1. Dreamscape Marketing
By: Jenny Do
Runners Up: YouTube Marketing
YouTube Statistics reports that partner revenue increased 50% over the past three years
(YouTube). Lucas Craikshank, better known as Fred, was the first person to earn a million
subscribers and to partner with YouTube; his video career did not just sky-rocket because of his
personality, but rather how he promoted his videos using certain strategies. His creativity,
analytical evaluations, SEO optimization and clear key performance indicators (KPIs) led to
higher engagement which helped advance him and the YouTube community in search engine
rankings. Although successful videos must be aesthetically appealing and entertaining, the word
choice in a YouTube video’s description and tags is crucial for high rankings on search engines,
which will therefore promote the success of a product or service’s advertisement in the video.
YouTube was created in 2005 for users to upload home entertainment videos for others’
enjoyment. Once Google purchased YouTube, Google analytics incorporated the Video Manager
showing the video’s interactions -- comments, likes, shares, subscribes. Each video’s YouTube
Analytics’ properties for the product usually shows a correlation in product growth and
interactions (“Measuring Image and Video Ad Performance”). YouTube Analytics helps users
learn about viewer’s actions on the products and if they like or dislike the product.
Creative content within a video must entice, entertain, and inform the viewer about a
product or service. The video’s creative aspects are achieved during the filming and editing
stages of the process. The cinematographer's filming must include good lighting and stability so
that the viewer can view the contents of the video without difficulty (The Verge). The editing
2. should improve the sounds and colors that go with the content in order to enhance the video’s
overall quality.
As the video begins, there should be a hook catching the viewer’s attention (Adams). The
first ten seconds usually determine if the viewer watches the rest of the video (Adams); the
viewer’s watch time is important for the rankings in search engine optimization (Adams). In
GoPro’s advertisement on YouTube, the speaker starts the video with “Life is either an
incredible adventure or it is nothing at all” with the usual GoPro logo on the screen (GoPro). The
quote brands the company and creates curiosity for the adventure that is coming up next in the
video, so most viewers continued to watch the video.
The average watch duration in GoPro HERO4: The Adventure of Life in 4K is 2:08,
which is more than half of the video (GoPro). In order for the watch time to increase, the video
should entertain the viewer by making the video more enjoyable and aesthetically appealing
(Kietzmann et al.). The aesthetics of the video include color quality, transitions, and subtitles;
these factors should be thoroughly executed so the video is smooth and clear (The Verge). Colors
of a video indicate the moods of the video, such as Hollywood’s current contrast color themes of
blue and orange. Video editors use these colors to allow people to stand out from the background
and help the quality appear to be improved (The Verge). Techniques that factor into marketing a
video helps promote products.
The video’s purpose should be to promote the product or service by informing the viewer
about the content. There should be a message or story within the content of the video, this
message helps the viewer stay engaged in the video (“Creating a Video Ad”). The viewer most
likely remembers the product better by analyzing the product when the message is told in a
3. story-like manner (Best Marketing Degrees). The message promotes brand loyalty since the
brand has a distinct element about the product or service (Chessman). In branding the product,
the video informs the viewer about circumstances and details so the viewer can have gain some
knowledge from watching the video (Saravanakumar). In 5 Spots Keeping Portland Weird ,
Hilton’s services advertises through areas around their hotel that is pleasing to visit. Hilton
shows their viewers around Portland and explains the values of those five spots. These
advertisements illustrate some information for the viewer to become curious, so the viewers can
create interest in the product or service.
In order to determine if the creative aspects have succeeded, the user should evaluate the
viewer watch time. Viewer watch time is a YouTube analytical factor; it is the length of time that
the a viewer stays on the video, and YouTube Analytics shows statistics on these average watch
times on most video. The viewer watch time is critical in rankings for search engine
optimizations (Dean) and the user should analyze these details in order to increase engagement in
the videos (Golden). The user should only put up his or her own best work to lengthen the watch
time, determining if the content is interesting enough to be fully watched (“Creating TrueView
Campaign and Video Ad”). The longer the watch time, the more interesting the video is, and the
shorter the watch time, the more improvement is needed for future videos.
With a successful creative video, the interactions in likes, comments, and shares increase
and can be assisted by having the user ask the viewers to like, comment, and share preferably at
the end of the video. While comparing two travel guide videos for Los Angeles, 20 Best Things
to do in Los Angeles has a longer average view duration of 3:04 and 2,260 likes (GrrrlTraveler),
while Los Angeles Travel Guide has a view duration of 2:21 and 821 likes. The engagement
4. shows that view duration does impact engagement of the viewers. Since 20 Best Things to do in
Los Angeles had more engagement, that implies that more viewers enjoyed that video over the
Los Angeles Travel Guide video. The video must be aesthetically appealing and include
keywords in order for the video to be clicked on and watched from the higher rankings on search
engines.
The number and relevance of the word choices the viewer uses to search rank the video
accordingly on search engines, such as Google and YouTube. Search engines detect compatible
words from what is written in the engine and what words are used in a video, especially in the
description; a minimum of 250 words are preferred (Parent). The word choice in the description
is key because it determines where the video link lands on the search engine (Dean). The user
should consider being in the viewer’s point of view when searching for a product online and
choosing the “right” keywords that the viewer would type into a search engine. If a viewer wants
to watch a video on Greece activities, he or she would probably type in “Activities in Greece”
instead of “Tourist activities in Santorini, Greece” because it is more convenient to the
researcher, so the user should keep in mind what the viewer would type when choosing his or her
word choice in the title, description, file name, and tags (Dean).
The more tags that are in a video, the higher the rank the video has on the search engine,
therefore word choice ranks the video higher if the viewer chose the same words. The tags help
the video be found when searched for the product or service (Adams). The user should use words
that have less competition on search engines, which will rank the video higher and make the
video easier to find. With the video ranked higher on search engines, the product will be more
known since viewers usually click on the higher ranked videos on search engines.
5. Another factor that goes into how videos are ranked are by its popularity (“Measuring
Brand Awareness”). Usually people click on the link that’s highest because the video is usually
made by a well-known brand or director. For example, the Discovery Channel’s travel videos are
often highest on the search engines about travel because people know that the facts are reliable
and accurate (Adams). Also, it is difficult for unknown advertisements to rank high on
YouTube’s search engine because it is the second largest search engine on the internet. Meaning
that thousands of videos are uploaded to YouTube daily, which makes it difficult for low
engagement users to make a video go viral (YouTube).
Lastly, the more popular the product or service is, the higher the video ranks. Some
products or services are already breaking the market and the video is just out to gain more
buyers, like Ori: Popular Hawaiian/Polynesian Dance at Kauai. When many tourists visit
Hawaii, they usually end up watching a hulu dance because that is a traditional tourist activity.
The demand for these dances are already high, but the video is just a bonus to stimulate more
demands for the hulu dancing shows. The advertiser of the channel already has previous
interactions on YouTube, so the engagement correlates with his other videos (“Measuring Brand
Awareness”). These engagements help the rankings of videos because the amount of views are
necessary for these rankings. The high rankings in search engines result in positive engagements.
Evaluating the content and success of the video by using YouTube analytics shows the
progress of the product’s success. The product’s return on investment may either be neutral or
increased from the advertisements’ initial upload. The likes show the creator if the viewers like
or dislike the video, so the feedback is useful for future videos (“Measuring Your Video Ads’
Performance”). The feedback will correlate to the business product’s growth, such as if a video
6. were to have 12,453 likes and 11,987 dislikes, then the advertiser can tell that the judgement for
the product is split, and the product probably has neutral or an average product growth
(“Measuring Your Video Ads’ Performance”). Both likes and dislikes affect search engine
optimization because it increases the popularity of the product or service (YouTube). So, asking
the viewer to like the video at the end of the video is very helpful and will increase engagement
(Golden).
Sharing allows more viewers from different places to find the video. Social media helps
the video on a search engine because the link of the video is being passed around on different
sites that the click through rate of the video increases as the popularity increases (Golden).
Through these clicks, YouTube Analytics can find out which demographic groups watch the
video. With this information, the creators can find out who enjoys their video the most, so they
can target that certain group (Pilewski). Future videos will improve with the predetermined
targeted group because that group likes the product or service (Pilewski). With comments in a
video, interactions increase between the user and the viewers by allowing conversation to occur.
Calls to action help these comments increase by having users ask the viewers to comment or
engage in other interactions (Dean).
These comments also increase rankings for search engine optimization because the
viewers generate popularity for the video. Another factor that can be determined by the creator is
the rate of return because it correlates to the positive comments (Pilewski). When there are
positive comments from people liking a product or service’s advertising, they most likely bought
or will buy it in the future, so the advertiser recognizes that there are gains of income for the
products from the video (Pilewski). On the advertisement, the comments are a form of
7. communication where questions can be answered quickly (Golbeck). This feedback can allow
viewers to tell the creator of the advertisement what they think about it, so the user can enhance
future marketing techniques (Golbeck). The evaluations of the contents of the video using
YouTube analytics also correlate to key performance indicators from the business.
Key performance indications show the success of the product or service’s growth by
seeing the success of the business’ performance. Keyword click-through rate is the number of
times people click on the video out of the people who observed the video link. So when the
clicks increase, it contributes to the rankings in search engines (Golden). Click-through rates
increase by having a high brand awareness because more people will know about the product, so
they are willing to consider watching the video (“Measuring Brand Awareness”). This builds
trust and helps customers remember what the business or service does from watching the
advertisement.
The customers will subscribe and get updates on future videos, so click-through rates
from dependable customers will come back. User, FunForLouis, on YouTube frequently creates
vlogs on sponsored hotels from all around the world, and he travels weekly so he uploads videos
daily. He has over one million subscribers and many come back and watch his videos whenever
he uploads, so his click-through rates are high since he has loyal subscribers (FunForLouis). The
keywords in the description are crucial, but links are even more important for users to find more
information. These links will direct viewers to the product or service, so the user would most
likely click on a video that there is a take away for the viewer. The return on investment can be
evaluated for the business from the video’s help by evaluating the analytics.
8. A big factor towards a business’ involvement with their customers are from social media
shares (Brokaw). On social media, a range of different customers know more about the products
due to the business’ notifications, and the customers are updated when a new product arrives.
The involvement of social media is important to the business because it creates trust and loyal
customers, so long-term customers come back to buying products of that business. These
customers spread the word on social media and attract more followers increasing awareness
(Brokaw).
The sales growth can be evaluated from the initial broadcast of the video in order to see
how much profit came from advertisements. Examining the income from the standing point of
the business currently and before the advertisement came out will help the evaluator find out
how much income increases (Pilewski). The income of the business evaluates the video’s effects
on the product or service’s growth. This sales growth helps improve future videos so the
products can be advertised efficiently (Pilewski).
By checking the key performance indicators, the creator can find out what customers
want when watching the advertisements. So, the video is not effective if the product or service’s
growth is stagnate. Using YouTube analytics can help creators detect where the viewer found the
video link was directed from; this information helps the business utilize certain sites to attract
viewers. The link groups and identifies a demographic group that can be targeted in the future.
The interested customers increases the activity levels on the site, therefore this will assist in the
rankings on search engines.
Customers most likely arrive to a video if the link is ranked higher on search engines.
These high ratings come from the viewer’s engagement which make the video more known to
9. others. These engagements can be reviewed through YouTube Analytics, so the creator of the
video can learn how to improve on future advertisements. Keywords in the details of the video
link compel high rankings in search engine optimization which helps viewers find the
advertisement. These techniques increased activity in a video generating more popularity for the
user. The user then increases subscribers, so the rate for viewers returning and watching future
videos are high, helping business growth. Using the information from YouTube analytics, the
user can create more compelling advertisements in the future that will attract an interested group
of people in order to increase profit.
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