MBA2417 Q&A Wednesday: TikTok or YouTube? Which platform should I create content for?

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Visit Dell.com deals. Hey oh. Welcome to the Hundred Dollar MBA Show. Pump up the volume because we're here to help you build a better business with our practical business lessons. I'm your host, your coach, your teacher, Omar Zenholm and today's Q and A Wednesday where we answer a question from one of you, one of our listeners. Today's question for Q and A Wednesday is from George and he asks TikTok or YouTube, which platform should I create content for? This is a legitimate, legitimate, legitimate question because YouTube and TikTok are growing. They're platforms that are getting a lot of traffic, a lot of views and helping people build audiences. But is all engagement created equal? Which platform is a better investment in the long run and which will actually materialize and help you build long lasting relationships and turn those relationships into actual customers? We'll also explore why not do both? Is there an advantage, a disadvantage to doing both? And my personal advice on a killer strategy to make sure they both work for you. So let's get into it. Let's get down to business. I gotta be straight up from the top of this episode and let you know that I have a lot more experience building a presence, building an audience on YouTube. I built out the brand and the marketing for Webinar Ninja, our software company. On YouTube. We're able to grow that channel, monetize it and do a variety of type of content, whether it's YouTube shorts or their traditional videos. Long form, short form, workshops, smaller videos, you name it. I have less experience on TikTok, but I've done a ton of research on it and I've read a lot when it comes to what works and what doesn't on TikTok and why some people are calling TikTok a bit of a mirage. So please take this advice given this context. So I might be a little bit biased because I've had success with YouTube and really believe in it. But let me back it up with some science, some evidence, some information to allow you to understand why I believe that YouTube is the place to build your audience. We're not going to throw TikTok away, but let me explain how we're going to use it in a bit. But why YouTube? First of all, YouTube has been in the game for far longer than TikTok. There is an existing larger audience in YouTube with more watch time. Next, YouTube is backed by the most powerful Internet company in the world, Google. They got a ton of information. They know exactly what works. Their algorithm is probably the best in the world when it comes to any kind of media, social media or otherwise. So you have that going for you. Third, YouTube is actually built for creators. What does that mean? Well, it means that the whole system hinges on the fact that they need creators to put out great content and have people watch it so they can make money with ads. They're a video platform first, a content machine first and then a social network maybe second, maybe even third, because you can also like rent movies and watch content. Live streaming with YouTube, TikTok is more of a social media app. It's kind of like Instagram reels, but only that. And then it's a video platform. It's very hard to search on TikTok. It's not really built for that. You can, YouTube is great for that. So you can easily be found. So that's another great point. It's probably my fourth point is that the searchability to be found, your content to be found on YouTube is great, not only on YouTube, but when you search on Google, your videos will show up in index in a much prominent position than any other place. Next, if you want to make money, if you want to start monetizing or start grow your show and make money off ads, YouTube is the gold standard when it comes to content and monetization. Every platform is trying to emulate YouTube, whether it's X Right now with, you know, formerly Twitter trying to get into this space, whether it's Instagram trying to lean on their influencer marketers, YouTube just has really nailed it on monetization. And that's why the best creators create for YouTube. The quality of the videos is just better on YouTube versus other platforms because the best get paid. Lastly, and this is the most important point and I'm going to go deep on this. Yes, there's YouTube shorts with, you know, these short videos, but most of video consumption is in the 10 minute mark. That's the sweet spot. You'll notice that most YouTube videos are around 10 minutes because that's the sweet spot between retention and view time and making sure that their viewership gets good enough, gets good enough content. But also YouTube gets rewarded and sees that, hey, a lot of people are watching your videos and watching watch time or watching a lot of minutes on your channel and therefore they're going to send you some ads. Why is this important? Because in order for you to build a relationship with your audience, you need some time. You need some time for them to get to know you and to build a relationship and build rapport and for them to go back and forth with you in the comments and for them to subscribe and wait for the next one to come out. YouTubers are celebrities. YouTubers are characters. YouTubers are people that are seen as heroes in the creator space. You could be on TikTok for 3, 4, 5 hours and you can't really remember all the content. You can't remember some of the content, maybe even any of the content. But with YouTube, you might be there on for 30 minutes and you are fully aware and you remember everything you've watched because you've gone deep with those creators and you need to have that relationship if you want to build an audience that's strong and that will eventually buy from you. Remember, we're a business, we're trying to sell products and services. And in order to do that, I got to build trust with that audience. In order to build trust, I got to spend time with them and they got to spend time with me. And that doesn't happen with short spurts of information. It's great for numbing, you know, content and just wasting time for the viewer. But it's not a real investment and you want people to invest. And that's what YouTube's all about. I always felt this way and actually heard Mark Manson, who is the author of the Subtle Art of Not Giving an F and he's all in on YouTube he has a great YouTube channel and he talked about this recently in an interview and I was like, man, this is exactly what I've been saying and this is why I like podcasting, is because I have enough time with you in 10, 15, 20 minutes to really be able to build a relationship. And that becomes compounded. It's a compound interest. The more time that goes on, the more you build that trust. 20 minutes stacks into 40 to 60 to 80 to two hours. You get it and before you know it, they're in love with what you got to offer and they trust you and therefore they check out what you're all about. And that leads me to the next point when it's time to check out what you're all about, to see what products and services you offer, to see more information, or to sign up for your newsletter even. It's so much easier with YouTube with video descriptions. You can hyperlink, it's easy to find, you can put as much content as you want. You're not limited to number of characters, it's not buried under the video. You have to click click on the video to show it and all that kind of stuff. The platform is built for interaction, for people to click, for people to comment. You can even have people donate to your channel and get special benefits, gas, snacks, tolls. This trip is draining my wallet.

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So does this mean that you should just go all in on YouTube and forget about TikTok? No here's my strategy when it comes to leveraging TikTok to grow your YouTube. Now you want to see this as a marketing funnel. The top of the funnel, meaning where you're going to try to get as many people as possible, is TikTok. Now, TikTok is great because they will send your video and show your video over and over to people and it's a great way to kind of reach the masses. The middle of your funnel will be your YouTube channel and then the bottom of the funnel is your actual website where they sign up for your newsletter, you capture email, and then you're able to market and sell to them. So you're going to create content for YouTube, create great videos. Let's say you create eight minute videos, you have some great bits in that content. Now you're going to take that content and you're going to cut it up into vertical videos. You're going to do two things with them and you could take this eight minute video and maybe chop it up into six different vertical videos and you're going to post it on TikTok. And you can use all the best practices when it comes to posting on TikTok. And that's a different lesson for a different day. But the point here is, is that you're going to use this content to drive traffic to YouTube. So you should definitely make that the call to action. Say, hey, to learn more, to watch the full video or to learn more on this topic, click the link below or click this link on the screen and make it a pretty link that Forwards to your YouTube channel. Pretty link means it's short and easy to understand. Maybe it's like your website/YouTube, so like 100mba net/YouTube so people can remember it and they can go to it. And basically you're taking people that love your content and sending them to YouTube so they could subscribe. They can go deeper with you, watch the full video, you can get paid with monetization, all that stuff. You're going to do the same thing with these vertical videos, these reels, and put them as shorts on YouTube. Shorts are great because it's taking newcomers on YouTube, people that are opening on their app on their phone, because when you open the YouTube app on your phone it defaults to shorts and they're going to learn quickly about what you're all about and then you're going to again, call to action. Follow my YouTube channel, go to my YouTube channel, subscribe. It's going to be even easier with YouTube because they're already on your video, they can just click on you, your avatar, and they can subscribe to your channel or they can watch the full video. You can link to the full video right then and there in the video. So you're using TikTok to drive traffic to YouTube and then you're going to then have them on YouTube, you're growing them on YouTube, you're making sure that you're nurturing that audience. And then here and there you gotta have a call to action to send them to your website so they can sign up to your newsletter. Your whole job with YouTube is to get people to get to your website and join your mailing list.

Why?

Because if you have their email, then you can contact them. You can send them great information. You can, you can send them great articles, more great videos. You can then give them offers and sell your products and services. So give them a reason to go to your website, whether it's a freebie, an opt in, a content upgrade, a workbook, a cheat sheet, something so that they can go ahead and give their email. That then leads into your email marketing funnel where you then be able to turn them into customers. Cha ching. And there you have it. You have a great little funnel going on. Now, a little bit of warning. TikTok has inflated numbers, meaning you might get videos that you'll realize, oh My gosh, my TikTok video got a hundred thousand views, three hundred thousand views, a million views, not uncommon on TikTok. You might think you're in the next sensation in your market. You might think that you're going to go viral and you're going to be a celebrity tomorrow. You got to take it with a grain of salt. People watch more videos on TikTok. People scroll and thrum through. That's a view. So it's all relative. So a million views on TikTok is kind of like a thousand views on YouTube because you have to intentionally click on the thumbnail on YouTube to watch the video. You're fully engaged now. This is the actual YouTube videos, not shorts. Shorts kind of functions like TikTok. But keep that in mind. Don't just follow along, be like, oh my gosh, TikTok is blowing up. I got millions of views on each of my videos. That means I should go all in on TikTok. If you want to build deep relationships, if you want to be able to build a connection with your audience so you can capitalize on that connection and serve them and make sure you give them what they need and learn from them and build products and services that they'll love, then you need more time. Okay? You need more time and that's why longer form. Not saying, you know, a two hour documentary, but a longer form video format is going to be better. Thanks so much for listening to today's episode. And thanks, George for your question on Q and A Wednesday. If you got a question you want to ask, go ahead and email me over@omar mba.net and I'll make sure to answer it right here on Q and A Wednesday. Are you a subscriber to the show? Have you hit follow on your favorite podcast app? Go ahead and do that. It's absolutely free. By doing that, you get our next episodes automatically, but you also get access to over 2,400 episodes. 2,400 lessons in our back catalog. The only way to get access to the back catalog is to go ahead and hit follow or subscribe on your favorite podcast app right now. Whether you're using Spotify or Apple Podcast or Overcast or whatever you're doing right now. To listen to this podcast, make sure you hit follow. Thank you in advance for doing that. Before I go, I want to leave you with this. Creating video content is a big commitment. It takes a lot of work. Lighting, cameras, editing, publishing descriptions. There's a lot that goes on here. So it's a good question to ask. Where do I invest my time? And that's why I like to always go with what I know works and has been tried and true and rewards hard work and great creation. And for me, that's you too. Make sure you get a good return on that hard work and investment. Thanks so much for listening and I'll check you on Friday's episode. I'll see you then. Take care.

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