This is my presentation from the "Next Gen YouTube Marketing" session at Search Engine Strategies West, 2011 in San Francisco, CA. Learn more about YouTube marketing at my site, ReelSEO.com - http://www.reelseo.com/video/marketing/youtube-marketing/

1. NEXT GEN YOUTUBE
MARKETING
Mark Robertson
Founder & President
ReelSEO.com

2. Agenda
1
•YouTube Misconceptions
3
•YouTube Marketing & SEO Essentials
4
•Driving YouTube Viewers Home
5
•Embedding YouTube Players
6
•Going Beyond YouTube

3. YOUTUBE MISCONCEPTIONS
It’s for kids
They don’t protect copyrights
YouTube doesn’t work for business
It’s not good for my website
00:18

4. YouTube Is For 13yr Olds Who Love Cats

5. YouTube Is For Fun, Not For Business
1. Community Outreach & Social Media
2. Brand Promotion & Awareness
– Old Spice = 283K subscribers + 234M video
views
– Victoria’s Secret = 46K subscribers + 27M
video views
3. Direct Response
– Results in direct-response if done properly
4. Search Engine Exposure
– Every Search Engine PLUS Google & YouTube

6. YouTube Doesn’t Protect Owner Copyright
• YouTube’s Content ID program gives content owners a choice (Partner Program)
• Universal Music Group – “10’s of Millions of Dollars” annually from YouTube.

7. YouTube Is For Fun, Not For Business
1000’s of brands are active on YouTube
Consumer Goods Fashion
Jewelry
Old Spice, Evian, Victoria’s Secret, Nike, Puma,
Tag Heuer, Dynomighty
Dove/Unilever RayBan, Levis
Media/Entertainment
Household E-Commerce
Universal, Disney, NYTimes,
Blendtec, IKEA, Sears HSN, QVC, Zappos.com
CBS, CNN, HULU?
Electronics Automotive
Technology
Sony, Phillips, Samsung, Toyota, Kia, Ford, Volvo, BMW,
T-Mobile, IBM, LG, Vodafone
Nintendo etc…
Financial Food & Beverage Education/Non-Profits
ING, Deutsche Bank Gruppe, Pepsi, MacDonalds, Coca-Cola, Harvard, Yale, World Vision,
Quicken Fanta, Heineken Unicef

8. YouTube Is Not Good Enough For Websites

9. YOUTUBE MARKETING & SEO ESSENTIALS
Quality
content
SEO
Audience
Basics
00:21

10. Success = More than Keywords & Text
YouTube Ranking Factors
– Title
– Description
– Tags
– Views & frequency
– Likes, dislikes
– Playlist additions
– Flagging
– Shares
– Comments
– Age of video
– Subscribers
– Favorites
– Embeds & inbound links
– Social media buzz

11. YouTube Ranking Factors Continued
More Potential YouTube Ranking Factors
• Average Viewer Duration
• Frequency of Community Interaction Influencers
• Playlist Inclusion
• Honors
• Insight/Trends/Analytics Indicators
Social
• Bulletins Paid
Media &
• Authority Channel (Ex: BMW) Promotion
Buzz
• Google & YouTube Search CTR YouTube
• Channel Views Rankings
• Social Bookmarking
• Tone of Interaction (Positive vs. Negative
Comments)
• News/Press/Press Release
• Influencers & Media Placement Frequency Inbound
• YouTube Partner Program Freshness linking
• Closed Captions, Transcriptions, etc..
• Video Quality

12. Quality
content

13. What Doesn’t Work On YouTube?
• Online Video = Lean Forward vs. Lean Back
– The classic disruptive marketing approach does not work.

14. Viral Video As A Strategy = Russian Roulette
99.67% of YouTube videos have less than 1M views - TubeMogul.
“…most YouTube videos get less than a couple of hundred views.” – YouTube Help

15. What Content Works On YouTube
Create Magnetic Content:
• Content that naturally attracts consumers Vs. interruption marketing
Tell a Story
• Is the content unique?
• Is the content useful?
• Is the content well executed?
• Is the content fun?
• Is the content honest?
Tips
• Consider well-known talent
• Dedicate resources
• Don’t play viral roulette
• Avoid using copyrighted assets

16. Comprehensive, Ongoing Content Strategy
Set realistic goals BUT upload often, and regularly

17. SEO Basics

18. Tips for YouTube SEO – Don’t Be Lazy

19. Use YouTube Directly vs. Common API Tools
Why Use YouTube Directly?
• Thumbnail selection
• Geo-tagging for Google Earth, Places, etc…
• 1080p HD uploads, up to 20GB
• Promoted videos
• Annotations
• Playlists
• Insights
• Closed captions
• You should be active anyway (it’s a social platform)

20. Titles Are Extremely Important, As Always
• Titles show in player, as page
head meta, in search results
• First 50 Char are shown in
Universal, etc…
• Trade-off = keywords vs.
enticing
Which one would you
click on?

21. More YouTube Optimization Tips
Maximize Descriptive Text Areas
• Descriptions
– Use descriptions field liberally (5000 char)
• Tags
– optimize & de-optimize
– But don’t spam
Choose Compelling Thumbnails
• Which one would you choose?
• “Flip Mino HD”

22. Take Advantage Of YouTube Playlists

23. Create YouTube Closed Captions/Subtitles
• Accessibility for Hearing Impaired • Global Reach - Translations

24. Google Search “Content Network for Videos”

25. YouTube Search “Content Network for Videos”

26. Closed Captioning Gets Indexed
• YouTube & Google Index CC
• CC/Subtitles don’t require audio
• May help with long tail searches “Content Network for Videos”
???

27. Don’t Ignore Your YouTube Channel
American Apparel
What they did right?
• Website link
• Logo
• Username
What they didn’t do?
• Lazy description
• No background image
• No playlists
• No favorites
• Rarely active
• Could probably get a brand channel

28. YouTube Channel Success
Tips for Success
• Username – brand keywords
• Keyword-dense descriptions
• Website URL – “followed”
• Customize your channel
– Settings, themes, colors, modules
– Background image
• Consider a brand or partner channel
– Extra branding
– Links to sites & products
– Control related videos

29. Example Channels – Brands & Partners
Partner Channel - MysteryGuitarMan Brand Channel - MysteryGuitarMan

30. Audience

31. Engage & Drive YouTube Audience Interaction
• Subscribe to relevant users
• Add video responses when appropriate
• Encourage embedding
• Allow commenting, rating
– Converse Respond!

32. Use Annotations To Drive Interaction & Views
Link to other
videos
Community Engagement
Encourage responses,
comments, likes, subscribes

33. Don’t Overdo It.
Link to other
videos

34. Remember - YouTube’s Search Looks Outside
Directly from
YouTube’s Partner
Guide

35. Seed And Promote Inside & Outside YouTube
• Use most popular YouTube channel available to you
• Try YouTube Promoted Videos
• Post to your website
• Post to industry blogs
– “Key Influencers”
• Post to social networks
– Twitter
– Facebook
– Linkedin
• Send internally

36. YOUTUBE CONVERSION TIPS
Driving YouTube Viewers Home
00:36

37. Drive YouTube Viewers Home
URL in Description Field
– Must include http://
– Use URL shortener – tracking, nofollow

38. Drive YouTube Viewers Home
In-Video Calls to Action
– Teasers, Coupons, Promo codes, Call tracking, Unique URLs, Etc…
– Consider using annotations (dynamic)

39. Driving Video Views – YouTube Promote
YouTube Promoted Videos
• Pay Per Click/View
• Keyword bidding
• Drives video views

40. Driving Viewers Home For FREE?
WHAT YOU MAY NOT KNOW
• Bonus = Free call to action overlay
• Auto-play on channel = more views
• Starts at $0.01 CPC
• Cost per click off-site? $0.00
– Overlay works on pause

41. YOUTUBE FOR YOUR WEBSITE
00:40

42. Using YouTube For Your Website
Advantages Disadvantages
• FREE video hosting • 2nd most blocked website
• Free video management • Possible competitor advertising
• Free video delivery • No DRM for serious content owners
• Credit for video views (not autoplay) • No ability to monetize without
partnership

43. YouTube Could Give Back – “As Seen On”

44. Customizing YouTube’s Embedded Player
• Turn off title & ratings • Loop playback
– &showinfo=0 – &loop=1
• Turn off search • Disable full screen
– &showsearch=0 (not sure why you’d want to)
– &fs=0
• Turn off related videos
– &rel=0 • Remove YouTube’s logo
– &modestbranding=1
• Turn off annotations
– &iv_load_policy=3 • Hide control bar
– &autohide=1
• Force closed captions
– &cc_load_policy=1 • Remove control bar
– &controls=0
• Turn on autoplay
(not recommended)
– &autoplay=1

45. Create Your Own YouTube Chromeless Player
More customization tips - ReelSEO.com/youtube-embed-hacks/

46. GOING BEYOND YOUTUBE
01:00

47. Going Beyond YouTube
Consider other video destination sites
• Use services like Tubemogul
– Upload to multiple sites once
• Try variations in titles, descriptions, tags
– Avoid duplicate content
• Blip.tv
– Great for webseries, episodic video
– Excellent monetization possibilities
– Additional syndication options
• Vimeo
– Great for artists, videographers, etc..

48. Please Love Us & Get Reel With Video!
ReelSEO = The Online Video Marketer’s Guide
Our focus is to help businesses and
marketers to best leverage the power of
online video.
Video Marketing Video Advertising
Video SEO Video Technology
Video Search Video Production
Research & Trends E-Commerce Video
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Youtube.com/reelseo

49. QUESTIONS?