YouTube is one of the best tools for your business video marketing but there are so many mistakes you can easily make when getting started, slowing your growth and your return on investment.
I have worked with many businesses who have tried to start a YouTube channel themselves and seen many of the mistakes you can make so today I want to share with you the 5 biggest mistakes businesses make on YouTube so that you can jump-start your YouTube marketing. Watch the video below or scroll down for the old fashioned text.
Mistake 1 - Not Getting Started
I go to a lot of networking events and when I tell businesses that I produce videos and optimise them for YouTube I always hear ‘Oh yeah we really need to start doing that’.
What’s stopping you? Is it the equipment? You have a phone in your pocket and this is perfect to get you started.
Is it not knowing which subjects to make videos about and worrying that no-one will watch? There will always be someone interested in what you do. If there is a popular channel about making bird boxes out of old pallets then there is definitely an audience for your content.
Do you not have the time? Then hire a professional. Investing in good video offers a great return on investment and you will be getting ahead of your competitors who say they don’t have the time. The biggest way to fail is by not starting at all.
Mistake 2 - Not Being Patient
Don’t expect big numbers from YouTube straight away. You may be looking at successful channels and saying ‘Why isn’t that happening for me?’. First of all, look at how long they have been active on YouTube, success on YouTube doesn’t happen overnight.
The point of YouTube is to build up trust with your customer and trust takes time to build. If you are consistent, produce good helpful content and optimise your videos and your channel then your fan base will grow. With no external advertising, it can take 6-12 months for your channel to start growing. One of the biggest reasons most channels are successful is because they kept at it after most people give up.
Mistake 3 - Using YouTube As A Sales Platform Straight Away
People don’t want to be sold to in the traditional way anymore, especially not on YouTube. People are on YouTube to find the answers to their questions or problems.
As I said in the last mistake, the idea is to build trust. You build trust by consistently providing your viewers with helpful videos that enrich their daily lives.
The example I always use is the plumber I create videos for. With topics like ‘What Do I Do If I Find A Leak?’ or ‘How To Bleed My Radiators’, he is helping people with their general plumbing problems.
How does this benefit him? First of all, when the viewer needs his full services, say for a boiler installation, he is going to be the first person they think of because he has already been helping them.
Secondly, after the trust is built he can start selling more of his services in his videos, it may be booking a boiler service or opening an online parts store, now that the trust is there, the viewer will be much more likely to buy.
Mistake 4 - Not Researching Keywords For Your Video
Mistake four is not researching keywords for your video. Keywords are used to deliver YouTube search results, they work in much the same way as keywords for Google. With free tools like TubeBuddy, it is really easy to research keywords and find out where there is a gap for your video to fill.
Research your topics to find more successful videos.
For example, if I type ‘How To Fix Front Door Lock’ there is a fair amount of search volume but the competition is good meaning there aren’t too many videos on this topic and the current videos aren’t well optimised. If I was selling door locks through an online store I could target these keywords, rise to the top of search results and include a link to the replacement lock in my description.
Mistake 5 - Not Using All Of YouTube’s Features
It’s easy to create a YouTube channel, add a thumbnail and some channel art and start uploading videos but this is not using YouTube to its full potential.
Do you know what you should include in your channel art? Do you know how to customise your YouTube channel so that it shows more than just your uploads? Do you know how to create a compelling title and click-worthy thumbnail? To be successful on YouTube you need to fully use all of its features because I bet your competitors aren’t.
That’s A Wrap!
So the biggest 5 mistakes business make on YouTube are not starting, not being patient and giving it enough time to grow, trying to use YouTube as a sales platform straight away, not performing keyword research to find the right video topics and titles and finally not using all of YouTubes features.
If you would like to know how you can improve your YouTube channel then I have just started a new series, YouTube Business Channel reviews. Leave a link to your YouTube channel in the comments and I will review your channel in a future video.
To learn how to use YouTube to its full potential make sure you subscribe on YouTube and ring the bell to catch my weekly videos.
Do you want to make sure your YouTube channel is bringing in profits for your business? Then make sure you check out our new video series ‘Your Essential YouTube Checklist - 5 ways to make sure your channel boosts your business’ right here!