Rob Ciampa is CMO at Pixability, a YouTube ad buying and video marketing company that enables agencies, brands, and marketers to run better YouTube campaigns.
Rob knows YouTube (and soon Facebook) is the most visited video website on the planet. But targeting a specific audience or trying to build a brand without a roadmap is a shot in the dark.
Rob's new book with co-author Theresa Moore, Youtube Channels for Dummies breaks down this process in very simple terms.
I went Behind the Brand with Rob and learned a ton about Youtube marketing. Here are 7 key tips to build your brand with video:
1. Who is the audience?
Before you start thinking about "what" (video) you want to make, you should be figuring out the "who" part. Who is your primary audience? Get specific. Even if your product or service appeals to everyone, targeting "males 18-44" is a terrible strategy. Don't short-cut this process.
The reason is obvious. 18-year-olds are at a very different stage of life compared to middle age men. You may need to create buyer personas for several targets. Each should have a specific message, look, feel etc. tailored to fit.
2. Choose the right platform
What's the best platform for video marketing? The answer depends on where your people hang out. If they aren't on Twitter you don't need to waste time there. Youtube and now Facebook are logical choices for video but each has a very different community.
Rob gave some great examples of brands like Puma and L'Oréal that are creating unique experiences on Youtube and engaging their audiences. Watch the video above for some awesome insights.
3. Have the right person on the buttons
Why do brands tend to put the people with the least amount of "brand" experience in charge of their voice on social? This has nothing to do with age. The person managing your brand should have deep domain knowledge and understanding. There should be a dedicated person (or team), not something bolted on to the duties of PR or marketing.
4. Don't monetize your channel
If you're a brand Rob recommends not monetizing your channel. The reason is because you won't be able to fully control the ads that are served in front of your audience. But with the announcement today that Youtube videos are shoppable, there are new opportunities to sell products if that's one of your goals.
Individual creators could go either way but unless you have critical mass (about 1M subscribers) there isn't much money to be made via clicks. Instead, creators are monetizing by selling 4k stock footage, brand integration and sponsorship deals. You don't need a million subscribers these days. You just need the right number to accomplish your goals.
5. Diversify your (video) portfolio
There are a lot of social media choices out there. Rob loves Youtube but is seeing more success by sharing the content natively on some of the other platforms. Native is key. Don't try and retrofit your TV ad for Youtube, FB, Insta and beyond.
For example, brands might give fans a behind-the-scenes look at how their product is made with Snapchat. You could try sharing How-To tips via Instagram and save the long form for Youtube. Keep it brief, authentic and think about providing value, not marketing messages.
6. Don't spend a lot of money (at first)
Producing great video doesn't have to be expensive these days. The new iPhone shoots in 4k. Get comfortable with being on camera or making content. Experiement and try stuff that might not work. If I were running a brand again I would dedicate 10% of my marketing budget to try new things. Don't be a perfectionist. Sometimes that imperfection is where the magic happens. People want to see things that are real. As long as it's on strategy, give it to them.
7. Stick with it
After producing Behind the Brand for the last 5 years I can say that sticking with it has paid off big-time. Why doesn't Netflix publish or share online stats with the media about views for programming? Because traditional metrics like subs and views are not the best ways to judge whether or not content is good.
Sometimes it takes time to find your voice and your audience. There is no such thing as "making" a viral video. Videos go viral for various reasons and you'll notice that most of them are one-hit wonders. Stick with it.
What did I leave out? Post a comment below and let me know. Watch the video above for even more insights about video marketing and Youtube. Tweet me @BryanElliott and I promise to reply. You can watch even more Behind the Brand videos here: http://bit.ly/GetBehindtheBrand