January 18th, 2021 | Updated on December 16th, 2022
YouTube Live is a very underused tool that every marketer should be taking advantage of.
It is easy to be lulled to sleep thinking that the video options you have with Facebook are enough. But that’s not necessarily the case. Facebook is nice to have, but millions of people watch billions of hours of YouTube videos every day.
It would be akin to having access to a huge bank account and never using it.
After having been around for many years now, live video is a tried-and-true marketing technique. Unfortunately, some marketers cannot break with the classical marketing techniques, like blogging and digital advertising.
They don’t seem to realize that they’re missing out on a significant reservoir of lead streams by ignoring live-stream services.
Smart marketers, however, are quick to take advantage of YouTube Live to get their business and products noticed.
That is because they have come to realize that it is the second most used social media platform in the world, with millions of hours of content. But boosting a subscriber base and increasing brand awareness are not the only benefits YouTube Live has to offer.
Most YouTubers fail to take advantage of YouTube Live’s marketing power when they rely on a simple Call to Action (CTA) at the end of the video, like “subscribe to our channel” or “like our video.” the CTA could be made far more functional by just incorporating an interactive element into the CTA like “take our quiz” link or a link to a free giveaway. This little gimmick will cultivate quality leads and more customer conversions.
After viewing your YouTube video, customers come away better informed and more convinced that your product or service is just what they’re looking for.
Rather than just asking them to subscribe to your YouTube channel, which by the way doesn’t necessarily lead to sales, incorporate an interactive CTA that not only drives more traffic to your site but captures their contact information also.
So, we’re going to take a look at five techniques that will help you attract more meaningful leads from your YouTube videos. Whichever technique you settle upon, just remember to use your interactive CTA in your video multiple times just in case the viewer decides to skip portions of the video.
It could be something as simple as, “don’t forget to click the link in the description to enter our big giveaway!” just as long as you let the viewers know there’s more to come at the end of the video.
Combining a Topical Quiz With a Giveaway
Unless you’re cramming for a mid-term, quizzes can be a lot of fun and a fun way to engage with people. Add a participation incentive, like a giveaway, and sit back and watch the responses pour in.
The quiz should be based on the content of the video the viewer just watched. This technique carries the added benefit of increasing watch-time. Who knows, some viewers may even come back to watch the video again.
Let’s suppose a travel agency wanted to boost tourism to a particular destination like Costa Rica; a viewer watches a video with a title like “The Best of Costa Rica” or something like that; they then see a link in the description quizzing them about the video they just watched and inviting them to enter a contest with the prize being an exotic excursion featured in the video.
It can be assumed that anyone who took the time to watch the video in the first place must have a sincere interest in Costa Rica.
If the video was successful in conveying to the viewer how exciting it would be to visit Costa Rica and see the gorgeous landscape, meet the friendly people and what an exciting experience visiting the country would be like, the viewer would be even more excited about the prospect of going there.
So there is a high probability that they would jump at the opportunity and take the short quiz, providing you with access to their contact info.
Host a Quiz-free Giveaway
If the quiz component doesn’t suit your fancy, giveaways are a powerful lead generator in their own right. So, regardless of your business profile, giveaways are a nice way to piggyback on your YouTube videos as a means to collect leads.
Giveaways are so versatile you can modify them to suit just about any marketing goal. You can also include data fields in your forms that will assist your marketing strategy. For example, you could include a birthdate field to remind you when to send yearly discounts. Businesses like spas, bars, and restaurants have received tremendous response using this technique.
You could also include a question that will further specify the lead. For example, if your business is mortgage lending, you could include a question like, “are you a homeowner?” this will create the opportunity to ask about financing and the like.
When creating your giveaway, you could make it an instant giveaway, or incentivize it to entice participants to execute further actions that would take them to your Facebook page.
Host a Follow-Up Webinar or Other Live Event That Builds on Your Topic.
This strategy takes its cue from the old catchphrase, “you make me complete.” in this scenario, however, the YouTube element acts as a teaser, enticing the viewers with snippets of the prize to be had, but without telling them how to go about getting there. The webinar follows the same steps, but with different results.
Take a weight-loss program, for example. A YouTube video that features a series of success stories would serve as a great primer for a webinar that shows potential customers what the weight-loss program is all about.
This technique could also work for people who sell instructional programs online, like how-to books, self-help programs, and even programs on how to add bulk.
Whatever your business niche, the object of the game is to let the video serve as a hook, either by highlighting success stories, or by divulging snippets of information leading to a bigger prize.
If you specialize in Facebook ads and want t get people to sign-up for your webinar, you could create an ad that reads, “How to create Facebook ads that really convert,” where you reveal a few of your audience-building secrets.
You could also include a CTA at the end of the video that could go something like this: “Would you like to learn more? Sign up for our webinar.”
Your video will show them that you know what you’re talking about. So why wouldn’t people want to learn more?
Once you’ve obtained the event or webinar signup, you have the lead, so it doesn’t matter if they decide to leave the webinar early.
All those who watched the video and signed up display a genuine interest, so don’t give up on them, even if they decided to skip the event, or attended the event, but didn’t convert the first time around.
Offer Complimentary Samples of Your Product
Why do you think you can satiate your hunger while shopping or receive samples of perfume? In certain industries – like snack foods and beauty products – freebies are the best inducements for attracting new customers.
There is also a lot of psychology at work with this approach. Experts believe that offering freebies taps into the human being’s natural inclination to reciprocate. In other words, if you scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours. Free samples also breakdown a person’s natural fear of the unknown by eliminating it upfront. If you’ve already tried the product and liked it, why shop around for anything else?
Whatever science is at work, we can all agree that freebies are a very effective inducement. Some retailers swear by the power of freebies, as many of them have seen their sales rise dramatically through the use of freebies. So, even though your business may not be in the food industry, you should think about incorporating freebies as part of your sales strategy.
But how does offering freebies gel with making YouTube videos? By using testimonials and demos to build up interest in the product before hitting them with a “get free sample” CTA.
Let’s take the music industry to illustrate how this could be accomplished. The musician could post a video of a song from one of his live performances, or a song from one of his albums. At the end of the video, he could place a CTA inviting the viewer to click on the link to unlock a free download of the song with the help of Yt1s Downloader. But first, the viewer will have to fill out a lead-capture form. He can use this technique to build an email list to promote future events or song releases.
Collect Questions for a YouTube Live Q&A Session
YouTube Live can turn almost anyone into an instant celebrity. The demarcation line between the rich and famous and everybody has been forever blurred by the use of YouTube Live. consequently, live Q&A events are a highly-sought-after commodity loyal fans of YouTube personalities.
No matter what line of business you’re in, if you have a large and devoted following, hosting a live Q&A with your fans on YouTube Live can only enhance your brand.
Q&As are a great way for your followers to get to know you better – your likes and dislikes and how you arrived at the place where you are today. This closeness will only strengthen your fan base and attract even more fans to your channel through those relationships.
The doorway to your Q&A event will link to an entry form in your YouTube video description, which people will use to submit questions.
You can also use this information to prioritize questions just in case you don’t have time to get to them all. Naturally, the entry form will be used to collect email addresses for future-contact use.
Link to a Newsletter Subscription Form
Asking YouTube viewers to subscribe to a newsletter is pretty standard practice for YouTubers. But you could probably get more signups by offering an inducement along with the signup.
For example, if your business deals with finance and investing, then you could offer your visitors something more tangible like a periodical from your firm with the latest hot stock tips.
Similarly, if you’re in the real estate business, you’re likely to get a better response by promising to send out emails whenever there are new listings of the best-priced units, rather than a monthly reminder showing homes that have already been sold.
Rather than just saying, “subscribe to my newsletter,” share some of the benefits of becoming a subscriber to further incentivize them.
The YouTube video you choose to attract customers can be a productive primer for capturing leads if you use it smartly.
Going back to the real estate example, the video you use should appeal to are interested in content delivered in newsletter form.
For example, if you had a video titled, “Where to Buy Homes in Orange county?” You could follow it up with a CTA like “Subscribe to our hot listings alert newsletter for the best deals on the market!”
Conclusion
Producing a YouTube video and expanding your subscriber base can really boost your business sales. But simply asking viewers to subscribe is not be exploiting your full marketing potential.
To drive more traffic your way so you can capture more user information you’ll need to go even further. By using CTAs as an extension of your YouTube content, you can generate a steady stream of new leads with higher conversion potential.
