Social networks are an anchor of online branding. From Facebook to Instagram, all personal brands need an integrated multi-channel promotion nowadays.
Since recent studies showed that video will account for almost 80% of an entire online traffic by 2020, brands realized they need to use YouTube to boost visibility.
However, a video is the special type of content and you need to be careful when creating a YouTube channel. There are some basic rules that you need to follow in order to maximize its potential.
Users watch almost 5 billion videos on YouTube each day. With such redundancy of content, you have to be clever and allow your brand to stand out from the rest.
According to social media experts at Assignment Masters, you can achieve this using the latest methodology of YouTube promotion. Let’s take a closer look at the seven basic rules…
1.) Branding
This YouTube channel is dedicated to you, so don’t miss the chance to point it out from the very beginning.
You can customize the page using personalized background. Keep it aligned with the overall marketing strategy and visual presentations on other channels.
The point is to be recognizable as soon as the follower enters your YouTube channel or video.
2.) Strategy & Timing
Although you want to build a self-brand, it doesn’t mean that you should make this channel 100% about you and your products.
Instead, try the 80/20 approach and keep your followers interested by posting 80% of videos not directly related to the brand itself. At the same time, be aware that timing plays a crucial role in YouTube marketing.
Use the other 20% of videos at the right time to promote new products or services. Doing so, you will provide users with two important elements of personal branding: infotainment and professionalism.
3.SEO
Search engine optimization is an essence of content creation. Even if you make the most amusing YouTube video ever, it will do you little good unless you optimize it precisely.
Keywords play the key role in SEO and you have to include them in the title. Video descriptions and keyword tags are the next steps in that regard: always choose relevant keywords and phrases that match the context of your video and the industry in general.
4.) Thumbnails
If you optimize videos correctly, you will be among top choices in YouTube search. However, this is not the guarantee that users will click your link.
To help them find you easier, you should use actionable thumbnails. Choose a clear image and let it be the one that shows some action or has the power to entertain users at first sight. Doing so, you will increase chances that they will choose your video before others.
5.) Annotations
Besides comments, annotations are one more channel of interaction with your viewers. The best thing about annotations is that they serve as a call-to-action, which could generate many fresh leads.
Keep in mind to place them with meaning and on time because that’s the only way for annotations to fulfil their purpose. If you add them randomly, they will probably make users annoyed and chase them away eventually.
6.) Playlists
The personal brand is not uniform, so your videos will not be either. That’s why you should create playlists and sort videos according to dates, themes, products, etc.
It will provide users with a better overview of content but it will also fit the micro-segmentation of your audience.
7.) Cross-Channel Promotion
Your YouTube presentation is not supposed to be a lone wolf, unrelated to other social network channels. It can generate the best results only when you integrate it into the general marketing plan.
Just follow the same marketing principles and add social share buttons to your videos – it will make you look good and the followers will get a simple tool to promote you through other networks.
Conclusion
Video content is flooding the Internet and many professionals use this fact to promote their brands through YouTube nowadays.
In this article, I explained seven personal branding tips for YouTube posters. Feel free to give them a try and let me know in comments if you have other suggestions to share.
