Why You Need a Branded YouTube Channel and How-To Tips That Attract Viewers
Having a branded YouTube channel is like having a second website specifically to showcase your video content.
And once you’ve produced several healthcare marketing videos, creating your own YouTube channel is an inexpensive way to expand online visibility, use your video materials in multiple locations and attract additional online visitors for your medical practice, hospital, clinic or other healthcare organization.
Video content is compelling and effective for many reasons. For people, an interesting video message is an engaging direct and personal connection with your audience. And it’s an important tool in attracting qualified online visitors through improved search engine visibility.
YouTube is the second largest search engine following Google, its parent company. You may want to apply these same tactics to other video sharing websites, but begin with the biggest. (There are dozens of others, but few people can name any other than YouTube.)
But if there’s a downside to healthcare video marketing it’s that it is seriously underutilized. As we discovered while we were producing our own series of free videos-about-video, advances in digital and online technology have greatly reduced production costs and explosively increased popularity and audience size.
A YouTube “channel” allows you to bring several videos together on a common branded page that’s dedicated to your healthcare organization. You don’t have to be the Mayo Clinic to create a highly professional appearing and informative channel of your own. For example, look at the San Diego Center for Complex Dentistry channel and our own Healthcare Success channel.
The Mayo Clinic example is excellent and YouTube provides the tools and direction to begin. (But let us know if you need help. It's slightly technical, and templates may not compliment your branding.) Plus, there's value in having the flexibility to add, rearrange and delete content.
Beyond creating the basic instructions, here are seven important how-to tips to make it a success.
Maintain your branding. There are templates and options to personalize your channel, but make the “look-and-feel” of your page compliment your main website and overall brand.
Make it interesting. There’s no quicker “tune-out” than boring content.
Show your best stuff first. The YouTube page provides a larger and more obvious space for a main or feature video that’s seen first. Showcase your best video here.
Use audience-attracting keywords. You might need help with this one. Having the right keywords are vital to search engines and the ability to be found online.
Keep content fresh. People expect online information to be current and new. And search engines are attracted to content that’s updated routinely. Add new content and vary the content.
Stay connected. Link back to your primary website, your Facebook page and other social media. Provide the visitor with a clear path to your doorstep.
Participate in YouTube communities. You can gain additional exposure and views by associating your content with others. Overlapping audience or purpose is a form of indexing.
Some of YouTube’s instructions about creating a branded channel can seem a bit technical, and successfully growing an audience requires a combination of art and science. We can help with either if you give us a call and ask for a free SEO evaluation.
