How to Build a Successful YouTube Strategy in 2024

YouTube has long been a major player in content marketing for businesses. Creating video content isn’t an exact science with a guaranteed winning formula, but there are indeed best practices. At Bamboo, we often see businesses attempting to adopt the wrong set of ‘best practices’ or neglecting to optimise their video content altogether.

We understand your frustration when you spend countless hours recording, editing, and promoting videos only to see minimal results. But don’t worry, you’re not alone. We’re here to guide you through some straightforward steps that can help maximise your YouTube efforts.

Firstly, it’s important to note that a YouTube strategy for businesses is fundamentally different from that of the top creators on the platform. While the likes of MrBeast create videos to entertain, the majority of businesses should create videos to inform. Treat creating videos for YouTube as a top-of-funnel marketing activity, feeding into both the ‘awareness’ and ‘consideration’ stages of a buyer’s journey.

While we don’t recommend copying big YouTubers, some lessons can be learned from them. Let’s delve into some actionable tips for building a successful YouTube strategy.

Who’s watching?

This is a staple of good marketing, but it’s worth reiterating. Are you mindlessly uploading content hoping to rack up thousands of views, or are you targeting your packaging towards an audience you’ve identified (preferably before even creating the content)?

The latter is more likely to produce results.

Creating content specifically for your chosen audience means it is more relevant and relatable. It allows you to employ some empathy by tailoring your informative content around your target audience’s pain points or information blind spots.

You will also know what language to use, what kinds of video content already exist, how it’s angled, and so on—all factors that influence how informative and engaging your videos are.

Understanding your audience extends to the packaging, too…

Package properly

In the context of YouTube, we use ‘packaging’ to discuss how you present your video. This largely consists of your video’s thumbnail and title. Imagine seeing your video among a sea of other content; these two elements are how your video can stand out.

The thumbnail and title are the storefront or billboard for your video. They are not only there to inform people of what to expect when clicking, but they can also be used to capture interest and hook people in before they ever click ‘play’.

As an example, consider these two titles and how they differ:

1. Bamboo PR’s YouTube Strategy Webinar – June 2024
2. How to craft a successful YouTube strategy in just five minutes

Both of those titles may well be an accurate description of the video’s content, but the second option is much more likely to bring in viewers than the first. It explicitly states that:

• The video details how to create a successful strategy – not just discussing what a successful strategy is and can do for you
• The video specifically focuses on crafting a successful YouTube strategy – the first title doesn’t reveal how the video touches on YouTube strategy
• The video will deliver on these promises in just a matter of minutes – an enticing premise in what could otherwise be a lengthy problem-solving process

It appeals to a problem that prospective viewers are likely to face and promises to offer solutions quickly. It hooks them in.

Thumbnail optimisation is a highly contentious topic in the YouTube community – one that the somewhat recent introduction of A/B testing may well quell over time – but there are some practices that the majority agree upon:

People connect with people. If you can, use a friendly, familiar face in your thumbnail – preferably the face of a person who will appear in the video, to help deliver on the promise of the packaging.

Keep wording tight. You don’t need to repeat the title in the thumbnail. This is something businesses do all the time. Instead, consider the keywords of the video and what prospective viewers would like to see. Pick a handful of words, at the most, and use those instead.

For the above video example, wording such as “Succeed on YouTube” would be a significantly better use of visual real estate than “How to craft a successful YouTube strategy”. You only have a couple of seconds to appeal to somebody when they are scrolling through videos, so keep it snappy (and relevant) to catch their attention and maximise your chance of receiving their click.

Colours matter. We understand (and often agree with) simply using your brand’s colours on your thumbnail. That said, if you are looking to increase viewership, you may be best placed to ensure the use of bright, flashy colours to stand out from other videos (and the YouTube website’s light or dark background itself).

Deliver on the hook

Now that you have successfully convinced people to try your video, it’s time to deliver on the promise you made with your packaging—and fast.

With informative YouTube videos, you have just a few seconds to prove that your video delivers on its promise. If viewers feel baited, they’ll quickly move on. It’s that simple. Show them immediately that your video is worth their time.

Viewer duration is a vital metric to optimise where you can. Leaving viewers to feel misled is a surefire way of tanking that metric, indicating to YouTube that your video isn’t what viewers want to be served. In turn, you’ll feature less in the algorithm, hindering your content’s discoverability.

Viewers can forgive less-than-perfect visuals and audio if you have the information they’re looking for. If you don’t deliver that information, even with perfect visuals and audio? They’ll go elsewhere. The content itself is everything; create content that helps people, and you will be rewarded.

If you mislead, ramble, or obfuscate – you will be left wondering why people leave your video in a matter of seconds.

Building your brand

For most businesses, success on YouTube will be about building your brand. You may even generate leads, too. But don’t see it as a direct sales tool. YouTube for businesses should be seen as a top-of-the-funnel activity, helping to raise awareness and interest.

With informative videos, viewers are searching for answers – not to be sold to. They’d be searching on Google or browsing a commerce platform if they were at the stage in their journey where they had answers and were ready to buy.

Video will be more effective for you when you treat it as brand-building. Eventually, you can pepper in lead-generating elements. First and foremost, you need to ensure your content is good. Refine your video strategy first through progressive improvement. Nobody wants to watch a 10-minute advert masquerading as an informative content piece.

YouTube is largely used for entertainment and information, not for commerce. Make your videos about the audience and even entertaining (if you can), and view them as a means of providing information, building your brand, and remaining top of mind should people look to go further down the funnel.

On the topic of building a brand, try to build up a cast of recurring faces for your videos. Familiarity is helpful as it gives you another point of brand recognition and can develop trust in your company’s expertise over time.

Bonus points for then using these familiar faces in your thumbnails!

While there’s much more we could touch on in this blog, follow these tips and we’re confident your videos will reach another level. If you’re a B2B tech company and you need assistance packaging and getting the most out of your videos, we can help.