Here Are 5 Ways Businesses Are Using YouTube to Get More Customers

Almost 20 years after its launch, YouTube is still going strong, attracting huge amounts of users with its vast array of content.

Despite the rise of fellow video platform TikTok, it’s still managed to hold onto its share of the market audience, with the rapidly growing industry of video advertising reaping the rewards for YouTube-friendly businesses.

In this article, we’re going to look at five ways online businesses are using YouTube to grab their share of the $500 billion online video market.

Influencers

In a digital world obsessed with celebrities, influencers are filling the demand for online personalities who hold so much sway over under 30s, particularly Gen Zers.

According to research, 61% of internet consumers are more likely to purchase a product after hearing an influencer recommend it, something which is invaluable to online businesses.

YouTube provides the ideal platform for these personalities, allowing them to build up a huge fan base and monetize their brand, including deals with businesses to promote their wares.

With the arrival of ‘Web 3.0’ technologies about to make the online experience even more immersive, influencers are only likely to become more important in the digital business world.

Video tutorials

Building trust with potential customers is key to winning them over, and one of the most effective ways of doing this is to offer valuable content to them.

Video guides and tutorials via YouTube not only educate users, but also make it much more likely that they check out other content related to the business offering them. Online casinos are great examples of businesses that do this, using either official channels or affiliated partners to guide players through how. Users can play along to the video via online casino games in demo mode and copy it in order to improve their strategy.

In other industries, supermarket giants provide customers with video recipes (often prepared by a celebrity chef), and investment firms show people how to buy stocks.

YouTube, with its billions of users, is the ideal platform for this content, and is one of the major components of a fast-growing video advertising industry.

User-generated content

One of the cleverest ways that businesses have exploited the public need for celebrity and being in the limelight is through user-generated content (UGC).

By putting consumers at the heart of ad campaigns, companies not only add a personal touch to content, but also make huge savings with the customer literally producing the content for them.

Coca Cola’s Share a Coke campaign was one of the first, and most powerful, examples when they put popular first names on bottle labels and told customers to find one with their name on it and post it on social media.

The response was electric, with hundreds of thousands of people taking to Facebook and YouTube to post photos and videos of themselves with their own ‘personally created’ Coke bottle.

UGC options are wide and varied today, and YouTube is still the most popular place for users to post their own video content.

Behind-the-scenes videos

If there’s one more thing that consumers like, it’s the feeling that they’re being let in on a secret. Behind-the-scenes videos are an excellent way of doing this, whether it’s showing people how products are made, or giving them special access to the filming of a commercial.

YouTube videos showing this special footage are often released just before the launch of a popular product to swell the ranks of potential consumers. The content presents a human side to a business, improving its image in the minds of its target audience, and increasing the chances of them hitting that purchase button.

Product giveaways

YouTube remains an invaluable medium for that other great business tool: giveaways.

Product giveaways are important because they allow the company to generate buzz and attract new customers. They also help it build up its brand and establish itself as an established company in its industry.

If a customer takes advantage of a YouTube giveaway promotion, they’re likely to have fond memories of the company who gave it to them; they’ll make repeat purchases and pass on recommendations to friends.

Giveaways also come with that one invaluable extra: customer data. Often, customers claiming the offer will need to provide basic details, like email addresses, in return. This allows the business to build email lists as a way of spreading more publicity in the future – a win-win for everyone involved.