Cheap Laughs: Branding on YouTube

YouTube is still hot property these days. Reports show that there are a hundred million video views each day! Yeah, you read that right -- 100 million! With that many video views and visitors, it seems like this must be hot property for your brand. Well...yes and no. Here are some things to consider when thinking about a marketing campaign on YouTube.

The positives:

• You will get viewers: No matter what you put up, people will see your videos. You may not get 2 million hits, but you'll get some.
• It can be cheap or even free: We're not talking Hollywood quality here, so you most likely won't incur heavy production costs for your videos. If you you existing content, there is no cost at all.
• New audiences: Posting videos gives you the opportunity to expand your brand to audiences you may not normally reach. Viewers on YouTube tend to be in the hot 18-34 demographic.

The challenges:

• Competition: There is a lot of competition for views on YouTube, so you'll need patience, promotion and a great video to get a lot of views.
• Non-traditional marketing requires different approach: Most successful videos aren't just a sales pitch for company xyz. Marketing on YouTube requires a different mindset, and most often, a different approach.
• Skepticism: Convincing executives that YouTube is the right place to brand your company can be difficult too. Most executives I speak with about this haven't been to YouTube and can't understand why we would want to be a part of it.

Food for thought:

• Understand your audience: Make sure your target audience is on YouTube. Consumer brands obviously have the most to gain here, so if you are a B2B accounting services company, think twice.
• Use existing content: Put existing television commercials and videos on YouTube to start. If you have a great commercial, you will get viewers and it's an easy way to get brand awareness.
• Originality is key: There are a countless number of videos on the site and the last thing you want to do is to copy what thousands of others have done. Find a niche and stick with it.
• Humor works: A humorous, relevant video can help you get a lot more views. As with most things on the Internet, the racier the better. However, do think about how the content reflects on your brand.
• Promote it: You can drive additional views by promoting your videos like you would any marketing campaign. Your success won't be completely driven by WOM.
  

Spherion has recently created a series of videos on YouTube to build its brand in an inexpensive and humorous way. We saw that there were hundreds or even thousands of videos about work (including many clips from The Office), but none were focused on temp work. Since that is our business, we thought that creating a series about the trials and tribulations of being a temp worker would not only create a niche, but also appeal to our audiences.

Last week, we posted the second episode of The Temp Life series. Enjoy: