With the popularity of Facebook, Twitter, and now Pinterest, we might be seeing ourselves forgeting and/or ignoring one of the most revolutionary social media channels of our time, YouTube. We are aware of its enormous reach and indisputable potential as an avenue for virality. However, for many businesses, integrating YouTube as part of their social media marketing strategy is still a bit of a challenge. Regardless of what kind of company you are, YouTube can definitely enhance your presence in the business world. The simplicity and creativity of a YouTube video has the power to demand the immediate attention of the viewer and to engage them longer than what the actual video lasts.

Below are a few things to keep in mind as you work on optimizing your YouTube strategy.

Create Content

Okay, this one may be a given but it’s very important to remember. The more content you produce on YouTube, the better. It keeps your subscribers active and elicits repeat visits and video views.

Use the videos to start conversations with clients and customers. Present information through appealing and compelling videos with strong calls to action. Videos don’t need to be extremely complex. Even the simplest images combined with a great message can have great success.

If your concern is time and availability to create videos frequently, then consider the following to be able to have new content regularly.

Vlogs and How-To videos
Video blogs are becoming more and more popular. This is relatively easy to do and do not require a lot of time. Simple 30 seconds to one minute vlogs go a long way and keep your viewers coming back for more. Any topic of discussion, related and non-related to your business, is fair game. How-to videos are one of the most searched for videos. Educate your clients and customers through short tutorials.

Contests and Promotions
Hosting a contest where video entries are required can remove the burden of having to produce all the content yourself and provide your followers with something fun to do.

Guest video posts
Invite and encourage others to contribute to your channel. Not only will this solve the issue of time but it will also be a way to engage your subscribers and allow them to become part of your community.

Create playlists
Remind people of your videos by creating a playlist. If your YouTube channel has been around for quite a while, it is very likely the first few videos you uploaded have been buried under your newer material. Revive them by including them in playlists. Group videos by topics, publication date, product, season, etc.

Build your channel

Use popular keywords
Unfortunately, the sole act of producing content is not enough to have a successful YouTube channel. YouTube is one of the top search engines in the world but even then, your videos will not be found just by placing them on your channel. Utilize popular keywords and variations of those keywords that are related to your video and business. Include keywords in the titles, description and tags.

Customize your channel
Add a little spice to your channel. Integrate your branding into your YouTube videos and channels. Simply adding your logo and tagline at the beginning or ending of the videos will make a huge impact. The videos wherever seen will resonate stronger with your viewers and help others find you if they happen to land on one of your videos outside of YouTube.

Subscribe to channels similar to yours
Engage and interact with other channels similar to yours. Adding friends on YouTube and making yourself visible on other channels can grab the attention of many prospective subscribers. It is a great opportunity to expand beyond your already established community.

Acknowledge your community

The response you provide to your subscribers and fans is very important. You must continuously strive to engage them through compelling content and most importantly by showing them you appreciate their participation and feedback. Respond to comments, like their posts, and follow them back. To newcomers, your interactions will let them know you’re active and responsive.

Expand your channel

Creating and establishing your channel is only part of the task. It is important to pay attention to the activity of your channel and strive to expand its reach.

Study user insights
YouTube provides several metrics that allow you to gauge the success of your channel. Review the data and analyze it. Make note of what videos performed the best, which days you got the most views, how many subscribers you get on any given day, what did you do differently on those high traffic and engagement days? This information will be extremely helpful in making optimization changes to your YouTube strategy.

Promote the videos on your other media sites
Leverage the influence you already have on other social media sites. Market and promote your videos through Facebook posts or as part of Facebook videos. Tweet the videos and ask for retweets. Include the videos on Pinterest and encourage people to pin it to their boards. Digg it and Stumbleupon it and others will too!

Implement YouTube advertising
YouTube advertising can serve as a solution to your promotional needs. Increase additional visibility and engagement by working with Google’s AdWords platform. Any business, small or big, has the potential to achieve success through video advertising whether your goal is to increase brand awareness, launch a product, or increase engagement.