YouTube has become a vital platform for individual content creators and businesses. Video marketing using YouTube has shown tremendous success. This is because YouTube is one of the most widely used platforms, accounting for 1 billion hours of watch time every day from 8 out of 10 web users. A YouTube channel can maximize your exposure and engagement with your desired audience and help you succeed.
11 Effective Ways to Grow Your YouTube Channel
On a platform as big as YouTube, it’s important for you to make your channel stand out. You can do this by improving the quality and frequency of your content and following some of these easy tips.
1. Use Attention-Grabbing Titles
Titles are the most significant component of your video and will determine its success on YouTube. Ensure that your titles are compelling and convince the viewer that your video is a must-see. Use adequate keywords that concisely convey what your video is about and strike a balance between engaging and clickbait. The ideal length of the title can be between 40 and 70 characters.
2. Design Creative Thumbnails
The second most important aspect of your video is the thumbnail. A creative, custom thumbnail is one of the best ways to convert users into viewers. Don’t opt for letting YouTube automatically choose a thumbnail for your video. Make a good-quality thumbnail with an appropriate caption in a suitable font. You can do this by using high-resolution pictures, making the aspect ratio 16:9, following a consistent theme throughout your videos, and adding the title of the video as a caption.
3. Focus on Video Optimisation
Since YouTube is the second-largest search engine, optimizing your video using keywords and tags will be instrumental in increasing the reach of your content. Use keywords in the title and description of your video, mention them in the video, use YouTube categories, and add tags to your YouTube content. This will go a long way in making your videos and channel appear in search results.
4. Engage with Your YouTube Community
While YouTube is not a traditional social network, it’s still a thriving platform that facilitates interactions between content creators and viewers through likes, comments, discussion posts, polls, etc. Interacting with your subscribers and viewers, liking their comments, or responding to them will strengthen your connection with them. It will also lend you insight into the kind of content your audience is looking for and will make you more perceptive of their wants. Familiarising yourself with your key demographic will further boost the growth of your channel.
5. Determine the Length of the Video
There’s no standard size recommended for a YouTube video, and it varies based on the kind of content you’re creating. If you’re looking to market or advertise your product and brand, your video should ideally be less than 5 minutes long. This will ensure that your audience is focused throughout the video. A shorter video also ensures that the content is concise, informative, and deficient in fluff.
6. Enhance Video Quality
While an obvious suggestion, making high-resolution content is vital to the growth of your channel. Use a good YouTube video editor to improve the resolution of the video, make smooth transitions and graphics, add stickers or captions, merge clips, and add audio. Ensure that your video is of a standard size, i.e., 1280×720 (720p) or 1920×1080 (1080p).
7. Promote on Social Media
Sharing your videos and promoting your channel on social media is a key step in growing your channel. Keep your followers updated about the latest videos and build anticipation and excitement by informing them of upcoming content. You can even make small promotional videos to promote the channel or content, integrate it into blog posts, and ask other content creators to share it. Read more about Five ways to start a business with zero or less than $100.
8. Participate in Collaborations
Working with other YouTubers is a great way to gain access to a new audience. Collaborations will help widen the subscriber base for all creators involved and will also make your channel look good by association. You can get recommendations for collaborative videos from your community and even engage with the community of the channels you have collaborated with.
9. Insert Calls-to-Action
If you have watched a few YouTube videos, you will have heard creators asking you to like, subscribe, and comment on the video. While this may seem repetitive or even irritating, a call to action is very helpful in attracting subscribers and getting likes.
10. Engage in Cross-Promotion
A very efficient practice to promote your videos is to mention it in another video where you are referring to a similar subject. You can add the link for the video so that viewers can check it out and your channel can grow. Add links in the description of your video or embed them in the video and ensure that you encourage the viewers to take a look at it.
11. Host Contests and Giveaways
Giveaways have become an effective tactic in marketing. A contest or giveaway on your channel will not only increase your subscriber base and engagement but will also help you promote your brand and product. You can also host giveaways by collaborating with other brands. However, you must ensure that you adhere to YouTube’s policy while doing so.
Wrapping Up
Success on YouTube is not guaranteed, but these tips will be vital in ensuring that your channel grows and your content has a wide reach. Try out these tactics and adjust them to the needs and preferences of your channel by monitoring their effects. A mix of quality content and smart tips will effortlessly help you grow your YouTube channel.
