• by Maryanne Conlin , May 18, 2011

For a long time, YouTube seemed like it was a man's world, but no longer. A recent Nielsen study shows women passing men in their use of online video, and many brands are starting to get serious about using this platform to engage moms.

Last month, YouTube created a web page just to tout its own statistics and they are impressive. YouTube gets over 100 million views a day; 36 hours of video are uploaded every minute and YouTube mobile gets over 100 million views a day. But most importantly to brands is how social YouTube is. Over half of all videos have been rated or include viewer comments. That's a big number when you think about the quality and small intended viewership of a large percentage of the videos uploaded. Viewers are increasingly auto-sharing on their other social sites and embedding video on their blogs. Like the top social sites, YouTube's friend-finding tools make sharing content with your offline, as well as your online, community easy.

Maybe that's why YouTube is more and more an important part of a social media marketing strategy. If you've spent some time on YouTube lately, with your marketing hat, not your consumer hat on, you are familiar with the vast array of tools YouTube offers to the average brand, from creating actual interactive content to engage fans, to tagging and SEO options and multiple ways to drive traffic to your videos.

Sounds great, but what do moms do on YouTube? Like most of us, they catch up on their favorite shows, watch celebrity videos and watch the news. But a few trends are making it more and more likely that moms will use your content to help them address their most important issues: parenting, health and wellness. So what can you do to make the most of their YouTube experience? Here are three ideas to keep in mind when developing videos for your YouTube channel.

1. Make it personal. As we have all found out, in social media it pays to get personal. Moms don't relate to the impersonal brand image that was the standard before social media. Moms want to see the people behind the brand. In particular moms are excited about moms working on their favorite brands. So get out behind the desk and in front of the camera.

2. Make it practical. Moms are looking for solutions. Some of the most popular searches start with "How to..." Developing videos that show moms how to make their lives easier drive traffic to your YouTube channel through organic search. And don't forget, moms are aspirational. They want to see themselves ... just a little bit better, so make sure your talent mirrors what moms want to see.

3. Make it fun. Comedy, cute pets and adorable babies star in some of the top videos on YouTube and are some of the most viral in the female demographic. The goal of any YouTube channel is to keep them coming back and sharing with their friends. So, think sharing when you develop videos for your YouTube channel.

Not yet as established with marketers as Facebook and Twitter, YouTube offers a great opportunity for brands to connect with moms who love them ... or will love them once they get to know them a bit better. YouTube, is however more complex and rich than many social media sites, which of course makes the opportunity so much greater. It pays to spend a little time in front of the Tube...YouTube that is, to see how it can work for your brand.