How Small Businesses Succeed on YouTube
This is Part 1 of Envision Marketing’s Ultimate Guide to YouTube for Small Local Service Businesses
Cheat Sheet
Here are the most important tips covered in this article
- Don’t Wait, Just Start: Overcome perfectionism and start creating videos to gain experience and improve over time.
- Use What You Have: Focus on providing value and sharing your expertise without worrying about professional equipment or production quality.
- Find Your Audience: Develop a clear persona for your target audience and create content specifically for them.
- Find Your Unique Value: Determine what sets your business apart and showcase that value in your videos.
- Create Videos for New Viewers: Prioritize attracting new viewers and demonstrating your expertise, and gradually incorporate promotional content.
- Focus on Quality Over Quantity: Spend time crafting valuable, high-quality videos instead of churning out mediocre content.
- Consistency is Key: Maintain a regular posting schedule to build a loyal audience and demonstrate your commitment to providing valuable information.
Videos are becoming more and more important for branding, ranking, and converting leads into paying customers. Whether you’re trying to rank for valuable search terms, or generate leads through advertising, video is the most powerful tool in your toolbelt, and in terms of video platforms, YouTube is second to none.
However, YouTube can feel like a black box for those who are new to the platform or are unsure of how to approach it. In this guide, we will explore some essential tips to help small business owners understand what makes for a successful YouTube channel, with a focus on generating leads.
Don’t Wait, Just Start
Starting a YouTube channel can be intimidating, and many small business owners put it off because they’re afraid their first videos won’t be perfect. The truth is, no one’s first video is perfect, and that’s actually fine. Why? No one is going to watch your first video! In fact, your first 10 videos probably won’t get more than a handful of views.
Don’t wait until everything is just right – start making videos now, and use each one as an opportunity to learn and improve. As you gain experience and confidence, your videos will get better and better.
Whatever You Have is Enough
You don’t need to be a professional video producer to create a successful YouTube channel. What you do need is expertise in your industry and a willingness to share that expertise with others. Your competitors are other small business owners, not professional YouTubers. Don’t let concerns about equipment or production quality hold you back. Focus on providing value to your audience, and the rest will fall into place.
Find Your Audience
Before you create your first video, think carefully about your target audience. Who are you trying to reach, and what kind of content will appeal to them?
It can help to develop a persona. Imagine the ideal person for your videos. Consider demographics like age, gender, and interests. Take a few minutes to describe this person as fully as possible. Maybe even give them a name. When planning and creating each video, make it specifically for this person. This will help you create videos that are relevant and engaging for your target audience.
Find Your Value
What makes your business unique, and what kind of value can you offer your audience that they can’t get anywhere else? This is a key question to ask yourself as you develop your YouTube channel. Whether it’s expert advice, behind-the-scenes glimpses of your business, or a unique perspective on your industry, make sure that your videos offer something of value to your audience.
What is unique to your city or neighborhood? What are you doing differently than your competitors? What are you more passionate or knowledgeable about? What is unique about your team, or individual team members that you can highlight?
Make Your Videos for New Viewers
While it’s natural to want to create videos that promote your business or products, it’s important to remember that your first priority on YouTube is to build an audience. Focus on creating videos that will attract new viewers and demonstrate your expertise in your industry. As your channel grows, you can start to create videos that are more promotional in nature.
Focus on Quality Over Quantity
One of the biggest misconceptions about YouTube is that you need to produce a high volume of content to be successful. While it’s true that consistency is important, it’s more important to focus on creating high-quality videos that offer value to your audience.
Again, high quality doesn’t mean high production value. You might choose to record on a webcam or smartphone (more on that later). The important thing is that spending the time it takes to make sure each video is packed with value. Your viewers will forgive low production value, they won’t forgive you for wasting their time.
Instead of churning out mediocre videos, take the time to craft a single, excellent video every month. This approach will not only help you stand out from the crowd, but it will also help build your channel’s reputation as a source of valuable content.
Consistency is Key
Creating a regular posting schedule is crucial for building a loyal audience on YouTube. Whether you post once a week or once a month, stick to your schedule as much as possible. This consistency will help your audience know when to expect new content from you and will demonstrate your commitment to providing them with valuable information.
At first, it may feel like you aren’t gaining any traction, but as long as you keep posting, you’ll continue building momentum. Each video will pick up a few new viewers, and each video will appear in more viewers’ feeds.
Conclusion
Creating a successful YouTube channel takes time, effort, and a willingness to learn and improve. By focusing on quality over quantity, creating valuable content for your target audience, and staying consistent in your posting schedule, you can build a loyal following on YouTube and generate more leads for your business.
In the next part of this guide, we’ll talk about how to generate ideas for videos that will get views and, most importantly, generate leads..
Checklist: Understanding How to Succeed
- Don’t wait, just start:
- Set a date to start creating videos
- Use what you have:
- Make a list of all the equipment at your disposal
- Camera
- Lighting
- Microphones
- Make a list of all the equipment at your disposal
- Find your audience:
- Develop a clear persona for your target audience
- Create a list of the kinds of videos this persona might be interested in
- Find your unique value:
- Determine what sets your business apart
- Create a list of the kinds of videos you could do better than your competitors
- Compare that list to the list of videos your persona would be interested in
- Maintain a regular posting schedule:
- Create a tentative schedule for when you’ll create new videos (you can always change this later).
By following this planning checklist, you’ll be well on your way to creating a successful YouTube channel that generates leads for your small local service business. Focus on providing valuable content tailored to your target audience, and stay consistent in your posting schedule to build a loyal following and drive more leads for your business.
