When it comes to content marketing at present, Video content is the main area of focus for most of the marketers. YouTube is the leading platform for not only product videos and video marketing of companies, video blogging but also for artists, and entertainment industry. Offered by Google, it is a free platform which has become quite essential to reach out to millions of people. Facebook, as well as Twitter, have also stepped into video marketing but they are way behind the extent of impact and influence YouTube has on the general public.
I have two channels currently, one is about
Tech topics that I run myself and the second one is about
DIY Crafts and Fashion run by my wife Manpreet.
If you have your own YouTube channel, promoting your video content, then you must have faced the pertinent question of how to get more YouTube subscribers and how to increase the reach of YouTube videos that you have uploaded.
Every month, over a billion unique visitors access YouTube which is quite a significant potential audience for any uploaded video. Whether it is a video of someone singing a favorite song, or giving his review of latest movie or fashion, YouTube remains to be the key platform for video consumption.
We are witnessing the rise of many YouTube stars which have earned thousands of subscribers, and this makes YouTube a platform for everyone to consider for any sort of online marketing as well as publicity.
For any
blogger, YouTube can provide the much-needed platform to extend their online reach by making a personalized connection with their subscribers.
A blogger can leverage this great social media to drive huge traffic to his website. For that, he needs to get more number of subscribers.
In this article, we provide detailed strategies of how to get more YouTube subscribers that you can follow.
1. Creating a script or plan for Video Content
The basic step to get started with YouTube is to create a plan to follow, about how your channel is going to shape. In order to do so, you need to create a structure of the videos that you are going to upload. First, decide your area of interest and what you like to tell to the world.
Decide what you would love to create videos on and lay special focus on developing the required skills to achieve that. You don’t have to follow or copy any trending YouTube channel. Just remain true to yourself and do what you love as it is the keystone for success on YouTube. Having personal touch in your videos and YouTube channel helps you in connecting with your subscribers in a better way.
In order to create an impactful video, it is better to write down a script as it will provide you the necessary space to organize your thoughts which will reflect on your videos. It will increase your efficiency and will certainly keep you on the track. By following this script, you will be able to focus on the defined path and won’t let you get side-tracked or lose track of your focus topic to an unrelated one. This script will also help you in creating a flow of events which will result in a well-focused video.
To make things in flow, you need to include as many details you can add to your video script. It includes:
- The exact words which you are going to use and say in the video.
- The steps and actions that you will be taking in the video.
- The highlighted point that you want to stress upon.
- Introduce necessary calls to actions such as subscribe to the channel, click the bell icon, etc.
Another important aspect consider is that you identify the target audience of your channel and write your script as per their expectations and understanding. Whether they are fashionistas, tech-savvy, casual viewers or serious ones, make sure you understand the demographics of your viewers. Understand what they wish to see, like they are expecting something funny or detailed discussion and informative video. Use the appropriate language which resonates with your viewers which helps in creating a more personalized connection.
2. Create Engaging Content Produce
It is the foremost requirement for any blog or video channel to create content which is not only informative and entertaining but also engaging. You have to make sure that the videos in your YouTube channel should keep the viewer occupied during the entire video duration. Failing to do so can lead to loss of viewership.
The best type of content for videos is the entertaining or informative ones. This content engages the viewers as they get involved with entertainment aspect of the video as well as the information provided by the video. It is a common practice in content marketing to follow this type of content but when it comes to videos, entertainment, and informative ones are most successful.
You can also try a combination of burst and evergreen videos. Burst videos create buzz among the viewers for a limited duration of time, helps you getting instant hits and they fade away with time. Evergreen videos are the ones which get archived by the viewers for later views too, and they usually remain relevant irrespective of time. Even though you can strike a balance of releasing both types of videos but if you want to be one safer side then go for evergreen content.
In case you are not comfortable with appearing in front of camera and present and explain your content to your viewers then you can also try publishing “Screencasts.” They can also be quite entertaining as well as informative, against the popular belief.
Before publishing your videos, you should make sure that your videos are quite engaging and provide value to your audience.
3. Upload Videos Frequently
Even though it seems a valid point, exercising it can be quite difficult. The major reason is that viewers who subscribe to a channel is in love with the publisher’s work and wishes to see more of his videos. But creating engaging creates regularly can be a tedious task. Failing to do so can bring drastic consequences. YouTube subscribers generally don’t like those channels which don’t post regular content.
In this digital age and options of multiple video publishers publishing high-quality content, consumers look for more entertaining videos, and you have to keep creating competitive and engaging content to keep up to your subscriber’s demands and retain them. Consistency remains to be the key factor in the success of YouTube channel as it builds a long-lasting relationship with the subscribers.
Make a schedule and release your videos in structured and timely fashion. You can stick to just one video per week or two per month but stick with the plan so that your viewers have a better idea of when they can expect new videos. Do not get off track of your schedule and follow it religiously. Otherwise, it will seriously hurt your reputation and may lead to decrease in subscribers count.
4. Optimize your Titles to stand out from the crowd.
Being distinguishable among thousands of videos in your genre is the key aspect of success on YouTube.
One of the best ways is to give offbeat names to your videos. By doing so, you get the attention of the people by raising their curiosity. Once they click on your videos due to the attractive title, you can hook them up with engaging content.
Making quirky titles can go a long way in the success of your YouTube channel as it helps you in getting more views which your channel require to get the benefit from social proof factor.
But this is not the only thing you need to focus on. You should also invest time into SEO part of YouTube marketing.
Here, below we share some essential tips to help you out in optimizing your YouTube video titles to get maximum reach:
- Try to include the keyword in your title as it leaves a larger impact on SEO of your video. It is important to know that Google crawlers don’t watch your videos like the way they read the blog posts. These crawlers read the keyword in your title which allows them to know what your video presents. In the description section, you should also include keywords as they also help Google crawlers to get an idea about your video.
- Utilizing Google Adwords can help you in identifying what type of videos people are searching on the web. It provides you an idea about high volume searches as well as low competition which you can use to create related videos.
- Avoid making long titles as Google truncates the title length of the video down to 66 characters and then adds “YouTube |” before the video and takes an extra 10 characters. So, the best practice is to keep your video title within 50 characters.
- Try to make descriptive title so that it gives an idea to your audience about what your video is all about.
- Create engaging title as quirky titles attract the audience and lead to more people clicking on your video. More clicks you have on your video, the higher rank it will get.
- Avoid using word “video” in the title. Everyone knows that YouTube is all about videos. So, it is useless to put the video in your title. It also takes extra space and doesn’t help you in getting a higher rank on YouTube search engine.
5. Utilize channel customizations to the maximum.
In case you wish your visitors to trust your brand, then you should intelligently use customization options available on the YouTube.
Try to appear professional as it earns you respect in front of your viewers as well as their trust.
In case you are already running a blog with god visitor count then you can use its branding elements on your YouTube channel. It will help you in getting recognizable across different platforms which increases your visibility too.
By using well-designed, customized channel art for your YouTube channel, you can easily establish yourself as a brand. There are various services which provide optimized YouTube channel custom art at great prices which you can avail.
Also, utilize custom background header which also includes some of the design elements from your blog to create a sense of similarity and familiarity.
Try to make most out of the YouTube channel bio as well as custom URL when you finish up customizations of your channel. Keep the bio to the point as well as short. You can include URL of your blog in the video description to provide a more detailed bio.
6. Personalize thumbnail of your video.
Most of the popular YouTube channel owners agree on one fact that you should create a custom video thumbnail for each video that you upload rather than randomly generated one put on it.
By the use of annotations as well as relevant images as your custom thumbnails for the YouTube videos, it will certainly increase the click-through rate or CTR of your videos. A custom video thumbnail informs the viewer about what your video is all about and attracts them to click on your video.
At present, YouTube provides a selection of thumbnails from three different intervals, at the ¼ mark along with ½ mark as well as the ¾ mark. You can choose the one which illustrates the zest of your video, the best.
7. Creating engaging and immersive channel trailer.
One of the great feature offered by YouTube is channel trailers which allow you automatically play a specific video when a visitor opens your YouTube channel.
You should carefully work on your YouTube channel trailer and make constant improvements in it to keep your visitors engaged. It is the best moment to catch the attention of your audience within few seconds. A perfect channel trailer should be between 30 to 60 seconds.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n_IplZWDzIU
In this trailer, you have to clearly describe why the visitors should stay on your channel in an impactful way. You should clearly explain what you have to offer them.
Creating an engaging trailer can certainly increase your visitor count since most of the first time visitors look at the trailer and gauge the content quality based on the trailer. Immersive trailers leave an impact on visitors that the videos are of high quality.
In case you are comfortable with the camera then make a quick, informative as well as engaging introduction of your channel based on a well-structured script.
8. Utilize ‘Call to Action’ annotations.
“Call to action” annotations are those popups in the videos which annoys the viewers the most. But cleaver using them, you can use these annotations to get more subscribers by attracting the visitors to click them while they are viewing your video.
Many successful YouTubers have mentioned that they achieved an increase in channel subscriptions by daftly putting annotations to their videos. A simple link which is created to subscribe to the channel can easily be placed on a video as a call to action. In case you wish to you graphics for adding a call to action, you can liven up it by placing a call to action.
Make sure you add these call to action annotations in an unobtrusive fashion and see how they help them in increasing your subscription count.
9. Utilizing the right tools.
There are a plethora of impressive tools available. Tools which help you make videos as well as tools which help you to promote your videos, choose the right ones which help in increasing your organic viewership and assist in the success of your YouTube channel. Keep in mind that more organic views you have, the more new subscribers you can easily get.
10. Allow the people find you.
YouTube offers you an option to link to official web page of your in case you have one. Make use of it intelligently. It simply makes sense to do so.
By putting efforts on getting many visitors on your channel can easily be capitalized on by directing your viewers to your website. It also helps in earning authenticity of your brand on YouTube too.
Under the channel settings present on the YouTube page, you can add your website URL to your channel. You can also add your website or blog URL in the channel description too.
Another important tip is that you can add a “Subscribe” button on your blog which can drive your visitors to your YouTube channel and many of them may become your subscribers.
11. Keep your videos under 5 minutes.
Even though YouTube has lots of detailed as well as in-depth reviews and not to forget lengthy content like documentaries, most of the high converting videos are those which are properly optimized under 5 minutes in length. Try to follow this tip.
Once you have earned a good following and subscribers one, you can then experiment with the length of your videos and check the reaction of your audience.
Try to keep your video content as short, simple as well as informative and entertaining while maintaining its length under 5 minutes. It may seem tough, but it will yield great results.
12. Use A YouTube Intro & Outro.
When it comes to branding, your YouTube intro as well as outro can certainly help you and also make your video even more entertaining.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MsCcy2bzgbQ
It will highlight your channel’s brand as well as showcase professionalism in your video. It is just like a musical beginning of a TV show. Also, it catches the attention of the viewer and ignites the desire to continue watching the rest of the video.
13. Edit your videos exhaustively.
When it comes to editing your videos, make sure you carry out the process multiple times. Finalizing the YouTube vide requires extensive editing so that the best possible outcome gets published.
If you are dealing with issues regarding sticking to your scheduled posting of videos and publish the videos without necessary editing, then it will hurt your brand and will certainly reflect on your channel’s quality which can lead to reduced subscribers. The best practice is to make many recordings while shooting for a video and select the best part to add them together to create a well-crafted video.
You can easily find great video editing tools, free of cost as well as paid ones which are quite affordable. However, video editing is a time-consuming process and has a steep learning curve.
14. Optimizing video descriptions.
Returning back to SEO part of your YouTube videos, you shouldn’t neglect the description of your video. The description allows the search engines to know what the video is all about as well as provide the same to potential viewers.
However, try to avoid overdoing it. Making a lengthy description doesn’t serve any purpose since only a few lines of the description is shown when the video is loaded, initially.
You should include the keyword in your description but avoid stuffing. It can adversely affect your chances of showing up your video in searches. Try to keep it as natural and authentic as you can.
15. Take benefits of meta tags.
Another great way to get ideas on various relevant keywords for YouTube videos is using Google Keyword Planner. Just add those keywords to your videos, and it will help you in making your video more discoverable on both Google as well as YouTube search engines.
However, overdoing keywords won’t deliver any benefit and may adversely affect your videos. Still few keywords which are well-researched and better-placed can deliver phenomenal results for your rankings.
A low video count doesn’t only reflect that the video has poor content, it could also give an idea about how poor the discoverability of the video is.
Metadata plays a significant role in getting your videos to be displayed in search results. To get a zest about what type of meta tags you should use, try browsing through well-converting videos and see the meta tags which they are using. But don’t commit the mistake of copy and paste meta tags. It won’t serve any purpose.
16. Ending your videos on the peak.
No matter whatever the nature of your videos is, try to ensure that you end your videos at a peak and on a higher note.
The ending of your videos should be emphatic and impactful so that it leaves an impression on the viewers.
You can also ask your audience to subscribe to your channel and comment whether they liked your video. You can also ask them to visit your website too. Leave a contact detail and ask them to get in touch with you. This strategy works for most of the viewers as it creates a personal connection between the publisher and the viewer. If you don’t ask, you will certainly get no. But if you do ask, you will probably get more yes.
Your confidence should reflect in the ending of your videos and don’t forget to appreciate the viewers for watching your videos. Add “subscribe” annotations at a subtle place which doesn’t obstruct the ending but plays in sync with it and hence attracts the viewer to subscribe.
17. Collaborate with other YouTubers.
There is a recent trend of collaboration among the top content creators on YouTube. The main reason is that collaboration provides benefits to each involved party. The main goal is to reach out to a larger audience and get more viewership, and the best way is to work in collaboration with fellow YouTubers rather than getting in an unnecessary competition which doesn’t make any sense.
To create joint projects and publish on your channels and give proper credit to your collaborators. This way you can attract the viewers and subscribers of other YouTubers too since the others will certainly mention you and your channel.
The success of any YouTube channels is dependent on getting more views and subscribers, and you should try your best to offer premium content even if it requires collaborating with others.
18. Interaction with your loyal fans.
Social media is based on connection and interaction with people, and you can leverage its power to propel the growth of your YouTube channel. Let your fan base get in contact with you and let them know that you care about them. Interact with your audience on a regular basis, ask for their recommendations and listen to their requests posted in the comment section of your videos. You may also find derogatory and angry messages but set them aside subtly and spend more time on listening to your loyal fans.
Try to reply to comments of the viewers, on your videos and make your viewers feel the connection with you at all the time. This will not only build trust but also earn their respect due to the care and time you put into understanding their requests and feedback.
19. Offer Giveaways.
One of the great marketing technique is offering giveaways, and you can use this same technique in growing your subscribers’ base. Offer something to your audience for their engagement on your YouTube channel.
You can also start free giveaway or video contest to reward your existing followers in order to lure new ones. You can offer tech gadgets, your custom branded t-shirts, hosting subscriptions, etc. to name a few.
Whenever a person in your audience receives something for free, he will certainly tell all of his friends and this word of mouth will most probably earn you more subscribers. It is a free viral promotion.
20. Promotion on Cross-platforms.
In the current social media landscape, it is essential to be present as well as active on various social media platforms to remain significant and visible to more number of people. If you are looking to build your brand, put extra effort in discoverability of your brand and YouTube channel.
You can achieve that by getting active on various social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Google Plus, Instagram, Pinterest, etc. Start your Facebook page and regularly post your video content and channel link. Whenever you publish a new video, tweet it on your Twitter account to let your followers know about it. In each post, give a brief description of the content so that your followers can get the idea about what your video is all about.
Regular posting on social media can be bit tedious. To mitigate this problem, you can use social media scheduling services like Buffer or Hootsuite using which you can post on multiple platforms from a single interface and simply add the content, schedule the timing, date. These services automatically publish your post as per pre-defined structure made by you.
To get success on YouTube, follow an aggressive strategy and put all your efforts in getting your first 1000 subscribers. Once you have achieved this critical number of subscribers, it will steadily grow your subscriber count, as long as your content remains engaging, informative, entertaining and of high-quality.
Don’t get into the passive attitude that you keep posting new videos and people will come to you eventually. This attitude doesn’t work on social media. You need to put extra work on promoting your channel with best of your abilities. Leverage all of the tricks and strategies to attract more people towards your channel. Use social media to reach out to a larger audience. Create a buzz around your channel so that it attracts the viewers which will also motivate you to create better videos.
Sharing with your friends can pay rich dividend. Let them know about what you are working on, ask them to subscribe to you in case they are interested and even ask them to share your channel on their social media accounts if they like your content. But keep in mind that you don’t pester your friends as they have no obligation to do anything for you.
Use your social media accounts to let people in your connection know about your channel. You can ask them to like as well as subscribe in case they are interested but don’t pester anyone.
Conclusion
Getting YouTube success is not an easy job and what worked for someone else may not work for you. So it is better to keep trying and experimenting with different strategies and video content and sticking to methods which deliver results.
Experiment with camera angles, video thumbnails, scripting style, video editing and other things mentioned in these articles. Don’t forget to keep track of changes you make and how it affects the behavior of your audience. This data will help you in drafting better strategies and provide you great insights into creating better videos and using more efficient methodologies.
Build your own brand and stick to it. Don’t try to copy anyone.
To achieve success on YouTube requires perseverance, time, a lot of efforts, creativity, hard work and long-term commitment but in the end, you can certainly reap its benefits.
So, what other strategies do you think we should include here. Let us know about your thoughts on how to get more subscribers on YouTube in the comment section below.
