New YouTube Features and How Marketers Can Leverage Them

YouTube is one of the fastest-growing platforms with over 2 billion active users around the globe. Around 42.9% of users engage on Youtube every month. There are more than a billion hours of content that are posted and viewed by users from different parts of the world. It has its place in the list of second-most used social media platforms, which is less compared to Facebook which has more users. There are more than 37 million Youtube channels with more creators coming in every day. People tend to use Youtube for promoting their products, creating an online presence and brand, and also to earn a little something on the side. There are many people who grew from nothing to everything with Youtube. Now let's get into how this platform is used by the business magnets and other high influencers to promote, earn, and create their online brand among the audience.

How YouTube marketing is beneficial for business

With growing users every day, businesses tend to adopt the platform in their marketing strategy to market their business. With the available audience in large numbers, it works in their favor to spend a little and earn 10x more.

YouTube Marketing is one of the marketing strategies used by businesses around the world to promote their brand or service or product. According to an infographic published by the good folks at MultiVisionDigital, “consumers are 64 percent more likely to purchase a product after watching a product video” Just randomly posting videos of your products won’t get you anywhere. You need to pick the right audience and get them to click on the video and make them come to you.

The infographic further explains why video is such an important part of the digital marketing mix:

• More than 3 out of 5 consumers spend a minimum of 2 minutes watching a video educating themselves about products they want to buy
• 52 percent of online buyers agree that watching product videos help them make more confident purchase decisions
• 96 percent of tech buyers and IT decision-makers watch product videos for business purposes
• Finally, in 2017, video traffic will account for 69 percent of all consumer Internet traffic

Now let’s get down to the good stuff. How do businesses use this platform to benefit from them?

Using the available YouTube features and implementing a YouTube marketing strategy for your business can help in making it cost-effective. If you are confused about how YouTube can help you grow your business, here are some of the benefits:

Make most out of the available YouTube traffic for your business

With the exponential growth in video views and more users coming in every day, using YouTube for your business can help you reach the target audience that you wish to deliver the products to by making creative videos with attractive content and information which should force the people to buy from you.

There are different types of audience groups using YouTube, consuming content of different genres. Identifying the audience, making videos that can be easily interpreted by them which in turn forces them to avail your service. If you use the platform in the right way, you can make the most out of the platform’s traffic.

Better search visibility in Google

Since everything is connected to Google such as images, videos, news, articles, and local and global searches - this helps the users get what they wish for when they search for something. When you search a specific keyword related to any type of niche, you may have noticed videos come along with the search results. This is just because Google considers videos as important as text-only pages.

Consider investing more time in your website by making attractive written and visual content that can help build backlinks to your website. This means that you have a high probability to get discovered when searched. Content is king whether it is written or visual, ensure that when you write and post articles or videos, the content is of high quality. If you learn how to use and adopt YouTube marketing features, it can help increase the flow of website traffic which in turn leads to more authority. More authority can benefit you in the sense, like the more authority that you have, the higher the chance of getting your website ranked in the top search results. Users always look at the first 3 search results that pop up, which usually have everything that they are looking for. Make sure to work your way to the top of that search result.

How to use YouTube to increase your authority

1. Request external website owners to link your videos-

Google has an algorithm that identifies and works in your favor if an external website with rather good authority, embeds or links your videos in their website, it can help you rank higher in search results. The more websites that embed or link your video, the more chances of getting your website ranked.

2. Share and get shared with your YouTube videos-

Google considers social media platforms and their metrics of utmost importance when ranking pages. When you create high-quality videos and share the views to share with other people, it is a sign that you are producing valuable content for the user audience.

3. Add your domain name to the YouTube channel-

Adding your domain or website name to your channel can create communication with you and YouTube which can help in creating the particular face of that very product or service that you offer. This can help YouTube to identify and establish your brand face and connect to the target audience when they search for the particular product or service of the specified niche.

4. Provide creative video options for your audience-

Audiences prefer attractive videos with new content and add on information  that they never have come across. This new information should be created in a visual representation that helps them interpret and grasp it easily. If you make time and engage with your audience, there is a higher chance of success.

Content never expires

Suppose you have created a blog post with high-quality content stuffed with keywords of high search volume. Well, you don’t need to spend extra time to come up with additional content to make the visual representation that you need to upload onto Youtube. All you have to do is convert the specific content that you wish to post into an easily interpretable video.

Converting the written content is a form of content marketing as the same content is used for a different marketing strategy.

Apart from videos, the content can be converted to

• Podcasts
• Infographics
• Presentations

This can help you create different types of videos for your targeted audience.

Improve your global audience

YouTube is known for this particular use. Businesses use this platform because of this particular feature. Every day millions of videos are created and uploaded for users to consume and engage with. And every day new and new visitors come in. There are higher chances that the new visitors are your target audience. When these new visitors come in every day, it is your job to create videos and attract those new visitors to your website. This is one of the easiest ways to get those users to come to you. Now you may have a question, every user may be from different parts of the country, how can I get to those people?

Well, there is a supposed chance that at least 1/4th of those new users will be familiar with one language - English.  But it won’t work in your favor if you can’t produce high-quality content. It is important to provide them with exceptional high-quality content.

Also, there is an added advantage if your video has a closed caption. If the users are finding it difficult to understand you then the closed caption feature can be of help. Apart from normal audiences, if there are audiences with hearing impairment, then this can be of great help to them. Research shows that if a video has a closed caption, it is likely to have 4% more views and subscriptions than those videos which have neither.

Building email list via your YouTube channel

If you are looking to build an email list, there is nothing better than YouTube. When you start to engage in YouTube to provide high-quality content to its users, there is a way to build an email list along with it.

When you create a video, try using software to embed a link halfway through the video to encourage users to enter their email and subscribe to your channel to continue watching your content. This can help increase the number of subscribers as well as improve building a solid email list in which you can program to notify the users of your latest blogs, services, and videos. Thus in turn engaging in another marketing strategy - Email marketing.

Make videos that can attract users to buy from you

Always keep in mind you are also a user at the end of the day. When you spend time creating videos, make sure to create videos that add a personal touch from the user's point of view. I.e., the content of the video should include the persisting problem that a user may face and an easy solution that you provide which should be convincing enough for the users to trust you to buy from you.

Nowadays, many adopt to get influencers and other celebrities speaking about your product, there are higher chances of getting your product or service sales to increase.

Earn a source of revenue from AdSense for video

YouTube has Google’s AdSense video program for creators to earn money by posting videos. When you regularly start posting videos, you also have the opportunity to earn some money from YouTube.

More than a million YouTube creators all around the globe are earning money through YouTube.

Creating video campaigns and using Google AdWords and AdSense can help you earn money. Here is a summarized version of how it works:

• You may have clicked on a certain video ad when watching a video.
• This click is paid by you as part of your campaign budget.
• When a viewer watches a video, there may be ads that can be throughout the video which are unskippable or skippable depending on enabling and disabling options.
• When a viewer watches the ads or clicks on the ad, you are paid 68% of the ad revenue.

This is how most creators make money. Running Google AdWords campaign, and allowing others to advertise on your videos. You can also have paid sponsorship when you decide on posting a video.

These are some of the top benefits of using YouTube for your business. This is exactly why YouTube grows by the second and why more and more users come in. If you spend a little amount of time from your everyday busy life learning about YouTube and how it works, within a span of years it can multiply by growing your audience, earning enough revenue, and improving your business.

References

https://eclincher.com/7-benefits-of-youtube-for-your-business/

https://wearegrow.com/8-massive-benefits-of-using-youtube-for-business/

https://easyreporting.io/how-youtube-can-help-grow-your-business/

Top YouTube features & tools for marketers

YouTube creator studio

YouTube creator studio is the dashboard that content creators use to view, measure, monitor, edit, optimize and improve their videos. The dashboard consists of information that is related to your video and includes analytics, insights, or even comment filters. You also have the option to add keywords related to the specific video of the content.

• Dashboard helps to track the performance of your videos and channel. You can make relevant changes to improve the performance of videos. It also notifies you of news or topics that can include in your content strategy.
• Analytics provides information on each individual video performance. The number of views, demographics, desktop or mobile, average view times, and many more. This YouTube feature comes in handy when you want to make changes to improve the channel.
• YouTubers often adopt SEO practices to drive more traffic and get better views for their videos. Similar to optimizing your website, you can optimize the channel, videos, insert relevant keywords of high search volume, etc.
• Playlist option to feature videos and categorize the videos of similar content. By categorizing them, users can easily access the content they need. You can also feature one video on your YouTube homepage to make the user welcome and make them understand the type of videos that you will be posting on your channel.

YouTube has also designed a creator studio app to simplify the mobile channel management. As the popularity of mobile continues to increase, this feature will be extensively beneficial for marketers and business owners.

You now have more analytics tools to gain valuable insight. This, in turn, will help you make more informed decisions and improve your engagement with viewers.

The YouTube team is also working to make the Creator Studio app even faster. Better yet, they are also adding some of the most user-requested features including new notifications to help marketers take action.

Watch later option for suggested videos

When you are watching a video, you might notice videos popping up as suggested videos for you. These suggested videos will be having similar content to the topic they are currently viewing. This is to ensure that the users are engaged on YouTube.

You may have also seen videos that are not at all related to what you are currently watching, this is because it is based on your past video watching history. It can also include audiences with similar interests.

Source: Hubspot

In the above example, you can see videos that are popping up alongside the video you are currently watching. Also, you can save the same to watch later option. This simply means users can save the videos that they find interesting into their personal playlist which they can watch at a later date..

Subscription Feed

Using the subscription feed, marketers and content creators can see who is watching their video content.

YouTube’s new subscription feed makes the task even easier by allowing you to quickly access the feed and update the YouTube “mobo” app. Teamed up with the subscriber notification feature, this easy-to-use subscription feed of YouTube will help your subscribers stay on top of all your latest content.

There are also several metrics available for marketers to measure user engagement, leveraging which they can prioritize, and personalized service to loyal customers to further improve conversion rates.

Subscriber notification

It is nothing new that billions of viewers watch videos on YouTube every day. There is no denying that this video-sharing website has billions of extremely loyal followers that marketers can tap into when they use this channel properly.

By using the new subscription notification feature marketers and content creators can let their fans know whenever they update a new video.

YouTube claims that following this update, your subscribers won’t have to worry about FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) anymore. They can now ‘opt in’ to receive emails and mobile notifications every time you publish a new video.

Introduction of super chats

YouTube has introduced a new feature called super chats. This feature allows the audience to interact with the creator when they are live streaming. This feature helps creators to earn money through super chats and connect directly with their fans.

Here is how it works:

When you are watching a live stream, you will have an option to purchase super chat. This purchase allows the viewer to highlight their message which will stand out from the rest of the live chat. Depending on the amount of money a viewer spends on super chat, he/she can customize the colour, length of the message, and the duration which will be available for the viewers to see.

Source: QuarterLab

This feature allows the creators to connect and engage with their fans and increase revenue from doing so.

Improved Comments

Comments are more than welcome for both marketers and users, as they are a great way to communicate with your viewers and audience. It also allows you to dig more about a topic, get feedback, and of course hunt for new ideas. However, junk or spam comments are simply a distraction for most users. Realizing that users don’t want to see such comments when viewing and sharing videos, YouTube goes for a cleaner layout by introducing the ranking system to lower the visibility of the spam comments.

This will help marketers not only “combat” trolls, but also get rid of those nasty commenters who just pollute the comment thread without offering any insight or value to the discussion. In addition, the account holders will already have the privilege (from its previous updates) to ban commentators posting negative remarks apart from filtering out comments with certain trigger words.

The new and improved comment feature will further help marketers to keep their video channels clean. According to YouTube’s product manager Kiley McEvoy, this feature has helped in lowering ‘dislikes’ rates by over 36 percent across YouTube.

Bigger file uploads

YouTube has updated its feature to upload files from 100MB to 256GB or 12 hours, whichever is less. The uploading files can be of high HD video uploads. YouTube might bring in more additional features to improve user experience in the near future.

YouTube Shorts and Stories

With the growing feature of short clips from TikTok to Instagram reels, YouTube has decided to bring in the YT shorts and stories for better user experience and convenience. You can find this section of “shorts and stories” on the home page of your YouTube app when you are scrolling through the videos. Try making short clips and reels to improve your channel growth.

Source: QuarterLab

This is one of the easiest forms to gain more subscribers for your YouTube channel. People tend to click more on these short reels and clips. According to YouTube, channels using shorts and stories have higher subscriber growth of 8.5% than the channels that don’t make use of this YouTube feature. Using this YouTube feature for business can benefit new customers. You don’t really have to make a new video for these shorts and stories, similar to using the same content for video as we discussed before, you can use the uploaded videos to edit and create shorts and stories.

Live Streaming

Live streams play a huge role in YouTube marketing. Businesses can make use of this live streaming feature to make the users or their target audience aware of the new products coming in, or a new product launch, its updates, or even they can have an interaction with their audience to know what type and kind of product they are interested in or looking for. This underrated feature if used well, can be used as an effective marketing tool for their business. This form of video marketing is what a portion of the audience prefers. Ensure before coming live that you don’t prepare to deliver in a robotic manner. Make use of the stream, interact with the users, acknowledge them to help you reach the position that you are encouraging for more support, etc.

Live streaming is an important video marketing tool, the more the live stream the more the people are aware of your brand and online presence. Through word of mouth and a modern system of share and reshare can be used to create a positive effect on your business.

Mentioning and replying to your audience's questions and comments in the chat whether it’s not in your script or even if it is something that one of your competitors has, it is important to ensure them by sending out replies in sense of “promise to deliver the same but with better features” or even “thinking of getting something more improved version” etc.

Hosting free webinars, having a Q&A session as discussed above, collaborating with leading market influencers or leaders if possible, giving back to the customers in the form of giveaways, surprise contests, etc can create a sense of trust in the minds of your target audience which is required and is of utmost importance for a business to have a legit online business. One negative comment can have a large impact on your business.

Video Management On the Go

Since YouTube is all about video, quite naturally they are trying to improve its functionalities. The rising popularity of smartphones, tablets, and other wireless devices not only requires you to publish content for these devices but also makes it mandatory for marketers to be able to manage content on the go. Video management is no exception.

Realizing the users’ needs, YouTube has added two new features to its content mobility management. First, they are making it easier for marketers to update custom thumbnails right from their mobile devices. This was, in fact, the top requested feature. In addition, YouTube is adding a monetization setting to their Creator Studio app, using which marketers can enable or disable monetization of any video on the go.

360 Degree Videos

This is probably the coolest feature YouTube has introduced so far. Mariana De Felice, communication manager at YouTube says that the 360-degree feature was actually an experiment to see how far they “can take the online video experience.” This feature is now available on most devices. Using this feature, users can see everything taking place at a given location.

The latest concept of drone-based recording and video capturing devices like GoPro are already gaining popularity. Therefore, this 360-degree feature on YouTube will allow marketers to provide even more interesting and insightful content to viewers.

Looking Ahead

These are some of the top YouTube features and benefits of using these features for your business. Apart from the common users, marketers can adopt these features to get their business promoted to another level. Small businesses can find it really beneficial as it is easy for them to implement them.

FAQs

Can YouTube be used for business and commercial use?

Yes, marketers can adopt and implement the new features to promote their brand, product, or service.

What are the new features in YouTube?

The new features of YouTube are YouTube creator studio, subscription feed, subscriber notification, Super chats, Bigger file uploads, Live streaming, etc.

What is the maximum limit of upload size in YouTube?

The maximum file upload limit of YouTube is 256GB.

Are YouTube shorts and stories the same as clips and reels?

Shorts and stories are on YouTube, and clips and reels are on other platforms such as Tiktock and Instagram.

Is YouTube important for marketing?

YouTube is one of the most effective marketing tools for businesses in any industry. Businesses can adopt the features of YouTube to implement an online video marketing strategy.