YouTube’s Skillful Self Promotion Makes It a Facebook Powerhouse [VIDEO]

This post is part of the Killer Facebook Pages Series, which highlights the top brand pages on Facebook and provides tips on how to emulate their successes.

YouTube is the most popular destination for online videos. The site has become an integral part of pop culture, jump-starting careers and positioning itself as a hotbed for brands.

YouTube is the third most followed page on Facebook, clocking in more than 60 million fans.

As one might expect, YouTube’s page on Facebook is mainly filled with videos. And the company is extremely good at posting the type of videos on the social network that its fans love to share around.

The power of celebrity videos

On a video featuring Bieber and Jimmy Fallon from June 16, 2,283 people hit the ‘like’ button and 781 left comments. A post linking to recently deceased Beastie Boys member Adam ‘MCA’ Yauch received 8,734 likes, 860 comments, and 568 shares. The page showcased Shakira’s new music video, garnering 890 shares, 340 comments, and 3,345 likes. 

Items that mention celebrities is more likely to be shared, according to NewsCred. Fans are prone to following brands that affiliate with celebrities as well.

Two studies by Nielsen and Brand Affinity Technologies found that “64 percent of adult U.S. Internet users who follow a celebrity also follow a brand,” writes Jason Hahn of Digital Moses Confidential.

More than 24 percent of fans will post their opinions on Internet content, and, in general, are “a lot more likely to comment/post on social networking sites, view consumer-generated video and visit a social networking site than the average Internet user,” he says.

As Hahn points out, “As much as some of us might hate to give them even more attention, it’s clear that celebrities can do wonders for online brands and campaigns.” It’s certainly been a plus for YouTube.

Leveraging the site’s most-viewed content

YouTube effectively translates the popularity of videos on its own server to the Facebook network. The brand takes what has proven to be a hit amongst people on its site, posting the content on the fan page.

On June 12, the page linked to the video “10 Bets You Will Never Lose,” which has more than 5 million hits. It’s no wonder that the post saw more than 2,500 likes, 474 shares, and 321 comments.

“Issac’s Live Lip-Dug Proposal,” a video with more than 14 million hits, was put up on the YouTube fan page wall at the end of May. The link received an astonishing 21,454 likes and 1,971 comments.

The positive feedback and high engagement on YouTube’s fan page are results of excellent marketing. Like mega-corporation Disney, the video site leverages its own content, creating more content off of it. YouTube milks the content until it’s dry, giving fans the trending videos they crave. In turn, it sees the type of engagement any brand fan page would strive for.

Uploading with the calendar in mind

YouTube, like some of the best content marketers, follows an editorial calendar that helps produce a narrative throughout the year that fans can relate to.

On June 10, fans were treated to video of lazy walruses. Along with the video, the company said, “Wishing you a lazy Sunday. Yawwwwn.” Over 4,800 people liked it, and nearly 600 commented.

The video “Date Night Rube” was posted on Feb. 13, in line with Valentine’s Day. This resulted in 9,560 likes and 1,101 comments, despite it not even having viral status.

When people are in the holiday spirit or need a pick me up on a Monday, they will be inclined to comment on, like, and share videos. YouTube’s use of the editorial calendar is a big part of its success.

YouTube’s fan page is impressive because, above all, it’s constantly promoting its website. Fans usually don’t react well to promotional behavior on social media from companies, but YouTube gets it right. It just proves that YouTube’s content connects with people, no matter where it appears.