Wake Up. Don’t Overlook the Power of Your YouTube Page.

Agriculture brands have long been sleeping on YouTube and its supportive marketing abilities. There are a number of factors behind this. The technology and capabilities have shifted substantially over time. Its place in marketing and achieving specific KPIs is often misunderstood. And, let’s face it, the word ‘video’ continues to strike fear in the hearts of penny-pinching marketers. 

When do you burst through fear and discomfort? When social influencers consistently find their strongest engagement and greatest viral potential here. When marketers are looking for a zag when their competitors are happy to zig. When we’re talking about the second-most visited site in the world and one that offers both free and incredibly efficient means to engage with your desired audiences within their platform.

So, as roosters have long been charged to accomplish on the farm, I’m here to tell you to WAKE UP!

ORGANIC CHANNELS/VIDEOS

Start with your own channel and playlist package. 

Most brands in agriculture have a channel of some kind and, if not, have videos hosted on an employee’s personal channel. The largest percentage have a handful of hosted videos, either for external or internal purposes, and maybe two or three videos the brand would actually want anyone to see. Often times, these videos are a few years old and sourced by a former marketing staffer who had video talent. 

There are other brands, like John Deere, Pioneer, Beck’s, Precision Planting and others that have embraced the channel, but those instances are rare, possibly less than 20 percent. 

To get out of the sleeping horde and begin moving into the masterful minority, here are three steps to take. 

• Clean it up – Clear out playlist videos that should not be public-facing due to age or relevance. 

• Clear it up – Rewrite the titles and descriptions to improve your searchability. 

• Sell the click every time 

• Use important keywords

• Be concise

• Link engaged audiences to the next step (the next video, a landing page, your web site)

• Coordinate it – You can look at past engagement metrics to see the segment of video types that work for your audience or understand that the mindset of a YouTube user is entertainment and education. Engage the right voice internally to create the next series of YouTube videos. You don’t need a video studio and $2.5 million dollars. You can get going with a decent phone camera. 

PAID YOUTUBE

In my research, agricultural brands are more apt to market into YouTube than to have an organic strategy. However, while YouTube is owned by Google, it isn’t the Swiss Army Knife that Google Search offers. Just because you have a nifty video is not a reason to begin a YouTube campaign. 

When is YouTube a strong paid marketing consideration? 

• Higher funnel branding. When a product or category needs a bit of education up front before diving in for the call to action, a video (and the most powerful video-playing site in the world) is a good call. 

• Highly competitive categories. The narrative powers of YouTube, along with its seeming under-utilization in our industry, makes this platform an efficient tool to boost other marketing efforts, especially the lower-funnel tactics. 

As a higher-funnel tactic, planning and, ultimately, judging YouTube marketing programs takes a different perspective. Brands should target with precision and fight for higher frequency per user. Conversions look more like engagement than a sale, since we are warming cold prospects at the higher funnel. 

From a metrics standpoint, absolutely do not zero in on just CTR or just view percentage. A fantastic video ad may have a high ctr (above 0.50%) while having a lower view rate. That’s because they are clicking before it is done! Or the reverse may be true, but the view-through or engaged view totals may be strong because the full video told a compelling story. Clicks are rarely the true indicator of success at the higher funnel anyway. 

And here’s a secret that will save a large amount of angst. You can use hour-long videos in YouTube marketing. You don’t have to cut it down to a 15s or a 30s. No, really! But that long video better have a compelling first five seconds or don’t you dare use it.