How to Optimize Your B2B YouTube Channel

After Google, YouTube is the world’s second largest search engine and the second most trafficked website. This means if you're not promoting and optimizing your B2B video content on YouTube, you're missing a huge opportunity to be found by new prospects. 

Is video marketing worthwhile for your business? According to our , 96% of engineers watch some videos for work, up from 93% in 2020. 43% watch less than one hour, while another 48% watch for one hour or more. 

With more than 2 billion users, YouTube is the primary social media platform for videos — including B2B content. However, many companies discover that simply uploading videos to YouTube will not lead to channel growth or high engagement.

As with all content marketing, creating B2B videos require a robust strategy based on market research and buyer personas. Which videos are getting the most views in your field, high-level overviews of industry trends or individual product tutorials? Keep in mind that  product demo and how-to videos, and YouTube users are three times more likely to prefer watching a YouTube tutorial video compared to reading the product’s instructions.

What form(s) of content do you find most valuable when researching to make a significant work-related purchase? Please select all that apply. (n = 699)

According to , engineers find product demo videos and how-to videos as valuable content sources when they are researching new products and services.

When you are satisfied with your strategy and initial videos, you are ready to create a channel and upload content. To categorize and filter the massive amount of content, YouTube relies on bots and algorithms to review videos and descriptions - similar to the way Google uses crawlers to analyze website content. Just like Google requires us to set up meta descriptions, keywords, and alt tags to get ranked higher on search, YouTube requires channels to take similar steps for videos to rank higher.

To excel on YouTube, you must simultaneously serve the algorithm and the users. Unless your videos are labelled and described correctly, the platform will not display them to the right audience. Once you reach users, your content must attract clicks and engage them. Otherwise, YouTube will sideline the video content you worked so hard to create.

To achieve the best ROI with YouTube, use these tips to improve your channel, attract users, and appease the YouTube algorithm.

9 Ways to Optimize Your YouTube Channel

1. Fill out about us sections

Write detailed descriptions for your profile and channel to help bots and users quickly understand your business and expertise.

The Rockwell Automation YouTube channel includes a detailed channel description to help YouTube and users discover their technical content.

2. Update channel trailer

When someone visits your channel, the trailer video begins playing immediately. Make sure this video is informative, up-to-date, and relevant to your channel's tone.

3. Set up channel keywords

Discover the best keywords to use on your channel by inspecting your competitors' channels and using keyword research tools. These terms and phrases help YouTube understand the type of content you create and your ideal audience.

4. Set up playlists by topic

Avoid overwhelming your visitors by chunking content into meaningful playlists. Established playlists also help YouTube recommend related content.

5. Customize Video Thumbnails

You have worked hard to create your videos, so give them an attractive cover. Tools like Canva make it easy to create eye-catching thumbnails that boost viewership.

6. Say keywords in your video

YouTube is listening! As you create your video script, make sure to include key terms and phrases that users may use when searching.

7. Use compelling language in video descriptions

Similar to meta descriptions for websites, video descriptions often serve as the final nudge, sending someone to your content over someone else's.

NI provides a robust description for this video and includes trackable bit.ly links back to their website. 

8. Use video cards and end screens

Think about each video as a starting point. At the end of each video, direct users to additional relevant content.

9. Upload subtitles to YouTube

Go the extra mile and upload closed captions for your videos to serve deaf or hard-of-hearing viewers users as well as those who choose to watch without audio.

10. Grow your followers

Regularly produce and promote your YouTube content. Once you qualify for the YouTube Partner Program (YPP) by reaching 1000 subscribers and gaining more than 4000 valid public watch hours within 12 months, you can embed website links into your videos.

Tracking Your Growth

As with every marketing effort, it is essential to track your progress over time. The list of recommendations above should help you increase video views and engagement. However, it is up to you to run experiments and carefully measure the effects. Here are some of the YouTube metrics you should be tracking at least on a monthly basis.

• Watch Time: The total amount of minutes that viewers have spent watching your videos.
• Average Percentage Viewed: The percent of each video the average viewer watched.
• Average View Duration: The total watch time of your video divided by the total number of video plays, including replays.
• Audience Retention: The percentage of viewers who watch and leave a video. YouTube can display the departure rate for every moment of a video.
• Re-watches: The amount of times viewers re-watch certain parts of your video.
• Impressions: The amount of times your video thumbnails are shown to users on YouTube.
• Impressions click-through rate: The percent of time that users click your video when seeing the thumbnail.
• Card Click-Through-Rate: The percent of time that users click the slide-in panels promoting a desired action.

Get Started

YouTube marketing can be intimidating for B2B companies. After producing great video content, it can be tempting to throw it on the world's largest video platform and hope for the best. Seasoned digital marketers know better. By carefully crafting your channel and videos to serve both the users and the bots, you can improve your ROI with YouTube and connect with your target audience. 

Want to learn more about video marketing? Read more blogs from our video marketing series:

• 10 Marketing Videos that Engage B2B Audiences
• A Good Video Starts with A Good Script
• 5 Ways to Promote Videos to Technical Audiences

To continue learning more about about video, explore our Video Marketing Getting-Started Guide.

This post has been updated since its original publication.