YouTube-The Next Media For Advertising Your Internet Business

LocalNet360-Last September 2010, Google announced at a New York trade show that Youtube had become the number two (#2) search engine on the internet and that by 2015 about 50% of all online ads would be pay per view videos. While it is still early for most small businesses to buy into the concept of online Video marketing, the truth is now is the time to get started. In this article, we will discuss two clients that have recently experienced the effects of YouTube Videos using budgets of less than $1,000 to get started. YouTube Video Marketing-Good or Bad?rnThe first client owns two restaurants in Southern CA and wanted to attract some new customers to his neighborhood location for New Year’s Eve, which is an annual event. Starting in early December, we launched two videos with music. The first used house techno music and the other was set to more moderate dubstep music. However, the message was the same for both videos. Additionally, each video offered premium tickets worth $60 at $25 each. Initially, the videos drove similar traffic, but had few buyers since most people were still shopping for Christmas and not thinking about their plans for New Years Eve. As Christmas approached more people began to view the Videos and inquire about tickets. However, immediately following Christmas Day, the traffic to both Videos and the Company website more than tripled and remained that way right through New Year’s Eve, the night of the event. In this case, the videos were successful in generating leads and exposure for an annual event. Granted, we had the benefit of the event being New Year’s Eve, but this was the first time video marketing was ever used by this client and the results far outweighed the costs. Client number two is a restoration company and unfortunately, events like New Years Eve will not work. As a result, in this case we developed two videos that are more informational about the benefits of the company’s services. Immediately, upon launching the videos, the company began to receive phone calls, which was our intention, so that the company could answer questions pertaining to mold, fire and water damages. The unforeseen benefit was that the company received calls from potential strategic partners such as general contractors and national non-profit organizations wishing to refer and/or exchange current and potential clients with the company. Unlike the first client, which used videos to promote a one-time annual event, the second client is using videos to promote the company and it services on an ongoing basis which continues to generate leads and/or referrals. While both video marketing programs have been successful, it appears that the best return on investment thus far goes to the second client, since the video has an unlimited lifecycle. Of course, these are but two examples of how videos can be used for marketing the products and services of small businesses, it does demonstrate that video marketing can be an effective tool even on a local level. And that should the market for video ads continue to grow in popularity as suggested by Google, many small businesses can begin to use this inexpensive resource to help grow their businesses regardless of whether they develop specific promotions or choose to use videos in a more general way such as highlighting the company’s products or services. As you begin to develop and/or expand your presence on the Internet for your business consider this: Websites like Youtube are good solutions to help jumpstart your marketing campaigns online. However, you will need to develop more comprehensive strategies, since no one way will work for all businesses as you begin to build a customer base that you can then market to online on a regular basis. As stated earlier in this series, in order to rise above the crowd you will need more than just a website. Therefore, implementing several Internet based solutions over the next 12-24 months will be critical to the long term success for virtually every small and local business in America. Internet Marketing by LocalNet360rn© Copyright LocalNet360 All Rights Reserved Worldwide.