Digital marketing experts claim that there are many advantages of YouTube marketing, while some doubt if this source of entertainment is even relevant to digital marketing. However, the fact that one billion hours of video are watched daily on YouTube, the platform allows creators to drive consumers’ purchase decisions. While YouTube has a global reach, it does have some downside, so here we decode the Pros and Cons of YouTube Marketing for you to understand how to work around this massive channel and achieve success.
What is YouTube Marketing? Is it Relevant?
In simple terms, YouTube Marketing is a digital marketing strategy that involves uploading videos on YouTube to promote a brand, product, or service by gaining exposure. It helps organizations to:
- Increase organic traffic
- Build a large customer base
- Reach wider audiences
- Get views from new geographies
- Increase leads and sales volume
Having a YouTube channel is undoubtedly an effective way to promote your brand entertainingly. Many ways, such as uploading explainers, using YouTube ads, or promoting business through influencers, can help you get more traction. Though there are many other social media platforms for brand promotion, YouTube is still relevant and the most effective video marketing platform. Here are some stats to prove YouTube’s relevance to current marketing trends.
- 30 million users log in to YouTube every day
- 55% of marketers use the platform for their marketing strategy
- 1 billion hours of YouTube videos are watched every day
- 70% of watching happens on YouTube mobile app
- 25% year-to-year growth noted in the ad revenue from 2020 to 2021
- 70% of people purchase a product after seeing it in a YouTube advertisement
- 51% of B2C and B2B marketers run ads on YouTube
- 62% of businesses use YouTube to post their videos
Many marketers devote time and energy to this platform to create engaging content and grow audiences because it is relevant and essential.
Why is YouTube Marketing Important?
YouTube creators are stars that earn their audiences by entertaining, teaching, and producing high-quality content. It is a platform for promoting talent, brands, products, services, and creativity. That’s why it is one of the most robust platforms for brands and creators for marketing. Here are some more reasons:
- Digital Marketing Space is Evolving: Digital marketing is an ever-growing space and opens new opportunities for marketers. Being a B2C or B2B brand, you can quickly move on and try new methods to succeed if something does not work for you. Likewise, YouTube marketing is also an opportunity one can try parallelly with other digital marketing techniques.
- More Power to MSME: Opening an account on YouTube is free and serves as one of the most powerful marketing platforms for small business owners. MSME (Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises) can quickly start and optimize their channel and promote their products and services. Instead of investing in traditional methods that are expensive and less effective, MSME owners can use YouTube marketing for better results.
- Scope To Expand Geographies: Many Indian YouTube channels drive great audiences outside the countries. That’s the effectiveness of YouTube marketing. Especially if you have an online business and target customers worldwide, investing in YouTube marketing is worthy. You can promote your brand through informative videos that will attract audiences and expand your business in other geographies.
- Need For Cross-Selling: YouTube marketing is also crucial because, in digital marketing, there is always a need for cross-selling. It is a marketing strategy to sell complementary products when selling the original product. For example, you can suggest users look at your “Twitter marketing course” if they enjoyed watching your “Facebook marketing course.” Such cross-selling techniques pave the way for easy and effective marketing strategies.
- Creativity Keeps You Productive: In this ever-evolving digital marketing space, all creators must be creative to capture the audience’s attention. Being creative can fuel innovative thinking and let you be productive. YouTube gives you many opportunities to be creative with your videos. Using interesting screenshots, providing valuable content in fun ways, and improving user experience can all be done creatively on YouTube, which keeps you productive and motivated.
Many people are considering starting a YouTube channel to promote their content, product, or service. If you are planning to get involved in YouTube marketing, first understand the pros and cons of YouTube marketing.
Pros and Cons of YouTube Marketing in 2024
When picking the best marketing model for your product or service, evaluating the pros and cons of the available options is essential. Check out some of the Pros and Cons of YouTube marketing.
| SI. No | Pros of YouTube Marketing | Cons of YouTube Marketing |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | Popularity | Lack of control |
| 2. | Targeting | Time-Consuming Process |
| 3. | Content Engagement | Ads Can Be Skipped |
| 4. | Inclusive | Irrelevant Audiences |
| 5. | Easy to Share | Bad Publicity Can Harm |
| 6. | No Limitation on Viewing Time | Cost of Maintenance |
| 7. | Be Ahead on Google | – |
| 8. | Unimaginable Reach | – |
| 9. | Higher Conversion Rate | – |
Pros of YouTube Marketing
1. Popularity
Today, YouTube videos are the preferred option to run your marketing ideas because almost everyone is online and is accessing YouTube. It is one of the largest social media networks. Your potential customers are there and can be a great revenue source. It is an effective medium of advertising for big businesses as well as small startups.
2. Targeting
YouTube targeting is based on algorithms. It is essential to capture the imagination of your potential client rather than have more eyeballs from people that are not even potential buyers. Using your Google AdWords, you can target information based on customer searches, demographic data, location, and more. Additionally, you can use keywords that help direct your message to people that can be converted and better your ranking in the Google search.
3. Content Engagement
Videos tend to be engaging and interactive. You can include explainers, how-to articles, commercials, and more within the video options, with your watermark on each one for branding and recall. The great thing is that it can cover various topics related to your product or services. For instance, if you are in the mobile business, you can create videos about the top 10 mobile apps in the market for a year, the benefits of 4G compared to 3G, and more. It helps you transform from a seller, product, or service to a Subject Matter Expert (SME).
4. Inclusive
YouTube has many in-built features to make your video more inclusive for your audiences. Features like voice-over, subtitles, online text content, speed setting, and so on give more power to your viewers to view your content based on their preferences. On the other hand, YouTube keeps updating its community guidelines to encourage respectful conversations between the audiences and creators.
5. Easy to Share
The platform lets you share your videos across other social media networks to boost your video marketing efforts. Also, you can add your video link to your blog posts, websites, and guest posts, reach out to other influences and ask them to share. It works as word-of-mouth advertising when viewers also share it in their online spaces on your behalf. It helps spread your message far and wide, quickly.
6. No Limitation on Viewing Time
As you create a marketing strategy on YouTube, you must remember that there is hardly any limitation on the length of the video, content, and creativity limits you want to achieve. That means your strategy could entail multiple videos in story form, multiple short videos, one long video, and more based on the topic and your approach to it. Most businesses prefer 2-minute videos, but there is no hard ruleset if you want to explore other options as part of your strategy.
7. Be Ahead on Google
One of the most significant advantages of YouTube marketing is its SEO benefits. Google indexes each video uploaded on YouTube, and better-optimized videos have greater chances of appearing in search results. It gives your business an excellent opportunity to attract a new audience’s attention and drive traffic from the web. Ensure your video is well-optimized using keywords, description, tags, and more.
8. Unimaginable Reach
There is a vast reach and following on YouTube worldwide. You can better your ranking within the Google search. Additionally, you can post your creative piece on YouTube and embed it on your site along with a YouTube icon. It gives access to the video through YouTube directly or through your website. It provides better recall and more reach for the video to reach the masses and hopefully get conversions.
9. Higher Conversion Rate
Expert digital marketers who use video for marketing are growing their revenue 49% faster every year than those who don’t. Also, 64% of customers get convinced to buy a product after watching it in video format. Online video marketing can convert more leads than other forms of marketing, which is one of the biggest benefits of YouTube marketing.
Cons of YouTube Marketing
1. Lack of control
As much as you can control the number of times your ad is viewed, however, where your ad is played is not entirely within your control. For instance, sometimes your advertisement could be displayed alongside a hate speech video, any offensive topics, and sometimes even adult sites. All of this could hurt the reputation of the brand that is advertising.
2. Time-Consuming Process
Video production typically takes longer to plan and execute than other forms of marketing content. YouTube videos must go through several checks and balances before it is complete and uploaded. From planning to editing and monitoring the results, the process is time-consuming.
3. Ads Can Be Skipped
One of the biggest challenges YouTube advertisers face is to hook their audiences in 5 seconds or less. That’s because your audiences can skip ads after 5 seconds and move on to watch content. According to IPG, 65% of people skip online video ads as soon as they get a chance. While 76% say they skip ads out of their ingrained behavior. So, marketers need to be creative to grab people’s attention within 5 seconds or opt for unskippable ads that go for 15-20 seconds.
4. Irrelevant Audiences
Sometimes, a viewer can find an advertisement pleasing. However, it might not convert into a potential customer. It is primarily because the ad may be nice and convey a great message but might not be relevant to the targeted audiences. Your ad is as good as the conversions it brings to your sales. When the ad goes to irrelevant audiences, it wastes effort, time, and money.
5. Bad Publicity Can Harm
YouTube has the option to have comments or close comments on their site. Keeping the comment options closed can give a sense to viewers that you are afraid of feedback. On the other hand, opening up comments can bring in a lot of trolls and competitors that ruin your marketing effort. Negative feedback can harm your business’s online reputation. It also can further affect your rankings in Google searches.
6. Cost of Maintenance
For YouTube marketing to be effective, you must maintain your channel with new information that audiences will find helpful. Apart from advertising and video production costs, you need to invest in someone that can manage or monitor your channel, the price of which can be high. Also, you need to be constantly creative on this platform to survive. People tend to lose interest if your content is not innovative or exciting.
Do and Don’t of YouTube Marketing
To get the most out of YouTube Marketing, you can follow certain do’s and don’ts of this platform. It will help you engage and grow your audience organically, and drive-in quality leads.
| SI. No | Do’s of YouTube Marketing | Don’ts of YouTube Marketing |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | Create a dedicated channel on YouTube to showcase your marketing material instead of using your personal ID for posting. | Don’t be afraid to showcase your talents |
| 2. | Research, Research, Research | Avoid publishing all your videos at once; instead, stagger their release to maintain audience engagement and maximize impact. |
| 3. | Invest your time in creating YouTube Shorts | Don’t ignore the feedbacks you receive. Learn and adapt from it. |
| 4. | Always be ready to learn | Don’t go over on a set budget |
| 5. | Optimize your channel and videos | Don’t ignore performance metrics |
| 6. | Upload and schedule your videos | – |
| 7. | Invest in yourself | – |
| 8. | Advertise, analyze, and adapt | – |
| 9. | Collaborate with other creators | – |
| 10. | Tag your videos honestly | – |
| 11. | Engage your audience | – |
Do’s of YouTube Marketing
1. YouTube channel
Instead of using your ID to post your YouTube marketing material, create a channel for it specifically. There are several advantages of creating a channel. It includes better recall value for the brand, lets customers know you are serious about your brand, helps when you want to expand, and more.
2. Research, Research, Research
There is no substitute to research for creating a successful Youtube marketing campaign. When done right, your research will give you information about your audiences, their likes and dislikes, and how your competitors attract audiences. Information is priceless, so make an effort to gather as much information as possible.
3. Invest in YouTube Shorts
By now, 12 million YouTube channels have published over 213 million YouTube Shorts that grabbed over 5 trillion views. Investing your time in creating YouTube Shorts will get your channel more exposure. It is a golden opportunity for creators to scale their channel growth and drive engagement. Another benefit is YouTube Shorts remain on the channel and do not disappear like Facebook Stories, Instagram Stories, and Snapchat.
4. Always be ready to learn
There is no shortage of learning in the online universe. To be successful in marketing, you must learn from your competitors and other videos that are doing better. Don’t forget to learn from end-user behavior. All these and more will contribute towards running an effective campaign if you are willing to update the direction based on the learnings.
5. Optimize your channel and videos
As a YouTube marketer, the two things that you will have to achieve are a more significant following for your channel and a higher number of views for the videos. Therefore, optimizing your channel and videos to attract more viewers and further convert them into followers is essential. Make your videos vibrant, engaging, and enjoyable.
6. Upload and schedule your videos
Following a schedule for posting or publishing is necessary for all kinds of content marketing strategies. It helps you be consistent in your efforts and not lose track of your marketing activities. Your upload schedule will ensure that the viewer has the time to grab the concept of the previous video and will feel like they are being engaged because of the constant touch. Also, it lets your audiences have a chance to look forward to what’s coming up next from your side.
7. Invest in yourself
Apart from investing in creating content, you must also invest in the content reaching the right kind of audience at the opportune time. Try advertising your youtube channels on YouTube. You can create banners to promote your channels or create ads for YouTube. Additionally, you can also consider influencer marketing as an option. There are many reliable SMEs that viewers listen to. Choosing the right SME for your brand can go a long way.
8. Advertise, analyze, and adapt
You know what your strengths are. So, ensure that you showcase them the best way you can. Put your best foot out there and be brave about your work. Also, listen to the market. Analyze if your messaging is going through. You might have the best of products. However, if how the end-user views it is not convincing, that is one conversion lost. Learn to adapt to your viewer needs and market drivers.
9. Collaborate with other creators
No one in today’s world can function in isolation. It is vital to collaborate with other creators that are relevant to your business. It can be an effective way to build your business’s reach. For instance, host each other’s videos as guest videos, and have cross-promotions. It can benefit your YouTube marketing and help growth for you and your collaborator.
10. Tag your videos honestly
People have very little attention. They often visit sites they find reliable to get the information they are looking for. So, you must become a reliable source for the information they are looking for. With your YouTube video marketing, ensure you tag only relevant keywords. More keywords do not draw greater attention but tend to frustrate the viewer with irrelevant information.
11. Engage your audience
Always try to make your content engaging and interesting. Additionally, as part of your YouTube marketing plan, ensure that you factor in responding to feedback for comments sent on the videos. Stay away from toxic comments, but engage with viewers with an opinion, even if their view differs from yours.
Don’ts of YouTube Marketing
1. Don’t be afraid to leap
Most people with talent often stop showcasing because of insecurities about being scrutinized. Often people procrastinate on their job at hand also. Ensure you do what you can do and send the best draft out. After that, you can always change or update your content or strategy depending on the outcome.
2. Don’t publish all videos at a stretch
You might have a lot to share and might want to be very eager to share all that information with your viewers. However, learn to hold back. Too much information in one video can overwhelm the user. Instead, share information in snippets.
3. Don’t ignore feedback
Listening to your fans and foes with more attention is something you should make your own as a marketer. Bad feedback spreads like wildfire. So, please don’t ignore the feedback you receive. Learn from it and change and adapt to the change.
4. Don’t go over on a set budget
Just because everyone is investing a lot in YouTube marketing doesn’t mean you should. You will not get better results by adding more budget to ad campaigns. So allocate your budget wisely and do not exceed that. Focus on setting up your campaigns correctly, optimizing your videos and ads, and building engagement.
5. Don’t ignore performance metrics
YouTube marketing metrics and numbers are essential to track. It will help people to get a sense of what’s working and what’s not. The performance metrics like the number of views, likes, and shares will give you an idea of your audience’s preference. Pay attention to what kind of videos generate the most activity and concentrate your future marketing efforts on publishing high-performance posts.
Conclusion
Anyone can use YouTube marketing to promote their brand and sell their products or services. It is an excellent option for promoting your brand’s offering. However, it comes with risks and returns that you must consider evenly before investing hugely. The best is to start learning and trying your hands on the platform because YouTube marketing is the need of the hour and also a necessity for modern digital business. Start using the platform to drive conversion and push sales like never before.
You can excel in YouTube marketing in just 90 days by enrolling in Sorav Jain’s Online YouTube Mastery Course. The course covers everything from starting a YouTube channel to driving more views and subscribers and building a solid brand using videos. Whether you are new to this incredible platform or want to improve your channel’s performance, this comprehensive course is perfect for getting started and excel. Enroll Now!
