7 Data-Backed Benefits Of Using YouTube To Market Your Business

The iconic red play button has been a cultural staple for over a decade. Artists, comedians, and celebrities alike, including Justin Bieber and Shawn Mendes, have launched their careers through YouTube. 

From a business perspective, it's hard to deny the effectiveness of video marketing. Businesses of all sizes can adopt a video marketing strategy as part of their inbound marketing strategy and enjoy these amazing data-backed benefits of using YouTube:

1. Capture Attention

No matter who your audience is, they are likely using YouTube. In fact, according to Alexa, YouTube is the second most visited site. Your potential for exposure is extraordinary.

However, you're facing a lot of competition. Statista's July 2015 research found that a whopping 400-plus hours of video were uploaded to YouTube every minute. In other words, coloring inside the lines might get your content lost in the shuffle.

Instead, focus on creating captivating videos that stand out from what your competitors are doing. Research their strategy, then identify opportunities they're overlooking or subject matter you can cover in a more in-depth, engaging manner. 

2. Generate High Traffic Volumes

According to YouTube's research, there are over a billion users, and they watch a billion hours of video per day. That's a lot of traffic opportunities.

Your video marketing content has the potential to reach billions of viewers. Of course, that is highly unlikely, but the promise of generating high traffic is definitely plausible. 

Not only does YouTube provide a cost-effective dissemination strategy, but its reach is far more comprehensive than regular television and cable stations.

The slow death of cable continues. In fact, Google's 2016 research found that six of 10 people prefer online video to live TV. What's more, predictions suggest that by 2025, half of people under 32 years old will not subscribe to a pay TV service. 

It's no wonder why 81% of businesses use video as a marketing tool, which is up from 63% the year prior, according to Wyzowl's State of Video Marketing 2018 survey. Video is not just a trend; it's a necessary aspect of your marketing strategy from now on. 

There are several kinds of videos you can create to take your marketing strategy to the next level, such as the following: 

• Explainer video - Show how your product or service addresses common pain points for your audience.
• Training video - Demonstrate how customers can use your products or services to gain the most benefits from them. 
• Webinars - Educate your audience on a specific theme or topics they want addressed. 
• Customer stories - These share your real customers' obstacles and highlight how they achieved desired results with your product or service. 

3. Experiment with Viral Marketing

The term "viral" often conjures up this idea of a massive burst in popularity surrounding a piece of video content. From sneezing baby pandas and moms wearing Chewbacca masks to Charlie biting his brother's finger and dancing to that catchy chorus of Despacito, there's no doubt in the potential of viral content on YouTube. 

For example, the aforementioned Despacito music video generated over five billion views, making it the most watched YouTube video of all time.   

In a perfect world, you can churn out video content that would be seen by millions of leads ready to close deals and skyrocket earnings past your revenue goals. But viral marketing is not just about racking up millions of views.

Viral marketing is the strategy you build around how your audience can spread information about your products or services. This information can spread through word of mouth, and it is most likely to be shared with each of your audience member's social networks. 

Fortunately, you can use your YouTube content in many ways that can spark shares. For example, embed your video content within relevant blog posts or share a link to a relevant video in a LinkedIn group discussion. 

The main aspect to focus on with video content is delivering value to your audience. If your viewers find your content informative, insightful, and entertaining, they will share it.

Many times, people who receive a YouTube video that has been passed on from a family member or friend share the video with others, thus creating a ripple effect.

Jonah Berger, author ofContagious: Why Things Catch On, outlines the 'STEPPS' framework for creating contagious content:

• Social currency - People want to look like they're in the know, so informational content will be shared widely and reach a lot of people. 
• Triggers - Ensure your audience is triggered to think of your brand based on certain context that aligns with your products or services. 
• Emotion - Feelings are as powerful as function, so inject video content with real emotions.  
• Public - Consider how to design campaigns that are inherently simple to promote and easy to spread. 
• Practical value - Expertise-driven, educational content that delivers usable, actionable solutions is likely to be shared. 
• Stories - Use narratives to deliver ideas because people love to communicate and share through stories.

4. Gain ROI From Multiple Video Marketing Channels

It's no secret that when you create video to market your business, you need to see ROI. Otherwise, you're wasting your resources.

The good news is that, as found by Wyzowl's State of Video Marketing 2018 survey, 78% of marketers say video gives them a good ROI.

There are several channels you're likely investing in or thinking about investing in. This includes hosting services like Vimeo, which is the second largest video hosting platform, and plenty of social media platforms.

Thanks to the advent of live streaming features from platforms like Periscope and Facebook Live and short form videos from Snapchat and Instagram Stories, the landscape for video content has radically changed. 

This is why you should be engaging in various channels of video content, like IGTV and Facebook Live, while also maintaining a strong YouTube strategy. YouTube is your bread and butter for your video campaigns, while the other video channels should complement and support your YouTube content. 

Simply put, creating and posting a YouTube video is a powerful asset to any digital marketing strategy. The widely recognizable format makes it the perfect ground for staging a product or service.

Plus, the intuitive algorithm YouTube uses can boost your viewings by suggesting your video content to viewers who are watching related content. At CES in 2018, YouTube Chief Product Officer Neal Mohan said that more than 70% of view time on YouTube is caused by their AI-driven recommendations. 

5. Boost Search Engine Rankings

Google acquired YouTube in 2006 for $1.65 billion in stock to stay dominate in the world of search. The fact that YouTube videos are often ranked high on Google’s search pages shows that building your video marketing strategy around this platform can yield real SEO results. 

Plus, look at the trends of searcher behavior. Cisco's 2017 study projects that video will represent 80% of all internet traffic by 2021. The growing interest in video is likely encouraging Google to rank sites offering video content higher. 

As you develop your YouTube channel, you further establish credibility in your industry and grow brand awareness. With the right tactics, you can drive a lot of traffic to your videos on your channel and, in turn, to your website. 

Treat your YouTube videos like your blog content. Start by conducting keyword research, then optimize your YouTube content by using your keywords in the title, description, and tags. 

Aside from maintaining your YouTube channel, you should also identify how you want to include your YouTube content within your website's content.

Here are a few awesome SEO benefits you can enjoy by adding video in your website content:

• Build backlinks - Providing high quality video within your website content can earn quality backlinks within your industry, which helps boost your ranking. 
• Reduce bounce rate - Including a relevant, valuable video on your webpage will keep visitors around longer, especially if they watch the video through to the end. 
• Earn high ranks in video suggestions - If your video is super relevant and optimized, Google might rank it under their suggested videos, which usually ranks after the featured snippet and before the top organic result. 

6. Integrate with Your Social Media Marketing

Not only are YouTube videos easy to share through your social media, but video is also wildly popular in the social world. Just for Facebook alone, users view eight billion videos daily. 

Social media users generally prefer sharing video content over any other content format. According to research from WordStream, social video generates 1200% more shares than text and images combined.

Likes and other forms of social media engagement outside of sharing are also valuable. Animoto's 2015 survey found that 84% of consumers say they liked a company video in their newsfeed, and nearly half of them personally share company videos to their feeds. 

By distributing YouTube videos on other popular social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Reddit, your business exposure can instantly increase exponentially. 

The more popularity your YouTube video receives, the higher it will rank. As the video increases in popularity, the better the chance that associated links will be clicked, which will also grow your online business presence.

7. Reach Global Audiences

YouTube is an international sensation, reaching countries around the globe. It is accessible anywhere, on every device. And this shift toward mobile use is boosting the platform's popularity even more. 

Research from App Annie found that YouTube is the top app on Android and iOS based on peak time spent in a month, average monthly time spent, and peak monthly active users in a month. 

The online video giant is available in 76 different languages and 88 countries. Because of this level of availability, the exposure potential for your video content on YouTube continually provides one of the most effective marketing tools available – on a 24/7 basis each day.

A YouTube video strategy a must have, especially if you're marketing to global audiences. 

The Takeaway

As you can see, the data says it all: YouTube is your best channel to use for video marketing.

You can enjoy boosts in SEO, build your traffic and brand awareness, expand your social reach, market to audiences overseas, improve your ROI, and diversify your video marketing strategy with multiple channels. 

It's time to hit the play button on your video marketing strategy. 

Editor’s Note: This post was originally published in March 2013. It was updated in August 2018 for accuracy and comprehensiveness.