Video is a powerful yet underutilized marketing tool in the fresh produce industry. We know firsthand that the time and money spent to produce a quality video can be a hurdle if you have a modest marketing budget. So when you do invest your resources to create stunning and compelling video content for your brand, you of course hope to see results. If your video isn’t producing the results you’re looking for, it’s possible that your problem is not with your video content, but with a YouTube channel that stinks!
If the video content that you’re producing is on trend and appeals to what you know your audiences are seeking and it still isn’t performing, there may be a few additional things you can do outside the realm of content creation to optimize your YouTube channel. If your YouTube channel is guilty of any of the following, it’s time for some performance updates:
1. You don’t have a cover photo
If you want your YouTube channel to improve, this is a MUST-HAVE and it needs to be beautiful and designed well. The cover photo is your chance to set an immediate “tone” for your channel, so you’ll want to use this to re-affirm your brand and product offerings. A well-designed cover photo says that you’re professional, quality-driven, and trustworthy. You can download the PSD template file that YouTube offers here to get started.
2. You’re not using custom thumbnails
YouTube gives you the option on each of your videos to choose a custom thumbnail. The same tactic applies here as with your cover photo. Use this as your opportunity to brand each video and add consistency to your channel. However you choose to design your video thumbnail is up to you, but make sure you stay consistent and use the same design on every thumbnail. As your videos begin to populate in search results over time, you want your thumbnails to contribute to instant brand recognition and stand out from the rest of your competition.
3. Your video titles are not optimized
You can increase your SEO by including relevant keywords in the title of your video. This will help give your video a boost in search results, and also will allow the viewer to know what they’re going to get if they click through to watch the video. It’s helpful to think of each video as its own blog post and title it accordingly. Get creative with your titles in order to encourage clicks and views. The more views you get, the higher you’ll rank with the keywords you’ve added in your title, and you’ll increase your chances of being found in the future.
4. Your video descriptions are useless
Video descriptions are another way you can use SEO to get found and seen. Be as thorough in your video description as possible, while also including relevant keywords from the title in your description. However, you should keep the first 157 characters of your description brief and to the point. YouTube shows the first 157 characters of your description under the title of your video and you have to click to read the full description.
Shooting and editing video content is only half the battle when it comes to having a successful YouTube channel! But if you follow these simple best practices, you’ll be able to take this social network to the next level and put your video content to work on your behalf to achieve impressive results!
