I WANT to do video content marketing BUT… how do I know it’s working?

Starting with video content marketing is one of the hardest things.  Not only because it’s tough to plan your content; figure out equipment, production, and editing; and then how to optimize and promote.  But also, because you’ll probably start with ZERO views and ZERO subscribers on your YouTube channel. So, you’ll post your first video and… crickets.  In fact, you have to post A LOT of videos before you start seeing ANY results.

We’ve been interviewing owners of successful business channels on YouTube and they’ve ALL gone through that lonely experience.  It doesn’t feel good but frankly, the key is NOT to care.  You may not see results for a while, but you HAVE to keep at it.  And then – suddenly – you’ll see a hockey-stick in views and subscribers, and the phone will start ringing.

One of the experts we’ve interviewed got 1,000 subscribers the 1st year, then got to 10,000 the 2nd year, and then after a few months in the 3rd year the count jumped to 25,000. Of course, he was disappointed the 1st year, thinking “why aren’t people watching my content”. But he’s glad he stuck with it because now YouTube is the best growth channel for his business. And his –business is to generate leads for other companies, so that really tells you something. He gets HIS leads from YouTube!

So what will keep YOU going?  Make sure you have interesting content that adds value to your audience by educating them around something they care about.  Get your production quality to at least “good enough” and keep improving as you go along.  And start posting videos!  The more the better.  You need at least 1 video a week.  But some experts say you need at least 2 videos a week.  And the most successful channel owners are doing 3-4 videos a week.  That’s a ton of content, and they keep doing it because it’s working so well.

So be prepared that your numbers won’t be good for at least 6-12 months.  And that depends on a lot of things…. How competitive is your market, are your competitors already pumping out tons of videos, are you late in the video content marketing game, are you doing the right SEO optimization for your videos with your keywords, titles, and thumbnails, is your video the right length, do you have a launch team in place, do you do any paid boost to get initial traction, are you posting enough videos?

But perhaps the most important thing is to just get started.  It’s all about consistency and NOT worrying about the numbers.  Make a commitment to publish videos regularly and have someone hold you accountable.

You will not know if it’s working for a little while…. But one thing’s for sure: video content marketing WILL pay off in the end.  All this effort you’re putting into it is NOT going to waste.  What do all successful business YouTubers have in common?  They ALL say they wish they had started earlier, and they wish they were doing things right.  Stay consistent and optimize your videos to deliver results!