTube channel is my phone number, website, and how I can shoot their next promo video. That’s just noise. Get it? But offering free advice, establishes trust and makes people think I’m somewhat of an expert in my field
When people post videos that is clearly all about what their product is, and why people use it it might be valuable information, but guess what? That’s not what people are on YouTube for, brother. People have 100 billion trillion choices on YouTube. And most of them, 99.9% of people watching videos on YouTube, want to be either entertained, they want to get news, or they want to get some sort of instruction not sold to. And marketing managers, if your social media team isn’t telling you this, guess what? Time to get a new social media team ’cause this information’s been out there for a while.
Tip # 5
YOUTUBE ANALYTICS
Oh my word, use it. Some of you have no idea what this is, or how to use it. And yet, I feel it’s the most important tool YouTube has to offer. So here we go, watch this. This is gonna blow your mind away. Watch my video above for more details.
See that button below your video? Click it. Wow, look at all that data. One of the most important, if not the most important analytic, is audience retention. Click it, and you’ll see a blow by blow graph of how well your audience is paying attention to your video. The first tab is Absolute audience retention. And the next tab is Relative audience retention. Let me explain. First, make sure you click this tab for lifetime since it defaults to the last 28 days for some reason. Now, Absolute shows you what percentage of viewers are watching your video from top to bottom. If your video finishes, and you’ve retained about 25 to 35% of your viewers, guess what? You’re doing pretty good. Pat yourself in the back. Now, if you’re below 20% or less, then your video has little or no value to your consumers and viewers. Try something different until something clicks. Success doesn’t happen overnight.
The next tab, now this is my favorite. This tab is all about relativity compared to all of the videos of the same length. A good video that is being watched, liked, and commented on, not surprisingly, will be in the above average section, at least up to the halfway mark of the video. This should be your goal. Sometimes above average views happens on accident, but don’t rely on that. Above average in this section is the golden grail to all successful YouTube videos that people love, and watch, and share. If your video is in the above average section, call that a success, and keep on going.
Anyway, I hope these 5 tips help you out. Email if you have any questions braden@bradenbartymedia.com