Youtube started in 2005 as a simple video-sharing site where people could share home videos. One of the founders of YouTube, Jawed Khan, uploaded the first-ever video titled, Me at the Zoo. It’s a 19-second video, still available on YouTube.
This small startup by a bunch of college kids changed the world of audio-video media. It has changed the videos forever.
YouTube is the largest video search engine and the second largest search engine on the internet. You can find a wide range of videos on it. Whether you want nursery rhymes or corporate presentations, it has everything.
B2B companies often feel sceptical about publishing content on YouTube. It has a reputation as a platform for individual creators, but…
I have collected some interesting facts about YouTube to break that myth:
- In 2021, YouTube has 2.2+ billion registered users.
- Every minute 500 hours of content is being uploaded.
- Almost every country with the internet has YouTube users.
B2C brands have made a significant shift in their marketing strategies. Now, most of them target users on YouTube and other social media more than television.
But…
Can B2B brands leverage the power of YouTube? According to my experience and research, Yes, Absolutely!
This article is a starter guide to YouTube marketing for B2B marketers and companies.
Before we jump on to the process, let us find out the…
Benefits Of YouTube Marketing For B2B Companies
When you know what’s in the store for you, it becomes easier to take action. Similarly, you must know about the amazing benefits your B2B business can get with YouTube presence.
This is not a comprehensive list but long enough to show you the power of presence on YouTube.
Reach Out To Your Audience
In this day and age, where people can put on a mask online and pretend to be someone else, it creates trust issues among the target audience. It is important to put yourself out there and win the trust of your audience.
Businesses are never built with money. They are built with relationships.
If you are active on YouTube, you can reach out to the number of your current audience multiple times in a day. Youtube has 2.2+ billion users, which is almost half of the population on the internet.
It can help you connect with your audience personally, which is much better than paid PR campaigns.
Build a Brand
You can build a B2B brand on YouTube. It will directly and indirectly, benefit your business.
If you still have doubts, here’s social proof for you:
Maersk
A.P. Moller – Maersk is an integrated transport and logistics company. Logistics is one of the industries which does not have much glamour. This channel still has more than 80k subscribers.
Cisco
Cisco is among the world leaders in the IT industry. Again, an industry that does not have entertainment or glamour which is often associated with YouTube. Its channel has 288k subscribers.
There are a lot of other channels, but these two are enough to prove my point.
Another objection that happens is that many B2B business owners depend on Google search results to generate leads. Well, you can…
Boost Google search ranking
YouTube can help in boosting your website’s SEO. Also, some search queries show video as top results on Google. Video SEO is much easier than traditional website SEO.
You have better chances of ranking for videos than text search queries.
Lead Generation
YouTube can be really helpful in generating leads for your business. Videos are a great social proof of a business and create a long-lasting impression in viewers’ minds.
They might want to work with you after watching your videos. Hence, Always mention your contact credentials in the description.
Now that you know about the benefits that a B2B business can have by having a YouTube channel, the follow-up question is…
How To Grow A B2B YouTube Channel?
I have listed down some of the best practices for B2B YouTube channels to grow on YouTube.
Disclaimer: I assume that you already have a YouTube channel.
Create your hero story
Humans love stories.
Storytelling is one of the most underrated aspects while marketing & branding a business. When businesses leverage storytelling, they create a brand that outshines the competition.
For example, Apple is a company that sells mobiles & laptops. But, we all know how it started from the garage and reached the top after crossing hurdles.
Every great business has a hero story. The best part is that you do not need expensive PR campaigns to spread your hero story. YouTube is your almost free PR.
Create a content strategy
If you want to create a successful B2B brand, you need a content strategy. Often B2B companies treat YouTube as a corporate presentation. This approach is lousy and never brings results.
YouTube is a social media platform. Make it social. Here are some ideas on the type of content,
Vlogs: Vlogs are the lifeline of YouTube. You can show your daily routine or work environment of your office space. There’s a lot more that can be done around B2B Vlogs.
One of the prime examples is Gary Vaynerchuk, Founder and CEO of Vayner Media. Check out his YouTube channel, GaryVee.
Product/Service Demo: Face the reality — written product/service demos are boring and confusing. Why don’t you record, publish them on YouTube, and then share them on your website?
You can also share these videos with your prospects.
Brand Story: Brand storytelling has become one of the most popular videos on YouTube. Tell your story to your audience and create an emotional connection.
Create engaging scripts
A basic video script has three main parts:
a. Hook
b. Intro
c. Story
d. Outro/Hook
E.g., You have a video on “How XYZ Product Can Help Your Audience.”
Hook: A 5-10 seconds part from your main video which intrigues the user to watch the rest of the video.
Intro: Tell about yourself and your company. (Keep it short)
Story: This is where you tell that how XYZ product can help your audience. Try to answer all of the questions your audience have in general.
Outro/CTA: You can simply finish your video with a bye, or you can redirect users to another video/website.
Always create content at least a month in advance before you publish.
Treat YouTube as your landing page
YouTube is more than just a video sharing platform. As a B2B business, you should treat it as a landing page. Focus on its colour theme, thumbnails, CTAs, messages, description, and more.
Create Playlists: It will help your subscribers or visitors in easy navigation on your channel.
Always mention your other social media platforms and website links in the description.
Stay consistent
YouTube rewards consistency. Period.
The algorithms work in such a way that they reward creators who are consistent with content.
Therefore, always keep your content calendar full.
Hijack others’ audience
YouTube is a social media platform. It means you have to get social on it. Follow other creators in your industry. However, be strategic about it. Notice when they upload videos, check them out and comment on them.
Comment something related to the video. Do not go all out and keep promoting yourself. Help others.
When you are consistent with it, you’ll automatically see a spike increase on your channel.
YouTube advertising
All the methods mentioned above are organic ways of growing the YoutTube channel for B2B companies. However, when you have enough quality content on your channel, experiment with YouTube Ads.
YouTube ads is a whole different topic, so here’s a summary.
You can promote videos that play before other videos for your targeted audience. Another option is to run search campaigns. There are so many different methods, but these two are more popular ones.
However, I recommend you build an organic audience first and then explore YouTube ads.
Keep a check on analytics
Always keep a check on your metrics through YouTube analytics. It is an analytics tool that you can find on the backend of your YouTube channel along with the dashboard.
Use these metrics to create and optimize content for your channel. You can find information about subscribers count, watch time.
You may also consider monetizing your channel to add another revenue stream to your company.
Final Thoughts
There’s a lot that can be done for B2B companies and YouTube. It can be a long term investment in automation if companies pay attention to it.
The purpose of this guide was to give a glimpse to B2B marketers and company owners that they are ignoring a goldmine.
The topics and methods discussed here can go deeper, but that’s for another day. Right now, just get started.