YouTube is no longer just another tool for digital marketers; it’s an essential marketing channel. The statistics are staggering and the time to add YouTube to your marketing strategy is now. In 2022, over 75 percent of Americans ages 15 and older regularly use the video platform, and each month, over 2 billion people worldwide use YouTube at least once. Consumers have shown an increasing interest in video content over the last few decades and this trend has only grown faster as platforms such as Instagram and TikTok have expanded their video offerings, causing YouTube to follow suit by adding multiple new features and functionalities to their platform, such as YouTube Shorts, to help combat losing a competitive edge.
The video and content marketing industry in 2022 is highly fragmented and highly specialized. Learning how to both create content and execute a successful YouTube marketing campaign is time-consuming and can be costly, especially when done poorly. Partnering with a top-level digital media marketing agency like Nxt Era Marketing is the best way to ensure your success in both the long term and short term.
In this guide, we’ll discuss:
- What is YouTube marketing?
- The benefits of YouTube marketing?
- YouTube marketing trends in 2022
What Is YouTube Marketing?
YouTube marketing is any form of promotion of products, services, or content, via the YouTube platform. Primarily, of course, this revolves around the production and publication of video content. Essentially, any way you promote your brand or use any marketing strategies on YouTube is considered YouTube marketing. As a concept, it’s fairly simple. As a business owner wanting to incorporate this channel into their overall marketing strategy, it gets a little more complex.
In a way, it’s similar to social media marketing. First, plan your budget, choose KPIs (key performance indicators) to track, set goals, and create a content calendar. From there, it’s all execution. Video content marketing can be costly, and will definitely be competitive within your field. For that reason, it’s important to remain fresh and innovative in what you publish. The same “how-to” style video (or any type of video) posted repeatedly will eventually lose traction. Mix it up. Experiment with different video lengths, types of videos, and of course, keep the subjects rotating. Even within a highly specific niche, there will be ways to expand into different subjects, and it’s up to you to figure that out if you want to succeed (or you could partner with a digital media marketing agency like Nxt Era Marketing). Whatever you decide, make sure the message is clear and concise, just as you would with traditional or other forms of digital marketing.
The Benefits of YouTube Marketing
We mentioned a few high-level statistics about the usage rates of YouTube in 2022 so we understand the potential audience we stand to gain through effective YouTube marketing. But beyond that, what are some specific benefits of incorporating YouTube into your digital strategy?
1. Enormous and global reach
With literally billions of users every month across the world, it's worth mentioning again just how powerful of a tool YouTube can be for expanding your audiences and consumer base.
2. Grow email list and leads
One of the many features of YouTube is the ability to embed an email list subscription form within your videos. This is an easy way to reach customers and gain leads.
3. Improve search engine optimization
Provided that you’ve optimized your videos correctly, Google will be able to index them and display videos in search results pages for relevant search terms. Video clip schema enables you to specify times within a video that answer frequently asked questions and high-volume keywords.
4. Videos have high conversion rates
Consumers who are taking the time to research a topic thoroughly enough to watch a video are more likely to convert in the end, assuming your videos are effective. In fact, video content is more than 10 times more likely to be watched than written content is to be read. If you want to connect to your audience, video content might be the best way.
5. Repurpose videos for other marketing efforts
Another wonderful aspect of YouTube video creation is that the videos can be repurposed and reused across any other marketing channel. Once you’ve created the content, it’s highly cost effective to post them to your website and social media accounts to gain even more traffic.
These are just a few benefits of YouTube marketing in 2022 to demonstrate the massive value this channel can bring to your business. Just remember to track specific goals, and keep content fresh, and you’ll find success.
YouTube Marketing Trends in 2022
Despite the aforementioned value YouTube can provide for a digital marketer, keeping up with trends and remaining innovative is often a difficult balancing act. Depending on your business, you may have several target demographics, all of which have different tastes and preferences in video content. Whether they prefer short or long form videos, tutorials or reviews, or any other form of video- it’s up to you to research your audiences and produce content that caters to their interests. Aside from that, it’s important to at least keep up with industry trends to ensure you aren’t falling behind competitors.
YouTube trends include:
- Short form videos
- YouTube has recently launched “YouTube Shorts” to manage risk against TikTok and Instagram reels.
- Live videos
- Regardless of your niche, live content is always fresh and exciting for consumers.
- Brand storytelling
- Discussing your unique story and brand is a highly effective way of connecting with consumers by becoming more relatable and less like just another business.
- Challenge videos
- Another way to keep content fresh and consumers engaged is by releasing “challenges” like the famous ALS Icebucket challenge. Consumers love to feel connected and have fun. This is an excellent way to achieve both.
Of course, as 2022 winds down and we transition into the new year, some of these trends will fade, some will become stronger, and others will arise. Competitor research is typically a great way to ensure your content is up to date. Just remember to make your content unique and don’t simply copy a competitor.
Contact Nxt Era Marketing for YouTube Marketing
When done correctly, YouTube marketing provides sustained value to your business across several marketing channels. The best way to achieve this is to partner with Nxt Era Marketing, a leader in the digital media marketing industry. Our experience, knowledge, and tools can help elevate your business to the next level. Contact us today to set up your free marketing consultation.
