Introduction to YouTube
In today’s digital age, YouTube still stands tall as a dominant platform for video content. If we view YouTube from tourism business’s perspective, YouTube offers a great way to engage people, share stories and it enables us to showcase destinations like never before. On this post we’re going to look into how you can leverage YouTube to reach potential customers.
So firstly, what is YouTube and why do you use it? YouTube is a platform that allows users to share, upload and view video content. It has become one of the most popular websites globally, which makes it an ideal space to promote destinations and services. Video content helps bringing the experiences to life. In tourism this is a great opportunity, as you can present to the audience what is waiting for them.
Getting Started on YouTube as a Beginner
- Create an account
- Set up a branded channel
- Customize
- Add links (business’s social media, website)
- Create playlists to group similar videos
- Start uploading content!
How to Use in Business; Tourism
For tourism businesses, YouTube serves many purposes and opportunities. You can post videos highlighting scenery, culture, tours, hotels and local experiences. As a good way to build trust and to be transparent, you can upload behind the scenes- videos of your business’s operations or interviews with the staff & customers. This can help to highlight your driving values and add a personal touch to your brand. Working together with travel influencers and organizations is also a great idea!
It is vital to post various content at least once a week to keep your audience engaged.
Target audience
The key is to figure out who you wish to reach. After you are set on your target group, it is easier to start shaping your content in the right direction. Your target audience could be families, travelers looking for inspiration or adventure seekers. Or your target group could also be based on age or values. Younger audiences for instance, might prefer fast-paced, engaging videos and travel vlogs, whereas the older viewers might appreciate more in-depth destination reviews and guides.
Communication
Users can comment under your videos, as YouTube allows this. This gives you a great chance to interact directly with the viewers. You can reply to comments, ask for feedback, steer the viewer to your websites and social media. It’s also important to encourage the viewers to subscribe to your channel. This type of interaction can create a sense of community and it can help building a loyal family of followers.
Tracking Success With Metrics
YouTube provides analytical tools which offer a lot of valuable data. For example, you are able to see the number of views, which countries are your Tviewers from and how long they watch your content. These kinds of metrics can really help you understand what is working and what isn’t. This again allows you to adjust and further shape your content.
Special Tips
- Use strong visuals
- Leverage SEO
- Collaborate
- Use storytelling
- Lead with emotion
- Creative use of video thumbnails
- Cross-promotions with other channels
- YouTube series/short films
- Use call-to-actions
- Try out different formats
Examples of Best Practices
Discover Ireland introduces stunning cinematic videos capturing the essence of the destination and through their channel they have succeeded attracting tourists from all over the world.
Lonely Planet is another good example. They focus on travel tips, best destinations and guides. Lonely Planet tends to keep their videos short to engage the full attention of the audience.
My personal impressions
I see YouTube as a great tool for tourism businesses, as it offers never-ending possibilities. YouTube is a visual platform that allows businesses to tell their story, share information and engage potential travelers. For this reason I would personally recommend everyone to try it out!
By using the earlier mentioned strategies and tips, while learning from other tourism related channels, businesses can create a strong presence on this platform. I think the key is to create engaging, high quality content on a regularly. It is also very important to show transparency and keep the communication open through the comments.
References
Tourism Northern Ireland. Using YouTube for your business. https://www.tourismni.com/business-guidance/sector/accommodation/accomodation-growing-your-business/using-youtube-for-your-business
Zote, J. Sprout Social. 25 YouTube stats marketers should know in 2024. 2024. https://sproutsocial.com/insights/youtube-stats
Hi Sonja!
Great post! Your article is fluent and reader-friendly with. You have logical and informative headlines. I also see in WordPress that your SEO and readability scores are green, which you also mentioned in Moodle.
Your post made me think about how Youtube has changed. I have often thought Youtube as a “supporting” social media platform, since I thought many companies have channel there so that they can easily embed their videos to other platforms, like their websites. But that seems to be an old-fashioned way to see Youtube. My understanding is that Youtube and Tiktok are used more and more as search engines like Google.
Hello!
Woah what a information package! I liked the “How to start using” part, because it was easy list and after that a video that tells more deeply about the subject. The whole post was interesting and easy to read!
I have not even think about Youtube as a marketing tool, but your post showed that it is an amazing way to market servises or products. It is crazy to think about that in the past Youtube was a place where to find silly videos and now it is one of the biggest marketing platforms also.