Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: If you work in the health or wealth industries and you're not thinking seriously about YouTube, then there's a very good chance that you're missing out on one of the biggest opportunities in marketing right now. YouTube has become one of the most frequent places on the Internet for consumers to learn, research and make decisions. And that includes decisions about their finances, their insurance options, and their long term planning. So today we're going to talk about why YouTube matters so much for agents and advisors. How the platform actually works and what kind of content performs well, and how AI plays a role in all of it. So if you've ever wondered whether YouTube is worth your while, then this conversation is for you. I'm David Belleville.
[00:00:40] Speaker B: And I'm Jo Barker.
[00:00:41] Speaker A: And this is the Amerilife Marketing Mentors podcast.
All right, Jo. We talk about it all the time. It's one of the platforms that we get asked most about about.
Why should agents and advisors be paying attention to YouTube right now?
[00:01:02] Speaker B: Well, YouTube is the number one video platform out there and people love to learn visually. They like to, you know, to, to research and find things out their own way. And YouTube is the spot where they go to for all of that content. So think about all those how to videos, Think about all those explainer videos. There's no better way for people to absorb and truly understand and digest information and than to watch a video where it's being broken down for them very easily and easy to understand.
[00:01:29] Speaker A: Yeah, and with more than 2,5 billion monthly active users, it's a platform that you really can't afford not to be on. Another reason to be on YouTube is because of its longevity. It's been proven time and time again that it's here to stay. It's gone through many iterations of social Media and now AI, but there's a longevity about YouTube too, that makes it a place that people trust where they're getting their information and, and it's also a great place to connect and build a community.
I also think that one of the things that makes YouTube different from most other platforms is that it's also a search engine and it's.
One of the things that makes YouTube different from most other social media platforms is that it's also being used as a search engine. So how does that change the way that people use the platform and what does that mean for marketers?
[00:02:31] Speaker B: Well, I think, you know, when we realize that YouTube is owned by Google. And so when you're. Even if you're on Google and you search something and you go over to videos, it's Most likely all YouTube videos that are coming up on there. But you're right, people do go to YouTube and they're putting in the questions and they're utilizing it as a search engine because they don't want to just read, read the answer. They want it to be explained to them or they want to see some quick videos that break it down for them very quickly, or they want to explore and they want to just go look around. And I mentioned it earlier, you know, those visual videos, they're the easiest way to digest. And so that's where you see People love YouTube and they can stay on there for hours scrolling through and learning about subjects. And it's so critical for personal brands. And so for us to be on there and to be speaking about digital marketing or AI and marketing to, you know, within our industry, it's a great platform for us to be out there and build our personal brands and, and make sure that people can put, you know, it's not a business that's, that's giving you this information. It's real people.
[00:03:31] Speaker A: And within our industry, health, wealth, when we're talking about retirement planning or financial strategies, those com, those are complex topics. So it's also a way to simplify those topics and be able to really take your time and, and explaining what people need to know. Because in a written format, that can be daunting. You know, there's words or policies, names or, you know, the list goes on and on that a regular consumer might not be familiar with. So it's also just a great way to be able to break down and simplify those complex topics.
And for the professionals in the health and wealth industries, YouTube can help build trust. That's what we're talking about right now. How can you create a community over time using YouTube if kind of all
[00:04:19] Speaker B: the content that we talk about goes back to those, you know, those key things? You know, think about those FAQs going back to those FAQs once again and just listing out the frequently asked questions that your clients ask you. And then you put them online and you put them on YouTube. When people go on there and ask those same questions, now you're getting it to a point where you're, you know, your face is being associated and your name's being associated with giving those answers ahead of time. So that's really where you can, you can take advantage of, you know, the knowledge that you have and the information that you have on what people are asking questions about. Usually if you know what they're asking questions about, you know what they're going to ask next. YouTube is that perfect experience to be able to create that whole journey for them, tell them about the things they may not even be thinking about. Like, hey, here's the top five things that people don't realize about Medicare. Before you get into Medicare, here's what you need to know that's gold to people because they, you know, they only know so much. And when you're researching, you want to learn that type of stuff. So that's where it really starts to bring in, you know, that thought leadership and, and you, you're building trust with people before you even have ever met them.
[00:05:26] Speaker A: Yeah, and that's one of the most exciting parts. By the time that you might be able to book that meeting, book that phone call, they may already have trust built in.
So that's a great point. There's also, you know, you can classify YouTube as a social media platform, but as we mentioned, it's also a search engine and a video consumption platform. It's a lot of things. I want to revisit the fact that it's a search engine one more time because as you're looking at what type of content to create, you talked about frequently asked questions. People are asking what within the YouTube search bar? Those exact questions. So if you are creating content around it, again, you're, you're positioning yourself in a way that your videos might be recommended based off of those search queries.
[00:06:14] Speaker B: And it's super critical to make sure as you're, as you're answering those questions, you're utilizing all of the SEO best practices that you would with your website.
[00:06:21] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:06:21] Speaker B: So if you're posting a video about, you know, what is digital marketing, you're gonna wanna make sure that the title of it has that question in there within the comment or the description that you have that question even in the chapters. So say it's a longer video and you break it down in the chapters. Having those keywords within those chapters is critical to make sure that people know this is relevant to the question that they're asking. So highly recommend, anytime you know you're making videos or you're making that content, make sure you're utilizing those SEO best practices so people can find your content and they know what your content is about and what questions it ties back to.
[00:06:58] Speaker A: Great point. SEO is a major part of your success on YouTube. I, I want to stay on that topic though, because there's really a few ways that someone using YouTube could stumble across your video. One is via search. So if you're utilizing those SEO best practices, you might get, you might get recommended via a search, but there's also recommended videos. And that's where you know, staying in your lane and creating content on a topic that you know resonates with your audience and doing that consistently will also train the algorithm on what type of content you regularly create and who to distribute that content to.
Jo, I also want to talk about how platforms like TikTok or Instagram Reels have entered the mix.
Video is not just on YouTube anymore. It's really dominating across social media. So what makes YouTube still so powerful?
[00:07:56] Speaker B: You know, I think TikTok's kind of in a world, you know, of its own where it's that entertaining education where it brings in the dances and it brings in like a whole level of, of entertainment with those videos. YouTube is, is that, you know, that great place for the consumption of education. And that's where you see so many educational videos and so many great videos out there that, that really tell the entire story. And, and you know, you go through some people's playlists and they are so thorough in how much content they release about certain topics and how in depth they go in those topics. YouTube is putting more and more emphasis on their shorts. And I think I heard not long ago somebody say like, you basically can't survive on YouTube without shorts anymore because it drives so much traffic over to your videos and your playlist. But that it really is that that place where people still go and spend hours a day when they want to learn something or they want to dive deep into a topic or, or they just want those quick videos. It's not those, those crazy entertaining videos that you see over on TikTok, but it is a bit more professional and a bit more, you know, to the point of those topics that you're looking for.
[00:09:03] Speaker A: You just mentioned it. YouTube shorts are just another way that people can discover you, your brand on YouTube. And it is YouTube's answer to the rise of TikTok, the rise of reels, the rise of short form video. I think oftentimes we hear from people who want to get into video creation that they don't have the time. So Jo, can we walk our audience through a simple strategy that they can utilize to take one of those long form pieces of content and turn it into perhaps a whole month?
[00:09:38] Speaker B: Absolutely. So, and I think it's, it's not a matter of not you have to find the time. It's just, you have to find the time.
Um, if, if you know that you want to reach people digitally and you want to provide content, it's critical that you find the time to, to create the content. You don't need a lot of tools. We talked to Sylvia not long ago on one of our webinars and she made it very clear she has a huge following. She uses her cell phone and a ring light. That's all. She doesn't even have a microphone. That's all she utilizes. And she creates videos every single day. But the easiest way to start out is I like to start out with one video that is a hundred percent about who you are and who you help. Very direct, very to the point. This is who I am, this is who I help, and this is basically what I do. The next video, you could do the 10 frequently asked questions that you receive. So spend 10 minutes answering one minute a piece on the 10 frequently asked questions. You create that video and then you can cut that down into 10 shorts.
[00:10:37] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:10:37] Speaker B: That all draw back to that, to that top video. So here's, you know, here's number five. Want to see all of them go back to this video. You can make it easy and set up a process for creating it. You just can't overthink it and you can't worry too much about it. I love, during that webinar, Sylvia said, you know, take the first take, like, don't overthink it, the first take. Just take it, put it out there. It doesn't matter. Just get it out there. Because you're already ahead of so many other people just by putting the content out there where there's a hundred thousand people who just aren't even ready yet and, you know, ready to take that next step.
[00:11:10] Speaker A: We talk about authenticity all the time. Nowadays people are looking for reasons to connect with another human. And sometimes just a little bit of humility and showing the human side of yourself is enough to get people to want to connect with you. So that's great. Call out to recommend that you don't need an elaborate setup. You just need a good light source and your phone to get started. But Jo, we do know that when we're talking best practices and getting visibility and views on YouTube that there are some other things to keep in mind beyond just the content of your video. We talked about the importance of SEO, so ensuring that you're using rich keywords and just putting those within your titles and descriptions. But thumbnails matter a lot on YouTube. As well. And there are, there is a bit of a science to it that we can provide some high level best practices today. Do you have any, any words that our audience should keep in mind when crafting thumbnails?
[00:12:16] Speaker B: You want to grab attention. I mean, that's the main thing. You want something that's visually appealing, that's going to make people stop. You want them to know exactly what it's about. And that's where the testing of thumbnails and the testing of different words being utilized within those thumbnails really come into play. But the more visually appealing you can make your thumbnails and the more you can make them pop in a screen where there may be 10 of them, the more you can make them pop. And utilizing keywords that make people want to take the action to go watch it, that's where it becomes very important of, you know, making sure the thumbnails match the content that you're going to be delivering.
[00:12:49] Speaker A: Right. That is so important that you're always delivering on the promise.
Human faces also matter a lot. When you're putting together a YouTube thumbnail, you, you mentioned it, it's all about capturing attention. And the best way to do that is to have a face that shows a bit of human emotion. We as a species are just programmed to look for faces and identify emotion. So if you can find natural ways to include that in your thumbnails, you, you're just giving yourself more of an opportunity to get those thumbs to stop scrolling when they're looking for content. Speaking of content, if you're an agent or advisor and you're just starting out with YouTube, how would you recommend that they begin posting content? So they've committed to just getting started.
What type of content should they be focusing on?
[00:13:46] Speaker B: So you should be focusing on anything that's going to provide value to, to your end consumer, your end target audience. So anything that you believe is, is going to be helpful to them, answering any questions that they have even going, you know, if it's a cross sell opportunity or, you know, wanting to go from Medicare to life insurance, whatever it may be, it's providing content that, that is going to be helpful and of value to your target audience. One thing I'll add about the content and the creation of content is YouTube especially.
It's not about posting four times a week, it's about being consistent. YouTube looks for consistency. And so if you post once a week and you're consistent for 13 weeks, that's gonna go a lot further than posting four times this week. And then going three weeks without another post and then posting four times again.
Consistency is key on YouTube. That's the signals that it looks for to see how often are you uploading, how often are you providing content. And it looks for those signals as it's deciding which ones to, you know, to promote more or to put out there more for, for viewing and recommendations.
[00:14:46] Speaker A: Yeah, that's a great point. I also often would recommend that you have a diverse mix of what we would call evergreen content and what, what we would call more timely, relevant content. The reason that both of these matter is because you might have a long shelf life on evergreen content that doesn't necessarily need to get remade every, every week. But if you're focusing on more on like news or information that can change from week to week, then that's just keeping you relevant and top of mind on a week to week basis. So having a diverse structure there would also help you either rank via search or rank via recommendations from the algorithm. And speaking of algorithms, Jo, of course we have to bring AI into this conversation and how can our audience leverage AI and what type of relationship does AI have when it comes to YouTube?
[00:15:43] Speaker B: So AI can be utilized in various aspects of it. It can be utilized to scrub other channels. So you could be wanting to know what your competitors are doing, you could want to know what other people are talking about so you can utilize AI as a research for you and ask it to go on, you know, onto YouTube and look up, you know, this whole list of competitors that you have and what videos have they put out with, you know, put out in the last six months and which one of them's had the most traction. So you can use it as a competitive advantage and then you can utilize AI for your content advantage. So helping you to build out those content inspiration, those content ideas, help it with you, you know, with that brainstorming, those are critical ways that you can utilize AI and AI. Again, YouTube is a part of that Google platform. So it's going to pull those YouTube videos and the thought leadership and it's going to look to at YouTube of who has the audience over there. And that's another way to get cited and to get mentioned as being one of the leaders within that industry or that talking point.
[00:16:43] Speaker A: And I think that everything that we're talking about today gets rolled up into personal branding and establishing yourself as that authority figure. And because AI is in the mix, that puts even more of an emphasis and importance on video content. Because although AI generated video does exist, and depending on when you're watching this episode, AI video has evolved very quickly as well, but it's still, at least in this present moment, a great way to confirm your authenticity with your audience and show up in a way that they know it's real and that they don't have to question whether or not something is AI generated. So it's just another reason why video can really allow you to stand out and become that thought leader, that social, that subject matter expert that people rely on. So, Jo, as we wrap up our conversation about YouTube today, there's so much more that we could dive into, and we'll continue to make sure that we do as the year goes on. What are some of the final thoughts that you want to make sure that our audience leaves with today?
[00:17:51] Speaker B: YouTube's a powerhouse. It's not going anywhere. The shorts are getting stronger and stronger, and it's a perfect opportunity if you're not, if you don't quite own your digital presence yet, it's the perfect platform to start with. Get out there, start creating the videos, get comfortable with it.
Don't worry about the likes, don't worry about the subscribers when you're just getting started. But that's a good thing because you can utilize that time to get your videos better and better and for you to get more comfortable. The whole, the whole idea is you just got to get started.
[00:18:17] Speaker A: I'm glad that you mentioned that, because that would be my final takeaway is once you do finally get started, you'll be able to start building a database and, and, and use those analytics to guide and your strategic path forward. So just get started and then learn from there. YouTube is truly one of the most powerful education and discovery platforms on the Internet. So please reach out to the Amerilife Marketing mentors if there's anything that we can do to help you consistently share helpful educational content on the platform. So for the Amerilife Marketing mentors, that's Jo Barker, I'm David Belleville, and we'll see you later, Sam.
