Marketing U Class #23: Using You Tube to Promote Your Business

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Using You Tube to Promote Your Business
By Gwen Moran

Unless you've been living in a cave -- one that doesn't have wifi, that is -- you've probably seen the new Dove film "Onslaught," that was released on YouTube last week. It's the follow-up to the campaign's film, "Evolution." Advertising columnist Bob Garfield heralded it as a "triumph," in spite of the hypocrisy that the company touting "natural" beauty is a subsidiary of Unilever, which also owns Axe and Slimfast. But that's an issue that would take us too far off topic.

There's no question that YouTube has become a force in everything from Presidential debates to creating instant fame. Could it do the same for your company?

One company that has had phenomenal success on YouTube is Blendtec, the creators of the hilarious Will It Blend? series of films. (Don't try to replicate them at home.) The films take everything from golf balls to the ubiquitous iPhone and blend them into tiny shards in the company's durable mixing machines. They're great demonstrations of their products' ability to blend just about anything.

A few months ago, I had occasion to speak with Michael Miller, the author of YouTube 4 You. He said that the key for small to mid-sized businesses using YouTube effectively is to create a video that people want to see. It could be a funny video related to your product, an amazing demonstration, or an instructional video. Within the clip, include your company’s web site so people can find you easily.

Don’t just post and run. You need to promote the video, just as you would anything else. E-mail your customers and ask them to pass the word along. Post a link to the video on your web site. Discuss the video in relevant blog comments. Use tags on your video that are relevant to your content.

Miller also advises not going crazy on production value. YouTube is not great cinema and the broadcast quality isn’t fantastic. So, save some bucks by going lower-end on production. You’re also not going to need complex scenery, since videos are replayed in tiny windows.

Ready to get started? This Work.com profile is pretty comprehensive, covering everything from production to how to use tags and groups to promote the video.

One other bonus: YouTube assumes all of the storage and bandwidth costs. Miller says, “In the off-chance that you have a video that a million people come to see, YouTube can handle that and you don’t have to shut down your web site.”

Got a YouTube success story or tip? Broadcast it in our comments section