YouTube Strategies for Brands in 2023

In the ever-evolving digital landscape, YouTube has emerged as a powerful platform for brands to connect with their audience, tell their story, and drive engagement. As we navigate through 2023, it’s clear that YouTube is no longer an optional marketing channel, but a necessary one. This blog post will delve into the strategies that brands can leverage to maximize their YouTube presence and engagement.

The Power of YouTube

YouTube is the world’s third most used website, behind Google and Facebook, and the second largest search engine after Google. With 2 billion active users and 1 billion hours of content viewed per day, YouTube dominates in terms of content consumption. Despite these impressive statistics, many brands are yet to fully explore the potential of YouTube. The platform presents an opportunity for brands to deepen their connection with consumers through storytelling and education.

Long-form Brand Messaging

YouTube offers brands the chance to tell their story without cutting out the details. It’s every brand marketer’s dream to have a platform where they can share an unfiltered, uncropped, untrimmed narrative of their brand’s message, mission, and core values. Brands like Google, Shopify, Gillette, and Spotify have leveraged this opportunity to create compelling narratives that resonate with their audience.

Product Education

YouTube is the perfect place to educate customers on products and how to use them. Beauty brands like NARS, Fenty Beauty, OUAI Haircare, and Huda Beauty have been at the forefront of this trend, creating compelling videos that tap into audiences’ eagerness to learn. However, it’s not just beauty brands leveraging YouTube for product education. Brands across industries are recognizing the value of this strategy.

Behind the Scenes

Behind-the-scenes content performs well across the board. Brand fans love getting a behind-the-scenes look into the world of their favorite companies. This is a minimal effort tactic that can make a big impact on your reach. Brands like Vogue, Puma, The Ellen Show, and REVOLVE have successfully used this strategy to engage their audience.

The Birth of Influencers

YouTubers were arguably the first influencers. Bloggers who were early to the YouTube game amassed millions of followers and some have created successful brands of their own. Brands are using their star power and cult followings to create viral videos. Vogue, Nike, Allure, and Sally Hansen are just a few examples of brands that have leveraged the power of influencers on YouTube.

Series

Series offer a comfortable cadence and regularity of TV, but on-demand, and not too long. Series topics vary from fireside chats, interior design, clothing hauls, time-travelling through trends — the possibilities are endless. Brands like Urban Outfitters, Allure, Pretty Little Thing, Cosmopolitan, Shopify, and Architectural Digest have capitalized on this strategy to keep their audience engaged and coming back for more.

Multichannel Strategy

In an ideal world, brands will be where their customers are. This means that brand marketers will have a grasp of the social media demographics they want to reach, and will know where their customers spend their time online, what their favorite apps are, and what types of content they like to engage with. YouTube is one part of the journey to an impactful multichannel strategy, but its potential for engagement offers a not-to-be-missed opportunity for brands to build deeper, longer lasting connections with their fans.

Repurposing Content

Brands need a comprehensive marketing tool that can take their video content through all stages — from planning, to posting, to measurement. Often, the YouTube content you produce will be too long for platforms like TikTok. To repurpose content for TikTok, select 30-60 second clips and trim them down to the most engaging parts. This way, you can leverage your YouTube content across multiple platforms.

YouTube Partner Program

The YouTube Partner Program (YPP) is a significant milestone for brands on YouTube. It gives creators greater access to YouTube resources and monetization features. To join the YPP, brands need to follow the YouTube channel monetization policies, live in a country where the YPP is available, have no active Community Guidelines strikes on their channel, have advanced features access on YouTube, and have an active AdSense account linked to their channel. To become eligible, channels need to have 1,000 subscribers with 4,000 valid public watch hours in the last 12 months or 1,000 subscribers with 10 million valid public Shorts views in the last 90 days.

Growing Your YouTube Channel

Growing a YouTube channel from zero to 1,000 subscribers is a significant milestone for any brand. It requires consistency, quality content, and a well-thought-out strategy. Here are some steps to help you achieve this:

1. Pick a niche: Posting varied content can confuse your audience. It’s crucial to choose a specific niche that aligns with your brand and stick to it. This way, your audience knows what to expect from your channel.
2. Find video keywords: Use “Seed Keywords” that describe a broad topic related to your brand. Search these keywords on YouTube and use tools like Tubegrow to find low competition keywords. Optimizing your content around these keywords can help improve your visibility on YouTube.
3. Optimize your video on YouTube: Optimize your video title, description, and tags with relevant keywords. YouTube ranks videos considering click-through rate (CTR), so create titles that maximize CTR. Write SEO-friendly descriptions and use tags that accurately represent your content.
4. Advertise with the right social media channels: Promote your content on social media platforms where your target audience is most active. Consider using Facebook groups, Reddit, LinkedIn, or even real YouTube promotion to share your videos.
5. Consistency is key: Maintain a regular posting schedule. Consistency can help retain your existing audience and attract new subscribers.
6. Create quality content: Quality content doesn’t necessarily mean high production value. It means providing value to your audience. Whether your videos are entertaining, educational, or inspiring, they should offer something of value to the viewer.
7. Focus on CTR and watch time: A high CTR and watch time can improve your video’s visibility on YouTube. These metrics indicate that your content is engaging and keeps viewers watching.
8. Create longer videos: Longer videos allow you to add more ad breaks, which can increase your revenue. However, avoid adding too many ads as it can disrupt the viewer’s experience.

In 2023, YouTube continues to be a powerful platform for brands to connect with their audience. By leveraging long-form brand messaging, product education, behind-the-scenes content, influencer collaborations, series, a multichannel strategy, and repurposing content, brands can maximize their YouTube presence and engagement. The journey to 1,000 subscribers may seem daunting, but with consistency, quality content, and a well-thought-out strategy, it’s an achievable goal. So, what are you waiting for? Start growing your YouTube channel today!