How the “Empty Restaurant Effect” is Killing Your Youtube Marketing Plans
Have you ever been to a new city or town and passed by an empty restaurant? If you’re like most people, you probably would not enter and eat at that restaurant.
You’re from out of town. You don’t know the quality of the food of that restaurant. All you have to go on is the obvious fact that there are no people in it right in the middle of lunch time.
Now, imagine yourself walking near a restaurant that has a line of people stretching all around the block. What kind of impression would you get in that situation? Chances are, you probably would line up yourself. You want to know what the big deal is about.
Welcome to the world of social proof…. or lack of it!
We place a lot of importance on how other people behave around businesses, online content, or brands. Social proof is crucial to effective marketing.
Sadly, too many YouTube content producers and marketers in businesses using video marketing are clueless about this.
They don’t bother with social proof and their Youtube channel and brand suffer as a result.
Why Your Videos are not Getting Traction
If you’re using video to promote your business and you’re unable to pull traffic with your videos, it may be because of social proof. More specifically, lack of social proof.
When people look at your webpage, a lot of them click the YouTube icon. They want to see your video on YouTube. When they do this, they see the total number of views your video has. If your video only has a few views, what kind of impression do you think that gives to people?
When people stumble upon your video through YouTube searches, what kind of impression do you think they will have about your business and your brand? Your lack of social proof may be killing your YouTube marketing initiative.
It doesn’t matter how well-made your videos are. It doesn’t matter how otherwise compelling your marketing message is. People don’t care about the fact that your local business is some sort of institution.
What too many prospective new customers from YouTube mostly care about is your social proof. That’s the only thing they have to go on. But if you only have a few hundred views, your brand looks neglected, if not downright amateurish.
You CAN Do Something About Social Proof
You can increase your social proof. There are many legitimate ways to increase the number of likes your video gets, as well as the number of views it has.
With everything else being equal, we suggest that you boost your views first, and then work on getting a lot more likes and comments. We can provide you with the crucial social proof signals you need to make the right kind of impression.
Remember: You Only Get One Shot at Making a Good Impression
I hate to break it to you, but when people find you through search engines or through YouTube searches, you only have one shot at impressing them. Don’t blow that chance with a low view, no engagement video.
Social Media Success is Not About Quality
If I haven’t been clear before, let me spell it out for you: your social media success on YouTube and elsewhere has less to do with your content quality, and more to do with social proof.
You have to position the content that you have put together the right way. This means making sure you make a good impression the first time around. You’re not going to look credible or authoritative when it looks like nobody cares about your content.
Fact: YouTube Marketing is Extremely Competitive
It doesn’t matter what niche you’re in, if you don’t know what you’re doing, you will get eaten alive. You spend all this money putting together beautiful videos, but you might as have flushed that money down the toilet if nobody wants to click on and view your videos.