Should you be on YouTube?

I get a lot of questions about just using YouTube for marketing, from both for-profits and nonprofits.  The general consensus seems to be "everybody's doing it."

Yeah, they are…and they shouldn't all be on there.

Some things lend themselves very well to visual media.  Some things don't.

In general, my own personal take is that if you are trying to impart  static information, like an annual report or even something like an instruction manual, you might be better off not putting it on video.

If what you are saying needs visuals, then sure, go ahead and use it

But by all means, if you aren't going to do the video well, don't do it at all.

Case in point.  I wanted to find out more about a business, but the only place they were out there was on YouTube. The video was basically just "Boy are we wonderful". I, on the other hand wanted to know if they worked on  transmissions. Nowhere in the whole darn video did it tell me what services they provided.

They weren't in any phone book on or offline, and the Google Map was out of date.

The phone number given was disconnected. They didn't have a website. Probably out of business, right?

Well, I was sitting there looking at the place, so probably not. Since it was Sunday they were closed, but definitely still there.

And of course, there was the website that had a help button, but it went directly to YouTube, where there was no help at all. Oh, there was a long six-minute convoluted video with background music that drowned out the speaker, but help…not so much.  The information I needed I got from an unrelated site, in a PDF that I could have printed off and kept, and it took me about 15 seconds to read what I needed to know.

The point of marketing is communication. Not everyone reacts to the same formula.  Some people want to read it in print, some want to see it in pictures, and yes, some will take the time to find the video, maybe download a player, and then sit through a commercial and put up with slow buffering. Think about your audience!

BTW-the shop I was trying to research?  I don't know if they do transmissions or not. I went someplace else.