Use YouTube for Fast, Inexpensive Branding

YouTube is a powerful branding machine. Forget about LinkedIn for now; your brand will thrive on YouTube. At half the cost and half the time.

LinkedIn is the first social media platform you think of when you think about using it to build your personal brand.

It’s where you can find people who care about their careers. LinkedIn membership has surpassed a billion. LinkedIn was created to allow you to showcase your achievements and credentials for your career.

Let’s say LinkedIn is a must-have for introducing yourself and building your brand. It serves as a base, a foundation, and table stakes. You should also consider other tools to increase your competitive edge. YouTube is the answer. Here’s why:

1. It’s a popular platform.

YouTube reached 34.6 billion visitors in May 2021, surpassing Facebook’s 2.1 billion users. According to data from video sharing platform stockApps.com, that’s more than Twitter and Facebook combined. YouTube was the second most visited website in that month, as it should be. Data shows that YouTube received five times as many monthly visits to its website than Twitter and five and a quarter times more than Instagram.

2. It allows users to communicate deeply.

Video communication is far more powerful than being there. We all witnessed how Zoom and other live video platforms exploded during the pandemic. We needed something that could replicate real interaction with real people. Email and phone messages don’t cut the mustard. Video allows you to combine words and tone of voice with body language to create richer, more engaging communication. Personal branding is a powerful tool.

3. YouTube is differentiating.

This is great news for you. This means that you will stand out simply because fewer of your peers use it.

Don’t wait. Everybody became more comfortable with video during the pandemic. I predict that more professionals will switch to asynchronous video. It is visible.

A Forrester Research study found that videos are 50% more likely to be ranked on page one of Google’s search results than text-based content. In 2007, Google launched universal searching. This displays video, images, and real-time content along with traditional text-based content. They said that universal search was a way to “break down the barriers that have traditionally separated our search properties” and that it would integrate all of the information into one search result. You increase the chances that people will find your thought leadership by publishing it via video.

4. YouTube is everywhere.

YouTube videos can be seen far beyond YouTube’s walls. It’s easy to share YouTube videos via other social media platforms.

If your audience is on Facebook, sharing a YouTube video will bring you in front of them as well as those who use YouTube. It is a key player in LinkedIn. YouTube videos can be shared with your followers, connections, and the groups you belong to. You can add YouTube videos to the Featured section. This is where you can showcase your brand and thought leadership. Rich media will allow you to influence decision-makers who visit your profile.

5. It’s innovative.

YouTube continues to innovate, raising the bar in video communication. YouTube’s new video format #shorts is one example of this innovation. It states that #shorts is a new video format for artists and creators who want to create short, catchy videos with their mobile phones. (Yes, it does sound similar to another popular video platform. It is quick to create, so it’s ideal for things you want to convey that capture the moment in a different environment than TikTok. This format is great for expressing witty ideas or sarcastic thoughts.

6. YouTube is cost-effective.

Let’s face it. Personal branding can be very expensive. The experts in this field are not shy about charging outrageous fees to get your brand in front of the online audience. Not only that, but often their billable hours don’t show results very clearly.

This being the case, personal branding should be a DIY project. Or rather, it can be.

YouTube has become much more user-friendly since the pandemic began. Their automated apps and controlling algorithms have been scaled back and simplified so that anyone with the least bit of computer experience will feel comfortable using them.

And in fact, mounting evidence suggests that YouTube videos with a homemade veneer seem much more credible to viewers than a slick commercially-produced video. And since homemade equals sincerity, your DIY video, even with glitches, may bring you more business in the long run than an expensive studio piece.