To continue with my "Don't be Unsociable" blog series, this week I will be going over how to get your dealership recognized on YouTube.  

YouTube is the single largest online video site and provides over 300 million visitors worldwide with over 5 billion video streams monthly.  This means that on average, every user that visits YouTube watches over 16 videos a month.  YouTube also is the 4th most visited website on the Internet.

YouTube, like all other social networking websites, requires that you to create a free account in order to start posting videos.  Once your account is created, you will be presented with your "Channel" page.  From the tabs at the top of this page, you can customize the colors, theme, and features to be displayed on your page.  Please note that under the settings tab there is a place to enter your channel's title and tags.  These two fields are extremely important for the SEO (search engine optimization) of your channel, and your words and phrases should be selected carefully.  If your dealership's website has already been optimized, refer to the title and keyword tags from your homepage to help decide on a good title and tags.  YouTube users are able to follow you from your channel page and receive updates of your new videos and announcements.

Now that your dealership has a Channel page, it's time to upload your videos.  To do this, click on Upload at the top of the screen.  Next, click the upload video button and simply select the video you would like to upload.  Along with unit videos, your dealership can upload testimonials, RV maintenance tips, sales event footage, and even TV advertisements that you are running.  Another benefit of YouTube is the fact that you can embed your video on almost any other website for free.  Simply click the embed button and copy and paste the code.

YouTube will then automatically process the video and present you with options to add a title, description, and tags to the video clip.  Similar to your Channel page, these fields are almost more important than the video you are uploading.  This title and description will help your video be found on the Internet and is also what is shown when your video is listed as a search result.  Because of this, if you are uploading a video on a particular unit, be sure to be unique and descriptive with your titles and descriptions.  It is always a good idea to use "regional" terms such as city, state, or area in your titles and descriptions as well.  Also, don't forget to include a link to your dealership's website in the description (http://www.mydealership.com) to help drive traffic to your homepage. 

This was just a basic run through of YouTube, but I'm sure you can see that it is a quick, easy, and free way to integrate video into your dealership's marketing strategy.  YouTube videos can be created with almost any digital video camera, so there is no need to make a huge investment to test the waters - a basic video camera should be sufficient.  Be sure to check back next week for more dealership social networking tips and remember, "Don't be Unsociable!"