Nowadays, marketing has completely shifted to the digital sphere. Offline marketing was once considered the primary way of spreading the word about a product or service. But today, with consumers having all the information they need at their fingertips, marketers must adapt and change their strategy to remain relevant.

Simply put, marketing in the digital sphere means using digital tools and platforms to gain attention, engage customers, and gain meaningful conversions.

So how do you go about marketing your content online? You start by identifying the type of content that will resonate most with your target audience.

What is your target audience? Let’s consider an example. If you’re an e-commerce company selling fashion items, your target audience might be female millennials who enjoy shopping online and are influenced by social media.

With your target audience in mind, you can develop content that will resonate with them. While it’s important to appeal to as many people as possible, you must focus on building a community of viewers who will engage with your content. You want your content to go ‘viral’

To best understand the viral nature of content, let’s examine the life of a typical YouTube video.

Why Does YouTube Dominate Video Sharing?

Youtube isn’t a product or a service. It’s a platform. And just like any other platform, the success of YouTube is based on three pillars: users, content, and community.

In early 2018, TikTok, one of the most popular social media platforms, surpassed YouTube to become the second largest video platform in the world. As a comparison, TikTok has around 500 million monthly active users, while YouTube has over a billion monthly active users. This speaks to how valuable and influential YouTube is.

The difference between the two platforms is fairly simple. You’ll find mostly scripted videos on TikTok, while YouTube is home to creators of all kinds, from music videos to product demos to comedic skits. These creators can and often do upload multiple videos a day, creating an ever-changing stream of content that attracts millions of viewers each week.

What’s more is users on YouTube can and often do engage with content by using two buttons below the video:

• Subscribe
• Comment

The first option, Subscribe, allows users to receive notifications when new content is available. The second option, Comment, allows users to engage with content creators in a meaningful way. More and more consumers are relying on these two options to stay close to the content they love.

How Does YouTube Enable Meaningful Comments?

YouTube’s comment section isn’t someplace you’d expect to find the most thoughtful debates about politics and current events. Instead, you’ll often find comments that are insulting, derogatory, or just plain creepy. When you combine this with the anonymity allowed by the platform, you have the perfect breeding ground for hatred, prejudice, and trolling.

But YouTube isn’t done yet. The company has been expanding the features it offers to comments, including the ability to rate content and leave ‘constructive’ critiques. Now, when you leave a comment on a YouTube video, you have the option of tagging the video’s creator in your post. Tagging helps others identify your content in their streams, while also letting the creator know that you appreciated their work.

Other platforms, such as Twitter and Facebook, offer similar incentives for users to engage with content. But the fact that YouTube offers these ‘gamified’ aspects to comments makes all the difference. In the right space, with the right kind of incentive, you can change the way people engage with content.

Why Should You Try StandOutMedia?

When you produce quality content that resonates with your target audience, you’ll naturally attract fans, followers, and subscribers. But you won’t be able to monetize your content unless you find a way to get others to pay for your work. Fortunately, there are plenty of companies that will pay you to promote their products or services.

At StandOutMedia, we believe that creating quality content is an excellent way to build a brand, attract fans, and eventually, make money. We work with some of the world’s top content creators to provide them with the proper tools to create viral content, while also educating them on the importance of monetizing that content. 

If you have a knack for creating entertaining or educational content, consider trying out our platform. Once you’re on our team, we’ll carefully guide you through the process of creating viral content, and teach you how to make money from your videos.