Online video presents opportunities that television simply doesn’t. YouTube is usually patronized by a hyper-engaged, highly-connected audience who craves the two-way communication YouTube offers. And unlike TV, YouTube lives everywhere because it’s accessible on hundreds of millions of mobile devices globally.
- Build a content plan: The first step is to define a relevant and powerful content territory for your brand which sits at the intersection of your audience ’s passion points and your unique value proposition. Decide whether you will create your own content, create in collaboration or curate existing content.
- Ensure that your content is shareable: With the rise of social media platforms, sharing has become one of the most important ways to find and develop an audience. To make your content shareable, identify trending subject matter, make videos that evoke emotions- whether laughter, excitement or nostalgia. People also share videos because they feel the content conveys something about their own beliefs.
- Be discoverable: Make videos around trending events. Your content will surface with the sudden rush of traffic around that topic. Create “evergreen” videos that will be searched for over time, such as how-to videos. Remember that the algorithm can’t watch videos, so fully optimize metadata, including titles, tags and descriptions.
- Ensure your content is accessible: Always consider the new viewer when writing and producing content. Would a new viewer immediately grasp what the video is about? Fold in context if necessary, but don’t refer to videos the user most likely hasn’t seen. If you do host serial content, include quick recaps at the beginning of episodes to bring new viewers up to speed.
- Be consistent: Consistency is crucial to success on the site, but consistency can mean different things.
- Have a consistent format and this can be done by instituting a recurring show or series that can be repeated.
- Consistent schedule: Upload a video to your channel on a specific day and never miss it.
- Consistent elements. Repeat small aspects of a show the same way every time, such as intros and outros, or revisit certain segments in each episode.
- Consistent voice. Have a clear and confident perspective that’s apparent in every video, no matter how different each video is.
Online content helps people express emotion and connect with each other around shared passions. Users want to interact through sharing, commenting and joining a conversation.
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