It's time for the fourth entry in our series on social media marketing for lawyers. Today, we explore another well-known avenue of the Internet--YouTube. This famous website, all about video, came into existence back in 2005 and is still one of the most popular today. In fact, it's the second most-visited site with over 69 billion monthly visits and more than 2 billion users.
If you're ready to dive headfirst into utilizing video marketing for your law firm and want to reach a widespread audience, then YouTube advertising is a must. Read on to discover how you can make the most of this video-sharing powerhouse and have your content stand above the rest.
Video Marketing
To begin, it's important to understand just how big video marketing has become in the past few years. With YouTube's incredible numbers and the rise of TikTok, it's no surprise that the average person spends almost 16 hours a week watching online videos. That number only continues to grow as the years go by.
Explain Ninja has gathered statistics from all over the web to show just how successful and widespread video marketing has become. They touch on YouTube video ad stats, noting that YouTube was the #1 influence that affected customer behavior in 2019 and that 90% of customers discover new companies with the help of YouTube. Other social media platforms show strong favor towards video content as well, since it generates the most engagement of all post types.
Demographics
Most social media tend to have a younger audience, but YouTube spans across all age groups. With its mind-blowing amount of content, there is something for everyone on this website. It's proven itself as both a never-ending fountain of entertainment as well as a viable search engine. This means quite a few people turn to YouTube when looking for legal advice. Through creating useful explainer videos and providing answers to common questions, you could easily get your firm noticed.
Social Shepherd shows YouTube is popular all over the world as well. India may have the most users, but the United State is a solid second place. Finally, the user base skews slightly male with men making up 56% of the platform.
Algorithm
The YouTube algorithm has changed a lot over the years. In its early days, it recommended videos with the highest number of views. Nowadays, the video-sharing giant embraces personalization. It pays special attention to a user's watch history and offers videos it thinks will align with their interests. It does this through connecting keywords in tags, titles, and descriptions. If you tend to watch a lot of videos from a specific user, it will show you more of their content. It also tracks view duration or how long you watched until clicking away.
Since YouTube only has video, there's no one type of post that can beat the algorithm. The best you can do is make sure you are using appropriate tags and an eye-catching title (and icon!) that will garner clicks. As time goes on, YouTube has been favoring longer videos (despite shortening attention spans) with the sweet spot being around 10 minutes long.
If you're wondering how to fill up such a timeslot, consider shooting an interview where you talk about your experience or the history of your law firm so that potential clients can get to know you. If you're not keen on taking center stage, make it an FAQ where the title contains the number of questions being answered. For example, "10 Questions to Ask When Searching for a Lawyer." You could also share client success stories--so long as you have their permission to do so.
Video Ads
Maybe you're more interested in creating ads to run on other videos rather than pouring time into original content for your channel. In that case, YouTube Advertising offers step-by-step instructions on how to create an effective video ad that will play before, during, or after YouTube videos. If you're lacking in experience or resources when it comes to ad creation, fear not. YouTube has a catalogue of templates for you to choose from so that you can create an appealing ad within minutes.
Keep in mind that you must have a Google Ads account as well as a YouTube channel in order to advertise. Once you've created both, you can get to work setting a budget, selecting your ad format, and narrowing down a target audience. You can choose who you want to see your ad based on age, location, and other factors. You'll want to be sure that you're advertising to those who live close to your firm location!
Building an audience on YouTube from the ground up will be a challenge. At all hours of the day, more and more new content is uploaded to the website, all of it vying for viewers' attention. However, the vast audience that exists on YouTube cannot be ignored. With a little bit of time, dedication, and luck (or perhaps a well-placed video ad!) you can find your niche and get your firm noticed.
For more ideas on marketing your law firm on YouTube, check out this advice from Ruth Carter on Attorney at Work!