Purpose and Solved
Problems
YouTube, which was established only 13 years ago, is at the
forefront of the video-sharing empire in today’s social media setting. YouTube users can upload, share, view, and
subscribe to their favorite YouTubers.
Content on the website vastly varies, ranging from an educational video
on how to tie your shoes, to a video blog (a vlog), or even a music video. YouTube is one of my oldest forms of social
media, and I’ve been a user for roughly 8 years, so I’ve seen it grow and
evolve over a significant period.
YouTube has a plethora of application for solving problems
in a business setting. Perhaps one of
the largest ways YouTube can problem solve is in reaching its target
audience. According to a HubSpot
article, “3.25 billion hours of video are watched each month, more 18-49-year
olds are reached by YouTube more than any broadcast or cable network on
mobile”, and “59% of executives prefer watching video to reading text” (HubSpot
1). Essentially, YouTube is the ultimate
brand awareness medium, in that it is popular, it reaches a wide segment, and
it holds ones’ attention better than reading an article. In turn, this allows for lucrative marketing
opportunities for a company to cash in on.
Like the previously mentioned Reddit, YouTube also offers a way for
customers to be interacted with in a completely unique and special medium, as
comments can be left on video, and companies can subsequently interact and
respond.
Attempting to use YouTube
Making and using YouTube and its associated app is intuitive
and easy to use, as it uses a pretty standard Google sign up procedure. The easiest, and
most surprising part to me, was how quickly one could upload a video. In less than 5 minutes, I could upload a
video from my phone to the website after creating an account. I've gone ahead and posted the video below this section. Now, while a properly
edited, and longer video may take longer to upload, the speed at which it was
able to go live is very valuable to any user or business.
The ability to
quickly transmit a message through video in a timely manner is a powerful tool,
that when utilized correctly, can give a company an edge over its competitors. I found no difficulty when adding a like or
dislike to a video, and found it easy to build and maintain a playlist on both
the desktop and phone.
YouTube Features
As previously mentioned, one must complete a rather easy
sign up process for an account. Once you
have an account, you can begin to navigate around the website and find videos
and content creators that interest you.
If you find a content creator that you like, hitting the “subscribe”
button allows one to receive updates and notifications about anything that
content creator uploads or posts.
YouTube also recommends videos based on past videos viewed and can
become a front page for your interests, just like Reddit, after a few weeks of
use. Both the app and the desktop are
nearly identical and allow for easy viewing, watching and editing. A channel can be created where a user can
upload videos to, and provide more information about what their goal on YouTube
is.
Other features of YouTube include a variety of quality for
the uploads, the ability to livestream, as well as newly introduced community
tab that allows users to “post text, images, live videos and others” in a
separate tab on their respective channel (Wikipedia). Also offered is the ability to monetize
videos (which may not be the best idea for a corporate company looking to
attract users), a premium subscription service, as well as many other unique
features on the way. I've seen companies or brands such as Dollar Shave Club, Gillette, and Fast Food restaurants interact utilizing this community tab, while other companies (especially those tied to video games) often prefer to livestream their product and its uses. In doing so, they can show case their content, while also answer questions that their audience may have, greatly increasing their engagement with viewers.
My Experience
YouTube offers an excellent service and platform for
reaching customers on a large scale.
Everything is easily accessible, and uploading videos are a breeze. YouTube is the video content creation and sharing service authority currently,
and is in a position to remain that way for a while. I see no issue in utilizing the service in a
business setting, as seen in the aforementioned examples. Perhaps the most
important facet of YouTube is the way a business can reach its target
audience/customers on a massive scale. Combining that with the fact that YouTube now allows content creators to
interact with users is just that much more powerful.
Sources
HubSpot. “YouTube Marketing: The Ultimate Guide.” HubSpot, www.hubspot.com/youtube-marketing.
“YouTube.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 16 May 2018, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/YouTube.
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