If the Rolodex became LinkedIn and the Telegraph became Twitter, then Television has become YouTube.
YouTube is now second only to Google as the top search engine! That’s right, people are seaching for information and they are searching on YouTube. Over 2.6 BILLION visitors each day come to YouTube to be entertained, to research, to learn how-to information, to check out the people behind the company and more.
The television was the old media and YouTube is the new medium of choice. Today, everyone can be a TV producer and everyone can have their own channel. Why should you? Because that’s where the eyeballs are. Because that’s where your customers are. Because Google LOVES YouTube. Posting YouTube videos make your links 53 percent more likely to show up on Google page 1 and there is really no other page worth being on.
How often should you be on YouTube? At least once per month. What should you post on YouTube? Short (1 minute to 3 minutes maximum), valuable or entertaining information that engages your audience. Be consistent to your brand and yourself. If you are not over the top funny, don’t try to push it. Present an interesting story, a how to plan a promotion tip, a how to increase direct mail response essay—just make it about something that buyers of what you have to sell may be looking for and they will find you.
How do you make it go viral? You don’t. If it does, you got lucky. If your content is relevant, remarkable, funny, amazing and buzz-worthy, it just might have a chance of going viral, but you can’t predict it or plan it. So it’s a better strategy to just be relevant, remarkable, authentic, transparent and YOU.
A company that makes very very expensive home blenders was able to capture the power of YouTube. The CEO of Blendtec, dressed in a lab coat and safety goggles, started a series of videos to demonstrate the amazing power of their blenders. “Will It Blend?” became an internet sensation as he chopped up all kinds of things from blocks of wood to an iPad2. They had over 6 milllion views in five days and more importantly sales skyrocketed 700 percent.
The thing to remember with all of these new tools that are available to you is that you need to plan them. This requires a strategy and a message. If you had the keys to the local television station, you wouldn’t just walk in randomly and put random content on the air. Think of your YouTube channel as your personal broadcast booth and produce some sales winning content.
Coming up next: blogging—should you do it?
(This is the ninth part in a series on the New Rules of Marketing. In my next post, I’ll discuss the modern telegraph and its relevance to your business. Read part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4, part 5, part 6, part 7 and part 8.)
