With an estimated 1 billion users now using the platform to watch, upload and share videos, brands can no longer afford not to be using YouTube as part of their marketing strategy. However, many brands are still dragging their feet, unwilling to admit that video – and specifically YouTube – are a necessary and profitable addition to their other inbound marketing strategies.

This article will cover 10 reasons why your brand needs to be on YouTube. Please let me know your thoughts in the comments below!

• YouTube referrals drive sales

While many marketers assume video is useful only for increasing engagement, they don’t expect YouTube referrals to actually generate sales and revenue. However, according to Adobe’s Social Intelligence Report, the average revenue per visit (RPV) from YouTube is $.70. While this may not sound like a lot, this is actually more than the average RPV from Twitter and Pinterest.

• Video (and specifically YouTube) has some of the highest conversion rates

According to Shopify, YouTube has the 3rd highest conversion rates among social networking sites, taking a backseat only to Facebook and Vimeo. Video-centric sites consistently outperform most other social networks, with conversion rates of 1.16% each for YouTube and Vimeo.

• Certain industries receive a significant number of orders through YouTube referrals

While Facebook is a “must have” network for all businesses, there are certain industries that receive a significant portion of their overall orders through YouTube. These industries include:

• Digital products (47% of orders)
• Services (36%)
• Merchandise (29%)
• Automotive (26%)

If you fall into one of these categories, not being active on YouTube may be costing you more than you think.

• Videos give you a unique opportunity to tell your brand’s story

Perhaps more than any other medium, video gives you the ability to tell your brand’s story in a way that creates an emotional investment in your company. Rather than blatantly selling or promoting your products, storytelling allows you to make a real connection with your audience; it gives you the ability to passively sell your products without alienating your audience. For more on this, see my article, How To Maximize Your Marketing Campaign Through Storytelling.

• Beauty-related businesses will find an eager audience on YouTube

Makeup, beauty and grooming videos continue to see an upward trend in terms of views, likes, shares and channel subscribers. According to AdAge, beauty videos on YouTube have overtaken TV watching among some younger audiences: “The videos beauty creators are posting to YouTube have become the new TV shows for young audiences, and aggregating those channels makes YouTube MCNs (multi-channel networks) the new TV networks.”

According to Pixability, cosmetic videos dominate, making up 51% of all beauty-related videos. They also found significant growth in the overall beauty space on YouTube, with an increase of 50% from 2014 to 2015.

• Video is a top priority for marketers this year

While 57% of marketers currently use video as part of their social media strategy, 72% report wanting to learn more about it and plan to use it more over the coming year (source: Social Media Examiner).

Some of the most popular and effective ways these marketers are utilizing video include:

• Tutorials and DIY videos
• Testimonials
• Interviews
• Humor (great for getting shares)
• Product demos

With so many marketers prioritizing video this year, not using it could leave you falling behind the competition.

• YouTube is a top priority for marketers this year

Not only are marketers increasing their investment in video, they’re specifically expecting to increase their use of YouTube over the coming year. According to the 2015 Social Media Marketing Industry report, 66% of marketers plan to use YouTube more in 2015 than they did in 2014.

• Research suggests that video is far more powerful than the written word

You may have heard the “fact”, attributed to Forrester Research’s Dr. James McQuivery, that “one minute of video is worth 1.8 million words”. While this certainly seems to be a stretch, there’s no doubt that video leads to increased engagement and higher retention levels (for instance, did you know that 65% of people watch more than 3/4 of a video?).

• YouTube videos can increase your chances of ranking in the search engine results

A standard Google search is likely to produce a variety of content types: maps, shopping results, images, videos, etc. This is what is known as Universal Search. According to 2012 research from Searchmetrics, video holds a greater share of universal search results than any other medium. They also found that YouTube videos vastly outperformed other video results in the SERPs, with 8 out of every 10 video results being from YouTube. While these numbers have almost certainly changed over the past 3 years, there’s no doubt that Google-owned YouTube still dominates in terms of video search results.

• Video watchers are more likely to make a purchase than non-video watchers

In their 2014 Video Commerce Benchmarks report, Invodo reported that online shoppers who viewed videos were 1.6x more likely to make a purchase than shoppers who did not.

The report suggests the following strategies for getting the most out of your video content:

• Use strong calls to action (CTAs) within your videos, and make sure they’re prominent on your page
• Ensure your video player is SEO-friendly in order to capture search engine traffic
• Use bright and easy-to-see buttons, colors and CTAs
• Make sure your video is responsive in order to be accessible on a variety of devices

Are you using YouTube as part of your marketing strategy? Why or why not? Share below!