Internet Marketing Blog

YouTube is like other social networking sites in that it is completely generated by the users, but in this case we are just talking video content and more to the point, video sharing.

Although figures are pretty scarce it was reported that in January of 2008, 79 million users were watching over 3 billion videos. Not bad for 3 guys who used to work for PayPal and a site that only launched in 2005.

Needless to say, search giants Google spotted the potential and acquired the company in November of 2006 for $1.65 billion in Google stock, just over a year and a half after YouTube’s launch.

According to Alexa, YouTube is the 3rd most popular site on the web with 65,000 videos uploaded everyday and 16% of the internet population visiting the site. Not surprisingly YouTube is no.1 for online video and video sharing, which is incredible when you think about the fact that it has been created entirely by the users.

These days, anyone can be a star and with YouTube just egging you on, everyone can have their 15 minutes. Just look at Corey Delaney. The 16 year old from Brisbane shot to fame after a throwing a ‘near-riot party’ at his home when his parents were on holiday. If you are unaware of his work, then please watch this video, which has (along with his stunt) earned him celebrity status and worldwide support and kudos on every social networking site in the world.

Why do we like YouTube?

YouTube is a great tool to get to know your audience and help them to get to know you. You can create a profile upload videos, watch other people’s videos, start a video blog or ‘vlog’ as they are know, email, comment and rate. You can search for videos by category, watch the most viewed videos, view channels and find your favourite band, enter contests and share it all in the community areas. YouTube will also keep you up to date with what is going on in their blog as well as allow you to test their latest developments and comment on them. Do you feel part of a community? We sure do.

So what can you do with YouTube?

You can use YouTube to tell the world about you. Think of it as self promotion. It could be for your music, movie previews, interviews or adverts, or you can use it as a revenue stream by integrating sponsored advertising from Google Adwords.

If you want to use YouTube then we would recommend creating a group and encouraging people to get involved by uploading their own videos. You could run a competition alongside it and really get the buzz going around your brand. Let us know how you get on, or if you need some more pointers, then why not give us a call on 0845 838 7435 or drop me a line.

FaceBook, like many other Social Networking sites, is being used more and more by companies to promote their brand. Whether they have created a fans page or they are simply advertising, social networking is a very accessible platform that you can use to address your target audience.

FaceBook was created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg whilst he attended Harvard University. Originally intended for the use of the student body at Harvard, FaceBook went onto expand to the entire Ivy League, then any university student, then high school students and finally to anyone over the age of 13.

While we all kick ourselves for not coming up with the idea first (and please note that Zucherberg never finished Harvard, and it is estimated that his creation’s internal evaluation is set at £8 billion), we should turn our focus more to how FaceBook can be used by us ‘mere mortals’.

What you have to remember with Social Networking is that the web is no longer just a place for research or controlled and run by big companies sat in ivory towers. The web has grown into a place run by the consumer, for the consumer, giving everyone a voice, where freedom of speech is positively encouraged.

Blogs, podcasts, video sharing and Social Networking in general is growing at an astonishing rate, showing no signs of waning with FaceBook boasting a reported 250,000 new users on a daily basis. If you thought that Social Media was a fad, like Soda Streams, then you would be wrong. Social Media is here to stay.

But what makes FaceBook so special?

Not only is FaceBook the 6th most popular website in terms of traffic ranking, but it also embraces all aspects of Social Networking. You can upload photos (and if you have then you will have contributed to the 14 million that are uploaded on a daily basis), post videos, publish notes, join networks, create groups, play with applications, sell something and see what everyone else is up to (within their privacy terms, of course).

As far as a Marketing opportunity, FaceBook has it all, but you have to remember that this site is intended for conversation and the audience are not receptive to having your marketing rammed in their face, so you have to bring something to their party.

Here are some ideas for you on how you too can use FaceBook:

Create a group

Why not create a group around your company. It will give you a face and humanises what you do. Start a discussion, post news, share photos, videos and invite your friends, colleagues and clients to join.

Join a group

If you have something to add or share, then why not? Perhaps there is a relevant group of people who are looking for an answer and you have it – help them out!

Market Place - Sell something or give it away

You just never know who might be interested in the 3 day, paintballing extravaganza that someone has just pulled out of and you need to flog.

Make Friends

You can never have enough friends, so get social and tell people about you and what you do. You can be as open and honest as you want and if you aren’t ready for them to see the picture of you dancing at the Christmas Party, then you can adjust your privacy settings.

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The term Web 2.0 is striking fear into the hearts of thousands who just on hearing the phrase are envisaging having to spend a great deal of money on making their websites compatible with this new type of ‘crazy’ technology.

In the words of Michael Winner “Calm down…”

Firstly, the term ‘Web 1.0’ only existed after ‘Web 2.0’ was born, as an after thought, and by way of explaining the World Wide Web prior to 2005, which really wasn’t any different at all. And secondly, ‘Web 2.0’ has nothing to do with any technical changes to the web exactly, but actually describes a ‘craze’, if you will, and the development and advances made in software and applications.

So, to finally explain what Web 2.0 is I will use words like blog and forum, Facebook and YouTube. Web 2.0 is merely the development of social media and how the web, which was once used for research and created by big companies, is now being utilising as a platform to talk, communicate and connect with people.

The key is interactivity and getting people talking and in particular your audience.

How can you use it?

You could think about adding a blog to your website that talks about the industry relevant to your type of business and give people the ability to comment on your posts. This not only will build you an online community, but help to optimise your site for keywords.

Why not join the YouTube and FaceBook generation and upload videos and links to your site. This is a great way of getting brand exposure as well as creating back links to your site, which are invaluable if you want to climb the search engine rankings.

Become the authority on your subject with sites like Squiddo and HubPages and go around the web telling people your opinion on blogs and forums and message boards. You can create back links to your site as well as creating a name for yourself.

It is all about talking, so if you want to talk to us about how we can make the web work for you, then call us now on 0845 838 7435 or email us here.