When companies plan their marketing strategies, they often make the mistake  of ignoring YouTube as a possible channel for lead development. Social media,  PPC and other fields are accepted as vital, but YouTube? How much marketing use  is the world’s foremost provider of cute kitten videos?

Actually, YouTube represents fertile ground for lead generation. People tend  to forget YouTube is in fact a social platform just like as Facebook and Twitter  with sharing capabilities, comments and likes as part of its features. While the  video site’s search page is now the second most popular search engine (and  thanks to Google’s acquisition of YouTube, intricately connected to the number  one search option).

Why Upload to YouTube?

Many companies choose to host their videos on their own websites instead of  uploading media to YouTube and then linking within the website. This is, quite  frankly, a mistake.

Why?

• The video adds value to your website, but only enriches user experiences if  people visit the site.
• A video hosted on your own website only gets viewed by people who come to  your site, limiting how many people find and view it.
• If you let YouTube host your videos, people are more likely to find them,  and if their response is favorable, they’re more likely to visit your site for  additional information.

Social Media Strategies and YouTube

Many of the social media strategies used on Twitter and Facebook work equally  well on YouTube. YouTube users can:

• “Like” and “Favorite” individual videos
• Leave comments
• Subscribe to channels

This much like following Tweets or Liking a Facebook page. These  features offer opportunity to engage your audience in dialogue, and not just in  the comments section. Your videos give your company a human face no amount of  tweeting and Facebooking can match, because the viewer sees and hears you. Some  videos spark video responses, offering opportunity for a very public and  interactive dialogue.

Read more at http://www.jeffbullas.com/2013/11/26/how-to-optimize-your-youtube-video-for-maximum-traffic/#LSB1b7Q3bqLuDDpS.99