fbpx

Harnessing the Power of YouTube to Reach Potential Customers

Andy Black//July 17, 2018//

Harnessing the Power of YouTube to Reach Potential Customers

Andy Black //July 17, 2018//

Listen to this article

Have you ever used YouTube to promote your business? According to YouTube Stats 2018, the site has over a trillion users, with almost 5 billion videos watched every single day.

U.S. consumers are conditioned to look at a video over reading an article or advertisement, and if your business isn’t taking advantage of this fact, you might be throwing away potential customer opportunities. What I’m suggesting is making short videos about your services and products you offer as well as basic “how-to” videos that can be offered on your website, Facebook page or monthly consumer outreach emails. You might take this opportunity to explain what your personal philosophy toward business is or why you own and operate a pet store. You could even create a virtual tour of your store or what your customer service approach is as well as informative shorts on new products that are trending.

You may ask yourself, “Why should I go to all this extra trouble?” My answer is simple: according to Stats 2018, people between 25 and 54 years old account for 49 percent of those who watch YouTube videos, which is a prime demographic with which retailers should be looking to engage. If you create a video that informs, with an intro that grabs the viewers’ attention, you’ll be building your brand and encouraging further interaction and potentially developing more sales opportunities.

The best practices for a successful video might surprise you; it doesn’t have to be professionally produced. Actually, it will be a success if you just speak about something that might interest your customers. If you are pleasant and knowledgeable, that’s all consumers are looking for. What they want is information, and as long as your video is informative, they will forgive grammatical errors and shaky camera angles.

An example of good video content might be talking about electronic dog fencing systems, how they work and how they can solve a problem the customer might be experiencing with their runaway dog. Other ideas might be talking about dog crate training or any other problems that you see customers asking about. How about a pond video? Most stores don’t have room to build a display pond in their store, but there are tons of backyard pond videos out there to which you could link, or you could make your own. High-end aquarium lighting, or all the other high-tech products that go along with aquarium keeping these days, is another potential sales builder. Customers might shell out money for techie products, but they are going to need to be convinced that it’s worth it.

Keep in mind, when you buy that “special order” 250-gallon tank for a customer, there is no reason you can’t make a video about what is needed to complete the setup, upload it to your YouTube channel and add the video to your website and Facebook page. It just might help you make another sale. If you offer tank design or maintenance services, YouTube videos could be a perfect advertisement for your service, showing a time-lapse video of the set-up process.

Creating a collection of YouTube videos can make you “The Expert” in whatever category you represent. Most consumers who watch a video to learn about a product will generally consider the presenter as knowledgeable about the subject being discussed, which gives credibility to you, your business and the product or project you’re discussing.

Even if you don’t want to make your own videos, you should consider linking to other videos that have already been produced that fit with your products or services. With over a trillion videos uploaded to YouTube, you’re bound to find something that fits your needs.

The bottom line is that YouTube is a free asset that can add depth to your consumer outreach efforts. Microsoft has free software available called Movie Maker that lets you edit your videos with special effects including music, graphics and captions.

The more digital presence you have, the more potential customers you have access to. In this digital age, YouTube is not to be ignored, and if you’re digitally challenged, check with some of your employees—you might have that talent already working for you. It might just be the young person who’s cleaning your fish tanks three afternoons a week.