It’s the 2nd most visited website in the world with 300 million visitors each and every day. Needless to say, it’s an important platform to leverage. However, when it comes to marketing with YouTube, even the big brands can get it wrong. If you’re to tame this leviathan and use it to its full potential, it’s up to you to succeed where others have gone wrong. Let’s take a look at these 7 Deadly Sins of marketing mistakes…
Take your online marketing to the next level with our affordable SEO services contact the WebsitePromoter team today.
#1 Lack of clear objectives
You know that YouTube is an important platform to get on… But once you’re on there… Now what? Without clear objectives you have no strategy and with no strategy your content cannot live up to its full potential and may even be discordant with your brand. Identify clear objectives, determine your KPIs and use YouTube’s analytics tools to test your campaign’s efficacy.
#2 Strategy that isn’t informed by relevant data
The only thing worse than no strategy is a strategy that flies in the face of data insights. This results in a campaign that is always on the back foot, struggling for relevance and meaningful audience engagement. Get to know the metrics that really matter and use them to inform your strategy.
#3 Always outsourcing
If you’re out to make a great first impression you may be tempted to outsource your video creation to a third party for a debut that truly wows.
However, regularly outsourcing can prove very expensive and until you really know your analytics you may not be able to accurately gauge your ROI.
It may be cheaper and more effective in the long run to amass the equipment and skills to tackle video production in-house.
#4 Focusing only on the short term
You may not be sure about this whole YouTube thing and as such your goals are confined strictly to the short term. But make no mistake, neither YouTube nor video marketing are going anywhere. In fact, it’s estimated that by 2022 video will account for almost 80% of all online content. With this in mind, can you really afford not to have a 6 month, 12 month or 5 year plan?
#5 Failing to master the balance between advertising and content
Users are very sensitive about advertising on YouTube. They get enough of it from paid ads and the pleas of YouTubers for them to “smash that subscribe button”. This is not a platform where users want advertising content.
They want content from which they can benefit.
YouTube is all about the long game; building value in your brand through genuine user engagement. Given the resources invested in your advertising copy, it’s better placed elsewhere.
#6 “Hero content”
You may be tempted to throw a hefty budget at a piece of video content with real production value. And while it may look and sound amazing, big budget “hero” content may not offer the value to users that justifies the hefty price tag.
As such, “hero” content often comes across as vanity content and has little chance of sustainable engagement.
Instead focus your content around providing substance that’s of value to users.
Content that can help or solve a specific problem is far more likely to drive the kind of engagement you’re looking for.
#7 Getting to know your target audience
Finally, perhaps the most egregious sin is failing to get to know the wants and needs of your target audience. This is an integral component of your strategy and should inform every piece of content you make.
It’s not enough to create video content and trust that people will alight on it because you’re awesome (although you are).
The better you know your audience the more meaningful your engagement with them will be.
In conclusion
YouTube is an incredible and increasingly important platform. However, it’s no longer enough to simply have a presence anymore. In order to be successful and get the kind of meaningful engagement you need, you need a strategy that keeps you clear of these 7 deadly sins.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.