The vast majority of YouTube videos have only a handful of views. But when you learn how to promote YouTube videos the right way, you can get the kind of traffic that seems reserved for the industry giants.
In a day and age where we’re spending up to six hours per day consuming video, the writing is on the wall: you need to appeal to your customers’ binge-watching tendencies.
Regularly Publish Your YouTube Content to Social Media
Video content is incredibly successful on social media in terms of engagement and performance. Knowing this, take advantage of this and regularly promote your YouTube channel to your social followers to encourage them to subscribe.
When you publish a video, make a point to let your followers on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, etc. about your new content. Try creating short previews and snippets of your video for each social platform that directly link to your latest post.
It can be helpful to create a posting schedule to stay on top of your promotion strategy. It’s also a good idea to monitor your analytics so you can become familiar with when your social audiences are most engaged with your brand.
Embed Your YouTube Videos On-Site
It might not seem like it, but some of the best places to promote your YouTube channel are outside of YouTube itself. Video content has been proven to improve conversion rates on-site. If you want visitors to stick around on a product page or blog post longer, embed one of your videos. Not only will your website benefit from the extra content, the video serves as an invitation for your webpage viewers to check out your YouTube channel.
Cross-Promote Your Videos on YouTube
If you have an audience on a social media platform, they are ready and willing to become loyal subscribers on your YouTube channel- if you go about introducing it the right way.
Chances are that you’re covering similar topics on your YouTube channel that you’ve introduced on your social channels. To squeeze more out of your older content and generate excitement about your newer videos, make it a point to cross-promote your videos when it makes sense.
As an example, you can include a link to one of your videos within a social media post or in your bio. Encourage your audience to check out your channel with a call-to-action. By teasing your established fan base on other social media channels with hints about something new to come on your YouTube channel, you’ll be able to take full advantage of everyone that’s engaged with your brand.
Once you’re live, try creating a special series that your audience can come to expect and look forward to from you. You can also create special hashtags for your videos and social posts to stay organized and encourage your followers to stay engaged.
Customize Your Thumbnails
One of the simplest yet effective tactics to promote your YouTube channel is to create custom thumbnails. Think of your title and thumbnail as a sort of one-two punch to grab a viewer’s attention.
As you may know, YouTube automatically grabs a screenshot from any given video and uses it for the thumbnail. Unfortunately, these images are typically blurry shots of you adjusting the camera or transitioning.
Not a good look, right?
Using custom thumbnails will make your videos look more appealing at a glance and signals a certain sense of professionalism. When creating thumbnails, try to use a particular font and style to make it more consistent and on-brand.
Engage With Your Followers
One of the best ways to ensure that your promotion efforts are a success is to always engage with your audience directly. Never underestimate the value of this step. While it seems simple, it’s easy to overlook and can be a tedious task when there’s a lot to do.
Whether it’s directly on YouTube or on another social media platform, make sure that you’re responding to people’s comments quickly. Try to start a conversation with your audience instead of simply thanking them for their support. Ask if there’s something they would like to see in your next video or if they have any suggestions for improvement.
Collaborate With Other Creators and Brands
Some of the most successful YouTubers have grown their following by collaborating with other users. Each collaboration is an opportunity to be introduced to a new audience. Beyond that, these new viewers are more likely to subscribe to your channel because you’re working with a content creator they already know, like, and trust.
However, the key to a successful YouTube collaboration is finding the right partner. By collaborating with content creators that share similar passions as you, your content will come off as authentic.
When in Doubt, Ask for Engagement
Sometimes simply asking for engagement is the best way to get the results that you’re looking for. After all, not everyone who enjoys your video is going to directly show their support. Especially if you’re an up-and-coming channel, there’s no shame in asking for some engagement directly. In fact, asking viewers a question to answer in the comments or to check out another video are common ways to keep the engagement rolling.
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