Should YouTube Be a Platform in Your Marketing Plan?

Founded in 2005, YouTube is one of the oldest social media platforms that is still booming today. As of 2023, YouTube has over 2.5 billion users worldwide and comes in as the second biggest social media platform after Facebook. With so much activity and reach potential, it’s a no-brainer that your brand should be implementing a YouTube strategy, right? Well, in recent years many companies have been cutting down on their YouTube posting in an effort to focus on short-form videos such as TikTok and Instagram Reels. Even YouTube started to embrace short-form videos with their launch of YouTube Shorts in 2021. But what does this mean for social media managers across the globe? Let’s dive into the pros and cons of running a branded YouTube channel!

Pros of YouTube

1. Increased worldwide reach

YouTube is especially important for businesses that sell their products worldwide. With YouTube being one of the biggest social media platforms in the world, you have a higher chance to reach people across the globe to share your brand. Almost anyone who has access to the internet knows what YouTube is, which means you can bet that people from every country you sell your products in will be able to tune into your videos. 

2. Long-form education and awareness building

One of the biggest benefits of using YouTube is that you can post videos as long as you’d like. People log onto the platform wanting to engage in longer videos that provide them with either education, entertainment, or both! YouTube is a place where you can create educational and fun content without the barriers of having to squeeze down the information to fit in a 30-second video. You can promote brand messaging, bring in experts in your field to educate, and more. The options for your YouTube content are truly endless. 

3. Advertising

Advertising is HUGE on YouTube. They offer a ton of different ad options for you to choose from and the CPM is usually quite low compared to other platforms such as Facebook and Instagram. YouTube is also one of the easier platforms to advertise on and doesn’t necessarily require an advertiser to have years' worth of social media advertising experience. 

Cons of YouTube

1. High budget and bandwidth

By far the biggest con to using YouTube is the time, money, and effort it takes to produce just one video. Users log onto YouTube expecting a high-quality and top-notched produced video. Videos on the platform are always usually much longer than other platforms which means a lot more effort goes into planning and executing each piece of content compared to any other social platform. You may need to invest in a good camera/mic setup, write out scripts, have full shoot days, scout locations to film, and more. To put it simply, YouTube requires a whole lot of work and money to be successful. But sometimes, the juice is worth the squeeze!

2. No performance guarantee

Like most social media platforms, there is no guarantee that your content is going to perform the way you want it to. The difference is, you probably spent more time and money on a YouTube video just to see it flop than you did on an underperforming TikTok video. YouTube is really just another game of risk vs. reward, and you have to decide if the risk is worth it to your business!

3. Slow growth rate 

Unlike some other platforms (ahem, TikTok), the chances of your YouTube videos going viral or your channel gaining immense popularity in the beginning of your posting journey are slim. You have to be able to make your videos stand out from the hundreds of millions of other videos on the platform which can prove to be challenging. While growth can be slow in the beginning, consistent posting and creativity in your content can help gain momentum on your channel.

Key Platform Metrics

If you do decide to build out your YouTube channel, there are certain key metrics you should monitor on the platform. Some metrics such as reach, engagement, and click-through rate (if you’re running ads) are consistent with other social platforms. However, other numbers like average view duration/watch time, video dislikes, and unique viewers are special to YouTube specifically. The actual goals you set for your YouTube strategy should reflect the size of your channel as well as the size of your business and the money you put behind advertising on the platform. 

Still unsure if YouTube is the right social media for your business or what benchmarks to set for your channel? Reach out to us at Inked Digital Marketing Agency so we can help you with your perfect social media strategy!  

A Guide to Social Boosting on Instagram

Instagram is a powerhouse social media platform that can help spread awareness, encourage brand affinity, and promote sales. But are you using Instagram to its full abilities? Instagram offers a capability called boosting that could dramatically change your performance on the platform! Read on to learn more. 

What is Boosting?

Simply put, boosting is when you spend money to increase the visibility of one of your posts. So, what does that really mean? When you make a post on Instagram, it’s likely only being shown to a percentage of your current followers (unless your post lands on the Discover page.) To increase the reach of the post (AKA, how many people see it) you can put some money behind it to boost it! 

When you boost an Instagram post, you can choose your goal, budget, length of time you want it to run, and the audience you wish to target. This means you can be super granular about the specifics of your boosting, unlike other platforms such as TikTok where you can’t choose your target audience. 

When you choose to boost a post on Instagram, you’ll have three goals to choose from–more profile visits, more messages, or more website visits. The goal you choose will depend on what you’re hoping to get out of the post. If you want to direct people to your site, opt for website visits. If your focus is social engagement and follower growth, profile visits are your best option. If you want to boost your community engagement, encouraging more messages is always best. You can also choose how much you want to spend on boosting a post from a hundred dollars up to tens of thousands depending on your desired result. 

Is Boosting for Influencers or Just Brands?

When it comes to boosting influencer content, there are two things you need to know: 

1. Brands may request as part of their content usage to put paid spend behind boosting influencer content that the creator themselves has posted on their page. This is also called whitelisting. This can be beneficial to brands because your brand awareness and messaging are being promoted via paid but through a third-party account giving your brand more credibility. 

2. As long as influencers have a business account on Instagram, they can boost their posts to increase engagement and awareness. This could be beneficial for creators who are just starting or for people who feel like they’re struggling to capture the right audience. 

Boosting on Other Platforms

Aside from Instagram, TikTok is another great social platform to put some paid spend behind your organic posts. As long as you have a TikTok business manager account, TikTok allows you to create boosting campaigns dedicated to gaining followers and engagement. If you’re running a new page or are looking for those large vanity metrics (follower size and engagement), then boosting on TikTok can be extremely successful and much easier to scale vs. Instagram. 

Boosting Best Practices 

• The great thing about boosting on Instagram is that they let you get super granular with whom you’re targeting, where they’re located, what interests they have, etc. You’ll want to experiment with different audiences to see what resonates and works for your page before deciding on one set audience. 

• Try boosting your top-performing organic content for the month as that typically performs best when boosted compared to lower-performing pieces.

• Experiment with the amount of money you put behind these posts. Meta doesn’t currently offer best practices on spend or performance with boosting, but they recommend experimenting on all fronts regarding audiences, spending, and content.

How to boost on Instagram

Boosting a post on Instagram is relatively simple. First, ensure that your page is a business account, and then click on the post you wish to boost. Make sure the selected post does not include any copyrighted music or content as it will be denied by Instagram. Click on the blue ‘boost post’ button on the right-hand side underneath the content. Next, choose your desired goal and then pick your target audience. You can choose an automatic audience on which Instagram will base it on your current follower base or get super specific. You can choose gender, age range, cities/countries, and even special interests. Lastly, you input your desired daily budget and time range. You can either run the ad until you pause it manually or choose a set time range. It typically takes a few hours for boosted posts to be approved and then you can start seeing results! 

Make sure to keep track of the performance of your posts to determine whether boosting is working, what type of content performs best, and how much it’s worth it for you to spend on boosting. Each account is different so it’s important to experiment with different types of content and target audiences before you find the ones that work best for you! 

We’d love to chat with you here at Inked to discuss all things boosting, paid media, organic social, and more!