Hosting Sales Video On YouTube
Should you consider hosting your business sales video on YouTube? The short answer is NO.
A big fat NO, like a very serious NO!
I wish you were here to see how I’m fuming and screaming now just for seeing you having the thought of asking such a question. Now imagine how furious I would be if you did it.
Now, lets get even more serious.
The long answer:
Hosting any business video on YouTube, not just sales videos but lead generation videos, product demo videos, customer support videos, and much more, is one of the biggest sins of video marketing, don’t do it.
It’s like condemning your brand to a slow death, it will cost your business far more money that you probably shouldn’t be spending in the first place, especially if you are just starting out. It is more recommendable to use professional business video hosting platforms like Adilo, Wistia, Vidyard, Vimeo, Brightcove, Twitch etc. for hosting your videos, as this will save you more time and effort.
Yes, YouTube is free, but the disadvantages of using it as a hosting site outweigh the freebie. Moreover, why waste precious time trying to do everything yourself when readily available just at the click of your fingers, or should I say click of your mouse? Either way, let’s look at the significant reasons why you shouldn’t host your sales videos on YouTube.
Here are the reasons why you shouldn’t host your sales videos on YouTube
#1 Facade
This may sound basic and simple but it’s a big deal. In sales and marketing, presentation is all that matters. Let me share one secret with you, the most successful product in the market is not the best product, it’s the product with better marketing.
This is why product A with inferior quality can still be more successful than product B with higher quality and more features. The reason is simple, product A had better marketing strategy and implementation.
People buy with emotions, they buy on impulse and great marketing is the key to unlocking these impulsive, emotional purchase intents. And that is where facade plays a big role, how your audience perceives your brand and what they will spend on you.
YouTube = CHEAP, no invested commitment to your brand/products. That’s the message you’re passing along each time you host your product’s sales video on YouTube or the intro video on the homepage of your company’s website.
This is why you’ll never see any serious business or SaaS website using YouTube videos to host the intro videos found on their website’s home page or product pitch videos. Because they already know this one fact, it kills your brand perception even before your audience gets a chance to know you.
#2 Related videos stealing 35% of your traffic
Each time someone pauses a video or the video you embedded on your website finishes, a carousel or grid with 6- 12 videos shows up – and you know how people react when they see kitten videos, kittens are almost everyone’s weakness.
And all those videos take your customers to other YouTube videos and away from your business.
#3. Ads on your video stealing away up to 50% of your customers and revenue
Humans get easily distracted when presented with overwhelming information, and that’s how YouTube will steal away your customers by using the un-skippable ads they are now known for.
Imagine if you’re selling a $29 product and your sales video receives 10,000 views a month; YouTube will use ads of other businesses and products to drive away up to 50% of your customers and send them to your competition, if that means just 100 sales then the “so-called free” platform has already cost you a whopping $1,299 in 1 month, much more than you would spend a year on Adilo.
#4. You can’t customize player to your taste
The ick with using YouTube to host your sales videos is that it doesn’t give much room for creativity. When using video for business, you need to be able to customize it to match your brand and represent your message. YouTube takes away this power from you, and they still put their logo on the player, redirecting the visitor away from your website to YouTube.
#5. No specialized tools to boost your sales and marketing
Are you posting cute cat videos or sharing another Taylor Swift gossip, your daily life updates, beauty routines, and regime? If that’s all you do with videos, then YouTube is probably good enough, but if you want to use videos to grow your business, YouTube is not equipped for that; it is simply not the right place for business. It’s pretty much bland with no extraordinary feature or functionality.
#6. You can get banned or your videos deleted anytime
I’ve had friends who had their account banned for nothing, just because they said the wrong thing, used the wrong creative in error or got on the wrong side of copyright laws. Anything could pretty much cause you to get banned. If you hate dealing with uncertainty and looking over your shoulder all the time, it’s best not to host your sales video on YouTube.
#7. Low Conversion Rates
Posting your sales video on YouTube can lead to a low conversion rate; while your prospect is watching your Ad, they could easily get distracted by other videos, and there is a high chance that they will skip your ad if they find it to be too intrusive.
#8. You do not have a complete monopoly over your video
Yes, you read that right. You do not have a complete say over your video or what ads may be placed on it. YouTube lives for 5 seconds to 1-minute ads; as such, your sales video is not safe from being riddled with other people’s videos; that’s how YouTube works.
#9. Your YouTube page may overshadow your website when it comes to SEO
Your Youtube channel will most likely pop up when people search for your business on Google instead of your website; this can frustrate prospects when they can’t find what they are looking for. Where you make the most sales on your website, it is useless if YouTube keeps popping up in place of your website.
#10. YouTube’s Algorithm is prone to unpredictability
Given the way YouTube’s algorithm is set up, there’s a chance your video might not get enough traction after you’ve posted it, especially if you are newly starting out; it will take a while for your video/videos to reach the right audience.
#11. Dual Branding
When you post your videos on YouTube, they will automatically be branded by YouTube; this bit can be confusing and sometimes frustrating for customers, which will lead to customers not taking your business seriously and moving on.
#12. You will be in the same box as your competitors
You will be in the same box as your competitors when using YouTube, through tags and related searches. This is to reiterate reason number 8; you do not have a monopoly over fragments of titles and tags you use in optimizing your content for a wider reach.
#13. There is zero assurance
No matter how much money you put into your video production, there is a 50% chance you won’t recover the expenses. Not every video on YouTube gets viral, and viral videos are precisely where the money is.
Conclusion
Another thing to keep in mind if you eventually decide to go ahead and host your sales videos on YouTube is that reviews are the most important currency for any business; someone might watch your video and not like it, which will lead to leaving a nasty comment or a thumbs down on the video, this will likely cost your business a lot. This can also be two-headed sword, even if a potential customer likes your video, there is still the possibility of them not liking your proposition.
You might want to read our article on 15 Best Free Video Hosting Platforms in 2022 to get a better view if you are in the market for video hosting platforms.
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