Video Marketing Online and Making Money
Written by alexey.lyakh on September 19, 2011
How does the average person make money on YouTube? It’s no secret that when given a choice majority of people prefer watching a video content over reading an article or even listening to a recording. Video engages your senses and delivers information much faster than any other medium. Would you prefer to watch an engaging info graphic that conveys a mass of information in less than a minute or would rather go through stacks of reports and graphs? We prefer to take in information quickly, in a concise manner and the fastest most sensory engaging way of doing so is through video.
With the rapid technological growth we are experiencing today, speed, size or quality are no longer an issue when it comes to content on line. HD cameras are cheap and now days come built into most phones. You no longer need a high production shoot or a marketing budget to make a quality video and distribute it to thousands of people. The playing field is completely levelled to the point where a 14 year old with a phone can get more exposure on his video than a million dollar budget advertisement. You can literally wake up, film something funny with your phone, upload it to YouTube with a push of a button and get tons of exposure.
The Quest for Viral
Video on the internet is incredibly social and is the most shared form of media. Only about 10% of youtube’s views come from the site, the majority happens off site embedded on social networking sites and blogs. And yet YouTube is the worlds second largest search engine and 3rd most visited website after Google and Facebook. Though video sharing sites are abundant, YouTube towers above the rest by a mile. It’s no wonder that so many companies are now building their own YouTube channels and trying so hard to make that next “viral” hit. But perhaps that’s the trouble, people can tell if you’re trying too hard. Even the old spice “I’m on a horse” commercials have run their course. Old spice keeps on making videos with a different spin on their first one but none to the same grandiose effect as the original. The videos no longer surprise or shock people, it’s something everybody is used to by now. So what’s the secret to popular online videos? How can brands use this powerful new medium to promote their products and get the same amount of exposure as your typical “Charlie bit me” home made viral online video?
There are many routes to success, here are a few examples:
Use Awesome Celebrities and their Characters
Use an Awesome Song with a Hilarious Video.
Though, not all of us may have easy access to celebrities or hundreds of models, almost everybody is capable of creating funny music and videos with a relatively low budget. Which brings us to the next topic…
How Can You Make Money on YouTube?
Online video and YouTube can provide many streams of revenue for anybody who can consistently create unique and original content. The formula is pretty simple, the more views you get and the larger your audience grows – the more money you can make. Some of the top YouTubers make well over a six figure income.
1. YouTube Partnership and Revenue Sharing. If you can consistently make original videos that gain a lot of views and subscribers you can apply for partnership. If your content meets their guidelines and you are accepted into the program, you will be able to place ads on your videos and make money every time someone clicks on them. This is done through Google’s Adsense program, in the same manner as placing Google ads on your website. You will also get a lot of extra perks, like custom thumbnails on your videos, a custom header on your channel, and in depth analytics among other things. You can read more about it here: http://www.youtube.com/partners
2. Product Placement. If your audience is large enough and your videos consistently get lot’s of views you can partner up with companies such as Cloud Meida (http://thecloudmedia.com/) Companies such as this bring together YouTube partners and brands with the aim of incorporating products into the videos of successful YouTubers.
3. Merchandising. If you look at the channels of many successful YouTube personalities you will often find a link to a store or a website that sells T-shirts with their logos. Services such as cafe press or zazzle allow people to upload their designs, choose their mark up and forget about it. These companies will take care of all order fulfilment, e-commerce, shipping etc. If your audience is large enough and your designs are cool enough, this can often be a huge stream of revenue.
4. iTunes. If you create a song along with your video, you can place it for sale on iTunes, YouTube will recognize it and put a link directly below your video. You can also create the link yourself in the video description.
5. Opportunities. YouTube can help you gain millions of views and achieve massive exposure. Almost all successful YouTube partners have had real life opportunities come their way thanks to their online success. From appearances on daytime or late night television, to worldwide tours and live shows, to tv commercials, acting and other movie industry careers.
Brands and Creators
The above 5 monetization methods are just the begging of the success and exposure online video can bring to a content creator. These are also the methods that brands and agencies keep in mind when creating content and running campaigns. However there is much potential for growth in this emerging industry. It’s important to take example of brands that are doing a very good job to stay with the curve such as redbull and cadbury. Neither over promote their product in their videos, yet because of how memorable their content is we remember the product and share the content, usually because it either amazes us or makes us laugh or in extreme cases both!
