New Case Study: Connect with YouTube for Brand Advertising

We're excited to bring you a new case study highlighting how a telecommunications client successfully used YouTube to connect with customers and maintain its brand.

When you're a company that has been around for more than a century, you've not only been doing something right, but you also have the pressure to maintain that reputation. Enter Embarq, a telecommunications provider which started out in 1899 as the Brown Telephone Company, and continues to offer its services to customers across 18 states. How was Embarq able to continue sharing its innovations with customers and remain a strong brand in an increasingly competitive landscape? Enter YouTube.

Embarq employed a number of strategies on YouTube, including targeted display ads and a YouTube Brand Channel, and developed a video contest in partnership with the digital marketing agency iCrossing. These tactics resulted in increased viewership of its how-to videos, positive brand references on forums and blogs, and strong sales of its high-speed Internet service with the lowest cost-per-order of any campaign run during that timeframe. According to Zena Weist, manager of interactive brand strategy for Embarq:

“The results not only showed us how effective YouTube is as a marketing platform, but it also showed us what content really resonates with our audience.”

How can you also find success with brand advertising on YouTube?

1. Be where users are: advertise on YouTube. You can promote your clients' video content using YouTube Promoted Videos, which shows ads based on keyword searches. You can also directly target specific pages where you know the customers will be using text, video and image ads. The Placement Tool can help you find the right sites and easily upload them to your clients' accounts.

2. Centralize communication strategy with a YouTube channel. All users may create channels for free. Using a YouTube channel, clients can centralize video content and educate and communicate with customers in a single location. If you think your clients qualify, you may also consider creating a YouTube Brand Channel like Embarq.

3. Engage users with a contest. Contests are an effective way to engage users with your brand and increase opportunities for viral marketing. Paid advertisers may be able to run contests through the official YouTube "Contests" section.

Visit http://www.youtube.com/advertise or the YouTube Biz Blog for additional ideas on using YouTube for innovate brand advertising solutions.

Posted by Stephanie Kong, Tech Comm Marketing