A YouTube annotation is a caption that is added after you’ve uploaded your video. It could be a promotional message or a link to another of your videos.
If used wisely and sparingly, annotations can work as a powerful marketing tool.
Here’s an example I set up for East Glos Club. They’ve had a promotional video on their site for some time and the club was holding an open day. >>
I simply added an annotation which appeared on the video at 00:12 seconds and again at 00:50.
It appears this quickly to ensure people see the message soon after video has started.
In this case the annotation is quite large but it was only going to be on the video for a month so we were not too bothered about this!
It is possible to make the annotations smaller to avoid the viewer becoming distracted. You can also link the annotation to another YouTube video. Below is a good example on the viral video “Charlie Bit my Finger”. They’re promoting a new video and also an iPhone app.
EDIT: If you want to get really creative, Suraj Sodha of Rapid Leverage Marketing has a great video tutorial on how to add an interactive “outro” video to an existing YouTube video.
If you need some help on adding annotations to your YouTube videos do get in touch.
Creating a YouTube channel for your business is a great way of expanding your “e-footprint” and boosting your SEO (search engine optimisation).
