Here’s your fun fact of the day: YouTube is the second-largest search engine in the world.

Here’s your second fun fact of the day: every day, people watch over five billion videos on YouTube.

That’s a lot of cat videos!

YouTube has come a long way since its humble beginnings in 2005. It’s the preeminent place to find videos on almost every topic. From makeup tutorials to car reviews, if you can think of it, there’s a YouTube video for it. Want to learn how to speak Swedish? There’s a YouTube video for it. Trying to cook the perfect creme brulee? There’s a YouTube video for it.

When we wrote that almost every topic, that begs the question…

…are you on YouTube?

As a video company, we spend lots of time on YouTube – and we think you should too. Here’s why.

Reach a Huge Audience

YouTube has over a billion active users each month.

Let’s let that sink in for a moment. One billion users.

This customer base is a huge opportunity for your small business. Let’s say that your product or service has a relative niche target market. If a potential customer is trying to find you, how are they going to do so? Does the customer have to work hard to find your business? Or can they just search on YouTube – and you immediately pop up?

Intentionally investing in video content for YouTube can open your business to literally millions of new customers.

Provide In-Depth Information to Your Customers

The average YouTube user spends over 40 minutes per day on the site. That’s a lot of time! This statistic proves that YouTube users are willing to engage with content – as long as that content is interesting and informative.

As a business owner, you can use this to your advantage. Creating in-depth, helpful videos on YouTube can position you as an expert in your field or market.

When it comes to social media sites like Instagram or TikTok, short is the name of the game. But on YouTube, you can take advantage of a longer format to really dive deep into a topic. This is a great opportunity to build trust with potential customers by providing them with accurate, in-depth information that they’re looking for.

Generate Leads – and then Link to Your Website

Have you ever finished watching a YouTube video and links appear on the screen? Maybe it’s a link to the product that was featured in the video or a link to an article that further expands on the topic. These links are called CTAs or “calls-to-action.”

As a business owner, you can use CTAs to direct your YouTube audience to your website.

According to Wyzowl, 86% of video marketers say that videos have increased traffic to their websites. And over 78% of those surveyed said that they directly helped increase sales.

By including links to your content within YouTube videos, you can easily funnel your audience to your website – and then turn them into paying customers.

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We hope this article has inspired you to start using YouTube as a marketing tool for your small business. It really is a powerful way to reach new customers, generate leads, and boost sales. So what are you waiting for? Get out there and start making some videos!