Most people are beginning to accept that video plays a key role in any content marketing strategy. Heck, this is High Impact Writing, and even I write about video marketing! Whether you like it or not, consumers love video, so it’s here to stay as a content medium. Thus, YouTube is a key component of any well-rounded content marketing strategy.
Now, I know that YouTube isn’t for everyone, but I encourage you to read all the way through this post with an open mind. YouTube is easily the #1 platform that I hear the most excuses for from businesses looking to grow their marketing impact. That’s why at the end of this article I bust two of the biggest myths about YouTube that I’ve seen hold many creators and businesses back for years.
But before we get into that, let’s talk about the things that make YouTube so effective for marketing:
The Benefits of YouTube as a Marketing Platform
YouTube Marketing Pro #1: Low Barrier to Entry
First and foremost, YouTube has a very low barrier to entry.
You can spend weeks designing a website for your blog before you even get a piece of content written…
With YouTube, all you have to do is create an account, and you’re ready to start posting videos.
Of course, it’s possible to procrastinate creating content on YouTube too – we’ll get into that later on.
YouTube Marketing Pro #2: Huge Distribution Potential
YouTube is very effective because it combines a low barrier to entry with huge distribution potential.
Think about it: you can spend 20 minutes or so recording a video…
Then, once that video is posted, it is essentially evergreen content that will potentially keep attracting new people and new views for years to come.
In other words: using YouTube, it’s very easy to create lots of “lines in the water” for your brand or business, in a relatively short amount of time.
YouTube Marketing Pro #3: Evergreen Traffic Aggregator
I briefly mentioned “evergreen” content in my last point. I use this term to help differentiate YouTube from social media platforms.
This is an important point that many people don’t grasp: YouTube is really more of a search engine than a social media platform (like Facebook, Twitter, etc). In fact, YouTube is actually the second largest search engine behind Google.
The reason I don’t really recommend social media for content marketing is because it’s either a blackhole or treadmill. Pick your metaphor. Your content disappears shortly after it’s posted (black hole) which requires you to constantly be pushing more and more posts out into these platforms (treadmill) to stay on people’s radars.
It doesn’t matter how good your Tweet is – it will likely be completely forgotten in the next week. However, if you make the absolute best YouTube video on the web for any given topic, it will continue to bring in organic viewers for YEARS to come. You can still get new views and new subscribers every day for a video you made years ago, that you put as little as 20 minutes of your time into.
That’s the power of YouTube as an evergreen content marketing engine.
Now that we’ve covered what makes YouTube so great for content marketing, it’s time to bust some myths, because I know some of these are already popping into your head right now:
2 Myths Holding People Back from YouTube Marketing Success
YouTube Myth #1: “I Need Expensive Cameras & Audio Equipment”
Many people think they need the latest and greatest technology to start a YouTube channel. This could not be further from the truth. Here are two examples to prove it:
Camper Report – This channel was started by the guys over at Income School. The original videos on the channel were all filmed years ago on a cell phone with very poor recording quality. One of these videos has over a million views now:
Alex Becker & Miles Beckler – “Ok,” you say, “but maybe that’s just because people looking for camper reviews don’t care about video quality that much. That would NEVER work in MY industry.” Well, two of the biggest channels in the digital entrepreneurship or “make money online” space are Alex Becker and Miles Beckler.
Both of these guys just use simple screen recordings in 99% of their videos, combined with a high quality webcam that you could pick up for maybe $100 or so. Both channels have hundred of thousands of subscribers.
Alex Becker:
Miles Beckler:
YouTube Myth #2: “I Can’t Do YouTube Because I Don’t Want to Show My Face”
So maybe you’re just very shy and don’t want to show your face. As a fellow introvert, I hear you. To be honest though, I have to say that this is really not as big a deal as many folks make it out to be.
However, even if you’re adamant about not showing your face, you can still have a successful YouTube channel.
I’m subscribed to a number of guitar channels on YouTube, and I don’t know what half of these guys faces look like. Because I don’t care (and maybe some of them don’t show their faces). Again – it comes back to the quality of the content you’re putting out. If your stuff is helpful, people will overlook even a faceless video of relatively poor recording and audio quality. It’s all about the content.
The other way to record for YouTube without showing your face is to simply use screen recording. If you’re walking through presentations or teaching people how to do things online, this is an effective strategy. Here’s my full guide for how to record your screen for YouTube videos by the way (spoiler alert: it’s ridiculously easy).
Bottom Line | Is YouTube Good for Marketing?
I hope this article makes it clear how overlooked YouTube is as a potential marketing pillar for your business. The low barriers to entry and huge evergreen distribution make this an incredibly powerful platform. Plus, the few barriers that do exist (equipment excuses, not wanting to show your face) are actually a good thing because I guarantee they’re holding back your competition. So get over your fears today and start making some awesome YouTube content that changes lives and transforms your business in the process!