Expand Your YouTube Followers in 5 Steps
April 3, 2019
YouTube is one of the largest social spaces in the world, second only to Google in volume of searches. More than 1-billion users, it accounts for 1/3 of all internet users on the planet. This is huge to digital marketers, widening your scope for potential leads and a greater audience base.
Joining YouTube is easy and free, once signed up you can post and edit videos, follow other YouTubers, and have people subscribe to follow your channel. The site offers viewer engagement via comments, as well as a sharing tool to send a favorite video by email or social media.
YouTube has all the potential for a winning marketing tool, but how do you get the followers to make it count? We’ve compiled a list of 5 tips for gathering users to your YouTube channel.
1. Give Viewers What They Want: It’s easier said than done, but with a little market research you should be able to determine what your target audience wants to see. Based on age, location, gender, and interests, your company can successfully create and stream videos which appeal to your market.
YouTube has changed their algorithm over the years to weed out spam accounts. Instead of basing their video ranking system on number of views, they base it on engagement. Much like Google, YouTube aims for user happiness over other factors. It’s important to them as a brand to build a site gives user what they want. To do this, they reward video publishers who create and share content the user-base wants to see. Content quality is the crucial step in engaging your viewers. A well-presented, interesting and visually exciting video is sure to get noticed.
2. Shout Out to Viewers for a Follow: At the end of your video include a short call to action by reminding viewers to like, comment, and subscribe below. This will get you noticed, and in turn begin to build your followers. The CTA shouldn’t sound too much like an advertisement but more like an invitation. Yes, you’re a business, but you also care about what your viewers think and you want them to continue watching.
Users want to be where other users are hanging out. So, if you can get engagement and others see it, you’re more likely to build a strong loyal band of followers. The more likes, comments, shares, and subscribers a video gets, the more users are going to stop and take notice of your account. Sure, some users don’t care about popularity, but many are more apt to trust a profile with a large quantity of users already attached.
3. Create a Thumbnail Which Represents Your Video Well: The thumbnail you choose to represent your video could be the difference between 1,000 views and 10 views. The picture should be clear, bright, and interesting, depicting something relevant to the video. For example, if your video is about visiting a candy store, a bright shot of a bin filled with assorted candy is a great thumbnail; a blurry shot of your hand reaching toward the bin isn’t.
Keep in mind, you may know what the thumbnail is referring to, blurry or not, but viewers who have yet to view the video don’t. They’ll be less inclined to click a blurry hand than a sparkling mountain of goodies; just some food for thought.
4. Titles and Keywords Matter: As with any content you publish, keywords make a difference to your viewership. You may think posting a video makes text content less relevant, but this simply isn’t true. Viewers almost always read what a video is about before clicking it, even if it’s only the title they glean this information from. Therefore, it’s crucial that your title tells them what they’re about to see in the catchiest of ways.
Being specific in your title helps paint a picture of the video to come. This combined with your thumbnail will urge viewers to check it out. For example, a plumbing company posting a video about unclogging a sink drain shouldn’t use a vague title like, “Plumber at Work”. Your viewers have no idea what they’re about to see or why they’d want to see it. A title like, “Get those nasty sink clogs out in 3 steps!”, is far more likely to draw a crowd who is interested in what you show them.
5. Partner Up: YouTube might be a solo sport, but that doesn’t mean you have to go it alone. A great way to grow your follower-base is by partnering with an influencer YouTuber in a related industry. We say related because somebody in your industry might not want to share the spotlight. For example, if you’re a fashion designer, you might want to partner with a hair or makeup artist. These YouTubers work in similar fields and your channels all relate to the subject of style and beauty.
If you choose someone physically close, you could ask them to guest star in one of your videos and vice versa. This helps both of you grow your business and your followers. Some YouTubers have a guest spot once or twice a month for this reason.
However you choose to manage your YouTube channel, remember to always be true to your brand. Your videos are representing your company, sometimes to people who have never heard of it otherwise. A first impression is a lasting one, and a video speaks a thousand words, so make it count.