Education Through Experience: YouTube
Liam Hauck — November 14, 2020
Throughout the course of the Fall 2020 COVID-Online semester at the University of Montana. I had assignments in my Integrated Online Marketing class such as creating a podcast, writing a blog, doing a product review on YouTube, and reaching out to business professionals for interviews. My instructor, Mario Schulzke, gave the class the autonomy to cover topics for these assignments that were interesting or important to us. For me, that often meant using the topic of sports card collecting, a hobby that I’m personally interested in and involved in. As a marketing major, over the course of this semester, I’ve noticed a reoccurring topic being brought up by professors and guest speakers. Companies consider it a valuable asset for an applicant/employee to be able to understand and apply analytics. Data-driven marketing is critical for the future growth of a company. My first experience with analytics occurred during the blog assignment in the Online Marketing class, where I had decided to write a blog post on the investment and hobby of sports cards. Mario had us utilize Google Analytics to track how many views we were getting on our post, what the main traffic sources were, how long the average read time was, etc. Exploring Google Analytics fascinated me, and it didn’t take long for me to realize why understanding analytics is a valuable skill to have on one’s resume.
A couple of months later, I’m still partaking in the hobby of sports card collecting but I’m starting to feel burnt out. As a kid, I collected cards but had stopped many years ago as life got in the way. I got back into the hobby at the beginning of the year as many people did due to the excitement surrounding the 2019 NBA draft class. The hobby also experienced a “boom” as money poured into the hobby and “flippers” or “scalpers” starting buying up all the products to make a quick buck, making finding sports card products at retail stores nearly impossible. I started engaging heavily in the hobby throughout 2020, even stopping in at a card shop in Melbourne, Australia during my study abroad experience. But towards the end of the year, I was once again starting to feel the same burnt-out energy that made me stop collecting as a kid. So, I had an idea. In order to give me a sense of purpose in the hobby, I decided to create a YouTube channel that was dedicated to the topic of cards. I went out to Walmart and purchased a ring-light for $15 that had a phone tripod attached and I was ready to go! Being that I live in Montana, I appropriately named my YouTube channel “Grizzly Cards”. This name being especially fitting as recently there have been 10+ reports of bears being on the University of Montana campus in the last couple of months. The sense of purpose I wanted to feel was not the only reason I decided to create the channel. The primary reason I wanted to create the channel was to get experience using Google Analytics. I want to not only understand Google Analytics but be capable of implementing effective change (in this case more views) based on the feedback I receive from the analytics. For the purposes of this report, I will be using myself as a case study and looking at my experiences with YouTube/Google Analytics and how I can apply that to a career in marketing.
I feel like many college students, as well as people in general, assume that the diploma that they hang on their wall, the short internship they get, or the LinkedIn course they take will be what sets them apart from the competition. While that may sometimes be the case, I want to gain actual experience working with the thing that so many have said companies value. My first video was published on November 3rd, and as of November 14th, I have 10 videos uploaded, 423 views, 22 subscribers, and 53 likes. I study the analytics of each video I post, trying to figure out how I can improve on my next video. I pay attention to the average view duration, to try to better understand where I might be losing people. The traffic source is another analytic I pay close attention to, currently the majority of my views come from direct YouTube searches. This is a good indicator as it means that my content is relevant to an audience that is seeking out a specific video, rather than my videos simply being part of the YouTube “rabbit hole”.
For the purposes of exemplifying some of the skills that can be developed by creating content on YouTube, I did a quick Google search. I searched “Top 10 Skills Needed by Marketers Today”, and as many of us do I looked at the first result[ https://www.ironpaper.com/webintel/articles/top-10-skills-needed-by-marketers-today/]. Five of the top 10 skills needed were a solid grasp of analytics, the ability to communicate clearly, the ability to tell a story, experience with contemporary digital platforms, and continuous learning. These are all skills that are for the most part not taught by universities and are the skills I hope to develop while creating content that contributes to a hobby I enjoy. I took the initiative to seek out a way to develop these valuable skills all before I had the confirmation bias of looking at that first Google search.
Videos are more important than they ever have been in relation to marketing. Surveys have shown that 77% of marketers who used video marketing saw an increase in revenue and 60% of marketers believe video marketing is necessary to stay relevant overall (https://www.convinceandconvert.com/social-media-research/video-is-now-the-most-desirable-skill-in-marketing/). Additionally, consumer preferences are changing as well. Data shows that 6 out of 10 people would rather watch online video content than television (https://biteable.com/blog/video-marketing-statistics/). This is an indicator of consumers wanting to have more control over the content that they are viewing. The same preferences likely apply to video marketing as well, consumers will want videos that cater to their consumer needs. Rather than a random television commercial that interrupts their show. Not only are consumers becoming more preferential towards online video content, but many consumers seek out YouTube product reviews or other types of video reviews before making a purchasing decision. Along with being a preferred media platform, YouTube is also extremely accessible worldwide. YouTube offers videos in many languages as well as subtitle options which make YouTube accessible to people across the globe. There is no better teacher than real-life experience, it’s a cliche thing to say yet at the same time it is very true. Real-life experience that I can apply to my career in marketing is what I hope to achieve through having a YouTube channel. As Mario said in one of his lecture videos, YouTube is an example of an audience-building activity. Having a career in marketing is all about building and retaining an audience, or a customer base. As a marketer, one must be able to analyze and understand their audience's perception of the product or service that the company (or YouTube channel) offers.
As seen below, the number of views on my videos are a bit staggered. As I figured out how to make a good video, my views started to grow from Video 1–4, however, between Video 5–7, there was a significant decrease in the number of views I was getting. So, I analyzed what was most effective in my videos so far based on the data I was getting from Google Analytics and I decided to make a new kind of video. I made a giveaway video for a random team spot in a basketball card box break that I will be doing (meaning that the giveaway winner will receive any card that comes out of the boxes that are for their randomly chosen NBA team). Viewers are only eligible to be entered into the giveaway if they subscribe to my channel, then also like and comment on the giveaway video. This not only helps me grow my YouTube audience, but it also allows my channel to provide value to my viewers that isn’t only informational. I will admit that I was uneasy about doing this giveaway video, I remember thinking to myself, “What if it doesn’t get the results that I want?”. But then I thought about the concept of “failing fast”. So, I decided to go ahead with the giveaway video with the mindset that if I failed, I was going to fail fast and move on to the next audience-building strategy.
Marketing is all about creating, communicating, and providing value to consumers. In my YouTube channel, the creating part is the easiest aspect of those three parts of marketing. All the creating part involves is publishing videos on a regular basis. The communication aspect of my YouTube channel takes a bit more creativity, it involves the dialogue of my current experiences in the trading card hobby. Then the final part, which is the most important to my channel is providing value to the viewers of my videos. This involves providing recommendations, expertise, being a reliable source of information, and sometimes simply doing giveaways. In the hobby of sports card collecting, many collectors rely on YouTubers in order to get a “first look” at new products. This trend also seems to apply to the general American consumer as 2/3 of shoppers say that online videos have given them inspiration for their purchases (https://www.thinkwithgoogle.com/consumer-insights/consumer-trends/product-review-video-watch-time-statistics/). Data from the same source also indicated that 75% of shoppers surveyed had used a Google product to assist their purchasing decision, meaning either Google search or YouTube. Many of the same things that make a marketer successful are what I’m trying to apply to my YouTube channel as I try to grow a following. As Al Ries and Jack Trout describe in The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing, “All that exists in the world of marketing are perceptions in the consumer or prospect”. I want the viewers of my channel to have the perception that I am making videos because I want to learn from the process and I enjoy it. But I also want them to know that there is value for them in the content I’m making.
When I graduate in the Spring of 2020 and go on to get my first marketing job interview (hopefully soon after). I will highlight my YouTube channel, which by then would hopefully have gained more traction. I will highlight it during the interview as not only showing video skills and an understanding of analytics but highlight the channel as showing my ability to brand myself online. Why should a company hire me to help them brand their products if I’m unable to present how I’ve branded myself successfully? Seriously? Why would a company want someone to help them increase their brand value when that person can’t create value from their own talents? According to jobbatical, despite the pandemic, in 2020 there has been a talent shortage and 72.8% of employers are having a difficult time finding professional candidates with the skills they are seeking out (https://jobbatical.com/resources/hiring-statistics). Now, because of personal schedule conflicts, deciding to study abroad, and COVID-19 I won’t be getting to do an internship before I graduate, which was something that I had hoped to do. So, when I’m in a job interview and the interviewer asked a question such as “What did you do during COVID shutdowns?”, I can say several things. I can say that I spent the majority of my Australia study abroad experience online at home in Seattle where I earned my highest GPA ever, I learned how to play guitar and started practicing archery (two separate skills, not at the same time), and I started a YouTube channel to contribute to the hobby that I love and to develop skills in video/data-driven marketing. You have to be able to market yourself before you can market for a company, it’s that simple.
While there are many positive correlations between marketing and developing skills through a YouTube channel. I think that it is important to be able to create something that you as an individual can own and say “I did that!”. A successful person isn’t afraid to fail, they know that their goals in life aren’t going to be handed to them, and they have something to offer rather than just taking. A person can develop a successful lifestyle and mindset when they get out of their comfort zone, learn by doing, and become confident in themselves. But also remember this, success alone likely won’t give you a happy life. Purpose-driven success is what allows for happiness to derive from success. This is why when I was getting burnt-out from collecting sports cards I decided to find a new purpose in making YouTube videos. Since then I have enjoyed engaging in the hobby, possibly more so than I ever have. I want to be successful, as a YouTuber and later on as a marketer, but I want it to be a purpose-driven success.
Being skilled at video marketing, knowing how to successfully brand, and understanding data analytics are all valued highly. Through creating video content on my YouTube channel and cultivating a following, I hope to develop those skills that I just mentioned so that I can easily sell myself at a job interview. I would encourage any soon to be college graduate to seek out a way that they can develop a skill through real-life experience that will be considered valuable to a company. Technology and social media platforms are continuously changing and the demand for people with knowledge on how to operate said technology is ever increasing. YouTube is just one of the platforms that can help to develop a valuable skill. The chart below displays the number of downloads in millions by app. Along with YouTube, having skills that relate to TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat are all highly desirable.
I’m not yet sure what industry I’d like to have a career in marketing in. But I’ll be going into my job search, as all soon-to-be college grads should, with the mindset that I’ll get my foot in the door where I can and learn from there. If I can directly apply the skills that I’m learning through my YouTube channel to my career that would be awesome! But, if it doesn’t have a direct correlation to what I’ll be doing and I just use it to set myself apart from other candidates I’m okay with that too. To summarize all that I’ve said, data-driven is the future of marketing, marketing is all about perceptions, find a way to pave your own path to stand out from the competition, and whatever you do, I hope that there is a purpose that will allow for your success and happiness to coincide.
