Last updated on June 14th, 2024
Are you a small business that’s trying to make a dent on YouTube? Is this possible? One of our clients, Steve Goers, tells you how.
Steve Goers manages the YouTube channel for Metal Rescue, a de-rusting product that’s part of the Workshop Hero suite of products. Metal Rescue is a non-toxic rust remover that is sold at Home Depot and AutoZone in the U.S. But they’re not a big business and they don’t have a big budget. And as a product in the automative and DIY categories, you wouldn’t think of that type of company being totally digitally savvy. But they are.
WHY VIDEO? WHY YOUTUBE?
Steve and Metal Rescue are making a lot of how-to videos that you how to take rust off of various products, like cars, motorcycles, bikes, antiques, toys and tools. They make YouTube one of their primary platforms because rust removal is a product that’s a good match for video. With video, like YouTube, you can demonstrate how to apply the product, show how it’s non-toxic (by putting your bare hands in it), and demonstrate the before-and-after, or this-versus-that comparisons.
THE ALGORITHM CHANGED
They were doing this well for several years on YouTube and had accumulated about 1.5 million views overall via about 160 videos. But then the algorithm changed, and their channel stalled, and they couldn’t figure out how to jump start it again, so they contacted VidAction.tv.
We worked with Metal Rescue and Workshop Hero to break down what parts of their process were delivering success for them and what parts were not. We advised them on their topics, titles, video production, thumbnails, description, launch timing, and more. As a result, they doubled their overall views over the past two years, with significantly longer watch time per video.
AN IN-HOUSE STUDIO
For their video production, they created an in-house studio and “garage set” to showcase the de-rusting of various products. The goal is to be able to shoot and edit videos quickly, cheaply, and frequently.
FINDING THE RIGHT TOPICS
When people want to solve a problem, they often go to YouTube (or Google) and type in “how to (whatever).” And this fits perfectly with a product like Metal Rescue, because it’s easy to demonstrate how it solves problems.
One key tool when deciding what to do videos about is to see what people are searching for. You can do this by making use of YouTube’s “autocomplete,” which works similar to Google’s autocomplete. It shows you the most frequently searched-for topics on a subject. We started with “How to remove rust…” and found that people wanted to remove rust from motorcycle gas tanks, engines, disc brakes, etc.
FINDING YOUR YOUTUBE COMPETITORS
But we also found out that people were looking to use free alternatives, such as vinegar, Coca-Cola, or molasses. And that videos that addressed these alternatives came up higher in search than Metal Rescue. So we decided to take advantage of this trend by doing side-by-side comparisons of Metal Rescue vs. the “free” versions, demonstrating that Metal Rescue is more effective, acts quicker, lasts longer, and was less corrosive.
Steve and Metal Rescue/Workshop Hero have made significant strides in promoting their products via YouTube. They’ve shown that YouTube can be a great way to demonstrate how to something and bring in traffic by utilizing YouTube’s and Google’s search engines. Also, while they show their product, they demonstrate their expertise about their entire category – in this case repairing, maintaining, and preserving metal products both visually and structurally. By offering free information about their category, and sharing their expertise, they have given themselves the chance to earn the customer’s loyalty, trust, and business.