We all know that social media is becoming one of the most common ways to promote business and level the playing field for small business owners and nonprofit organizations. Customers often look to many forms of social media prior to engaging with a company or purchasing a product. For this reason, it is important to say up to date with the constant changes that go on in the world of social media. Our next generation of consumers are the millennials.
According to a case study in the March 2015 issue of Bizwomen, millennials make up 86 million people and control 1.3 trillion in consumer spending. This group resists being sold to, but what does work is a strong social good factor and a dedication to a cause or mission to change the world.
One of the ways that is rapidly growing in use is YouTube. With over 6 billion hours being watched every month, it is definitely a large contender in the social media world. Furthermore, YouTube is owned by Google and blending your brand with the video can help your visibility.
The first thing to remember when you’re posting videos is the end result. The goal of the posts is to drive traffic back to your website or pages and/or create brand awareness. While something as simple as posting your logo at the beginning or end of your video may seem insignificant, it allows your viewers to connect with your brand and recognize what your product offerings are.
Next is make sure to be consistent. You want to make sure that you are delivering a good message to your viewers. One thing that you want to try to avoid when posting to any social media, not only YouTube, is to vary your content. You do not want to post the same things over and over just reworded. Be creative and make sure to do the research to keep up to date with changes in the industry.
Use subtitles when you can and try to avoid the annotations. Let your content speak for itself. When you put up annotations you are blocking the content that you are trying share. It is ok to add subtitles as they help the viewer understand your message for the video that you are posting.
Lastly, engage your audience. You can pose questions to your customers to help get a better idea of how effective your message is. Use analytics for your social media sites to better understand what peaks your audiences’ interests by their interactions, views and shares.
As you post, be sure to be consistent on posting your content, listen to your followers, and properly subtitle your videos. In doing so you ensure that you are engaging your audience and reinforcing your company’s brand and product offerings. Done properly, as others share and react to your social media efforts, you have the opportunity to reach the largest potential of clients.
About the author: Autumn Edmiston is the CEO and owner of the Edmiston Group. The Edmiston Group is a multifaceted Pittsburgh based marketing consulting firm providing senior level marketing management services to businesses and non-profit organizations on a short or long term basis. Core areas of service are business development, marketing, strategic planning and public relations. The Edmiston Group has consistently delivered and implemented real-world, proven business marketing ideas and strategies for business growth.