I’ve covered the importance of on a number of occasions.
Above all, I cannot stress enough that Youtube is the second largest search engine in the world. If we are talking acquisitions (i.e. new customers), I strongly suggest using Youtube to fuel videos from your past events, interviews with speakers and featured content.
You are not too late to join the YouMovement. In fact I think the service has only recently really become an effective marketing machine for your event. Therefore open up the video folder in your computer and let’s get started.
What You Need Before Starting
– Some Videos.
There is no point in starting a channel without any video. It’s actually quite bad. I would suggest focusing your mind on any piece of video content that you think may be relevant to your objective. If you are not sure about what your objective is, read this.
Pick up the phone and contact the video company you called for the last event you run.
Line up at least five videos and you are ready to go.
– A Google Account.
Easy Peasy. Get one here. Note that if you use any Google service as a registered user (GMail, Google+, Google Analytics) you can use the same login details.
Tweak the Settings
– Appearance
Make sure the color scheme of your channel matches your event website’s look and feel. Know your colours and make sure the experience is consistent across different platforms. Uploading a custom background, specifically designed for your channel is ideal.
– Info & Settings
The description of your Channel should tell it all. Be very accurate with the words you select and keep in mind the action you want from those who visit. Is it subscriptions? Is it clicks on your Website?
– Website
If you want Youtube visitors to check your website, make sure you use a unique link so you can track how many people Youtube is referring. It is also advisable to use trackable links on the description of each video. Measuring the success of your event marketing should always be in the back of your mind.
– Tags
Run a comprehensive search on the relevant tags that you should use. How do you do that? Identify your topic, i.e. the subject of your event, search for popular channels on the subject and check what tags they use. It will help you to identify the most used tags in your subject area. Tags a really important, do not skip this step.
– Default Tab
Choose a Featured Tab as your default Tab
– Featured Tab Setting
I would suggest to pick “Creator” for the style of your default view. It will help you to select only the videos you choose for those who land on your channel.
Video Uploading and SEO
Uploading videos is not a matter of dropping a file on the channel.
Every setting needs to be taken care of in order to be as searchable as possible. Here are the most important bits to take care of:
– Increase the video length limit.
You can do that here.
– Take care of the in-video calls to action.
Have you added your logo with your website at the beginning and end of your video?
– Rename your video file.
Pick the title you want to see when it goes live. You’ll be able to do this later as well, but I’ve seen a lot of users forget to edit it. The sooner you start, the better. In terms of picking the best title, again research and benchmark against your competition/related subject area.
– Description, tags, visibility.
In essence you need to go through the same exercise of setting up your channel. Make sure you add a link of your website in the description of the video towards the beginning as Youtube displays only the first few words as default.
– Learn to use annotations.
This is possibly the most ignored tool when it gets to Youtube marketing. There is actually a lot of potential if you use it properly. Here is a great guide.
– Know how YouTube SEO works.
This is the most concise and still relevant guide.
– Review your analytics.
Youtube recently refurbished its analytics. Review the performance of each video to make sure you are achieving your targets.
Advanced
Once you become proficient with all of the above, I want you to focus on the objective of becoming a Youtube Partner. Why? Because you can then enjoy the beauty of YouTube Live as well as more customisation options such as a clickable header on your channel.
Qualifying to become a partner is not easy to achieve. Here are the requirements.
I would suggest to start exposing your best videos to larger audiences with Youtube Advertising as it may help in speeding up the process although there is no official line on the latter.
In Conclusion
The benefits of YouTube for event marketing range from search engine visibility to live streaming of your gigs. With 800,000,000 monthly visitors you cannot ignore the opportunities available for your event. This guide will help you to start using it wisely. If you have any questions, please use the comments.
