Nonprofits Can now add Call to Action Button in YouTube

I wanted to share the news! Previously, nonprofits were not able to link back to their website call to action page in YouTube – only display a Google Checkout button for donations or their main website URL.

Now you can create a call to action overlay for particular videos which will link back to your particular call to action page.

Here are the instructions from YouTube:

Just go to the “Edit Video” section of your video, then
fill out the fields in the section marked “Call to Action overlay.”
Then insert:
* A short headline
* Ad text
* Destination URL
* An image
…and you’re set to go. Now the Call to Action overlay will appear
whenever someone watches that video.

Every nonprofit that has a video running on YouTube that is related to an active campaign, should turn on this feature.

Salvation Army’s Online Marketing Efforts – Innovative, but not strategic

So I’m impressed by the creativity of the Salvation Army of Chicago’s marketing efforts. You can see their YouTube vide where they have Chicagoans helping them play a Christmas carol using the SA bells, and their online donation kettle.

They get a gold star for innovation, but no stars for effectiveness. Why? They did not develop a promotional plan for either effort, and in the crowded social media scape, there’s a good chance that no one will see these efforts.

Here’s where they can improve:

1. Their YouTube video should be on a channel that is branded with their colors and they should apply for nonprofit status through YouTube so that they can have a donate now button on their page. Even better, they should create their “red kettle” icon as a gif and upload it to their page. You’ll notice that no one has commented on their video. This is because (as far as I can tell) they have not promoted it to their list or social media sites. Neither their description nor the title of their video have the keywords “Salvation Army Chicago” in them, so traffic from search is limited. I don’t believe they’ve done any keyword research. If they did, they would use the worlds “holiday volunteering”, “Chicago at the holidays” are terms people are currently using in search. (You can see for yourself by using SEOBook.com’s free keyword tool).

2. Their online holiday kettle page does not allow sharing to any social media site (like Facebook). In fact, their set up process is 4 steps long. This has clearly not been tested by users. They should create shorter sign up process (user name and password with an email asking for more info later) and a link to the code that you can then embed into your blog, myspace, facebook, would be much more effective. I abandoned the process at step 3 when I was suddenly asked to fill out 15 fields. That’s too much info for helping SA by installing a simple widget onto my social media profile, blog or website. In fact, if you visit their Facebook page (with 4,000 + fans) they don’t mention either of these tools. And this is the type of community where (if you make it easy for them) they will spread your message to their friends.

I wonder what kind of adoption they will have with both endeavors. My guess is very little due to the fact that the widget was build without the user in mind and without any usability testing, both items where set up without any strategic thought to selecting keywords on the pages that would capture natural traffic, and (as far as I can tell) neither were launched with a promotional plan encouraging those they know to use and spread the tools.

So close and yet so far….

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.

YouTube now provides stats

You can now access web analytic type reports for each of the videos that you have on YouTube. More info here.

Google’s Instructional Videos on YouTube

Many of you who have attended my trainings or have been reading this blog know that I encourage non-profits to take advantage of Google’s free tools (in particular Google Analytics and Google Website Optimizer). Google now has a Business Channel on YouTube that has some great how-to videos which I would encourage you to check out.