YouTube could become an essential marketing platform in 2013.

YouTube went through many changes in 2012, as Google developed new strategies to increase user-ship and attract marketers to the platform. As Brafton reported, the online-video streaming network serves more than 800 million unique users each month, and the site showcases more than four billion hours of video content. More, users upload 72 hours of video content to YouTube every minute, making the channel an evolving and hyper-active network for brands and consumers.

In 2012, Google’s social video network made a deal with Virgin America Airlines, providing in-flight YouTube clips to passengers as part of the on-board entertainment suite. The deal put YouTube in front of a significant number of new users, and gave travelers a better in-flight experience. As 2013 develops, YouTube could improve its reach even further, and many marketers suggest professionals take another look at the site when planning this year’s video marketing budget.

Brands that publish branded content to YouTube must take into account SEO best practices and focus on keywords.

Recently, Econsultancy published a blog post that put audience targeting on YouTube into greater perspective. The source highlighted a few benefits brands can see after optimizing their channels and publishing video content to YouTube. For example, YouTube’s search function thrives similarly to how Google’s algorithms trump its competitors. Brands that publish branded content to YouTube must take into account SEO best practices and focus on keywords.

In addition to keywords, contextual targeting matches keywords with titles, tags and video descriptions, so similar media will have a higher chance of reaching leads. YouTube also offers remarketing opportunities. This gives brands the chance to put relevant content in front of consumers who’ve already visited corporate websites in the past. Through YouTube’s improved advertising capabilities, reaching and converting leads can be easy, as long as brands consistently produce high-quality visual content.

Econsultancy notes that the hardest part of developing an effective YouTube marketing campaign continues to be producing enough visual media to populate channels.

Econsultancy notes that the hardest part of developing an effective YouTube marketing campaign continues to be producing enough visual media to populate channels. Businesses slow to adopt video content as part of their content marketing campaigns should reach out to third-party services for help. Content marketing services can provide the strategy, production time and publication of branded video content regularly, which takes the pressure off of businesses with no access to specific technology, and increases lead generation opportunities through Google’s highly active social channel.

Ted Karczewski is an Executive Communications Associate at Brafton. He works to develop his own voice and apply his passions to the evolving world of SEO and content marketing, but he doesn't shy away from writing for fun. After graduating from Suffolk University, Ted used his Communications degree to test out Sports Journalism before Marketing at Brafton.