5 Dead Simple Ways to Generate Free Leads from YouTube

Imagine gaining tens of thousands of leads to fuel your small business. Now imagine doing it all for free. No, I’m not crazy, and I am not pitching some shady online marketing technique to you. In fact, I want to talk about a huge opportunity many small and local business owners are ignoring.

YouTube.

Video has become a vital part of any respectable brand’s digital marketing strategy. According to one study, video will account for 69% of all consumer traffic by 2017. And, according to one report from Smart Insights, just stating that the piece of content includes video was proven to boost engagement. In fact, shoppers who watch videos are 1.81X more likely to purchase than regular customers.

Traffic gain from YouTube is different than social media platforms. Just think about it: an Instagram post is relevant for a day while a tweet only lasts for a couple of hours. A YouTube video, on the other hand, can last for months, or even years, bringing fresh targeted traffic every day.

As a small business owner, you’ve probably seen others using video marketing with great results. And, while you recognize YouTube’s potential, you might still have some reservation.

That’s totally understandable.

Video marketing can be intimidating. Every minute of the day, more than 72 hours of new content are uploaded to YouTube. With all that noise, making your YouTube videos stand up, boosting engagement, and generating leads can feel like a mammoth task.

Fortunately, there is a system you can use to ensure you will get more leads from YouTube.

1. Research Relevant Keywords for YouTube

Your job as a business owner is to provide a solution to your audience’s pain points. For instance, a culprit may search for “How to find a good lawyer” while an amateur photographer might search for “How to edit in Photoshop.”

These potential customers are searching for answers to their problems, and it’s your task as a business owner not to rely on them to come to you, but to meet them at their needs and offer them a solution. To do that, you need a sound keyword strategy.

Imagine you own a local photography shop. Your brand mission is to teach photographers how to get better. Now, imagine you surveyed 100 customers and asked them what would they type into YouTube’s search bar to improve their skills? What would they answer?

• Photography tutorials
• How to learn photography
• Photo editing courses
• How to edit in Photoshop
• How to edit a photo

Now, remove the “how to” and any other irrelevant words, and you got yourself a list of keywords that describe your audience’s needs.

So, the list would look like:

• Photography tutorials
• Learn photography
• Photo editing course
• Edit in Photoshop
• Edit photo

Take these keywords and create content around them that is sure to engage your audience. Include the keywords in the video’s title, description, and tags to make it easier for prospects to find your content.

2. Create Stellar Content

Not too long ago, YouTube made video suggestions based on how many people viewed that video. However, that changed in 2014 when YouTube altered its algorithm to favor quality content instead of large amounts of traffic. As a result, videos with longer watch time will get better rankings than those with the most clicks.

But, with so many videos uploaded every second of the day, how can you make your content stand out?

Firstly, focus on one specific pain point in each video. For instance, if you are making a video about “Photography tips for beginners,” make the content relevant to their needs and expectations to increase their watch time.

Secondly, make sure to create quality videos that are long enough to provide relevant information, but short enough to keep prospects engaged.

3. Views Are Great, But Leads Are Awesome

Do you know what YouTube “annotations” are? They are clickable blurbs of text that appear over the video. They are used to give users more information, help navigation, and increase engagement.

Annotations are the secret ingredient that makes YouTube so effective at generating leads. With these clickable blurbs, you can ask viewers to take actions that can help your small business grow. For instance:

• Click here to subscribe to our channel and receive a free class.
• Like and share this video
• Want more tips on how to (SOLVE PROBLEM)? Click here

There are some rules you need to follow to take full advantage of the power of annotation. First of all, it is recommended to use them in the first 10% of your video and the last 10% of the video. Secondly, don’t confuse your viewers by asking them to take multiple actions at a time. One CTA per annotation is the key to success.

4. Leverage User-Generated Content

Do you know what is even better than video content created by brands? Video content created by customers using and recommending your products. GoPro is a great example of how to leverage user-generated video content to generate more leads. Sure, it helps that they sell video cameras to begin with, but their creative digital marketing strategy played a crucial role in perusing hundreds of thousands of customers across the world to submit a video of themselves voluntarily.

Videos of happy customers are a valuable asset to generating leads and moving them down the sales funnel.

5. Don’t Forget to Close the Deal

So, you’ve identified a pain point; your video is engaging, and you’ve found the perfect balance between numbers, stories and sales messages. Now, it’s time to close the deal and persuade readers to take action.

One of the worst mistakes you can make is having a vague call to action. If you don’t tell your viewers to complete an action, they will not do anything at the end of the video.

Most marketers recommend including a verbal CTA during the last 10% of the video where you encourage viewers to subscribe to your channels. Then, tell them to like or comment on your video and ask them what they would like to see in the future. That way, you can discover their needs and will be able to create videos that help them solve their problems.

YouTube is an amazing platform with great potential for generating free leads for your small business. Learn how to take advantage of it.