In 2015, YouTube will celebrate its first decade of existence. And oh boy, how far they’ve come since their first video at the San Diego Zoo in 2005. Today, more than 800 million people in 43 countries and in 60 languages head to the streaming video giant’s webpage every month, and despite what popular culture may lead you to believe, those people search for far more than just kitty-cat videos. Today, integrating YouTube into your global social media and online marketing campaigns is de rigueur if you plan to get your message to a wide audience.
But how do you position your company intelligently among the 48 hours of video being uploaded every day? As detailed in our newsletter article, it’s always good to start with some basic questions:
- Where in the world do you want to be?
- Where is your competition, and what are they doing on YouTube?
- Who will be responsible for creating and managing your content?
- How do you want users to find your content?
- What languages will you need? Will you dub or subtitle?
Once those questions are answered, make sure YouTube is the right choice for your regions. Streaming video spinoffs and competitors, like Dailymotion or Vimeo, may be more appealing to local audiences, especially in regions that may block access to YouTube.
Also, look at your video content and make sure the images, colors, and concepts are accurate for your global market. Ford, for example, has done a great job with this — our newsletter article has some sample clips to show what we mean.
Once ready, you can weigh the pros and cons of subtitling vs. voiceover. Your in-country partners or translation agency can help you understand the process in greater detail.
