5 Ways to Promote Your YouTube Videos

You can make the most informative and entertaining video on YouTube, but that alone won't guarantee you an audience of potential customers. You'll still need to promote your video in as many ways as possible to help spread the word about your startup.

Here are some of the most successful tactics for promoting a new YouTube video:

1. Promote it on your company blog.
Your company blog is the perfect place to promote your video to your loyal customer base. Talk up each new video in its own blog post, linking to it or even embedding it in the post.

2. Tell your email list.
When you upload a new video to YouTube, send a message and link to your entire email list. If you send out a periodic email newsletter, mention your new videos in it, too.

3. Connect to social media.
Mention your new videos in your tweets and status updates, and link to or embed them in the messages. Facebook, for instance, lets you embed YouTube videos in your status updates. Just paste the URL into the status update and Facebook will put the video in your News feed. Twitter doesn't let you embed videos, but you can link to them from your tweets. And on Pinterest, you can "pin" YouTube videos to your virtual pinboards.

You also can promote your videos on social bookmarking and news sites such as Reddit and StumbleUpon. When you post a link to your video on these sites, you can broaden the viewership beyond your existing customers and social media followers. Note, however, that self-promotion is often frowned upon on many of these sites, so do so as sparingly and subtly as you can.

4. Do some old-fashioned public relations.
While most companies focus their promotional efforts on the web, you shouldn't neglect traditional public relations. This means issuing a press release when you've uploaded a new or particularly important video, and also picking up the phone or sending emails to target specific news outlets, such as your industry's trade groups, publications and blogs. Make sure you include a video link in your press release to help online news sources link directly from their coverage to your video on YouTube.

5. Advertise on YouTube.

If you can afford it, you can advertise your videos on YouTube, using parent company Google's AdWords for Video program. Called TrueView ads, they appear on the YouTube site, targeting potential viewers and linking back to the selected video or your YouTube channel page. TrueView ads are pay-per-click (PPC) ads, just like traditional AdWords text ads. So, you pay only when someone clicks your ad.

Start by logging into your Google AdWords account and linking it to your YouTube account. Set a daily budget for the maximum you're willing to spend. Then, select a video to display in your ad and choose the type of ad you want to run.

Google offers four types of TrueView ads. In-search ads appear at the top of the search results page when users search for the keywords you select. In-display ads appear in the related videos section on the viewing pages for similar videos. In-stream ads are short video messages that play at the beginning or end of other videos. And in-slate ads are commercials that play before or in the middle of longer videos.

In-search ads are the best choice for many companies because most YouTube videos are found through searches. So, just like your website, you want your video showing up on search results pages.

The next step requires you to set a maximum cost per view (CPV). This is the maximum amount you're willing to pay for each click. You can start with just $1 per day but what you spend is really dependent on your budget. You then choose how to target your ad -- through demographics and interests or via keywords. Keyword targeting is often best for in-search ads.

Once your campaign is up and running, you can use the AdWords Dashboard to measure the performance of your ads -- including but not limited to number of views. Depending on the results, you may need to tweak your strategy and possibly create new ads.

Braj Bhoomi_ Land of Lord Krishna ( Documentary)

Braj is the area that Krishna grazed his cattle, killed demons, and played on his melodious flute attracting milkmaids whom he bullied for butter. It was here that he ultimately found Radha, his inseparable companion. Virindavan, 15 km from Mathura, however, was the favorite romantic haunt of the divine couple.


A Documentary by Sudesh Malik

Shree Pragyanand Maharaj discourse at Govardhan

6 Viral Video Marketing Lessons To Learn From The Ice Bucket Challenge

Social feeds from across the country are chock-full of videos and photos of celebrities, inventors, CEOs, athletes and politicians all taking part in the most recent viral sensation: the Ice Bucket Challenge.

Whether you've laughed at your friend’s reaction to the ice cold water or taken the challenge yourself, postings about it are everywhere. This initiative has achieved something that's every marketer’s dream: goingviral and capturing wide attention across the nation in a month or two.

How did this simple initiative turn into a movement that has scored participation from some of the biggest names in the country, includingBill Gates, Sheryl Sandberg, Mark Zuckerberg, Kobe Bryant, Oprah and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie?  

Related: What You Can Learn About Marketing From an 'Icy' Phenomenon

The Ice Bucket Challenge benefits the ALS Association, which is dedicated to raising funds to research a cure for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis as well as caring for those with the disease. It gained steam with the participation of Beverly, Mass.-based Pete Frates, who since 2012 has had the illness (also called Lou Gehrig's disease).

Startups, established firms and marketers of all types can learn from the success of the Ice Bucket Challenge. Those trying to develop a viral campaign can take the following steps:

1. Identify the goal or cause.

The goal of the Ice Bucket Challenge has been to spread awareness and raise funds for ALS research and its success has exceeded initial expectations. The objective is simple and clear and the challenge doesn’t require much effort from participants: going online to donate or pouring a bucket of ice water over the head, or both.

Today’s consumers like simplicity and direct messaging. They typically won’t take the time to read through an entire article, newsletter or web page to understand a message. Marketers, simplicity is your friend.

2. Make it fun and easy.

Few things are funnier than seeing people have ice poured all over them and watching them cringe, scream or freeze in place. The web has been flooded with comical videos and images of those who have accepted the challenge.

People like to laugh, so keep members of your audience entertained with a video or photo that they would enjoy viewing. Keeping things lighthearted lets people connect with an organization on a human level and can encourage further engagement in an authentic way. 

3. Add immediacy.

Those asked to take the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge have only 24 hours to do so.

If you want an idea to flourish, keep the window of time brief to propel the process forward rapidly. By giving your audience a deadline, the initiative will become a greater priority. 

Related: 5 Social-Media Marketing Lessons From the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge

4. Understand the power of multiplication.

The ALS challenge calls on participants to encourage three additional people to participate, thus creating a multiplier effect.

When possible, let consumers involved in an initiative have a chance to engage with their network so as to experience the joy of others joining in. The bonus for a marketer is bringing increased exposure to a company's brand. 

5. Share on many platforms.

News of the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge is being shared on many social-media platforms, including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.

If you’re hoping for an idea or campaign to go viral, make it easy for others to share updates across multiple platforms. Don’t give people a reason to not become involved. 

6. Give participants a chance to feel good.

Everyone loves to feel a little better about himself (or herself). The Ice Bucket Challenge raises funds for a medical cause, and no matter the size of a donation, participants can feel good because they're helping others in need.

Plus, the challenge gives participants a sense of unity: They are sharing positive feelings and a goal with the rich and famous.

Setting up an initiative like this lets participants also allows for an emotional connection with an organization and opens up an opportunity for conversation. 

Contributor : GABRIELLE BOKO Executive Vice President of Marketing at Sage North America

Video Marketing Goes Beyond YouTube. Have You Explored These 3 Options?

I love YouTube. When it comes down to it, YouTube is still the most heavily trafficked video site online today. And with an estimated 72 hours of content being added every minute, it should certainly remain the cornerstone of any good video-based content marketing campaign.

But what if you want to take things further? Sayyou’ve already maximized your brand’s presence on YouTube and are looking for new opportunities to reach different consumers or experiment with alternative types of video content. Depending on your specific use case, any of the following three YouTube alternatives could give you the campaign growth you’re looking for:

1. Reach higher-quality audiences with Vimeo. Although Vimeo’s basic structure is similar to Youtube’s, it differs in a number of key ways. Not only was Vimeo the first to support consumers' uploading high-definition pieces, the video-sharing site prevents post-viewing “related videos” from displaying your competitors’ clips. And it's is totally ad-free. For these reasons, Vimeo tends to attract a smaller but what many advertisers consider a much higher-quality audience (meaning a viewership including lots of employed professionals). 

Get started by creating some epic video content: Vimeo filters out most commercial, gaming and nonuser-generated content, so you’ll want to invest in creating quality videos before branching out onto this site.  

Consider a paid account. As a paying producer (plans start at $59.95 a year), you’ll be able to customize your video player, add your logo to the top of your videos and take advantage of other premium features.  

Focus on community building: Vimeo users are seriously loyal about their platform. So don’t look at the site as just another dumping ground for your video content. Instead, get to know the site’s users by interacting with them before sharing your work.

Related: Why Short Videos Are Wildly Popular Over Social Media

2. Use Vine when you want to experiment with more viral-style short-form video content. Vine isn’t a video-sharing site; it’s a mobile and desktop app associated with Twitter that allows users to share looping videos of 6 seconds or less in length. The videos' limited duration means that Vine isn’t right for every brand, but it’s definitely worth considering; Ogilvy vice president Heather Taylor estimates that “brand vines are shared four times more than other online videos.”

Think personality. Six seconds doesn’t give you enough time to do a full product demonstration or sales pitch, but it does give you an opportunity to showcase your brand’s personality. Have fun with your clips and leave people wanting more.

Post regularly.The number of Vines being created and shared means that regular posting to this network is a must. Don’t stop after releasing a single Vine video. Keep your channel full and your followers engaged with regular releases.

Learn from the big boys.The learning curve for Vine can be steep. Help your brand's Vine profile pick up traction (scoring followers and interaction) by checking out how big companies like GE and Lowes use the service.

3. Tap Wistia when you need more analytics data and features than YouTube provides. Unlike YouTube, Wistia is a paid video platform (the price for a plan starts at $25 a month) that delivers clips to websites and mobile devices. Where Wistia really shines is with its conversion and analytics features, which help users capture leads and learn more about how viewers are interacting with each video.  

Amp up your production quality; if you’re going to invest in a video platform, you’ll want to use it to deliver quality content. Wistia’s video-production page offers tips on improving clip quality on a budget.

Think about your core audience; Wistia isn’t about driving view counts; it’s about the chance to engage with your brand’s ambassadors. Use analytics to be sure your videos are striking the right chord.

Pay attention: Having access to advanced analytics is only helpful if you use this data. Tap the information you generate to drive campaign changes across all your brand’s marketing channels.

These three Youtube alternatives should help you expand your video-marketing campaigns, but if you have another recommendation to share, leave a note in the comments section below.

Courtesy : SUJAN PATEL  VP of Marketing at When I Work