YouTube for Business - The Creator Way

Companies and businesses have one huge advantage and one huge disadvantage when using YouTube.

The advantage often is, unlike most individual creators, they usually have no problem coming up with the budget to produce videos every week. They can hire a production team (usually in the marketing department), or outsource the entire production process, from the script writing to the recording and editing, to the uploading. It’s a luxury that many “indy” creators would die for.

The struggle for companies though, is real.

The struggle lies in their ability to make content that feels genuine, honest, and authentic. Imagine having everything at your disposal to make videos, but due to corporate legal and/or brand image reasons, you just can’t make them feel… real. Perhaps no one internally has that “YouTubey” on-camera charisma, and no one has the courage to write material that may appear too cavalier.

Making matters worse for businesses on YouTube? The millions of YouTube viewers can quickly sniff out company messaging and click away. Traditionally, viewers of the platform have embraced it for its lack of commercialism compared to TV. They love YouTube for the authentic, value driven content that has been hand-made from individuals, warts and all.

So, When typical YouTube viewers see a channel with a corporate logo or an overly polished, scripted video, they their defenses go up. They are less likely to engage with the content. And this is why a teenage vlogger in her basement can grow a massive, loyal fan base over large corporations with million dollar budgets. Authenticity is an incredible superpower that mere mortals have over companies.

Despite the headwinds (cue corporate lingo), companies and businesses can still crush it on YouTube by being creative and nimble. Here are three tips that I recommend:

1. Keep it real.

Drop any sort of high production gloss and polish, along with overly scripted material. When I worked at YouTube, I spent two of the 10 years as the Head Producer of the official Creators Channel, which was a glossy marketing and education channel that had to match the brand standards of YouTube.

Meanwhile, another team in a different department - frustrated by all the red tape of getting videos made on the official channel - launched their own, very scrappy effort called Creator Insider.

The production value was amateurish (it was all unscripted and they recorded in a storage room full of extra chairs) yet it became the fan favorite. It felt more real to the audience. It was clear that these weren’t marketers; these were engineers wanting to communicate to the users of their platform. Their slogan? “Keep it real.”

As you can imagine, it caused all sorts of internal anxiety since this “unofficial” channel was operating without PR and marketing oversight, but it built a substantial audience because of its raw, authentic style.

2. Consider hiring an existing creator on YouTube to make your videos for you.

One of the easiest ways to solve the myriad of producing company videos that feel authentic, is to hire a creator who loves your product or brand.

There are hundreds of thousands of super charismatic creators who are struggling to monetize and make a living. Many would be MORE THAN HAPPY to have a part-time job as your spokesperson, and they can often handle every aspect of video creation, from recording to making the thumbnail.

Of course, choose them carefully, treat them well, and again, make sure they love your product. You don’t want to hire a creator to be a mere puppet, or it won’t go well.

3. Always, always, always, deliver value first, and sell later.

Look, no one comes to YouTube to watch commercials. This platform has thrived because viewers seek genuine, value-driven content. They usually want something:

• Entertaining / funny

• Educational or helpful

• Interesting

So, before you sell your product or service in each video, you want to determine what you will first give to the audience. Maybe it’s the gift of entertainment, or the gift of education, or the gift of updating about news in your industry. Whatever it is, save your sales pitch for later in the video, or your channel will struggle to get views and subscribers.

This sounds like the perfect moment in this blog to tell you about my consulting services. If your company needs help with a YouTube channel evaluation, or help launching a new YouTube channel, feel free to reach out to schedule a free discovery call.

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