Assured Social Media

An ideal venue for marketing a small business or an entrepreneurial venture is YouTube advertising. It provides the unique opportunity to place an ad that genuinely reflects the personality and character of your business. You can provide information in the way that you believe will speak most clearly and engagingly to your ideal customers or clients.

Many small business owners and entrepreneurs have been misinformed about YouTube. Advertising on this medium has only recently increased because of misunderstandings. There are three pieces of misinformation we can correct:

1. If you listen to the champions of social media, you are likely to believe that all social media have experienced explosive growth and there is every reason to expect that this will continue into the future. This is not true. The truth is that the popularity of social media is declining. This does not mean you should ignore social media. It means you should plan what you will do and where you will promote your business. For example, the Business Journals reported last year that 75% of all Americans have viewed an online video.

2. Television news and talk shows are enamored of Twitter at the moment. There is a significant following for some businesses and media outlets on Twitter. But this is not the case for businesses, especially small business and entrepreneurs. The average business (all businesses of all sizes) has only a little over 100 followers on Twitter. Its best use might be to point to your YouTube advertising video.

3. You probably believe Facebook is more important and popular than YouTube. This belief would have been accurate last year, but during the last months of 2009 and the early part of 2010, Facebook’s popularity has declined sharply. A business or personal visibility on YouTube will be far more useful in 2010.

The ROI on YouTube advertising is mind-boggling. For little or no cost, you can upload videos that tell your story in a unique and engaging way. Here are my top four reasons for using YouTube advertising:

First, unlike television advertising, you do not need to pay for a time slot or rely on only the people who are watching when your ad runs. Posting a video for YouTube advertising is free. What is more, once posted, it is always available for people to see. Whenever someone executes a search for one of the keywords you attach to your video, it is accessible. Think of YouTube advertising as the ad that never sleeps.

Second, your video has the same chance as any other YouTube advertising video posted to strike a chord with the right group of people and suddenly go viral. In a recent survey by MarketingProfs, LLC, 20% of the people interviewed reported being very pleased that one of their videos had gone viral.

Third, YouTube advertising really can be done on a shoestring. You honestly do not need professional actors, ad writers, a director, time in an expensive studio and the rest. Just sit down and turn on your web cam or give someone your digital video camera and start filming!

Fourth, YouTube advertising videos can also be entertaining. There is no reason you can’t have fun making your video. You can inform and entertain at the same time. People don’t want to see the usual TV commercial. They want something fun and interesting.

One of the best YouTube advertising videos was a 60 second clip about a man shopping for a dog house that would be his new residence after he gave his wife a small appliance for Mother’s Day. It was only at the end of the clip that the viewer learned that the clip was made by J.C. Penny to advertise a Mother’s Day sale on diamonds.

YouTube advertising can cost you almost nothing – just make your video and post it to the site. Just be sure to add a creative and entertaining flair. Be sure there is a clear call to action. Later, if you have the budget to invest, you might want to consider some of the paid advertising programs offered by YouTube.

What can you expect to achieve? Of the people who used YouTube advertising for PR purposes, 29.1% said it worked great, while another 49.3% said it worked a little (according to the MarketingProfs Fall 2009 Survey). Of businesses that posted a video for YouTube advertising and used the analytics from the site to profile the people who viewed the video, 28.8% said it worked great and 35.6% said it worked a little.

The keys to success in YouTube advertising are creativity, entertainment value, and maybe some fun. In the process, fit in just enough information about your company, your products or services, and your brand. With some luck and the attention of the right people, you could also become an overnight sensation, just by investing some time in YouTube advertising.

If you own a small business or professional and want more information about YouTube advertising, view the short video, “How You Can Send 25,000 New Prospects to Your Web Site Every Month – For Free” at http://internetleadgenerationacademy.com/freevideo.htm