Lots of brands still think that YouTube is an online TV that they should post the same
type of stuff they did on TV: ads and infomercials.
“Just pull out the basket and we dig into some hot...son of a bitch!” George Sr. Arrested Development
Even those a little bit more savvy on the content end of things get stuck in the TV
paradigm with their mini-series. They think they are making programming for a television
audience with a shorter attention span.
"He doesn't listen, he has the attention span of a sparrow," How to Train Your Dragon
And yes, there are brands that find success with this, especially media brands like late
night talk shows, but in general, this type of content falls flat. Why? Because YouTube
isn’t just a place where you can find videos. As I’ve said in many of my recent episodes,
YouTube is a community.
“I hereby pronounce you a community.” Jeff, Community
Today, I’m going to talk about 5 of the types of videos that creators who are part
of the YouTube community make. If you are thinking about a strategy for YOUR brand,
these video types are all simple to make and avoid investment in major production costs.
They will also go much further in building long-term relationships for your brand...if
that’s what you’re into.
My name is Tara, and this is… Truly Social.
The first type of video that I’m going to cover is the How-To or Tutorial video.
“Today, I’m going to show you how to make fire with a lemon.” North Survival with Andree
This isn’t about showing people how to use your product, btw. It’s about showing the
audience how to to do something that they really need in a simple way. If you can tie
in your product logically, How-To’s can be great content marketing vehicles.
Years ago, Home Depot invested in a bunch of these videos, showing how to install tile
or switch out your toilet. These how-to’s have MILLIONS of views versus their ads and
promotions. Why? If you get your how-to’s right, lots of people are searching for them.
Number two: Hauls are the next type of video I’m covering. A haul video is the result of someone
sitting in front of a camera and going through their most recent purchases, telling the story
of what they bought and why.
“Welcome to my channel. Today’s video is going to be a big, humongous, massive Sephora Haul.
Now this Sephora haul bag doesn’t look that big, but don’t let that deceive you as I have
loadss of stuff in here.” Laura Lee’s Huge Sephora Haul
For whatever reason, these are enormously popular and people will sit through incredibly
long videos of people pulling things out of shopping bags. Obviously, there is an incredible
tie-in to products here, but you want to make sure if you use this, you aren’t just talking
about your own inventory.
#3, then there is the Favourites or Faves video. My spring faves, my november faves, my favourite
drugstore makeup picks….that sort of thing.
[Zoe Kezia’s Stationary Faves]
The format usually consists of the YouTuber sitting in front of a camera in a single shot
and just picking up and going through his or her favourite things - in a category or
in a moment. Much like hauls, if you adopt this style, you’ll want to mix up the products
featured so it doesn’t seem to self-serving.
A great example of this done well is Vidler’s Five and Dime. Every week, they picked a product
to feature and had some fun with the script and editing. They made it interesting by picking
fun products and being a bit silly with the content.
“At a Chinese restaurant, the waiter may ask you how spicy you want your noodles...
One, two, three or four stars? With Atomic Fireballs, you have no choice.
Ten stars baby!” Don Vidler
#4, First Impressions is another popular trope on YouTube that is a super simple concept.
The YouTuber uses or experiences the product they are ‘reviewing’ for the first time
on camera. Their audience gets to see the win or fail of the product, so the reaction
is sometimes funny and raw.
“Did I just ruin my life? I’m going to wait five minutes and that’s apparently
how long it takes to bubble up,” Cloudy Apples First Impressions
If you are a fitness pro, you could do this with new equipment or stretches or the like
- which could be a lot of fun. If you are a restaurant, you could have the chefs prepare
new experiments for you to try live and ....react to.
And #5, My last video type that brands could adopt for their own are Listicles . I already do
this for some of my clients. When you have really dense, complicated information to share,
listicles can be a great way to present the content in a more palatable way.
For instance, there are new regulations that are intended to protect investors, but I find
anything around finance gets complicated. A simple list of 5 things you should know
about the new regulation makes that information much simpler to understand.
“We’re going to cut you open and tinker with your ticker,” Doctor, The Simpsons
“Could you dumb it down a shade?” Homer, The Simpsons
Those are just 5 of the many, many tropes you’ll find on YouTube when it comes to
content and they all tend to be very SEO friendly as well as the types of videos that people
tend to gravitate towards on Youtube. Brands need to stop thinking of YouTube as a video
platform or ‘TV’ and start thinking of it as a community platform where people go
to learn and connect with others.
“When you get the blanket thing then you can relax because everything that you could
ever want or be you already have and are.” Bernard, I heart huckabees
Oh...and btw, you now know 7 popular types of videos that you can deploy:
How-Tos Hauls
Faves First Impressions
Listicles Tags - if you missed it, I’ll leave a link;
and Challenges - also it’s own video!
There are a whole bunch more I’ll cover in a future video. Until then…
My name is Tara and this has been ...Truly Social