The popularity of YouTube has seen a steady rise in recent years. Today, it is the second most popular search engine after Google. Among the video search engines, it is undoubtedly the best and the most popular one. Any individual or brand that wants to establish an online video presence is aware of the importance of YouTube in the world of video.

A look at YouTube statistics would show that in 2020, more than 2 billion users watched YouTube videos every month. On an average day, more than 5 billion YouTube videos were consumed. These figures res-establish the importance of YouTube. If you are a brand looking to leverage the power of YouTube in your video marketing initiatives, you need to be aware of the scope of the medium. To do justice to that, you need to have a look at some relevant statistical figures.

Site Visits

YouTube is the most visited website in the world. In the United States, it is the second most visited website. 90% of the digital consumers of the US are regular users of the platform. On a global scale, the platform has 30 million active users who visit YouTube daily. The monthly active users’ figures stand at 2 billion.

Thus, as a brand selling any product or service, you need to understand that there are high chances for your users are active on YouTube. If you can establish your presence on this platform, it will be easier for you to grab their attention and convince them of the effectiveness of your business offering.

YouTube Channel

To reach out to your target group in a professional manner, you need to create a brand channel. As of today, there are more than 38 million active channels on YouTube. Out of those, 22,000 channels have more than a million subscribers each.

You need to be on your toes and develop high-quality content if you want to stand apart from the other 15 million content creators of YouTube. Luckily for you, only 9% of small, independent businesses have a dedicated YouTube channel. It means that by establishing a YouTube presence, you will be giving your brand a head start in the competitive business world.

The ‘Baby Shark Dance’ video by Pinkfong is the most viewed YouTube video and has more than 7.8 million views.  BTS, a major K-Pop Band, has an average of 16 million global searches every month. To break it down, this means six searches every second. Thus, if you can create content that engages and connects with your audience, the sky is the limit in the world of YouTube.

YouTube Usage

Over 9000 network broadcasters, recording studios, and others have a content-id in YouTube, and their presence makes YouTube the most popular video-sharing platform across the world. The diversity of YouTube is unquestionable, and today, the platform is available in more than 80 global languages.

Such is the popularity of YouTube that millennials across the globe consider YouTube as the second most preferred video content platform. For them, Netflix remains the most popular platform. The role of YouTube as an entertainment platform can be ascertained from the fact that 20% of the top 100 YouTube searches are related to entertainment and music.

 Thus, if you can create content that is enjoyable to watch, there are high chances of it being shared. With the US, India, and Japan being the top three countries that use the platform, you have a high chance of being viral in the platform if your content caters to people from these regions.

Other than ‘for entertainment’, people also watch YouTube ‘to relax’. Thus, if you can come up with light-hearted content and work on its SEO optimization, the video will become popular on the platform. Optimization involves the use of keywords in the video description and title and adding closed captioning to the video.

Viewing Trends

A look at the viewer demographics of YouTube would reveal that 55% of its viewers are male while the remaining 45% are women. Thus, if your brand sells products or services that are targeted at a male audience, YouTube may be the ideal video marketing platform for you. It is also interesting to note that 70% of YouTube watches come from the platform’s recommendations.  In 2020, when the world was fighting its deadly battle against a global pandemic, 70% of people relied on YouTube to keep up with the live coverage of live events.

YouTube is immensely popular on mobile devices and more than 70% of video views come from mobile apps. Studies have established that mobile users are two times more likely to pay attention to what they are viewing as compared to television users.

The best part about recent mobile trends is that 7 out of 10 people place their devices in horizontal mode while playing a video on their phone. This makes it easier for influencers and brands as they no longer have to create videos that are dedicated to mobile users. Thus, if you can optimize your video for mobile viewing, there is a significantly higher chance of it being popular.

Marketing Trends

While talking about the amazing YouTube statistics, you cannot ignore its role in the world of marketing. As of today, YouTube ranks as the second most preferred platform for marketing professionals to post their video content. While Facebook is the most preferred medium, the fact is 50% of content creators invest in creating exclusive YouTube content.

Even in situations where YouTube is not the only video marketing platform they resort to, 71% of B2B marketing professionals have video as a part of their assorted marketing strategy. The popularity of YouTube as a marketing medium can be ascertained from the fact that 40% of shoppers have purchased items based on their YouTube discoveries. Thus, if a brand can present its products well, there are high chances of convincing potential customers into a purchase. The fact that YouTube viewers are 50% less likely to skip advertisements further ascertains this fact. With the average YouTube watch time standing at 17 minutes 31 seconds, brands have ample opportunity to showcase their business offerings.

The above figures are a testimony of YouTube as a video-sharing platform. The more time that you spend on the platform, the clearer picture you will have on how to leverage that for your business growth.  Irrespective of the nature of your business or the type of video that you are creating, YouTube will give a high ROI for the efforts that you put in. It is worth the effort to channelize your video marketing efforts in the right direction and make the most of the potential of YouTube.

Getting your small business known to the right audience is an essential part of your business growth. The competition will be doing their best to get their brand known above yours, so what can you do to make sure that people find you first?

The key there lies in the word find: most people, when looking for a retailer, service or product, look local and they are also likely to use a mobile handset to search for that they are looking for. This is the reason local SEO needs to be part of your marketing campaign.

What do we mean by local SEO? Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is the key to getting your brand out there, and the higher you come on the search engine’s rankings, the more likely you are to be found in a search. Narrow this down to searches in your local area – and most searches do involve a local element – and you stand a much better chance. First, you need to get your business into a local online business directory, and this will be free.

What is an Online Business Directory?

Put simply an online business directory is a place to list your business, along with all information necessary and links to your website, that will be brought to the fore when someone searches locally for the product or service you are offering. Many towns have such directories that are especially for that direct area, most cities also have similar, and you’ll even find some run by community organizations in small towns via social media platforms such as Facebook.

The idea is that a local search will bring up all viable businesses in the local area that are relevant to that search. Many will be listed in the local directory, and if you’re not listed you are losing out on business. This is a free way of pushing your small business and there are others to consider including:

• Social media platforms as already mentioned offer a great opportunity for spreading the word. Instagram, Facebook and Twitter are all free to use and reach a lot of potential customers.
• Blogging is a great way of getting your name into websites that are relevant and also adding cache to your business by way of social trust.
• Taking part in relevant online forum discussions is a latter-day method of word of mouth and can be very lucrative if you target the right people.

However, there is no getting away from the fact that local SEO is a prime method of being in the right place to appear on searches, and the local directory is certainly a part of this. We keep mentioning local, so let’s finish by talking about why locally geographic searches are the most successful of all.

Why Local SEO is Vital

If you look at articles on online marketing trends for 2021 you’ll see that there is plenty of emphasis on targeting the right audience. The days are gone when leaflet drops were the order of the day; these days it is online ads, blogs and links in the right places. This is another reason why local searches are important in establishing smaller brands and growing businesses which rely on local custom on the whole. People who are already in a particular location will search locally. Those who are going to visit a certain area will search locally. It makes sense to ensure you are in all the free online directories possible, and that you get your name out there using the channels available for local advertisers.

If you are wondering what kind of content to post on Instagram, the answer is — video.

Yes, video marketing is on the rise. After YouTube, Instagram is the second-largest social channel with higher video engagement.

According to a report, people spend 80% of their time watching videos on Instagram. Do you see how big the interest is getting? And that is why Instagram is prioritizing video features and video content more.

Through video content, you connect with your audience on a personal level. Video content can also generate more followers which could make you an Instagram star if your video went viral.

Is that not something you want?

So, let’s dive deeper into Instagram video marketing and learn how to do it better.

Choose a goal:

The first question you need to ask is what your Instagram marketing goals are?

Is it:

● Getting engagement?
● Driving traffic to the website?
● Generating sales?
● Building an online presence?

Once you are clear on the goal, plan out the actionable strategies that will help you reach it.

Conduct research:

Conduct thorough research and understand your target audience. Create a virtual profile of what your target audience would look like. For this, focus on factors like their gender, geographical location, age, interests, and income. When you have created this virtual profile, research other people in your niche and the strategies they are using.  Their wins, losses, and strategies will come in handy when you promote your own Instagram brand page.

Tag products with shoppable videos:

If you are a small business or an eCommerce store on Instagram trying to boost your sales, use shoppable videos. With the shoppable feature, you can tag your products in the posts. By doing this, a shoppable icon appears on your posts. When your audience taps this, they can see the tags, click them and visit the product landing page where they can buy the product.

This is a great way to drive traffic to your website and increase sales. To encourage your audience to buy from you, create videos that educate them about your product. Once they are aware of the benefits and applications of the product, they will be much more interested.

Create a variety of videos:

With Instagram, you have plenty of video formats to use:

1. In-feed posts

These video posts are visible on your feed and can capture your audience’s attention for up to 60 seconds. Use this format to create bite-sized videos to hook your audience and introduce them to your product. For best results, use a video cutter to make videos that are 30-seconds or shorter.

2. Stories

Use Instagram stories, to take your audience behind the scenes and share little snippets from your day-to-day life. Post at least 3 stories every day to stay connected with your audience. You can play with stories tremendously. Here are a few content ideas for stories that you can try:

● Ask questions about your products or find out what your customers want from you
● Use polls to gather feedback from your audience.
● Post screenshots of customer testimonials.

3. IGTV

Use IGTV to publish long-form videos to educate your audience. One of the benefits of IGTV is that you can share links.

Let’s say you are a home-grown stationery brand that has launched its planner. You can use IGTV to show what your planner looks like from the inside, what kind of illustrations you have used inside the planner, and the different categories inside the planner. You can then place a link in the description that sends the person directly to the landing pages. This is something you can’t do with regular feed videos.

Make sure you use UTM tracking to measure the traffic that’s coming from your IGTV videos. Also, use UTM tracking links for stories, link in bio, and ads as you can compare CTRs to see which method is driving the highest return.

4. Reels

With reels, you can create 15 to 30 seconds short videos. These videos are great to add a quirky and funny touch. If your reels get viral, your page gets a good amount of traction. Here are some ideas that you can use for creating reels:

● Introducing yourself to your audience
● Introducing your team members
● Sharing quick tips and tutorials
● Sharing before & after pictures of your product

Creating all these different videos can be a lot of work as you need to create unique videos for each format. So, make sure you use a good video maker to simplify the process and create videos of the right sizes.

Accompany videos with captions

Your captions are the first element in the video that your audience pays attention to. Most of the time, your audience would skip watching a video but a meaningful caption can insist them in watching the video. Captions spark curiosity, give details, and convey your message to your audience.

To write a power-packed caption, you need to write a hook statement or phrase. This hook phrase or statement could be a question, a statistic, or a story. When you start your caption by writing the hook, your audience stays till the end of the video.

Pay attention to insights:

If you are creating content one after the other and not tracking your performance, you are doing things wrong. Use the Instagram insights section to track the performance of your content.

By using the insights, you get to know about your content engagement, the best time to post based on the previous content performance, and days on which your content performs better.

When you have analyzed this data, you can create the right kind of content that your audience wants and stay on track.

Conclusion:

If you want to level up your game on Instagram, it is important you start creating video content. Let’s recap some of the things we learned.

● Focus on creating education and value-based content that educates your audience
● Use the insights section to track your content performance and create the content based on the data
● Make maximum use of all the video features like reels & IGTV videos

Now go make some quality Instagram videos!