Chad Hurley, founder of YouTube.com, has revealed the site is now receiving more than one billion hits a day.
Mr Hurley launched the video sharing Web site in 2005 with Steve Chen and Jawed Karim and it quickly became one of the most popular sites on the Internet. The site’s success flourished further when bought by Google in 2006 for $1.65 billion.
Speaking in his YouTube blog, Mr Hurley reflected on their original initiatives:
’We wanted to create a place where anyone with a video camera, a computer, and an internet connection can share their life, art, and voice with the world, and in many cases they can make a living from doing so,"
Using Youtube to make money or to promote a business
One such example is Lauren Luke, a 27 year old Mum from South Shields. Lauren started selling makeup on eBay in 2007 and believed the best way to market her products was by showcasing them on her made up face. A short while later, Lauren was so inundated with customers asking for makeup advice that she set up her own Youtube Channel presenting make up tutorials.
The makeup tutorials filmed in her bedroom gained over 50 million views and led to worldwide exposure. A short while later, Lauren was asked to film tutorials for cosmetics firm Barry M. Lauren now has a weekly column in The Guardian, has published a book and just launched a cosmetics line, By Lauren Luke, sold at stores worldwide.
Commercial YouTube successes
Lauren is not the only commercial success story of YouTube, as increasing numbers of businesses turn to the site as part of their social marketing strategy. Companies are posting corporate presentations, tutorials and advice in a bid to market their products and services whilst communicating with their customers beyond more traditional means.
Blendtec is one example of a company using YouTube to their advantage. Its “Will it Blend?” series on YouTube features the CEO of the company attempting to blend a number of objects in their blenders, most recently an iPhone 3GS. This simple idea communicated the effectiveness of their blender but in a fun and original manner and led to a fivefold increase in sales.
Another business utilising the power of Youtube is the San Juan Marriott Hotel who've introduced a “YouTube Concierge”. The YouTube Concierge offers guests a daily opportunity to record a 30-second video which can be uploaded to the dedicated “San Juan Marriott Live” YouTube Channel which in turn can be viewed by friends and family back at home. This gives viewers the chance to experience a snapshot of their loved one’s holiday in their luxurious surroundings.
One final example is Dell, who've cultivated a fully integrated social marketing community which encompasses not only a YouTube channel with its ‘Dell Vlog’ but also Twitter, Facebook and blogs. Dell are known to be one of the first companies to declare such a large return on investment from their social marketing, and suggest it's these strategies that have created $3 million in revenue for them.
How can YouTube benefit my business?
YouTube has proven itself to be an effective marketing tool across a variety of consumer markets indicating that as long as a business can generate interesting and original content, success on YouTube is achievable.
How you measure that success depends upon your business model, it could be that simply driving traffic back to your main Web site is enough. For others the goal may be to increase community involvement or connect more directly with potential customers.
Feel free to call us today (0845 058 9050) and chat with one of our consultants about ways your business could utilise social media sites such as Youtube, Flickr, Metacafe, Facebook, Vimeo and Twitter.
Alternatively, fill out our contact form and somebody will get back to you.