3 Considerations for Creating Successful Business Videos on YouTube

What are the benefits of using YouTube as the home for your business videos? In much the same way that most digital natives use Google to ask the internet questions, YouTube viewers use the platform to learn more about the products and services they’re curious about.

YouTube is perfect for businesses of all sizes, and you can bring in another revenue stream through videos, set up special promotions and insider-only content with unlisted videos, or use 360-degree videos to bring people directly into your world.

Ready to learn why business videos work today? Here are three questions to discuss with your production team when you want to create successful video for your business on YouTube.

1. Will Your Content Be Trending?

Videos don’t have to be between 5 and 10 minutes long, though that is a great length for something fun and simple that’s easy for a regular production schedule. YouTube also recently created their YouTube Shorts section, which is getting many billions of views daily and where videos are about a minute long, perfect for audiences watching on a whim.

For example, can you think of 100 facts about your business? Sharing 3 in one minute gives you a daily video upload schedule for a month, and from there you could continue sharing facts that come up or answer questions from the comments.

Meanwhile, videos that are 30 minutes to an hour are about right for a serious documentary-style piece that will hold their attention. Try using the Video Chapters now available for videos, allowing you to name sections of the video and get more SEO traffic based on the titles.

Or jump into the popular livestreaming trend where videos can go for hours, either with professional influencers, live events or perhaps just you showing a day at your business. You may not think what you do is interesting, but there is someone out there who is curious and looking for that level of deep interaction. Build in audience participation by answering questions and mentioning the best viewer comments during the video.

2. Are You Always Selling or Selling Out?

On one hand, the idea of selling out can be positive, as in selling out of products from your shelves. On the other is the idea to always be selling, or aggressively pushing your product on everyone. A signal of authentic marketing these days is to not always be selling your products and services. Instead, you should have fun with your content and entertain people.

Sprout Social shared the story of Chris Bossio, a barber who created videos about his education and training for others looking to open up their own barbershops. Or consider Milad Mirg, a college student working at a Subway run by his family. He made videos of himself on the job, showing how he made the sandwiches, sharing work stories and answering viewer questions. This simple formula brought in an astounding eight-fold increase in sales over the next year!

No one still believes that the model showing off a demo product is authentic. But Adweek reminds us that nearly 90% of viewers trust the YouTube creators they watch. In other words, you need a real person recommending a real service which they use, or trying a real product and having fun. Just find a creator that fits your brand and let them influence their audience for you.

The idea of selling products with the help of YouTube isn’t new, and naturally YouTube partnered with Shopify so businesses can better manage the customer experience on the platform. Imagine someone watching you reveal a new product and being able to buy within a few clicks from the video. The Explore tab gives shoppers more ways to find what they already like, such as the products and services related to videos they’ve watched.

Another way to create trust with your customers is through posts on the Community tab. If your business’ YouTube account has a thousand subscribers, that’s one more place you should be sharing updates and promoting upcoming content just like any other social media platform. The one difference is that your YouTube Community posts should be centered around your video content; no one likes being sold to, but they do want to know when the next video in a series will be coming out.

3. Do You Understand Your Audience?

There’s a lot to learn about making content that will appeal to YouTube viewers. This is a professional business for many creators, and you’re competing with all of them for time in each customer’s day. You need to understand who watches, where they watch, and most importantly why they watch so you can create videos they want to see, rather than something you think they need to see.

Remember that everyone watches YouTube, not just one or two of the usual age groups. Google’s Nielsen data shows YouTube reaches more adults (18 and up) than any other cable network, and by YouTube’s own reporting they have over two and a half billion active users in a month, which means a lot of exposure if your video does well. They also found that people watching YouTube are using mobile devices at home (roughly 75%) on horizontally oriented screens (about 70%) and while making a purchasing decision (68%).

People mostly watch YouTube “to relax” or “feel entertained” and their favorite content categories are comedy, music, entertainment / pop culture, and “How To” videos. So what should you do? Create funny videos, release catchy songs, or try the classic staple of deep dive educational content around your brand history. If anyone has ever asked you to explain how to use your products and services, you should have a video about that on your YouTube channel.

Consider what kind of content you’ll be filming. Does your brand fit a slower pace or quiet fashion? Audiences are enjoying comfort videos where they can simply tune in for a while and relax, from the classic art and nature shows to the slow fitness videos and “sleep stories” with a sense of community. Is your brand a little more high energy? Try creating a challenge video where you do something outrageous, often with a charity attached, then challenge the world to film themselves doing the same.

Business videos on social media platforms can certainly engage your target audiences, but not if they sound like an advertisement or dry company memo. Instead, you need to create dynamic content that raises awareness of your brand so interested viewers will decide to search for more information on their own or think of you again in the future.

The Bottom Line

To make successful business videos for YouTube, you need to know your audience, create content that is valuable to them, and find the right balance between authenticity and current trends. That isn’t easy, but everything worth doing takes some experience, time and understanding.Professional video production companies like ours understand the video marketing trends you should be using in 2022 and beyond. Our videos are crafted by a production team that has created content in many formats and styles, including livestreams, how-tos, animation, aerial videography and more. Partner with our team for support at every level of your content production. Contact us to learn how!