With 83% of U.S. adults on YouTube, and over a billion hours of content watched every day, YouTube offers a huge opportunity for your business to reach your audience.
But simply talking about your products without a plan won’t get you far. To succeed, you need a clear strategy—and that’s exactly what we’ll cover here. Read on to discover 10 essential steps to mastering YouTube marketing in 2024.
What is YouTube marketing?
YouTube marketing is all about promoting your brand, product, or service on YouTube. This can include creating organic promo videos, working with influencers, or running ads on the platform.
To successfully market your business on YouTube—whether you’re a solo entrepreneur or a large company—you’ll need to create content that your target audience actually wants.
Sounds simple, right? It is, as long as you truly understand what your customers want, not just what you think they want (a common pitfall for many businesses).
And to make sure your videos reach the right people, you’ll need to optimize them for YouTube’s search algorithm, similar to how you would for Google SEO.
However, why is investing in YouTube marketing so crucial for your company?
Let’s dive into some big benefits YouTube offers:
- Reach a huge audience. YouTube is the world’s second most-visited site, with users streaming an average of 28 hours per month. In fact, four out of five internet users have been on YouTube at least once! For more impressive stats, check out our roundup on why YouTube is a game-changer for business.
- Video content works. According to one survey, 90% of marketers report positive ROI from video, and 88% say it helps their audience understand products or services better.
- Boost search visibility. By focusing on YouTube SEO—and considering Google search—your videos can attract an even wider audience.
- Earn through YouTube monetization. Once you’ve built a steady audience, you can also make money from ads on your videos.
So, without further ado, here’s your complete, step-by-step checklist for successfully promoting your business on YouTube!
10-step YouTube marketing strategy
Let’s walk through 10 steps to build a YouTube marketing strategy for your business so you can start promoting your products or services with quality videos!
Step 1: Set Up Your YouTube Channel
First up, create a YouTube channel for your business. Since YouTube is owned by Google, you’ll need a Google account. You can use an existing one or make a new one just for managing your channel.
Here’s how to get started:
- Create a Google account or use your Google Workspace admin account.
- Go to YouTube.com and click on your profile photo in the top right.
- Click “Create a channel” in the dropdown, then enter your business name and handle.
- Upload your logo as your profile photo and hit “Create channel.”
From here, you’ll see your new YouTube channel. Click on “Customize channel” to start filling in the basics. This includes:
- Basic Info: Name, handle, description, channel URL, links, and contact info.
- Branding: Profile picture, banner image, and video watermark.
- Layout: Add a video spotlight and featured sections.
Check out a fully branded channel for inspiration, and let’s move on to your strategy.
Step 2: Understand Your Audience
Now, let’s dig into what your audience really wants. Ask yourself:
- Who are you making videos for?
- What are they watching already?
You can start by researching general YouTube demographics. As of early 2024, YouTube has an even gender split and is popular across generations, especially for users aged 18-49. Also, check out YouTube Analytics on your channel to see your audience’s demographics, traffic sources, and interests.
Another option is social listening to find out what people are saying about your brand or industry online. Hootsuite’s tools, including the AI-powered Talkwalker, can analyze what people are talking about and help inspire video content ideas.
Step 3: Research Competitors
Want to grow fast? Look at your competitors’ channels for insights. Track metrics like:
- Subscriber count
- Average views per video
- Posting frequency
- Main topics
Take notes in a spreadsheet and include a SWOT analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats). Your competitors’ top videos and their approach to branding and voice can give you ideas for standing out.
Step 4: Study Channels You Enjoy
Beyond competitors, learn from the channels you love. Notice their thumbnails, editing styles, and how they engage with viewers. Good audio quality is crucial, so pay attention to that too. By studying successful channels, you’ll see what’s working and be inspired to try new things on your own.
Step 5: Plan Your Content
With your channel set up and research done, it’s time to plan your content. Start with about 10 ideas based on questions from your audience, industry trends, and competitor videos. Then, map out your content plan:
- Recording and editing
- Uploading and optimizing
- Scheduling and promoting
Start with several videos to launch your channel, and aim for a consistent schedule—like every 1-2 weeks.
Step 6: Optimize for More Views
To get your videos noticed, you’ll need YouTube SEO. Start with keyword research, then add your main keywords in the video title, description, and tags. Also, add timestamps to make it easy for viewers to jump to sections they’re interested in.
Step 7: Promote Your Channel
YouTube SEO helps, but don’t stop there! Cross-promote your videos on your website, other social media channels, and in your email newsletter. Some ways to promote:
- Add links to your channel on your website and in newsletters.
- Embed videos on blog posts and landing pages.
- Collaborate with others for cross-promotion.
Let people know your business is on YouTube, and watch your audience grow.
Step 8: Try YouTube Ads
If you want faster growth, try YouTube ads. You can run skippable video ads, unskippable ads, or banner ads. As a Google company, YouTube ads run through the Google Ads platform, so a solid ad strategy can give you a big boost.
Also Read: Creating an Email Campaign: Quick Steps & Examples
5 YouTube marketing tools
Here’s how you can take your YouTube marketing to the next level with some handy tools. Here are a few essentials:
1. Hootsuite
Hootsuite’s YouTube scheduling tools are great for building a consistent, manageable content plan. Sure, you can schedule videos on YouTube Studio, but why break your workflow? With Hootsuite, you can schedule posts for all your social channels, not just YouTube. Plus, Hootsuite’s dashboard lets you monitor brand and keyword mentions across platforms, create posts, run ads, and analyze results—all in one place. You can even respond to comments directly from your dashboard, saving loads of time, and your team can use it too to collaborate and manage accounts seamlessly.
2. TubeBuddy
TubeBuddy is a Chrome extension that makes video optimization a breeze. When you’re doing keyword research on YouTube, TubeBuddy gives you keyword scores to find the best content ideas. It also helps with tags, writing descriptions, and gathering analytics to fine-tune your strategy and keep your channel growing.
3. VidIQ
VidIQ helps you choose top keywords and optimize videos. It even includes an AI tool to help write descriptions, boosting each video’s reach. VidIQ offers personalized video ideas, performance forecasts, competitor analysis, and plenty of AI-powered tools to elevate your content game.
4. Canva
Canva is a lifesaver for anyone who doesn’t have a video editor or graphic designer on hand. It’s perfect for creating video thumbnails, channel art, and short video edits. Canva’s tools make it easy to design templates, create eye-catching thumbnails, and polish up your videos without any professional help.
5. Mentionlytics
Mentionlytics is a powerful tool for tracking online chatter about your brand and industry. Use it to discover new content ideas for your channel and gain insights from web and social media. It also includes social media reporting, publishing tools, and sentiment analysis to strengthen your other marketing tactics.
Let Hootsuite simplify growing your YouTube channel. Get tools for scheduling, promoting, and managing your team’s efforts—all in one spot. Sign up free today!
