Getting the Most out of YouTube

There’s no denying that the future of reaching people online involves creating and distributing videos via YouTube. In May of 2008 alone they had 12.6 million unique visitors.
So how do you get your video in front of those viewers?

Step 1: Get started, create an account, upload videos

Create an account, upload videos with appropriate tags (tags=keywords). When creating your videos, keep in mind that you want your first and last frame to have your organization’s brand, message and URL and you want to select a good image as the still frame image to attract viewers.

Step 2: Make sure to label your account something that other people will search for.

When creating your account, pick a URL that matches your brand name or the keyword phrase for which you want to be known. Make sure to use words that your supporters might use to find you.

Step 3: Customize your YouTube Channel Homepage

Create a homepage that is branded with your organization’s logo as your channel’s profile picture. Use the colors of your logo to design your YouTube Channel.
Step 4: Create a short, strong description for your channel

When creating a YouTube description for your channel, make sure to use your organization’s elevator pitch sprinkled with your keyword phrases. People don’t visit YouTube to read, so make sure it’s short. Make sure to link to your organization’s website.

Step 5: Apply to the YouTube Nonprofit Program
If your nonprofit has 501c3 status and is correctly listed in Guidestar.org, then apply for YouTube’s nonprofit program. After approval, your channel will be listed in the nonprofit directory, you will allowed premium design and branding options for your channel [including a Google "Donate Now" button], and an increased opportunity to be promoted on YouTube.

Step 6: Promote yourself.

Subscribe to other channels. People are more likely to link to you when you link to them. Make sure to put your YouTube link on your other social media profiles and your website.
Step 7: Measure your success.

Make sure to measure your success using YouTube Insight. I have an old post about how to use YouTube Insight here.

Using YouTube’s Analytics – Insight

During my training sessions with non-profits I have noticed that many are not taking advantage of the new web analytics being offered by YouTube. I wanted to write about what you can measure using YouTube Insight, provide tips for improving your YouTube channel, and highlight a few non-profits that I think are doing a great job with their channel.

I think it’s important to know how any marketing initiative is performing, so if you haven’t already, I would encourage you to log into YouTube Insight to see how many people are looking at your YouTube videos. I will show you information such as:

• how many people have viewed your video over a specific time period
• Where those viewers come from by demographic and geographic location.
• how people are finding your videos (web search, YouTube search, link from your website. etc…)

Tips for Improving your YouTube Channel:

Once you’ve taken a look at your numbers, here are a few quick tips to help you increase the traffic to your videos:

1. Make your account name the name of your non-profit, not something cute that no one will search on.
2. Use the profile section to describe your non-profit using words from your keyword list.
3. Link back to your website in the website field
4. When you upload video content – make sure your video’s file name has descriptive words in it. Ditto with the title and tags.
5. Add a donation button
6. Link to you YouTube account from your other social media profiles and your website
7. Upload your YouTube videos into Facebook (your personal profile or your group profile) and take advantage of the fact that it’s currently the largest video sharing site.

Non-Profits that have Good YouTube Channels

Here are a few non-profits that I think are doing a good job optimizing their YouTube Channel and branding it to look like their non-profit:

• The Green Children
  Greenpeace
• Defenders of Wildlife
• Montgomery Bay Aquarium – I especially like that they are encouraging visitors to upload their own video.
• And this last channel is pure brilliance – the channel uses keywords and the organization is marketing it to their demographic – men tend to go online to watch funny videos. You seriously have to watch this video about self examination for testicular cancer. It got picked up by YouTube on “Trend Spotting Tuesdays” and received over 600,000 hits in it’s first 24-hour period.

Non-Profits YouTube Channels with Potential

And here are some suggestions for non-profits that are doing a decent job but could tweak a few things and do even better:

Amnesty International – they could do a better job incorporating their keyword research, start using tags, and label the titles of their videos with frequently searched keywords.