Google's YouTube Strategy: 101 YouTube Channels for Three Key Reasons

What's Google's YouTube marketing strategy? Google Inc. has 101 Official Google YouTube Channels which feature videos on a wide range of topics, from product demos to visiting speakers to Google’s offices.

The company also has a network of 182 Official Google Blogs that cover topics as diverse as our renewable energy policies, product updates, developer challenges and code snippets, and information for advertisers and partners.  It has 179 Official Google Twitter Accounts covering various Google products and featuring news and updates for many different countries and regions.   The company enables users to connect with Google teams and products using 57 Official Google+ Pages.   And it enables users to get updates and connect with other Google fans on 29 Official Google Facebook Pages.

Is it a Smart Strategy for Google to have 101 YouTube Channels?

So, is it a smart strategy for Google to have as many YouTube channels as there were Dalmatians in Walt Disney’s 1961 animated film, One Hundred and One Dalmatians?

Yes, it is wicked smart for three key reasons.

1.) Market Segmentation 101

First of all, Google has multiple market segments worldwide.  So, creating 101 YouTube channels focused on different categories, languages, and regions is a smart market segmentation strategy.

If you look at Google’s YouTube directory, you’ll see that 40 channels are focused on users in different countries and regions and 18 are focused on advertisers in different countries.  That’s smart.  Why would you create just one channel for users and advertisers who speak 25 different languages?

Another 29 YouTube channels are focused on users of different products and four are focused on developers.  That’s also smart.  If you want information on YouTube, just go to YouTube’s official YouTube Channel.  Why would you force customers to search through videos on other products?

Finally, 19 of the Official Google YouTube Channels are company-wide.  That’s smart, too.  If someone wants to subscribe to Google Search Stories to be informed as soon as a new one is released, why would you make them receive updates about 18 other topics that they’re not interested in watching?

So, unless your company has only one market segment of customers, which have similar needs and demand similar products and/or services, then it makes little sense to have just one YouTube channel.

2.) 101 Tent Pegs

Second, having 101 YouTube channels enables Google to create, release, and/or package content that is themed around tent-pole events like April Fools’ Day.

Google’s tradition of perpetrating hoaxes on April Fools' Day that dates back to 2000, when the search engine asked users to “project a mental image of what you want to find” while staring at the MentalPlex circle.

In 2008, YouTube participated in Google’s April Fools’ Day tradition for the first time.  All of the featured videos on YouTube’s homepage linked to “Rick Astley – Never Gonna Give You Up,” Rickrolling viewers around the world.

This year, the company perpetrated 23 April Fool’s Hoaxes and many of them featured YouTube videos.  According to the Mashable Global Ads Chart, four of the top 100 social videos shared on Facebook, Twitter and in the blogosphere in the last 30 days were:

Google Maps 8-bit for NES with 484,578 shares.

Introducing Gmail Tap with 122,459 shares.

The YouTube Collection: The Magic of YouTube in Your Hands with 44,696 shares.

Introducing the Google Fiber Bar with 7,225 shares.

3.) Video Marketing 101

Third, having 101 YouTube channels enables a large number of Google’s 33,077 full-time employees to learn how to share a story that’s worth retelling, connect with people’s passion, and build relationships with customers at scale.

Recent examples of Google’s success in video marketing can be seen in the Mashable Global Ads Chart of the top 100 social videos shared in the last 30 days:
Project Glass: One day... with 469,557 shares.

Self-Driving Car Test: Steve Mahan with 80,892 shares.

Tour the Amazon with Street View with 14,342 shares.

Google+: There's more to explore with 7,882 shares.

Other indications that it is a wicked smart strategy to have 101 official YouTube channels can be seen in Google’s financial results for the quarter ended March 31, 2012.

“Google had another great quarter with revenues up 24% year on year,” said Larry Page, CEO of Google.  “We also saw tremendous momentum from the big bets we’ve made in products like Android, Chrome and YouTube.  We are still at the very early stages of what technology can do to improve people’s lives and we have enormous opportunities ahead.  It is a very exciting time to be at Google.”

Yes, it is.