Promoting: Maximize Your Reach After Publishing
This is Part 7 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
- Share on Social Media Platforms: Share your video on social media platforms where your business is already active. Focus on platforms where you can invest time in building an audience.
- Cross-Promotion: Collaborate with other YouTubers, bloggers, or influencers in your industry to cross-promote each other’s content and drive more views and engagement.
- Leverage Email Marketing: Use your email list to promote your videos, but ensure the content is relevant to your subscribers.
- Participate in Online Communities: Engage in online communities like forums or social media groups related to your industry or niche to promote your channel and connect with potential viewers.
- Repurpose Content: Transform your video content into different formats, such as blog posts, YouTube shorts, TikTok videos, or Instagram posts, to increase reach and engagement.
- Engage with Your Audience: Respond to comments on your videos and engage with your audience on social media to build a loyal following and boost engagement.
In this part of the guide, we’ll focus on tips and advice for small business owners to understand the importance of promoting their videos after publishing them on YouTube. We’ll cover everything from sharing your content on social media platforms to leveraging email marketing and participating in online communities.
Promoting Your Video
Promotion is often the most underestimated step in achieving YouTube success. After investing hours into creating a video, it’s essential to spend time promoting it, or else all that effort could go to waste. Here are some tips on promoting your video effectively:
Share on Social Media Platforms
Share your video on any social media platforms your business is already active on. However, don’t feel like you need to join every platform. If you can’t invest the time required to build an audience on a particular platform, posting occasional videos will be ineffective.
Cross-Promotion
Collaborate with other YouTubers, bloggers, or influencers in your industry to cross-promote each other’s content. This can help expose your channel to a new audience and drive more views and engagement.
This may not be an option for your first few videos; you’ll need to wait until you have at least a small audience. When you’re ready, it’s good to find other YouTubers of about the same size (don’t email “Mr. Beast” just yet).
One common tactic is to find a video of theirs which you think your audience would like, and mention it in one of your videos. Then you can reach out and let them know you appreciate their content and include a link to the video in which you mentioned them. This can start a dialog which may lead to cross-promotion in the future.
Use Paid Advertising
YouTube offers a variety of advertising options, including in-stream ads, display ads, and discovery ads, that can help drive more views and engagement. Consider allocating a portion of your marketing budget towards targeted advertising campaigns. The effectiveness of this strategy depends on the quality of your video and how well you can define your audience.
Leverage Email Marketing
If you have an email list, this can be one of the easiest ways to get more views. Just ensure the content is relevant to your list, or you risk losing subscribers. Consider asking subscribers to opt-in to receive this type of content.
Participate in Online Communities
If you or someone on your team has the time, participate in online communities, such as forums or social media groups, to promote your channel and engage with potential viewers. This tends to work best if you’re an honest, active member of the community before sharing your videos. Share relevant videos and engage in conversations related to your business’s industry or niche.
Repurpose Content
Consider repurposing your video content into blog posts, YouTube shorts, TikTok videos, Instagram posts, or other forms of content to increase reach and engagement.
Engage with Your Audience
Respond to comments on your videos and engage with your audience on social media. This can help build a loyal following and increase engagement. Try reading comments from previous videos when recording. This can get viewers more engaged and excited to leave a comment.
Design Your Channel Page
Ensure your channel’s artwork effectively communicates your message. Avoid clutter and ensure visibility at the size it’ll be viewed (channel icons are always small, so don’t use logos with small print). Also, consider how it will appear on mobile devices.
Consider a Discord Server
Discord can be an excellent platform for building a community. It’s useful for announcing new videos and, more importantly, allowing your viewers to meet and communicate organically. This is an easy way to add value, as your community can chat and help each other, with all that goodwill attributed to your business.
Analyze Performance
Monitor your video’s performance, including views, engagement, and retention rates. Use this data to make informed decisions about future video content and marketing strategies. Figure out where people stop watching your video and identify ways to be more engaging during those segments. Learn from each video and apply those insights to future content.
Checklist: Promoting Your YouTube Videos
Use this checklist to ensure you’re effectively promoting your YouTube videos and maximizing your reach after publishing.
- Share on Social Media Platforms:
- Identify platforms where your business is already active
- Focus on platforms where you can invest time in building an audience
- Cross-Promotion:
- Collaborate with other YouTubers, bloggers, or influencers in your industry
- Find suitable partners with a similar audience size
- Mention their content in your videos and reach out for potential collaboration
- Use Paid Advertising:
- Explore YouTube’s advertising options: in-stream ads, display ads, and discovery ads
- Allocate a portion of your marketing budget for targeted ad campaigns
- Leverage Email Marketing:
- Share relevant video content with your email list
- Ask subscribers to opt-in for this type of content
- Participate in Online Communities:
- Engage in forums or social media groups related to your industry or niche
- Share relevant videos and participate in conversations
- Repurpose Content:
- Transform your video content into different formats: blog posts, YouTube shorts, TikTok videos, Instagram posts, etc.
- Engage with Your Audience:
- Respond to comments on your videos
- Engage with your audience on social media
- Read comments from previous videos when recording new content
- Design Your Channel Page:
- Create effective channel artwork that communicates your message
- Ensure visibility and clarity for your channel icon
- Optimize for mobile devices
- Consider a Discord Server:
- Use Discord to build a community
- Announce new videos and foster organic communication among viewers
- Analyze Performance:
- Monitor video performance metrics: views, engagement, retention rates
- Identify areas for improvement and apply insights to future content
Remember, success on YouTube requires dedication and continuous improvement. Keep experimenting with promotional strategies and learn from your experiences to grow your business on the platform.
Closing Out the Ultimate Guide: Envision Marketing Support
Congratulations on completing the Ultimate Guide to YouTube for Small Local Service Businesses! You now have the knowledge and tools necessary to create, edit, publish, and promote engaging and effective YouTube videos to grow your business. Remember, while this guide provides a solid foundation, success on YouTube requires dedication and continuous improvement. If you need expert assistance in implementing any or all of the strategies outlined in this guide, Envision Marketing is here to help. Our agency specializes in helping small local service businesses like yours thrive on YouTube and other digital platforms. Don’t hesitate to reach out and let us be a part of your YouTube success story.
