Significance of YouTube to the Small Business - Case Study Example

TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION……………………………………………………………………………..………..1 BACKGROUND…………………………………………………………………………………….…..1 1.SIGNIFICANCE OF YOUTUBE TO THE SMALL BUSINESS………………………………………………………………………………………..….......2 1.1. OPERETIONAL SIGNIFICANCE………………………………………………………………2 1.1.1. Demonstration of products……………………………………………………………………..2 1.1.2. Cost saving………………………………………………………………………………………3 1.1.3. Measurability……………………………………………………………………………………..3 1.1.4 Hosting tool………………………………………………………………………………………..4 1.1.5 Simplified task……………………………………………………………………………………4 1.1.6 Delete offensive comments………………………………………………………………………..5 1.1.7 Solving customers problems………………………………………………………………………..5 1.2. STRATEGIC SIGNIFICANCE.………………………………………………………………….….5 1.2.1 Marketing and advertisement……………………………………………………………..………5 1.2.2. Strategic tagging………………………………………………………………………………...6 1.2.3. Search engine……………………………………………………………………………………7 1.2.4. Viral video………………………………………………………………………………….…….7 1.2.5. Time investment………………………………………………………………………………...8 1.2.6. Capturing global market…………………………………………………………………………8 1.2.7. Feedback…………………………………………………………………………………………9 1.2.8. Increasing brand visibility…………………………………………………………………..…….9 1.2.9. YouTube Insight………………………………………………………………………….…………9. 1.2.10. Add transcripts and captions………………………………………………………………………….10 1.2.11. Social media marketing integration……………………………………….…………………………..10 1.2.12. Leveraging promotions or events ………………………………………………………………..…..11 Conclusion ……………………………………………………………………………………………...........11 REFERENCES…………………………………………………………………………………………………12 Introduction YouTube is a free website for sharing videos .It makes it easy for different individuals to watch videos online. They can upload their videos and share with others. It was Launched in 2005. Youtube is recently the most popular site in the websites. It allows people to inform, connect and inspire other individuals across the globe. YouTube acts as a site of distributing original contents of advertisers and creators. YouTube is popular due to the several numbers of different videos in it. An average of 100 hours of videos can be uploaded in the YouTube at any given time. This makes individuals able to find something new each day (Tommy 2014). This paper critically analyzes strategic and operational significance of youtube to the small Business organization. Background YouTube is a website for video-sharing. You tube has its headquarter in San Bruno in California .It was created by former PayPal employees in2005.In the recent, youtube operates as a subsidiary for Google. YouTube was created in 2005; the main intention was to enable people share and post original video contents. However, since then, it has become an achievement for storing different songs, clips and jokes and also providing marketing sites for various companies to promote their products. Today, the term viral video is very common. This is a video clip that people have preferred so much, and they have shared its link to the use of email with others across the world. It spreads like a virus. According to Tommy (2014), Different companies have come to realize that they can use this idea to reach prospective customers, and they have ended up creating YouTube accounts that they use to post-marketing videos and advertisement. Television and film companies always maintain tight control over their content and try to block any illegal sharing of their activities and programs. However, many individuals today use YouTube to enable their fans to have a view of their quality trailers and a repeat of the recently aired shows and exhibitions. YouTube has significantly impacted business organizations. Different business organizations apply YouTube in order to make their products reach the global market. The unregistered users can watch different videos while the registered users can upload videos to their channel (Tommy 2014). SIGNIFICANCE OF YOUTUBE TO THE SMALL BUSINESS For a small business to be successful completely in their operations, a well-elaborated marketing strategies and tactics must be put in place. In the recent, the use of internet has been integral to the day to day life. Therefore, different business companies need to adopt these strategies in their marketing campaigns. YouTube is one of the most important sites for promoting business operations. YouTube is mostly visited by different people across the world and is used for sharing videos. However, it has become a very powerful tool in marketing by the business organizations wanting to reach many people across the world. The idea that YouTube is easy to use provides useful sites for communication (Chyan et al 2010). Operational significance of YouTube The use of YouTube to advertize products has an adverse operational importance to the business. These include Demonstration of products By the use of YouTube, the business organization can demonstrate to the prospective customers how the different product works. A video clip gives fine details of the qualities of the marketed product. Through this, the business organization is likely to reach the wider market and convince them to buy their products. This will help the business to increase its sales and retain more profits .the use of YouTube provides the customers with the clear view and features of the product. They can know how the product works.For a business to win the loyalty of many customers, they need to elaborate and explain in advance the uses and features of their products (Fernando et al 2012). Cost saving Another operational significance of youtube is that it is cost effective to the business organization. The company just needs to create some time and produce quality videos for their products. When the company is sure that the video will add value to the business, they then upload it. The cost of using youtube is low as compared to other mediums of marketing this will enable business organizations to advertize their products without incurring more cost. Once the company has downloaded the videos on the YouTube, their product can go viral with several viewers. The company can introduce their products without much cost (Tommy 2014). Measurability Again another operational significance of the YouTube to the business organization is that YouTube can create measurability of the business organization. Youtube is able to provide the business with the most efficient site where the business can evaluate how their video is doing online. The company can track the number of views their video is receiving and determine the success of their business. Youtube also allows the viewers to comment on the video posted by the business organization. This will help the company to have a clear idea of how their products are perceived in the market. Through this, the business organization can realize its success or failure in marketing and advertisement. They can rethink of other alternatives of creating their videos in order to make their advertisement a success (Jean and Gree 2013). Hosting tool Youtube can also work for the company as a tool for hosting video. This is possible since the business organization is capable of having a promotional clip online without any technological troubles in their websites. When the company put any clip on the YouTube, they can include it on their business website. This will make the website appear like for the company yet it is delivered by the YouTube. The company can enjoy this technical service of the YouTube. YouTube, in this case, acts as a tool for hosting video in the organization (Fernando et al 2012). Simplify task Youtube can help simplify the task for the business organization. If the company receives a call from the clients concerning problems with the product, YouTube can be used to answer to the needs of the customers. The company may lack the adequate personnel to respond to these problems. In that case, the business organization can just prepare a video containing systematic details and upload it on the YouTube. The users can be able to access the video uploaded by the company and find solutions to their various problems. This saves the company from incurring an excess cost in employing more workforce (Arewa 2010). Delete offensive comments By using database in the YouTube, the business can delete any nasty comments. If the company feels that the comments made by the customers may tarnish the image of the brand, they need not to visit Youtube daily to look for bad or good comments on the video. All the comments are emailed to the business. If they consider one nasty or spam, clicking the arrow pointing downwards to the right of the button allows the company or the business to delete the comment for ever. Through this, the company will be able to maintain the good public image and their customers will have loyalty in their operations (Fernando et al 2012). Solving the problems of the customers The business can use youtube to provide different solutions to the needs of their customers. They can post different videos that demonstrate how the customers can install their products. Alternatively, provide a screen capture showing how their software can be used efficiently. Using youtube video can help the company to address the frequently asked questions by the customers. It is better for the business organization to be proactive by realizing any issue and showing their customers how to deal with such problems. The business organization can also use youtube to reach people who have not heard of the product. Many people post questions asking how their problems can be solved (Jean and Gree 2013). Strategic significance of YouTube Marketing and advertisement The Great significance of youtube is that it helps the business organization to market and advertize their products globally. Before the introduction of youtube, advertisement through television was only for the large companies that were well established.They were able to form different brands channels, track different metrics for the viewers and provide instructions to reduce the cost in supporting their customers. Youtube has emphasized developing different channels rather than the creation of content per se. The channels can subdivide the audience into different niches in the same way hundreds of the niche audience TV cable channels subdivided audiences.These YouTube development plans such as the YouTube original channels will make nicheto nichier since the audience are becoming more engaged and profitable to the company. This will enable the advertisement to be highly focused (Fernando et al 2012). Strategic Tagging Another strategic significance of YouTube to the business organization is that it allows for Strategic Tagging in the business organization. According to (Ace 2014). Youtube is the second highest site that is trafficked globally. This is because, if the company markets their products using YouTube, they are capable of reaching over 60 million customers in one month. In the recent many individuals are attracted to the internet. They explore the internet five to six hours daily. YouTube has a great feature that allows the business to tag their videos using the keywords. The keywords comprise of phrases or words that enable their videos to appear in the related searches of the users. These tags act as the baseline of which the YouTube uses to control the videos that are shown in the relevant sections of Videos. In order to optimize the tags effectively, the company selects three keywords that they use in their videos. The card is to be unique. When the business is successful in determining the tags that work, the users find it easy to view their video. Through this, they can get more views. This will enable the company to be successful in its operations (Richard 2014). Search engines Again YouTube makes it easy for the customers to search and find different adverts of the business organization. Having a clip in the YouTube enables the customers to find out about the products and services of a business organization. Rather than just finding the site of the business organization, the customers can find the companies clip by just typing youtube or by getting the companies relevant YouTube pages on a search engine like the Google. To ensure this is possible, the business firm provides that there is a clear description of their videos, and the chosen tags should contain search terms. The business firm should also provide the description, and the clip have clear details on how the potential customers can contact them. Through this, the business can win more customers .you tube will help the company reach customers more efficiently.(Richard 2014). Viral video YouTube can make the companies video to go viral. The best opportunity of the YouTube is for a video clip to go viral. This is the way in which one user of the YouTube and enjoys the clip can be able to recommend to the other user who may also recommend it to another person and so on. This process can be quick if the users recommend the video clips on the social media. This will enable thousands of people to receive the message. There is no definite formula for making a video clip that can go viral; any attempts to identify a method can lead to unpredictable and mixed results. The company can use clips such as using the real people, effective humor and using different surprises to the viewers. This will confound their expectations. This nature of youtube impacts positively on the company’s campaign since many people acquire more information about the company’s products. The Increase in the traffic on the site of the marketer will increase the sales of products (Jean and Gree 2013). Time investment Another significance of YouTube to the business organization is that it leads to time investment of the business firm. By managing creating new video clips and uploading the clips on the YouTube on a daily basis, the business owners are to invest their time productively. This calls for interaction between the company and its customers. The business managers should create time every day to upload relevant videos on the YouTube. The video will be viewed by many customers who in turn leave their response. The company should take the responses seriously and respond to various needs of the customers (John Lister 2007). Capture global market Youtube can also enable the business to reach and capture the global market. Any business organization has an aim of competing globally. They deploy several techniques and strategies that can help them capture the global market. The use of youtube can help different business organization capture the global market. The companies need to use proper and correct techniques, apply the keywords correctly and be creative. Through this, their video will undoubtedly capture the global market. The idea of video viral will enable the video to be shared among different friends across the world. This will significantly improve the campaign. The business can expand globally by the use of youtube (Richard 2014). Feedback Youtube can also be used by the business organization to get feedback before they take their products to the market. The business organization can use youtube if they are not ready to take their products to the market. Through this, the business organization can figure out the response their product might get from their customers. The company just needs to upload their video .through the idea of viral video, over 600 million active YouTube users can view the new product. They then respond to the features of the products effectively. The business can know whether the product will be a success or a failure when taken to the market (Chyan et al 2010). Increasing brand visibility Youtube can help the business organization by increasing their brand visibility. If the organization is not capable of making a video concerning their business due to lack of adequate time or lack of proper content, then there are other methods the company can use. They can just rate and comment on the relevant videos .the company can also share the good videos on their channel. By doing this, the company is making their brands more visible. They are also able to communicate with the users. By using this strategy, the business can save on the cost of uploading new videos now and then (Richard 2014). YouTube Insight Once the business organization has a video on the Youtube, they cannot only analyze them using comments. In addition to ratings and comments, there is another Insight feature that is available on the Youtube. This has a function of reporting and provides the business with relevant statistical data regarding the number of people visiting their video. This will help the company figure out whether their strategies are working or not. They can make necessary changes where need be. This will make the company updated on the nature of their products and how the customers perceive the company. The business organization can have good and proper relation with the customers (Chyan et al 2010). Add transcripts and captions These will help the business in two ways. Firstly is to enable people who have hearing difficulties to follow the information being passed. Secondly, if the video is to go public, the captions will help the search ranking of the video. If the company needs their videos to be viewed by different officials across the world, then they need to translate their captions into various languages by just clicking the button of converting information. This will enable the information passed by the organization to reach all people across the world. This can allow the business to operate or capture the global market (Jean and Gree 2013). Social Media Marketing Integration It is easy to share the YouTube video with line. This makes the video easy to integrate into social media strategies. Through distribution of youtube videos on Facebook, Digg, Twitter, Reddit, Stumble Upon and Linkedin, the business can be exposed exponentially. The more popular youtube video is, the higher it ranks. As the YouTube video increase in popularity, the chances that the customers will click the associated links is great, this will help the business to grow. The company will be able to advertize its product by the use of other social Medias without incurring any cost (Chyan et al 2010). Leveraging promotions or events Youtube makes it possible for the business to revisit the successful events by showing different video footage of their operations to the individuals who were not there or those who want to recall what had happened. The business is, therefore, able to reach all the potential customers who can buy their products. If the company runs an event, they can share the highlights through the YouTube as long as they possess the permission from the ‘talent’ (Jean and Gree 2013). Conclusion YouTube is currently one of the fast growing sites and is an influential site for the social media. Youtube is an excellent marketing tool that can enable a business to prosper and be able to reach the global market. It can help the business to realize the brand identity by making proper use of different features that are provided by the site. The database in the YouTube allows the business to reach the customers most efficiently without incurring much cost. Youtube significantly advanced different business organizations in the world. Companies that uses YouTube database are always successful in their operations. References Ace H, 2014, Importance of YouTube for Business: How YouTube plays an Important role in. Texas .Hardbody Publishing Retrieved from https://books.google.co.ke/books?id=wxAKBgAAQBAJ&d Arewa, O, B, 2010, YouTube, UGC, and Digital Music: Competing Business and Cultural Models in the Internet Age; USA.vol 104, no 2. Retrieved from http://heinonline.org/HOL/handle=hein.journals/illlr104&div=19&id=&pa ge= Chyan Y, Yi-Chun H, and Tan S ,2010, Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking. Institute of Information Management .Vol 13, no 2. Pp. 141-152. Retreived from :doi:10.1089/cyber.2009.0105. Jean B and Green J,2013, YouTube: Online Video and Participatory Culture. Hoboken .John Wiley & Sons Retrieved from http://books.google.co.ke/books?id=0NsWtPHNl88C&dq Jean B, Gree J, 2013, YouTube: Online Video and Participatory Culture. Hoboken .John Wiley & Sons, Fernando J. Garrigos S, Lapiedra A, and Barberá R, 2012 "Social networks and Web: their impact on the management and marketing of organizations", Management Decision, Vol. 50 no 10, pp.1880 – 1890.Retrieved from http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/00251741211279657 Richard W, 2014, Importance of Social Media: Social Medial has a significant role in business.Texas. Hardbody Publishing. Retrieved from https://books.google.co.ke/books?id=1Ob1BQAAQBAJ&dq Tommy H,2014, Video Marketing for Businesses. Burlington. V.T. Retrieved from https://books.google.co.ke/books?id=edaNAwAAQBAJ&dq Read More