For some reason, YouTube often gets overlooked as a marketing strategy
So if you are thinking of using YouTube to drive traffic to your website think long and hard and if necessary seek advice.
Only about 10% of companies utilise YouTube as a marketing strategy, yet it’s one of the most influential social media platforms available. Every day, it has millions of views from all over the world. We believe people overlook YouTube because it seems intimidating, it looks like a lot of work, and you need to be famous before you can get any traction.
In reality, YouTube can create a level playing field. It doesn’t take much to get tens of thousands of views on your videos, even if you’re not a leading business. It’s easy to turn those views into website visits with a few additional steps.
YouTube can open up many possibilities to enhance your marketing strategy, by using YouTube as a sales funnel. It’s no more difficult than setting up a Facebook or LinkedIn Ad campaign.
YouTube’s critical part is, you have to provide valuable content
Before you drive people from YouTube to your website, you have to generate traffic. Generating traffic requires creating some reliable, practical, useful and helpful video content. Learn more about your target audience and what they like, then create content that they’ll love and become advocates.
An essential step in this entire process is to focus on the video title, description, tags, and thumbnails. Some research into your target market will reveal problems and frustrations you can immediately address. Many people decide to watch a video based on the thumbnail alone, so put some serious effort into this step.
Much of your content you can create on your smartphone. If your production techniques are not up to movie standard, viewers will forgive you if the content is valuable. If you’re familiar with SEO, then optimising your videos should not be a problem.
Start using YouTube by getting the fundamentals right
At the beginning of the YouTube video don’t forget to say, “Hi, this is (your name) from (yoursite.com).” It will instantly tie you to your website and tell your viewers where they can go if they want more of your content.
In the end, say something along the same lines like, “Thank you so much for watching. If you would like to see more about (topic), go to (yoursite.com) for more practical information.”
Once you’ve captured your viewers with fantastic content, they’ll be very likely to subscribe if you ask them to. Of course, it means they will see more videos from you. And this is where the magic starts to happen. Those repeat viewers will turn into followers, and sooner or later, they are bound to check out your website.
Planning a YouTube channel that lasts
Consistency matters more than perfection on YouTube. Viewers and the platform both respond well to channels that publish on a regular schedule, so choose a pace you can realistically keep up, whether that is one video a week or one a month. A simple content calendar helps you plan topics in advance and avoid long gaps.
Build your topics around the questions your customers already ask. Short how to videos, product demonstrations, behind the scenes clips and answers to common problems are easy to produce and genuinely useful. Each video can also be shared on your website, in email newsletters and across your other social media channels.
- Group related videos into playlists so viewers keep watching.
- Add a clear link to a relevant page on your website in every description.
- Use end screens and cards to point viewers to your next video.
- Reply to comments to build a sense of community around your channel.
Measure what your videos achieve
YouTube Studio gives you a detailed view of how each video performs. Watch time, audience retention and click through rate on thumbnails show which topics and styles hold attention. Your website analytics will then reveal how many visitors arrive from YouTube and what they do once they get there.
Use these insights to refine your approach. Make more of the videos that bring engaged visitors to your site, and improve or retire the ones that do not. Over time, this steady testing turns your channel into a dependable source of traffic and enquiries.
