Promote Youtube Videos

3 billion – that’s the number of video hours that’s watched every month on YouTube.
4 billion – That’s the number of videos that are viewed on a day

These statistics are from the YouTube blog, which was listed early this year. I am sure it has increased even more during the last few months!

Not only will people watch your video on YouTube, there is a good chance that your videos are shared on Facebook, and various other social media sites. Additionally, others may even embed your video in their website creating even more exposure to your videos.

This makes YouTube videos a great avenue to extend your brand online.
Branding your videos will increase visibility in your niche community. In the longer run it will help create more loyal customers.

So how do you really go about branding videos that you upload to YouTube? Here are some tips that I use to increase my brand presence in the online world with video.

1. Introduce yourself at the start of the video

Depending on the type of video, make sure to start the video with a fairly short introduction about your business. Don’t start bragging or go into details, just a couple of sentences that convey the nature of your business would do.

Quick tip: Record several types of introductions and insert the clip by editing the video post production.

At the moment I have 3 types of introductions in hand.
1. A 20 second verbal introduction about myself along with some text
2. An animated introduction with just text and music
3. On camera verbal introduction

After recording a video I use Sony Vegas Movie Studio HD Platinum 11 Production Suite or Camtasia to insert the pre recorded introduction videos clip.

2. Include your website URL

You can include the url as text within the video, if the url is a memorable one. If it’s not, I would recommend that you get a domain that is memorable and then add a redirect to your website from that domain.
Additionally, I noticed that adding the url at the start of the YouTube video description increases the click through rate to my website.

3. Embed the logo as a watermark in the video

You can include the logo, website name and/or url as a watermark for the video. You don’t need any fancy video editing skills to do this.
Notice the logo on the upper right hand corner of this video, along with the web url?

I simply use the TechSmith Camtasia Studio Version 7. It provides an option to upload an image or text to include. Camtasia automatically takes care of the technical details of embedding it as a watermark for the video.

4. Brand your YouTube Channel

Make sure that you customize the YouTube Channel background. Don’t just leave the same old default background. Include your logo, url and your tagline. Blend it with the colors of your website or product.

YouTube allows you to enter details about your channel. Add the website url and fill in the details so that people who visit the channel get a good idea on what your business is all about. Additionally, you can also link your Twitter and Facebook pages to your YouTube Channel too.

For example, if you visit the official YouTube Channel of Promote YouTube Videos, you’ll notice that the colors of the YouTube Channel page blends with the overall website brand. Additionally, the logo and the URL of this website is added the Channel page.

5. Create video content that carves your niche

Where possible try to keep the fonts, colors in consistent with your brand. For example, I tend to use a lot of gray, blank and orange in my videos. If you look around this blog, you notice that it’s has the same color combination. Of course don’t over do this. If people watch more than one video in your YouTube Channel you having the same style, color etc will not fit well. So vary it a bit and have a good balance.

Importantly, be an authority in your niche by using video.
How can you use videos to convey your unique value proposition ?
What types of videos can you create to give that impression to your video viewer?

It will go a long way to establish yourself in your niche and differentiate yourself from your competitors.