Building YouTube into Your Branding Strategy

By: Justin Ferriman • December 18, 2017
Filed Under:

Whether you are starting out with your online course business or have been established for years, you are missing out on an opportunity if you are not using YouTube.

I have a confession to make: LearnDash was late to the “YouTube game.”

Only just recently did we launch our official YouTube channel where we share announcements and advice related to our product and online learning.

It’s not that there weren’t videos about LearnDash on the platform, but we weren’t responsible for them but rather our customers created them. This is great of course but ultimately we wanted to have a say in how our brand was presented on the world’s second most popular website.

After only a few weeks we are already noticing a positive impact of our videos. First, they are helping people so that is really great. Secondly, they are soft-selling LearnDash & WordPress as a course creation platform – generating more leads for the business.

For years I have preached the importance of content marketing with a particular preference for blogging. LearnDash the company started as a two-page blog in 2012. I know that the method works.

However, it’s even harder to start an internet based business today, and putting all of your eggs into one basket is not a good idea. Instead it makes more sense to diversify your content marketing channels. For example, if you have a blog then starting a YouTube channel to accompany it can increase your reach. If you run a podcast then having a blog to put show-notes and transcripts is a smart thing to do.

You have to be careful though because you will easily be stretched too thin if you try to do everything. My advice is to pick one medium as your primary content strategy. For us, it’s the blog and YouTube is the secondary channel. That’s not to say this won’t switch one day, but for now it helps us to get the most out of our marketing efforts.

Types of Videos to Make

If you are like a lot of people then you may not know exactly what kinds of videos to make for YouTube. Well let’s eliminate one type: promotional. No one goes onto YouTube to watch promotional videos from businesses.

When you are first starting out focus on making videos that teach people or demonstrate something. If you want to add a promotional element in there then case studies are a good option because the often are useful teaching tools in their own right. Demonstrations make for good videos as well. If you’re selling a course then one type of demonstration video would be to show people “behind the scenes” of what they get when they purchase.

The new year is upon us and it’s often a time when people make resolutions. I would encourage you to make your YouTube channel a part of your professional resolution. Your business and brand will benefit, and you just might enjoy yourself!

Justin Ferriman

Justin started LearnDash, the WordPress LMS trusted by Fortune 500 companies, major universities, training organizations, and entrepreneurs worldwide. He is currently founder & CEO of GapScout. Justin’s Homepage | GapScout | Twitter