Recently
PR News contacted MiniMatters for
an article they were planning about YouTube and its importance to PR. The article opened as follows:
Elissa Leif, CEO of MiniMatters Video + Marketing, has started to spend more time working on YouTube channels for such clients as the Foundation for Community and Association Research and other associations and nonprofit organizations. “A lot of what we’re doing is developing existing channels,” she said. “YouTube channels are continually evolving and if you want to look current, you have to use the features as best you can.”
The article went on to emphasize the importance of a great YouTube Channel to any organization that wants to be a powerful force in the current environment, and YouTube’s importance to PR. If you read this blog regularly you know how important we consider YouTube to be as a
place to grow your SEO,
further a cohesive brand, etc. We’ve also addressed the need to
keep up to date on new YouTube features. But until now we haven’t addressed the importance of a great YouTube channel as it relates to PR efforts specifically.
PR really benefits from a great YouTube channel
What are the key advantages of a great YouTube channel in relation to PR? Here’s a few.
- Journalists know that their articles become more attractive to online readers with references to video, and they may chose to embed or reference yours if it enhances their point.
- You can use video to help convince a journalist your story or news is compelling in the first place; video provides more scope for understanding and builds an emotional connection far more than a mere written press release does.
- Once your video appears in an article or online post, it will drive people to other videos or your great YouTube channel if you have made skillful use of annotations and linked your channel in your video’s description.
- YouTube is a great place to generate enough shares for your video that you, in effect, are in the PR driver’s seat.
- YouTube is still the easiest place for any media to grab your embed code and use it in websites or blogs (as the image shows!), or even just a link for sharing in email or social media.
A great YouTube channel is the best way to get attention for key events
What are some situations in which video is especially effective for PR?
Education Next created this video to publicize a report to which they wanted to draw wide attention.
The release of a report is a great time to create a video; it’s the kind of event that might get media attention, but adding a video on YouTube and the opportunity for people to embed it in their own blogs and websites or share it via social media can really increase visibility. There are other times you might want to release a video on YouTube as part of your PR efforts. For example:
- When you get a new CEO
- When you launch a new program
- When you win a big grant
- When you give a big grant
- When you have a major institutional anniversary
Depending on your organization,
other video platforms may have things to offer too, but having a great YouTube channel, as PR News wrote, is a key to strong PR these days.
If MiniMatters can help you with business video, fundraising video, association video, or other video production needs, we’d love to provide an estimate through our online form, talk with you at 301-339-0339, or communicate via email at [email protected]. We serve associations, foundations, nonprofits, and businesses primarily in Washington, DC, Maryland, and northern Virginia.
