Page 245 - SKU-000506274_TEXT.indd

224 Part IV Promotion and Monetization

Start with Great Content…

It goes without saying that all the promotion in the world won’t attract viewers to a
video that doesn’t offer some distinct value. Viewers who follow the promotion to a
lousy video simply click the Stop button when they begin to get bored, which hap-
pens soon enough. It all starts with great content, which can benefit from additional
promotion.

Entertain, Inform, or Educate

The best YouTube videos offer something valuable to viewers. As I’ve noted earlier
in this book, for a video to attract viewers, it has to do one of three things: enter-
tain, inform, or educate the viewer. Here’s what I mean:

• Entertain—Most videos on YouTube strive to be entertaining. Whether
you’re talking cute kittens, stupid human tricks, or wryly humorous
vlog postings, the typical YouTube video contains some measure of
entertainment value. This can also work for business videos; just as
many of the most memorable television commercials are vastly enter-
taining (typically in a humorous vein), some of the most-viewed
YouTube business videos are similarly entertaining. After all, people like
to be entertained; if you can pull off such an entertaining video, it’s
bound to draw viewers.

• Inform—One other thing that attracts viewers is information—in par-
ticular, information that is specifically relevant and useful to the viewer.
I’m talking about the latest news, tailor-made for the target YouTube
customer. When your company video has information that matters to
particular YouTube viewers, those people will watch it.

• Educate—In a similar fashion, anytime you can help someone learn
how to do something that they need to do, you attract eyeballs. Show
mechanically inept viewers how to change the oil in their cars, or teach
would-be chefs how to prepare a gourmet meal, and the help you pro-
vide gains praise. Step-by-step instruction attracts large numbers of
viewers in today’s increasingly do-it-yourself world—as witnessed by
the success of HGTV and the Food Network on cable television.

Pick one approach—entertainment, information, or education—and do it as best
you can. Provide stellar content and you’re well on your way to upping your video
view count.