Many of our clients are now using or exploring the use of more informal customer videos accessible through YouTube. Most have a YouTube channel—think “microsite”—just for their company.

An article was recently published on BtoB online providing some tips for getting the most out of this channel for B2B video. We especially liked these recommendations:

• Give videos a “face”
  We are huge proponents of letting customers do the talking for your products/solutions. In fact, the informal customer videos can be very compelling if done right. When you pick the “face,” be sure there’s nothing about the individual that distracts from the story. When we assist our clients with this style of video we typically arrange to listen in via speakerphone. There are usually a few key pieces of the story that our client wants to ensure come through in the video. So we offer light guidance if the customer goes off track. These videos must be no more than 3-5 minutes. Listening in also gives us an opportunity to ensure the final video isn’t a long, unwatchable dissertation.
• Be funny (on purpose)
  The point here is to make sure that there isn’t something unintentionally funny in the video which causes it to go viral and do more harm than good. That’s the job of the reference program to make sure their customers are shown in a positive light. Quirky can be fine, as long as it isn’t made fun of all over the web.

This article also contains a link to a best practices guide from Google (YouTube’s owner) that’s worth reading. And it’s only 2 pages long! Enjoy.