I can remember the moment only months ago when I first saw an article that suggested that YouTube was becoming another social media channel.

My initial thoughts were dismissive.  Comments, whether text or video, were certainly becoming more pervasive, but most of them were either inappropriate or spam.

Friends of a video channel?  Why would there be any serious move towards folks becoming friends of a channel?  Subscriptions? That made more sense, but other than some big hits, how would that work?  Would more than a few visitors to lesser known videos actually subscribe so that they could be notified of future videos?

We all know how fast things move online, but in that short window, YouTube has gone from being a blip on the social media playing field to the talk of search engine marketing.  What happened?

Ipod, Iphone, Ipad, and their cousins in the Android world.  YouTube is now ubiquitous.  Your friends recommend videos to you. You check out the results of Idol and Dancing the morning after through YouTube.  And most folks when given a choice between learning a new skill or how something works would much rather watch a video about it than read.

Under the radar and with little fanfare, YouTube Channel environments have been upgraded to have the look and feel of Websites or a Facebook page.  Videos created by the channel owner can be mixed with videos favorited and then organized by topic, date, or other approach.  The result can be huge stickiness to the channel as fans of the subject matter watch video after video.

For business owners who have wondered how to get traction on Facebook, Twitter, or their blog, the creation of even amateurish how to videos or product reviews can result in 100′s of subscribers and friends.  With a bit of additional work, these same videos can be the very method by which visitors are drawn to the other social media platforms.

To add to the overall effectiveness, the videos can be embedded or linked at Facebook or blogs and websites, and announced on Twitter and LinkedIn, sending fans from those sites over to the video channel where they might subscribe or become friends.

While this entire marketing environment lends itself more to businesses who have fans who will be interested in getting more content in the future from that channel, there are multiplied other possible targets:

• Professionals who might recommend you and be interested in info from your niche
• Friends of those who need your services find you in these places
• Others in your field pick up your video and show it on their blogs or other sites
• With so much information online, you are far more likely to be found

While many of the content possibilities online can be created as DIY projects by owners with lots of time on their hands, or through the use of employees with a flare for these kinds of things, a comprehensive social media strategy with video as the foundation is not for the feint of heart.  Our staff at Page 1 Listings.com is specially trained to maximize the use of these tools in such a way as they are most likely to result in traffic to your business.

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