2017 showed a significant spike in video usage for social media marketing. It’s no surprise as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and other platforms have made it easier than ever to make engaging videos and share them to a massive audience. However, the platform that made internet videos a way of life still stands strong as a powerful marketing tool. That’s right, we’re talking about YouTube.

Amongst the funny cat videos and Tasty recipe tutorials, businesses use YouTube as an integral part of their marketing. It’s an interesting part of the expansive web because studies show that YouTube, despite existing for years, is becoming more popular for marketing.

Check out why your business should be creating original videos and sharing them on YouTube today.

1.  A voice on one of the most possible sites in history.

YouTube defined the “internet video.” It’s the first and still one of the leading platforms for videos. As a result, it’s one of the most popular sites on the world wide web. Millions upon millions of videos are available. You might be wondering how your videos are going to fare with a huge sea of content. Regardless, despite the quantity of content, parent company Google has made it so that people’s channels are easily findable thanks to search words and categories.

2. Search engine rankings.

Speaking of Google and their powerful search capabilities, hosting videos on YouTube may help improve SEO efforts and search engine visibility. The secret to this is to look up the most common questions people ask about your industry. Then, position your content around these questions. For example, if you are an insurance expert, you will see that “What is the difference between Medicare and Medicaid?” is an extremely popular question. You can create a video addressing this topic so your video pops up.

3. Staying in your audience’s light.

Have you ever visited YouTube and been greeted with a plethora of tailored content based on your viewing history? Yeah, they are good at that. This is why hosting content on YouTube is so important, you are continuously presented to new eyes, which means new leads, and potential customers.

4. Positioning as a professional.

Alongside informative posts on the other social media platforms, creating educational and entertaining videos on YouTube will position yourself and your brand as thought leaders in your industry. Whether you want to post an FAQ, a tutorial, a tour, or something new, make sure it is high-quality and branded. Here’s the catch– your call to action (which we will cover next) should be efficient enough for a promotion. Do not just make a longwinded advertisement for your video — save the promos for YouTube ads. Instead, make it real, digestible, and useful content that offers a takeaway. That’s how you earn subscribers, followers, and sales.

5. Content with a powerful call to action.

You can utilize your website and other social media platforms as a call to action to bring your audience close to your brand (and closer to a conversion). Be sure to give the viewer something to do, whether it’s liking, subscribing, emailing, or to visiting your website. Offer the links in the comment section but also have your actors or narrator in the video offer a verbal call to action. Studies have shown that while these calls to action may seem pointless, they are much more effective than you think.

People often think that Google+ is Google’s central social media channel. Wrong. It’s actually YouTube, and marketers are quickly waking up to this fact. Here’s a secret, you don’t need to hire Disney to make an amazing video. All you need is an idea, some still images or short bursts of videos, and create a compelling composition. As you surely have seen on social media, videos do not have to be huge productions as long as the idea is enticing!