The key to marketing on YouTube is to lead viewers from your video on the YouTube site to your company’s website—where you can then directly sell your products and services.
Include Your URL in the Video: Unfortunately, YouTube doesn’t allow live links from a video to a third-party website. You can, however, include your website address in the body of the video—and hope that viewers will remember it or write it down for future reference.
It is recommend starting your video with a blank title screen with the URL prominently displayed. You should also end the video with a similar blank screen with the URL highlighted. Make sure the URL is big and easily readable; high contrast colors, such as white text on a black background (or vice versa), provide the best results.
You should also display your URL onscreen during the main part of your video. Use your video editing program to overlay the URL across the screen. The URL shouldn’t interfere with the main content, of course, but you should be able to do it in a way that isn’t overly intrusive.
Include Your URL in the Accompanying Text: You can’t link live from within a YouTube video. Unfortunately, you also can’t include a link to your website in the description that accompanies the video. You can, however, include your URL in the text description, but just not as a live link. So when you write the description for your video, make sure you
include your URL or 800-number in the text.
Link from Your Channel Page: While you can’t include a live link in your video or accompanying text, you can
include a direct link to your website in your YouTube channel page. Anyone clicking your user name will see your channel page, with the link to your website prominently displayed. When a viewer clicks the website link, they’re taken directly to your site—where you can sell them more of what you have to offer.
Close the Sale on Your Website: The URL you point to from your YouTube video should be a dedicated landing
page. That means that you don’t point to a generic page on your site or even to your site’s home page; either approach requires unnecessary work on the part of the customer to place an order. Instead, link to a specific product page on your site, one that includes information only about the product shown in the video.
Why design a special landing page for viewers of your YouTube video? It’s simple: You want to make it as easy as possible for them to give you their money. If you just dump potential customers on your site’s home page, they could get lost. Or they might have trouble finding the product they want and give up. In any instance, you don’t want them randomly browsing your site; you want them immediately responding to your specific offer.
For this reason, your product landing page should have the same look and feel of the video so that viewers sense the underlying connection. It doesn’t hurt to include a screenshot or two from the video or even an embedded version of the video in the case the customer wants to rewatch it. The page should also include more detailed information about the product than was possible in the video, as well as more detailed product photos.
