Social Media and YouTube Secrets we Stole From Corporate: Part 2 of 2

You could be like us, a group of passionate nerds pouring their heart and souls into creativity, but not getting the traction you believe it should get. We could be delusional, and our videos and tweets and blogs may not deserve the attention we think they do. But then we all must be nuts, because everyone on the ‘net is clamoring for eyeballs. Well we visited our new corporate owners, Demand Media, and despite bristling at the word “corporate” (and “Demand” can be a bit harsh), we fell in love with their brains. How could we not? The company was started just seven years ago and already owns some of the biggest brands on the web. But to stay true to our hippy geek ways of our founder, one Mr. Bill “way better than Gates” Mushkin, we’ve decided to share what we’ve learned.

• What are you doing with those thumbs? Your thumbnail picture is the front page of your video. Is it enticing? Does it offer some insight/benefit to the viewer?
• Are you appealing to YouTube’s younger demo? You can’t be Mr. and/or Mrs. Salespitch Pants. You have to offer entertainment and/or information. If you are going after an older demographic, then find the right place for your video to live.
• Engage your viewers.  Tell your viewers exactly the action you want them to take. Use YouTube annotations for shares, comments, likes and subscriptions.
• Use the new YouTube layout to your advantage. Have a top banner made that explains your video schedule and what viewers can expect. Use the regularity to train your growing audience of informed viewers.
• Get the right keywords up front in your title, in your description as well as in the keyword section.
• Review the YouTube playbook!  Seriously – they tell you exactly how to maximize your use of the service.

• Look up the popular hashtags on Twitter and, when you can, naturally piggyback off relevant topics/trends with all of your outgoing media.
• Pose questions. People respond to questions that include them such as, “What do you think of the new homepage?” or “Who do you think will win today: Michigan or Louisville.”  (question with a trend = bonus!)
• Less text is more.
• In your ads, such as on Facebook, make sure there’s an image of a person. Females seem to work best, but make sure it’s not porny. A direct gaze from a trustworthy woman works best.

Google +: REALLY? GOOGLE PLUS?

• Google+ is great for credibility with its search engine sugar daddy. When you post on your blog, get the G+ link that connects it to your profile.
• When you post often, Google gets a signal that you are generating content.

Search Engine Optimization: SEO HAS KEPT ME UP AND MADE ME SAD

• First off, you should try our cool do-it-yourself SEO Tutor. Corporate would really like that.
• Make sure your website has a site map! This makes the Google bots very happy (and it’s handy for your own site search.)
• When you post a video on your site, add a transcript of what is said. It should be rich with the keywords you want bringing people to your site.

Those are just some of the tips and tricks given to us by corporate. We’d all love it if you came back for more (and there will be more.)

And if you’d like, you can always go into the mind of the dude who zones out in meetings with a visit to Part 1 of our Corporate Secrets Series.