We help many companies with marketing and social media strategy. More and more, the topic of YouTube is coming up and people are asking why they should invest in a YouTube channel.

They express many concerns:

• What's the ROI?
• Isn't it for consumers and not B2B?
• We see the value of video, but why YouTube specifically?

Most people agree that video is becoming important to B2B. For example:

• Video can engage your audience better than other media
• Studies show decision-makers want to watch, not read
• Studies also show that people who have seen a video are more likely to convert to a lead

So, why a YouTube channel if you have videos on your website?

1. Your videos get discovered more easily. People look for videos on YouTube (10 to 1 over any other channel) and they will more likely find videos on your topic when looking on YouTube than randomly searching.
2. Your company's messages get discovered more easily. Especially when integrating with other social media channels, YouTube improves your SEO and natural search.
3. Your videos get shared more. YouTube is optimized for sharing and sending information to other people. It's viral in a better and more effective way than via videos on your website.
4. It's more convenient for you and users. YouTube and tool vendors are making it much easier for a user to have a great experience (and find what they want when they want it) via the YouTube infrastructure. Your website isn't optimized for video.

Here is one example of a great B2B YouTube Channel.

I'd love to hear from you about what's working (how you audit it) and what's not working for you in your approach to social media and especially YouTube. Let me know!