The vast majority of videos on YouTube won't help you grow your business or expand your marketing thinking. And, if you upload a business-related video clip on YouTube it's very unlikely that you will reap its social reach and viral capabilities -- and generate millions, or even thousands, of views.

But this doesn't mean you should exclude YouTube from your social media marketing plans. Why? Because, relatively speaking, YouTube is an easy-to-use and stable content delivery network (CDN) with rich social media tools and embedding capabilities -- and it's FREE! Marketers can upload a video to YouTube and embed that clip into any page on their company Web site. Prospects can watch the YouTube-served video without leaving your site.

A search for "customer testimonial" on YouTube generated more than 5,000 results, including this video testimonial posted by Citrix Systems: 

Internet video testimonials are a powerful way to quickly communicate your company's value proposition in a rich and compelling way. YouTube makes it a free and easy process. And while this non social media approach may not generate lots of inbound traffic or thousands of views, it could help convert passive visitors to your Web site into active prospects...and even customers.