YouTube Articles by SEO Speedwagon

January 11, 2010

Creative Ways to Utilize YouTube as a Marketing Channel

There are a variety of ways to utilize YouTube as a marketing channel and I've seen some very creative videos take social media marketing to the next level. A great example is Blendtec, they have been promoting their products on YouTube for quite some time now. The most memorable instance I can recall was them placing an iPhone 3G into a blender and it taking about 8 seconds to be completely pulverized. The thing that got me most about this video was I was expecting to see them chop up some kind of food item and instead saw them annihilate a brand-new iPhone 3G. Talk about surprising. Another crazy thing about this video is that it has only taken a little over a year to generate over 4 million views. To put it in plain English, this brand has been able to give its company 4 million pairs of eyeballs looking at its products in a new market online. If they had decided to utilize some other form of marketing medium I can guarantee it would've cost them a tremendous amount of money to generate 4 million impressions to any of their products.

The trick in their case seemed to be their creative usage as it relates to their brand since no one is expecting to see the types of things they are blending with their product. It seems primarily with Websites like YouTube that to get a users attention off the wall or crazy videos must be submitted to go viral. Not all brands have the luxury of creating wild videos to be placed on YouTube, but every company has the opportunity to make creative videos that showcase their brands doing something in a unique manner. The key thing to remember here is that if you are trying to promote a video on YouTube you have to be able to showcase your products and/or services in a way that grabs the attention of users interacting within this space. Here's where marketers make a major mistake, they try to create bland videos and showcase them to users who are really not interested in seeing every day product and service promotions. As long as you keep this in mind when creating videos to be placed within YouTube you have a much better chance of having your videos go viral. Blendtec is a great example of a company that was willing to take a risk in the social media space and that risk totally paid off.

Creative Ways to Utilize YouTube as a Marketing Channel
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November 20, 2008

Google SERPs Showing MySpace + other Videos

I'm surely not the first to notice this, but I saw MySpace video thumbnails in Google SERPs for the first time today:

Looking around, G is pulling from multiple sources, including MetaCafe, CollegeHumor, and this example from Spike:

A couple months ago, AccuraCast noticed two video results in a horizontal line, but in that sample, both videos were from Google-owned YouTube.

This is the next logical step in the universality of Universal Search, so to speak. Is it also the beginning of the end of big corporate presence on shared video sites?

Google SERPs Showing MySpace + other Videos
Posted by erik at 6:32 PM | Comments (15) | TrackBacks (0)
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March 7, 2008

Social Media: Why Some AD/PR Agencies Don't Get It

I have seen a tremendous amount of hoopla online over the last couple of months related to social media marketing strategies being implemented by AD and PR agencies. Unfortunately, many of these types of agencies seem to be trying to make a square peg fit into a round hole. Rather than spending time researching for portals to have their clients generate buzz related to their products and/or services, they are taking a shotgun approach to social media marketing.

At the beginning of each social media campaign there should be a great deal of research conducted to find a needle in a hay stack; being a niche marketing opportunity. After a good deal of social media portal candidates are selected then the next step in the process is finding out what type of content the active users will find interesting. This way you can be sure that the most active members within these portals will positively interact with your clients brands, products, services, etc. Building a presence within each social media portal will take time and should be looked at as one of the most important activities one can conduct on behalf of a client.

If you are actively engaged in social media portals and constantly creating content that users can find meaningful, then you will ensure your clients have the greatest impact when they introduce new material to active bloggers, and social media participants. Then your biggest challenge will be monitoring how much buzz you are generating for your clients and not whether or not you are reaching the right target market.

Social Media: Why Some AD/PR Agencies Don't Get It
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December 6, 2007

Old Media Quote of the Day

I just love it when Old Media can't adapt to Web 2.0 and tries to pass the buck while hubris prevents them from admitting they are passing the buck:

...the Motion Picture Association of America has asked ISPs to act as monitors of movie piracy. MPAA head Dan Glickman says ISPs need to take on that role if they are hoping for any sort of future support from Hollywood.

Actual buck-passing-disguised-as-responsible-parenting quote from Dan Glickman, head of the MPAA:

The ISP community is going to be at the forefront of this in the future because they have everything to lose and nothing to gain by not seeing that the content is being properly protected.

Old Media Quote of the Day
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August 3, 2007

What Can YouTube Do For Me?

What can YouTube do for me?

With the passing of each YouTube phenomenon -- we've seen elections won, treadmills treaded, boxes boxed -- shouldn't we ask ourselves this question?

So who has most recently taken advantage of this tool capable of placing our media in front of millions? The answer is . . . Rhain Davis . . . or I should say his grandfather, who put together the four-minute clip of the 9 year-old showing completely incredible moves on the soccer field.

So, what did YouTube do for Rhain Davis? Got him a contract with Manchester United.

What Can YouTube Do For Me?
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March 23, 2007

NBC to Give Internet Domination a Second Try

Search Engine Land has the story about NBC and News Corp. (aka Fox) and their joint plans to create "the largest Internet video distribution network ever assembled with the most sought-after content from television and film" (their words, not mine).

In addition,

AOL, MSN, MySpace and Yahoo! will be the new site’s initial distribution partners. Their users, who represent 96 percent of the monthly U.S. unique users on the Internet, will have unlimited access to the site’s vast library of content.

Notice anyone missing from the list of initial distribution partners?

At launch, full episodes and clips from current hit shows, including Heroes, 24, House, My Name Is Earl, Saturday Night Live, Friday Night Lights, The Riches, 30 Rock, The Simpsons, The Tonight Show, Prison Break, Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader and Top Chef, plus hits from the studios' vast television libraries, will be available free, on an ad-supported basis.

You might think that NBC and Fox are crazy to go after YouTube, but then you realize that Jeff Foxworthy is the secret weapon. I'm no online video expert, but is the popularity of YouTube due to its ability to show things like copyrighted clips of the Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?

Isn't it more due to showing things like the guy who takes a picture of himself each day for 6 years, or would-be Norwegian beatboxers with too much time (and electronic equipment) on their hands?

At any rate, I'm glad NBC is giving it another shot. You might recall NBC's "other" venture into online dominance. In late 1999, the media giant launched NBCi, the, ahem, "Yahoo killer" of the day -- a portal/search engine that quickly shot out of the gate and in less than a year accrued exactly 0.0% of search engine market share.

One wonders whether the new NBC/Fox video site will offer all episodes of Emeril's short-lived NBC sitcom for free, or whether those will reside in the premium section. Regardless, those with a diet heavy in schadenfreude will be watching the launch closely.

NBC to Give Internet Domination a Second Try
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January 26, 2007

Searching for My Box In A Box

After scoring far more than 12 million views in little more than a month, I’m curious to see how Google handles the Junk in a Box genre. The phenomenon accounts for somewhere in the neighborhood of 2,000 searches per day, including anything from [d--k in a box] (2181 searches) to [box in a box] (120 searches) to [beep in a box] (6 searches) .

Let's look at a condensed query that pulls Google results from both types of junk in a box searches.

1. YouTube - SNL Skit The Video Uploader. Uploaded 12/17/06 by NBC, one day after the skit aired on Saturday Night Live.
2. YouTube - My Box in a Box The Video Uploader, again. Uploaded by boxsinger 12/28/06.
3. Bloggers Blog - My Box in a Box Blog. Posted 1/17/07. Not very old, but does come from a compilation blog within a network.
4. Popular Stuff - SNL SKit Video Uploader. No longer links to either video from page, but the SNL skit was uploaded 12/28/06.
5. Sci Fi - Neither in a Box Video Uploader. No longer links to either video.
6. DevilDucky - My Box in a Box Video Uploader with 17,000 links.
7. Viral Video Chart - My Box in a Box Video Uploader with social bookmark links everywhere.
8. VH1 Best Week Ever - My Box in a Box Video Uploader. Uploaded 01/05/07 by popular show, also with social bookmark links galore.
9. Dorks.com - My Box in a Box Video Uploader. Uploaded 01/09/07.
10. TwistImage - My Box In A Box Blog. Posted 01/06/07.

Some things to consider while looking at these results.

• Google has noted that most [... in a box] searches end at a video and thus responds with 8 video uploaders on the first page.
• Google realizes we are most likely looking for one of two videos, and shows us the right version of both. Keep in mind there was no room for error here, as Google will only show 2 YouTube results on this page and must sift through many impostors.
• Further evidence that Google knows searchers are looking for video rather than content is the notable absence of Serp Princess Wiki from the first page. Articles created 12/24/06 and 01/17/07.
• How do you get her to open the box?
• With the other 2 results on the first page, Google wisely looks to the blogoshpere for further information regarding this incredibly recent search phenomenon.
• Perhaps My Box is in a Sandbox. The blog for My Box in a Box, which was created on a new subdomain 12/28/06 seems to only appear in obviously non-competitive searches.

  Searching for My Box In A Box
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