YouTube is more than just the location of your favorite animal videos (R.I.P. Grumpy Cat). The Google-controlled website is also the world’s second-largest search-engine, with the eye-popping statistics to prove it.
According to YouTube, they are visited by over 1.9 billion logged-in users every month, with billions of views and billions of hours of watched content every day. That means nearly one out of every three people on the planet visits YouTube every month!
With so many potential customers just a click away, it’s important to understand how YouTube can help you reach your audience.
You Have My Attention
According to the Content Marketing Institute (CMI) and Optinmonster, 72% of marketers say that content marketing increases engagement, and 72% also say that content marketing increases the development of leads.
Content marketing can very easily be understood as providing free media to audiences in exchange for their attention. This strategy goes back at least to the 18th century, when Benjamin Franklin published an almanac (media content) in order to draw attention to the capabilities of his printing press business.
YouTube is chock full of free media content, much of it provided by businesses that want an audience’s attention for their products. How does YouTube help you reach audiences? The video platform gives you the opportunity to entertain potential customers. Entertain people enough, and they will listen to almost any message.
Put It There Partner
Bill Gates accurately said that “content is king,” but you don’t have to go to the expense of creating your own elaborate web series to get the attention of audiences and potential customers.
Sponsoring content that aligns with your company’s values or content that already connects to the audience you want is an effective technique for leveraging existing assets for mutual gains. Your sponsorship dollars help support creators’ ventures, and by either featuring your products in a review, gaining a subtle placement within the content, or by including a brief sponsorship message – you get in front of qualified eyeballs ready to buy.
Right On Target
Content is a powerful tool for building interest and trust, but YouTube also incorporates more traditional ad options into their viewing experience. This is another way to reach your audience. But how do you make sure the message reaches the right people?
Lucky for us, YouTube’s affiliation with Google provides marketers an exhaustive set of targeting and placement options that align with the highly customizable choices in the Google Ads platform.
Not accounting for some industry-specific restrictions, YouTube gives marketers nearly unlimited options for targeting specific audiences.
Demographic groups, both general (age, location, etc.) and specific (new parents, recent college grads, and on and on) can be selected to receive your targeted videos and ads. Just a few of the additional targeting parameters available include affinity audiences, life events, topics, keyword searches, and targeting by device type. When it comes to targeting, marketers are only limited by their creativity.
For both paid and organic placement opportunities, almost nothing compares to YouTube’s ability to capture the attention of a specific audience and move them closer to purchasing your products.
Informatics is a full-service digital agency that can assist in every part of your video marketing campaign. Our experienced media team can script, shoot, and edit a professional piece of content that captures your brand voice. Then our digital marketers can select the audience most likely to lead to profitable results. If you’re ready to own YouTube, contact our experts in All Things Internet today!
