Beyond Viral: How to Attract Customers, Promote Your Brand, and Make Money with Online Video

Chapter 6. Inside YouTube

In this chapter, you will learn:

• Why YouTube is so critical to an online-video strategy.

• The least a marketer needs to know about YouTube without reading an entire book about it, or spending hours each day engaged in it (sadly, like the author).

• Insights can bring you from "I know it's an important web site" to "I'm more savvy than 80 percent of the average users".

• Tips and tricks for helping you market more effectively and avoid being lost in the overwhelming clutter.

YouTube 101

When I speak at corporations or marketing conferences, I often poll audiences about their YouTube IQ. I find it alarming that few marketers have even heard of YouTube stars with larger and more vibrant audiences than many well-known television shows. I recently surveyed conference attendees via a smartphone poll, and discovered that 60 percent of the marketers visited YouTube only when someone sent them a link via e-mail. I doubt we would see as many television or print advertisements if marketers didn't watch television or buy magazines.

Figure 6.1. Who is the YouTube user? (YouTube fact sheet and advertiser perceptions study.): Source: www.youtube.com/t/fact_sheet: Source: http://elitestv.com/pub/2009/07/youtube-demographics-round-up.

Fortunately, many executives have teenagers, who are unavoidable reminders that media-consumption patterns are changing, and the time we spend on both the ...