YouTube is Not for Video Content Marketing
So you've created some stunning new video content for your company, and you want to get it out to the world as soon as possible. So, you jump over to Youtube, upload it, share it on social media and email campaigns, sit back and wait for the leads to start pouring in, right? Well actually, that may not be the best course of action anymore. You may inadvertently be limiting your chances to learn some very important and actionable information by sticking with Youtube as your only video content delivery system. Let's face it, as much as you may love it, Youtube does not have the critical components for successful video marketing.
Let's start with what Youtube has that makes it so appealing for marketers? Well, first of all, it's incredibly simple to use. Nearly everyone who has an internet connection can make a channel, and start uploading and sharing videos of any kind. As Youtube is one of the largest video content delivery services, boasting over one billion unique users a month, it seems like the views (and leads) will will flow right in. And, yes, perhaps you do get a bunch of views, but how do those views translate to actual leads? You can certainly put a link in the video to your website or a landing page, but then you're at the mercy of the viewer to follow through. While you can get some interesting data from Youtube's analytics, what you're lacking is actual actionable information. Here's some of the information that you can't get from Youtube analytics:
- How many times did each individual viewer watch your video?
- At what point did the viewer stop watching the video?
- Which parts of the video did the viewer watch more than once?
- Which of your other videos did the user watch?
And not quite a Youtube data question, but more importantly:
- Did you have an opportunity to capture that user's information?
While it's great that your videos are getting views, if you're using Youtube for marketing purposes, you're missing out on ways to start the lead down the funnel if you can't easily capture that information. You can hope that the viewer is watching your video on a landing page, but that won't always be the case, and with the pace of today's world, expecting the viewer to take the time and make the effort to follow through themselves and look you up for more information may be a little too much to ask.
So how do you fix this gap between a video being viewed, and you (or your sales team) following up with them based on that particular content? That was the question that I asked myself not too long ago until a friend told me about Wistia. Wistia is a video platform delivery service that takes marketing efforts in mind. They know that it's not enough to just post and share videos. That may be where engagement begins, but it certainly doesn't end there. Being able to ask for an email address directly in the video window removes a step that can easy be bypassed by the viewer, and by creating an email gate in the middle of the video, you have the chance to hook viewers with the first part of your video, gain some trust, and deliver on your promise of good content after obtaining lead information.
Wistia's video stat dashboards tells you a lot more about your video's performance than Youtube.
But it doesn't have to be like that if your metrics tell you different. Being able to see where the hot spots of your video are, you can better tell when to ask for the viewer's information. Also, if you're using a CRM like Salesforce, or inbound marketing software like Hubspot, you'll have the opportunity to create a better picture of lead, and what their needs are, leading to a better understanding of how your product or service can better serve them. Not only that, but Wistia can also help optimize your video for SEO for better discovery, another important feature Youtube can't match.
So, am I against using Youtube? No, not at all. Youtube is a fantastic tool in for those who want to show make their video content available to a large audience, but it may not be the best tool. If you need to get higher quality information about who is watching the content you take the time to create, and also want the added benefits of better customization and branding of your content, maybe it's time to move to something a bit more tailored for what you need. Views on Youtube are fine, but at the end of the day, a view is just a view.
Be sure to check out Wistia's Learning Center for some very helpful content on video marketing and video production.