YouTube Design Changes: Things Brands Need to Know

youtubeYouTube‘s user experience is changing with its dramatic aesthetic overhaul that was rolled out recently. This, in turn, could mean big things for companies and brands.

As YouTube makes room to grow in the social media space — to become a place for more than just unbridled user commentary — brands can think about how to settle into the YouTube space more strategically.

And make no mistake about it, YouTube is a giant forum for video content — but also for advertising. YouTube streams 4 billion videos every single day. This is a 25 percent increase over the past eight months, largely due to Google making YouTube versions available on their Android phones and on Internet-enabled televisions. 3 billion videos a week are monetized. Display ads that play alongside or within streamed videos generates $5 billion a year.

YouTube Adds “Channels”

The biggest component of the new YouTube layout is the use of “channels.” The new homepage features a left-hand sidebar, dominated by channels. It makes it easier for users to subscribe to channels — once they subscribe to the channels and brands they like, they will see the latest activity on that channel in a stream view. Users can also “pin” 10 channels to their own YouTube home page.

What Brands Need to Do

1. Publish regularly.

With this constant barrage of content greeting YouTube users, brands will need to update their content regularly to stay in users’ minds. YouTube is emphasizing that there are more channel-based changes on the way. If YouTube is focusing on channels, brands need to focus on channels.

2. Tighten management of your brand’s YouTube channel.

Channels are making it easier for people to engage with the content, especially with newer content. This is great news for brands — but it also means brands need to keep a closer eye on what’s being said about them.

3. Be share-worthy.

The redesign is making it easier than ever for people to share their YouTube activity on Facebook, Google+, Twitter, and other social networks. At the same time, videos that are shared to these social media networks will be featured on YouTube’s homepage feed. With it being so easy, what’s left for brands to do is to give users something they want to share.

4. Stay active on Google+

YouTube is a Google revenue machine, after all. Video by brands on Google+ that get shared means more exposure to anyone using YouTube. And, with Google+ integrated seamlessly with YouTube, users can search, view, and share YouTube videos from Google+.

The Main Idea

Any redesign that seeks to increase users’ time on the site means one thing. There is an increase in advertising just around the corner.

YouTube has already announced 100 new original video programming deals with big names in media, including superstars like Madonna and Jay-Z. YouTube Insights have been replaced by YouTube Analytics, giving brands more control over their channels and more insight into what drives subscriptions and what retains audiences.

YouTube is going to become a busier place. This may amount to a bigger time commitment on the part of companies and brands.

If you don’t have the time, know-how, or passion, we do. Call us and/or come visit us in our awesome downtown Orlando office.

It's A New World and Social Media is Here to Stay.

At iQuarius Media, we speak and interact with company owners, as well as marketing and advertising professionals, on a daily basis about things such as social media, web marketing, online video marketing, email marketing, and even text message marketing. It’s an exciting field to be involved in. Without exception, every business owner wants to solve the same dilemma: how do I get the absolute most bang for the buck out of my advertising and marketing budget? It’s a tight economy today and maximizing resources is an important component of business if one wants to attain — and maintain — success in the marketplace.

Cue internet marketing and social media.

Where else does one tap a potential client base as large as the Internet for pennies on the dollar? Nowhere. If you’re not taking advantage of this precious opportunity to advance the growth of your business, you may want to move into the right lane because passing is in the left lane. If you’re not utilizing this cost-effective means of promoting your business and/or website, you risk losing your loyal clients, as well as a vast well of potential clients, to those entrepreneurs who have the foresight to understand that social media is not just a trend. Social media is a new way of life.

Before you get started…

Once a business owner has decided to make use of the social media platform to help their respective business progress, there are a few things they should keep in mind.

  1. Definitely do some research and ask some questions about the company you are considering hiring. Hire a reputable and well liked company that has some experience and tact. The company you decide on could make you or break you.
  2. Make certain to negotiate a contract before venturing into business together, so that both you and your social media company are legally protected.

Those are the basics. Now we  can move on to the main purpose of this article: to accentuate the benefits of having a social media presence to make your business more effective and far-reaching.

Social Media is global.

Building a social media campaign is THE most cost-effective method of online advertising and promoting. Think about it: Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, and Twitter are free. In addition, there are literally hundreds of other less popular websites that can help your business get the exposure it deserves.

All of these networks have a reach that spans the globe. Why not attempt to reach out to this global market? A perfect example of this is Twitter, where one can log in at any time of the day or night and see real-time tweets from Japan, England, France, and India, to name a few.

Social Media is the new momentum.

Social media enables you to join groups of people with the same interests and goals. On LinkedIn and Facebook, one can join groups on yachting or interior design or web design. The possibilities are limitless. Think limitless when you think of all of the potential clients out there in this massive world of ours. The ability to have direct contact with people who have the same interests and hopes and dreams as yours is amazing. So get on board the greatest momentum shift to happen in eons. You have no excuse not to.

Make The Most of YouTube Marketing

youtube marketingThe most recent statistics on online video and YouTube are mind-blowing: Nielsen reported that Americans streamed 15 billion videos in the most recently recorded month (May 2011). While traditional TV viewing was up only 0.2% over last year, Internet video viewing was up 35% and mobile video viewing went up 20%.

Before you throw all your marketing dollars into YouTube, however, you might want to consider this other statistic: 35 hours of video are uploaded to YouTube… every minute. In the time it takes you to read this article, about two weeks of fresh content will be posted. Watch the video below and add another three days.

In other words, there’s a lot of competition for those eyeballs. So, how do you maximize your YouTube marketing results?

  •  Create compelling videos.
  • Use YouTube Ads.

  • Make your video findable.
  • Brand your YouTube channel.
  • Post a bulletin and alert your friends and subscribers.

  • Review YouTube Insights for good insights.

  • Leverage other social media platforms.

 

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