This post is contributed by Jason Dirkham.
Every small business wants to go viral, and it’s entirely understandable to see why too. They want to get known, and businesses are basically racing against each other to get the most customers and customer attention. Honestly, with algorithms being so challenging on IG, TikTok, and other social media platforms, one thing people have been flocking toward would be Youtube, it’s an old way to go viral, but it’s still considered one of the greatest ways to even go viral.
Almost every business is going to benefit from having a YouTube channel, it’s one website that isn’t only free to use for marketing purposes, but it’s a pretty old one too, which just proves how good and how strong it is. So, here is why a YouTube channel would have the potential to immensely help you out!
Customers Enjoy Visual Storytelling
Visual content is more engaging and memorable than text alone. A YouTube channel allows you to visually showcase your products, services, and the story behind your business. Through videos, you can convey your brand’s personality, values, and mission in a more relatable manner, fostering a stronger connection with your audience. You also need to keep in mind that a lot of people use it like a search engine too, and they want to be entertained. While you could be asking yourself, “Would a 3D animation studio help me out?” you could immediately feel confident knowing that it would, as those who go on YouTube love visual representation.
Increased Online Visibility
This is probably one of the biggest reasons why individuals and companies create a YouTube account, and it’s all about visibility. It’s vital to take this into account. YouTube is the second-largest search engine after Google. By creating high-quality, relevant videos, you can improve your business’s online visibility and search engine rankings. Crafting SEO-friendly video titles, descriptions, and tags can help potential customers discover your content more easily. Can this be a lot of work?
Yeah, you bet; for many, just working on YouTube content is a full-time job in itself. If you’re a single person and this small business is literally one person, you honestly might struggle, but there are YouTube services that you can pay for to take you exactly where you want to be for your business.
YouTube Content Builds Trust and Authority
Well, it has the ability to help build all of this. Usually, before anyone buys something from a business, they’ll look at their socials, and this includes YouTube as well. It’s just a small way to see if this is a legitimate business or not. Sharing informative and educational videos related to your industry can position your business as an authority in your field.
When viewers find value in your content, they’re more likely to trust your expertise, which can lead to increased customer loyalty and sales. At the end of the day, when it comes to a YouTube video, the entire point is to just show off how you know what you’re doing, you know what you’re talking about, and how you’re able to do better than the competition. Videos are one of the best ways to showcase all of this.
Showcase Products and Tutorials
As stated above, you want to build trust in your product, so giving info or even a tutorial is going to be one of the best things that you could do for yourself. So, by demonstrating your products or services through videos allows potential customers to see how they work in real life. When it comes to tutorials, how-to guides, and product demos can address customer questions and provide valuable insights, enhancing their understanding and confidence in your offerings. If you offer services instead, then, of course, this isn’t going to be nearly as helpful.
Videos are the Best Connection to Your Audience
It’s becoming more and more obvious, but creating a parasocial relationship is going to be one of the greatest ways to form a strong community and to form loyal customers. If it’s just through pictures and words, it’s hard to form that parasocial relationship. But with video, people can hear you, see you, see your emotions, hear those emotions, and the bond is much easier to build up. It’s not just about the shares, like buttons, and the comments. Like other platforms, it’s very interactive, but since this is video, and it’s a long-term video (unlike TikTok), creating a relationship is far easier and better. Overall, this does help foster a sense of community, and there’s even YT live, which helps create a bond even more.
Social Sharing
As mentioned earlier, everyone wants to go viral, and every business wants to achieve that; for the most part, every platform is hard to go viral on. But unlike others, where your content is known once and then never again, it’s not entirely like that with YouTube; you grow a following everywhere, not just on YouTube. It’s not entirely like that on other platforms. In general, if you ever get viral, there are more long-term benefits with it being on YT than there are if you’re viral on some other social media platform.
Monetization Opportunities
A business, getting money from a business, how nice is that? Yes, even some of the biggest businesses in the world get paid by YT to have good content and views, and you can benefit too. As your YouTube channel gains popularity, you can explore monetization options, such as ad revenue, sponsorships, and affiliate marketing. While this might not be the primary goal for a small business channel, it’s an added benefit that can contribute to your revenue streams.
It’s Easier to Figure Out What Your Audience Wants
In general, you’re going to be struggling way less if you have a YouTube Channel because the analytics they offer is going to tell you exactly what your audience wants and what they definitely don’t even want to bother engaging with. Sure, social media platforms have analytics too, but they’re not nearly as detailed, so it’s easier to indicate what’s good about your content and what’s not so you can improve.
