How the the New YouTube Comment Policy Affects Businesses

By Montrie Rucker AdamsMarch 10, 2014 Blog commenters, comments, google+, youtube

Since everyone has an opinion, I like to read what’s on their mind. There are times, however, when I am shocked, surprised, disappointed and in awe of what people have posted in many comments sections.

Google, which owns YouTube, recently took steps to control viewers’ comments. This move makes YouTube a more positive environment for businesses.

According to the new policy, users must open a Google+ account in order to leave comments. While there has been some backlash due to some brands experiencing fewer comments, the policy is still positive.

Mean-spirited comments proliferate with the wholly anonymous nature of postings. YouTube experienced the most negativity, ahead of blogs but behind sites like Tumblr, according to a report from Adobe.
Some negative YouTube commentors terrorized many brands’ campaigns. Companies then shied away from the platform as a result.

YouTube expects the new policy to bring companies back to their platform to promote their goods and services. To get the most out of YouTube, businesses need to engage with their audience and a friendlier comment culture will make it much easier. Negative commentors who often spurred more negative comments are less likely to sound off without total anonymity. When they don’t have a platform to spew their negativity, brands can focus on their genuine fans.

Why NASA Landed on Instagram

By Montrie Rucker AdamsNovember 21, 2013 Blog facebook, Flickr, Foursquare, google+, Instagram, NASA, Reddit, twitter, youtube

In order to expand its audience, The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) recently landed on the photo sharing site Instagram.

NASA’s image content will include Earth science, aeronautics, spaceflight, astrophysics, and historic photos as well as video.

The first day on Instagram, NASA featured the launch of its Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer, a robotic research mission that will orbit the moon. Instagram is a good fit for the space agency with its rich visuals of space and the Earth. Their followers grew rapidly, to 32,000 within minutes of its first post.

NASA also uses social platforms Google+, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Foursquare, Reddit and Flickr to tell their story. When Instagram tweeted to welcome NASA to its site, within one day it had been retweeted 1,000 times and 500 had given it a “favorite.” NASA had over 4.7 million Twitter followers, more than any other federal agency.

As NASA uses social media to reach a different demographic, other marketers can learn from their Instagram experience and adopt similar practices.

Can you think of ways you can use this growing social media tool? Whether you’re a construction or utility company an academic institution or health care agency, there are many ways to tell your story through pictures.

You Can Use YouTube to Communicate with Customers

By Montrie Rucker AdamsAugust 2, 2013 Blog communications, entrepreneur, entrepreneuro online, videos, youtube

YouTube is not just for videos anymore.

Entrepreneur.com has a video section called “60 Second Solutions. ” It’s where various business owners and professionals share their tips in 60 seconds to help you with your business. In this video, Shira Lazar, host of YouTube’s What’s Trending, shares information on how using video can help you connect with your customers – 24/7.

If you don’t have a business YouTube account, it may be a good idea to set one up. Using video, customers and potential customers have another way to see exactly who you are, what you do and how you can help them.

Be More Visible – Create a Video

By Montrie Rucker AdamsOctober 29, 2012 Blog be more visible, create a video, facebook, linkedin, twitter, video, vimeo, windows movie maker, youtube

Video sharing is becoming increasingly more popular. They’re not just for family sharing anymore, but businesses are using video to sell their products and services. Video can help you introduce yourself and your business to potential customers online via your website, YouTube, Vimeo or even in your email.

Using a video, you can include your staff, provide a walk-through of your offices, show employees working and interacting, share information to potential employees, and much more. You can also show your customers how your product or service is manufactured and/or how it works.

Are you a nonprofit organization? Do you have a story to tell? Be creative. Use video to show potential donors why their money is needed and how the funds will be used.

If you have funds to put towards developing your video, research video production companies in your area. Get links to review videos they have completed before making your decision. Ask for references to contact.

On a tight budget? Think about producing the video yourself. You are not producing a full-fledged movie – but a three to five minute video. Put together a strategy and a script and then figure out who will be the “on-air” person to present your concept. Also, keep your audience in mind and develop your strategy around that.

Need a few ideas? Go to YouTube and do a keyword search to see if others have developed a video similar to what you have in mind. This will help you create yours.

Once you have your video completed, you can use a video editing program to insert text, overlays, even music. A free program on most PCs is Windows Movie Maker.

When your video is finally ready, you can upload it to Youtube, Vimeo or another video storage website. Most, if not all – come with additional editing functionality such as annotations (text bubbles that are overlaid on the video while it’s playing) and embed codes for embedding the videos on your website.

To take advantage of search engine optimization (SEO), be sure to complete as many fields as possible in the video information such as title, subtitle and/or captions, description, keywords, and category.

Use “share buttons” to share your video to Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and other social networks to which you belong.

Creating a video should be a fun project. Don’t make it too complicated. Do put together your strategy first so you can keep on track. Just don’t forget to have fun with it.