Retail Week Live: YouTube's Ben McOwen Wilson offers tips on how to engage

Ben McOwen Wilson told the audience at Retail Week Live that the key to success on the platform is to constantly innovate and drum up new ways of making an impact in a sea of content so huge that 300 hours of video are uploaded to the Google-owned website every minute.

“Everyone wants to create a bit of hero content, something that everyone is sharing… that’s incredible but it’s hard to do, it’s hard to replicate,” he said.

“Being able to connect with consumers through storytelling and staying relevant to your brand; that’s…the secret behind [going viral].”

He recommended that brands experiment on the platform to see what strikes gold with the masses.

He also advised retailers in the audience to create inspiring content and to be clear on what kind of reaction they’re gunning for.

“Make sure it’s memorable and people think about you and your brand… and that it becomes a format [viewers] can associate with your brand,” he said.

He added that discovering existing relevant conversations on YouTube and being part of that conversation were key to succeeding on the platform.

“Elements of your your brand conversation are going on in the market. [Think about] how can put yourself into the centre of that conversation,” he said.