Most of you out there know that I am somewhat of a movie buff. I pretty much watch everything, although as voracious a movie fan as I am, there are still those flicks that get past me like those independently-produced movies not normally circulated.
And don’t knock them, a lot of these indie flicks are actually good, only problem is most of the budget for the film went straight into the film, with very little (if at all) going into promoting and marketing the flick, so a lot of these good movies pretty much go unnoticed.
But not by me.
I have a nose for this stuff, and most of the time I am lucky enough to sniff out an under-appreciated and relatively unknown gem of an indie flick, although for every one I do sniff out, there are at least five to ten others out there just waiting to be found and appreciated.
But like I said, these are mostly films that have received little or no promotion at all. So how do I find them? Through a network of like minded friends (I thank each and every one of you) and another indispensible online tool that allows me to search for them: YouTube.
Yes, I use YouTube too, who doesn’t?
You shoot an unbelievable event at one point in your life, it’s there on YouTube.
An incredibly embarrassing moment at the company Christmas party, it’s there on YouTube.
That fantastic concert at the park last week? It’s there on YouTube.
But I like YouTube the most for two reasons:
(1) I can do marketing on YouTube and people will definitely see it
(2) And I get to track down the trailers and sometimes even excerpts from some great indie flicks I may have missed
Now, unless you are also an absolute movie freak like me, I think from this point what you’d like for me to discuss with you is how to market on YouTube, since that would pretty much benefit you more than tracking down indie films.
So, here we go:
Make it so that it won’t be watched by a single person
Yes, you read right. I said that if you make a YouTube video that you intend to use to market your site, make it so that it won’t be watched by a single person. Why? Because it shouldn’t be watched by just one person (you) — it should be watched by EVERYONE you want to reach.
So how do you get your target audience to watch your vid?
Let’s try and see why people to YouTube shall we?
- Music
Most of the people who go to YouTube are there to watch the music videos of their favorite artists. The song in itself was already probably catchy, but to complement it with an equally catchy video, well, you have the makings of something people will go to lengths just to see. I’m not suggesting that you put music you don’t own on your YouTube vid for marketing. Rather, why not make your own music for it? I know that everyone is not gifted with the ability to write excellent music, but hey, are all the popular videos in YouTube about excellent music? Cousin, I can name you ten songs there that are nothing but horrible examples that not everyone can write music, or even sing well. But hey, they’re popular anyway. Get my drift?
- Funny videos
Another popular reason why people go to YouTube is for the bust-your-sides-laughing videos found there. I know a lot of vids there that whenever I remember them, I can’t help but choke a guffaw or break out into a silly grin. See that? Make it just funny enough, and not only will a lot of people watch it, but they will actually REMEMBER it.
- What the –? Vids
Many will just dismiss them, but there are tons of videos on YouTube that when you see them, is sure to make you go “what the –?” This is a bit trickier to do than the funny angle, but hey, this type of video also get a lot of “hey, you just HAVE to see this video” treatment from people. If it’s controversial, provocative, or maybe simply a bit unbelievable (but in a good way), you can pretty much get tons of views to you video.
I must point out now that if you think you can make a YouTube video like any of those I mentioned above and use them for marketing purposes online, well and good. BUT, please do not lose sight of your primary intention in using YouTube, and that is to market something for your purposes.
A lot of times, people can get carried away when they make a video that along the way, they either insert a very weak message that is related to your marketing purposes, or they completely fail to insert any such marketing affectations in the video at all, leaving the video to be just something great to watch, but to no real purpose. What a waste, eh?
So just remember those points, It doesn’t have to be something that looks like George Lucas or Steven Spielberg invested in its production (because if they did, what the heck is it doing in YouTube?), but it does have to be something that people will find to be worth watching because hey, let’s face it, you’re stealing a few moment of their time, which they can very well be using for – I don’t know – getting a life? So make your YouTube video something worth both your time and theirs, since you’re not just putting it out there for fun, right?
I’ll be waiting on those videos, folks, believe me.
Later.
Andy “I’m-ready-for-my-closeup-now” Jenkins
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