It’s clear that YouTube can help your business, but adding lots of your own videos takes time and resources. While you channel is getting built up, you can become a “content curator” to draw people in. This means that you can screen existing videos and build up “Playlists” that your clientele will find useful. Then, use this content to build bridges between you and your fans. Here are 5 steps to becoming a YouTube content curator.
Step 1: Make a YouTube Channel
If your company doesn’t already have a YouTube channel, you can create for free. Just go to the YouTube website and log in using a company email address (one that begins or ends with your company name). YouTube is owned by Google, so a business Gmail or Google account will do. This automatically creates your company’s YouTube channel. Click on the name in the upper-right corner and choose “My Channel” to access it. The link to your YouTube channel is shown in the address bar at the top of the screen. You can add your own channel description and channel art, or hire a graphic artist or internet marketing expert to handle this for you.
When the channel is ready, upload any videos your company has made and add descriptions.
Step 2: Create a Playlist
Playlists increase the amount of time people spend watching your channel. They appear search results and in “Suggested Videos” on the right-hand side of the video viewing pages. Your playlist can be videos your company has made, videos by other organizations or individuals, or a mixture of both.
To make a Playlist:
- Make sure you are logged into YouTube as your business.
- Visit your channel and click the “Playlists” tab under your channel art (the large image near the top of your channel).
- Click “+New Playlist” and type a title for your playlist into the box that pops up. Create a descriptive title that is directly related to your industry, a current campaign, “best of”, answers to a common question, etc. Click “Create”.
- Add a description that uses keywords related to your business, your geographical area, and the content of the Playlist.
Remember that you can change your Playlist title and description at any time.
Now you need to add some videos, and this is the hard part. Making a high-quality Playlist for your market takes time and research.
Step 3: Research and Build
You need to spend time on YouTube selecting videos for your Playlist. Think about what type of Playlist you’d like to start with – for instance, perhaps you’d like to find answers to a question your customers commonly ask. Start by going to YouTube and searching on a term related to your topic. Watch some of the videos. Tips:
- Don’t include your direct competitors in your Playlists. For example, if you run a dance studio in Manhattan, choose dance videos outside of your geographical area.
- Set a minimum quality standard. If the video is too casual, has poor quality images, or uses foul language, skip it.
- Even if the dialog is difficult to hear, some videos have closed captioning or subtitles to compensate.
- Suggested videos will appear on the right-hand side and in the video area after the video ends. Click them to find candidates for your Playlist.
- You do not have to endlessly click on suggested videos. Feel free to search with different keywords.
When you find a video you want to add to your Playlist, click the “Add to” tab below the video. Select the Playlist. Add a note if you like. Keep adding to your Playlist until you are satisfied that it’s a valuable resource for your market.
Step 4: Polish Your Playlist
When your Playlist is underway, it’s easy to polish. Just click on the Playlist name to edit the Playlist description, change the order of the videos, and add and remove videos.
Step 5: Share Your Playlist
You can easily share the Playlist so long as it is public or unlisted. Click the “Share” button when you are editing the playlist, and you will see lots of sharing tools for Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn etc. Click the Embed tab and put this code in a new keyword-rich blog post about the topic. Send a link to it in your next email newsletter to your list. You can even click “email” to send it to a small number of employees or colleagues.
These playlists will be indexed in the search engines automatically.
YouTube Playlists are an excellent way to draw attention to your YouTube Channel and your business. By curating content, you are providing a service and solving problems for your target market. Build out your Playlists and add your own videos over time to create a fully-featured YouTube Channel that represents your business.
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