Let’s make one thing clear; YouTube currently ranks as the #2 online search engine. Actually, it’s second only to Google which owns YouTube. So do you really want to launch a social media marketing campaign without integrating YouTube into it? Quick answer: no.  

Start optimizing your Youtube videos:

Check out how to get started on Youtube here.  

What are you going to discuss: 

This should be a fairly easy question to answer for any business. You will probably be creating videos about your niche that are going to help you build an audience for your business. However, if you decide to take a different route for some reason then make sure to have your target audience clearly defined. Also, make sure to stick to the same type of content; don’t just post haphazard videos that have got nothing to do with each other. Otherwise, you are going to have a very hard time building a loyal audience.  

Plan and Schedule:

This is one of the most important steps: ​you need to plan your content. ​Don’t, under any circumstances, post haphazardly on YouTube. Start brainstorming and write down everything that comes to your mind on a piece of paper. After that, you can ask yourself a series of questions that are going to help you map out your content:

● What is your target audience interested in?

● What are they struggling with?

● What is the most logical sequence?

● What is trending?

  Answering these questions will help you identify what topics you want to approach, how you want to approach them, and when to post each of them. This way, your channel will make more sense and your videos will have a logical order. Also, remember to upload videos regularly. Whether you are going to post three, two, or even one time a week; make sure to have a fixed schedule.  

Get Ready!

Here’s the thing, you won’t be able to get a lot of fans and viewers by relying solely on your content; arm yourself with the right equipment. As someone who is just starting out, you don’t have to invest in extremely expensive equipment, but you should have certain gadgets:

● A ​good camera goes without saying; who is going to watch a video with hazy and unfocused visuals?

● You also want to have perfect audio quality; so you need to invest in a ​good microphone​​.

● You are also going to need a ​tripod ​​so that you can position your camera anywhere.

● As for lighting, the same rules we mentioned in the Instagram article apply here; if you won’t be shooting in the daylight, then you need to invest in LED lights​​.

  If you need a more detailed description of the exact gadgets you are going to need, you can check this​ article on Adorama. We couldn’t have done a better job listing the essential gadget.  

Shoot:

So you have everything set-up; your camera is ready, your microphone is on, your room is well illuminated, you look YouTube-ready, and you know what you need to say. Now what? Now you should treat your camera as your friend; make sure to be yourself. Of course, you need to have good presentation skills and a well-structured draft of what you want to convey, that goes without saying. However, make sure you are comfortable while shooting and filter the irrelevant clips.  

Edit:

Off with the irrelevant clips! And no, you don’t need fancy video editing software and skills. You can simply make do with more than ​20 video editing programs like Windows Movie Maker and Apple iMovie.  

Optimize your Videos:

Optimize your content! Give your video a good descriptive title that will give viewers an idea about exactly what you are going to convey. Make sure to use relevant tags that you know other users are using. Also, write a good description that will include your target word and its synonyms.  

Engage and Ignore:

You have to know when to engage and when to ignore. Engage with your audience regularly, but make sure to ignore the negative comments. On YouTube, negative comments aren’t always a form of constructive criticism, some people just comment to bring you down. Make sure to know when people are actually genuinely giving you advice, and when they are trying to bring you down.   This article is part of a blog post series about social media marketing, through this series we aim to help you start your social media marketing campaign right now. We already have three published articles, make sure to check them out: 1. Benefits of social media marketing. 2. How to create your social media marketing strategy. 3. Getting maximum exposure on Instagram.