Since its invention in 2005, YouTube has been a beloved hub for all kinds of video content. It’s a platform people visit for entertainment as well as to connect with others who share similar interests. YouTube’s versatility is one of many reasons why it’s been able to become the second most popular social media network in the world, topped only by Facebook. While the platform began as a place to share fun videos with friends and strangers on the internet, it has since evolved into a launchpad for career and business growth. Keep reading to learn how YouTubers are turning their passions into viable revenue streams.
What is YouTube?
YouTube is a social media platform used for sharing videos. The website hosts short-form content called YouTube Shorts, and long-form videos, such as vlogs, tutorials, documentaries, and music videos. With 2.7 billion global monthly active users, YouTube is one of the most popular sites on the internet.
The History of YouTube
YouTube was founded in 2005 by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim, all of whom were former PayPal employees. Their goal was to create a website where ordinary people could easily share their “home videos,” and thus, YouTube was born. When the beta version of YouTube was launched in May 2005, the site received about 30,000 visitors per day. By December 2005 when YouTube was officially launched, it was garnering approximately two million video views each day, and that number would increase to 25 million by January 2006.
In November 2006, Google Inc. purchased YouTube for $1.65 billion in stocks after its video service, Google Video, failed to attract sufficient traffic. Following this acquisition, YouTube announced its slogan, “Broadcast Yourself,” to reflect the website’s original purpose of being a place where anyone could upload videos of themself to share with the world. Since its inception, YouTube has been home to countless viral videos, which helped to catapult it into popularity in the site’s earlier days. In the first couple of years of YouTube’s life, content creators posted videos purely for fun or in the hope of achieving internet fame. However, as the website began to grow and become more profitable, content creators were able to turn their passion into a career.
Turning Passion Into Profit
YouTube created its Partner Program in 2007, which gave the top-performing content creators on the platform a way to monetize their videos by running advertisements. After the program’s initial success, YouTube extended the ability to monetize content to all creators on the platform in 2012. Since then, the eligibility requirements for YouTube’s Partner Program have been updated to ensure that all monetized content aligns with the site’s policies and guidelines. Users must reach 1,000 subscribers and either 4,000 public watch hours within 12 months or 10 million public Shorts views within 90 days to apply for the program.
Through the Partner Program, young creatives like Zoe Sugg, better known as Zoella, and Bethany Mota were able to turn their passion for making videos into a robust career in entertainment. After gaining virality making beauty and lifestyle content on YouTube, Sugg and Mota used their online success to break into other industries — Sugg became a New York Times bestselling author, while Mota starred on Dancing with the Stars and designed a clothing line in partnership with Aeropostale. Though their career ventures have greatly expanded since they started making videos, both women continue to post content on YouTube and other social media platforms.
Digital Marketing Takeaways From YouTube
YouTube offers a variety of opportunities for digital marketers to attract an audience and grow their consumer base. Here are a few key takeaways to help you make the most of what YouTube has to offer.
- Increase Brand Awareness Through Cultivated Aesthetics
Creating a consistent, unique aesthetic through your YouTube content is an excellent way to boost brand awareness. Incorporate your brand colors and logo into your thumbnails, channel icon, banner, and video content to create a distinct, recognizable aesthetic that consumers will begin associating with your brand. You should also keep the writing style employed on your YouTube channel consistent with your brand’s voice, including everything from your video titles and descriptions to the scripted content in your Shorts and long-form videos.
- Interact With Your Audience to Attract Lifelong Customers
Although a large part of creating a successful presence on YouTube is producing quality video content, the importance of interacting with your audience cannot be understated. It may operate differently from Instagram and Facebook, but YouTube is still a social media platform with users who want to engage. Utilize the comments section under your videos as well as YouTube’s community tab to respond to your viewers’ questions, create connections, and find out what kind of content they want to see. These interactions are what will keep people coming back.
- Utilize SEO to Boost Traffic
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is crucial for any marketing effort. On YouTube, you can use keywords in your video descriptions, closed captions, and tags to attract viewers who may be interested in your content. Plus, YouTube videos with more engagement earn higher rankings in the search results, so you should always remind your audience to like and comment at the end of your videos.
- Include Calls to Action to Encourage Engagement
As with any social media marketing campaign, the goal of attracting views on YouTube is to convert those viewers into customers. The key to successful conversions is implementing calls to action (CTAs) in your video content. Keep your CTAs short and straightforward to avoid overwhelming or confusing your audience. For instance, try directing viewers to your website with a verbal prompt or a simple graphic at the end of your video.
- Evaluate Your Marketing Strategy With YouTube Analytics
YouTube Studio allows creators to track how their videos perform through data on audience retention, returning and unique viewers, top content, how viewers find your videos, and more. Using this information, you can identify performance trends to determine the ideal length and frequency of your uploads, determine what type of content your audience is most interested in, and assess how your use of captions, thumbnails, hashtags, and keywords affects the performance of your videos.
Across all industries, digital marketing is essential for any successful business. Not only does it establish a strong relationship with your target audience or consumer base, but it also increases your brand’s recognizability, allowing your company to reach a wider audience. If you’re looking to grow your business, start by evaluating your current digital marketing strategy to determine what’s working and what still needs work.
If you need help navigating the do’s and don’ts of digital marketing, BlueTickSocial is here for you. Contact us today to begin growing your brand’s online presence!
Other Sources:
How You Can Use YouTube to Turn Your Passion into a Career
YouTube analytics: How to analyze your YouTube data
YouTube Marketing Strategies: 19 Tips to Grow Your Channel
