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1. Write engaging, must-see titles: • YouTube marketing is all about presentation. • Titles are make-or-break when it comes to your video’s performance. Ask yourself: are you presenting your content as “must-see”. • The key to crafting killer titles is grabbing your audience’s attention without resorting to clickbait headlines. People crave content that’s entertaining, and they likewise want to know what your video is about from the word “go.” • For example, you can take a page out of the playbooks of YouTube giants like BuzzFeed and What Culture. Such videos often rely on listicles, question-based titles or hyperbole (“insane,” “…of all time”) to rack up the views.
2. Optimize your videos for visibility • In order to increase your chances of showing up, you’ll want to follow some of the best practices for YouTube SEO. • Titles and description: Include target keywords in your titles and descriptions. You can use a tool like Keywordtool.io to help you find keyword ideas. • Mention keywords in your video: saying your target keywords in your video can help YouTube better understand what your video is about. • Engagement: YouTube uses engagement (likes, comments, views) to help determine where videos rank in its search results. • Categories: Use categories to help YouTube get a better understanding of who to show your videos to.
3. Figure out what your audience wants • With any type of content you produce, you want to make sure it’s aligned with what your audience wants. Whether you’re writing a blog post or creating a video, start by getting to know your audience and what type of content they want to see from you. • If you’re just starting to promote your YouTube channel, take a look at your competitors or other video creators in your industry. Look at which of their videos get the most views and engagement. This will give you an idea of what topics your audience wants to learn about and what style of videos they prefer. • Another solution is to look at your YouTube Analytics if you’ve already uploaded videos. You can also take your strategy a step further with YouTube reporting in Sprout Social and see how your content stacks up to other social video you’ve produced.
4. Engage with the YouTube community • Although you might not think of YouTube as a social network per se, the platform does represent a thriving community where users are engaging via content via profiles, “likes” and comments. • Sounds pretty “social” if you ask us. • As noted earlier, any sort of interaction with your viewers is seen as a positive signal to YouTube. If nothing else, engaging with your subscribers can help you foster a stronger connection with your audience. “Liking” comments only takes a few seconds, as does pinning a top comment as a sort of personal note to your subscribers.
5. Customize your thumbnails • One of the simplest yet effective tactics to promote your YouTube channel is creating custom thumbnails. • Think of your title and thumbnail as a sort of one-two punch to grab a viewer’s attention. • By default, YouTube snags a screenshot from any given video and uses it for the thumbnail. Unfortunately, sometimes the image it grabs will be a blurry shot of you adjusting the camera or a transition. • Not a good look, right? • Creating thumbnails yourself not only makes your videos look more appealing at a glance but also signals a certain sense of professionalism. • Thumbnails don’t have to be rocket science, either. You can even create a template with a particular font and style to make it more consistent and on-brand.
6. Cross-promote your own videos on YouTube • Chances are you’re covering similar topics on YouTube that overlap with each other. • To squeeze more out of your older content, make a point to cross-promote your videos when it makes sense. • For example, you can drop links in the description of a video and encourage viewers to check them out as a sort of call-to-action. Although some might be disappointed by the recent removal of YouTube’s annotation system, linking in your description encourages viewers to watch your videos all the way through without clicking away.
7. Target Google search results • As noted, YouTube is totally killing it when it comes to SEO. • And while you shouldn’t totally create content for search engines versus people, you should promote your YouTube channel with SEO in mind. • Specifically, product reviews, how-to’s and long-form (10+ minutes) videos covering keyword-specific topics tend to rank well in search engine results pages (SERPs). If you’re strapped for content ideas or want to capitalize on a trending buzzword in your industry, consider how you can do so through your YouTube channel marketing.
8. Increase engagement with calls to action • Sometimes simply asking for engagement is the best way to get your videos noticed, especially when you consider the immediacy and connection that video content can create. • Not everyone who enjoys one of your videos is going to remember drop a like or become your subscriber, so it’s become increasingly common to put these reminders in the description or in the video itself. • Especially if you’re an up-and-coming channel, there’s no shame in asking for some love directly. In fact, asking visitors a question to answer in the comments suggestion or to check out another video are perfect ways to keep the engagement rolling. You can likewise link to other videos or drop an external link to your site to serve as a sort of CTA.
