Inspired by the creators unsuccessful search of the internet to find a video of Janet Jackson’s infamous “wardrobe malfunction”, Youtube was born to serve as a way for anyone to post, share and comment on videos. However it is no longer just your treasure trove of funny cat videos. Youtube is now one of the big four social media channels along with Facebook, Twitter, and Linked-in.

The social gathering phas opened up a universe of marketing opportunities for sole proprietorships all the way to huge international corporations. “But I only look up music videos, and sports replays, and I’ve never even uploaded a video let alone a video with a purpose!” you might cry. It’s okay! Now that technology has graced us with camera phones and computers, creating and uploading a video to Youtube is easier than ever, and a marketing opportunity you can’t afford to pass up.

When starting to plan a Youtube video ask yourself a couple questions, and then write down a list of answers for each.

•  What do we provide?
• Who wants this/is our audience?
• What describes our company?
• And most importantly, how can we connect with our audience?

After all, marketing is all about growing relationships with a lead and converting them into a client. So the main objective is to connect with the audience and make them feel the message of what your company is about. If you are panicking that your company is “boring” and there is no way to connect, all you have to do is find your angle to spin your product or service.

Just recently I went to a social media seminar, and a CEO of a non-profit company benefiting children with life threatening diseases asked ,“what could we do on YouTube?” The speaker explained how easy it would be for his company to go viral through a video documenting a testimonial by a survivor the non benefited.

Although this is an extreme case, the same technique can be used in any industry. If you are a sole proprietorship show a video depicting the effort and care you specifically put into your product or service. The idea is to make the viewer feel like they know you and your company on a personal level rather than just a business level.

A video that almost any industry can do is a “How-to”. Pick a small aspect of your service or product and create a short but detailed video explaining a way in which to use your product or service.

Right now, I could create a how-to video right now for blogging, marketing, Youtube uploading, or filming with an iPhone, which would have a link back to our website or a landing page on the video or in the description. I could then push the video out onto twitter, forums, blogs and Facebook for even greater reach.

The key to marketing on Youtube is it’s sharing feature. Although you want to be found by your audience, the message in the video must have a big enough impact to cause the viewer to share it with everyone. That’s when it goes viral. In a previous blog we looked at the Inbound Sales Acquisition funnel and how all leads come from a much bigger pool of suspects and all clients come from a much bigger pool of leads. Youtube marketing is just one way of expanding the mouth of the funnel to gain more suspects. Even though not everyone who watches the video may not inquire more about your company, some will and those that do may be some who would have never found your company without Youtube.

Matt Fry

Southern Methodist University Alumni with degrees in Corporate Communications and Public Affairs, Markets and Culture and a minor in Business. Matt Fry is an intern for Mojo Media Labs, a Dallas / Fort Worth based Inbound Marketing Company.