YouTube is the second most popular website of all time, with over 1.9 billion monthly users. The only site that generates more traffic is Google. It's easy to see why marketers and content creators decide to turn to YouTube when they want to grow their business.
But there's a problem. These same people struggle with growing their channels when they first start out. Over 500 minutes of content is uploaded to YouTube every 60 seconds, which creates an environment full of competition and various marketing strategies.
If you're trying to grow your channel but feel overwhelmed, stick around. I am going to share several tips you can start using today to help you grow your channel, increase sales and cultivate an audience of highly engaged leads.
Create a consistent brand theme
Your YouTube channel should carry a consistent them throughout all of your videos and on your profile. When someone lands on your page, they should recognize your brand if they have spotted your promotions on social media, found your website in the past or heard a friend or family member mention your channel in the past.
Start by making sure the tone and images used in your uploads are consistent. Don't change the appearance of your thumbnails drastically between videos. The first part of growing is building a recognizable brand. You want people to scroll their YouTube feed and know that they are looking at one of your videos, even if they don't stop to read.
It's worth remembering that consumers remember brand logos and catchphrases subconsciously. Not only will you recruit customers that are impressed by your neat and organized channel, but you'll also convince people to come back again based on their recognition of past experiences.
Share on other social platforms
YouTubers stand a better chance of getting recognized if they actively participate in other social media channels. Facebook and Instagram are the most common social media accounts to have, but Twitter and Pinterest can also prove beneficial.
Most content creators use their other social media profiles to announce new videos, engage with their audience and share content from their website. For example, if a business owner operates a YouTube channel that shows off tutorials on how to use their product, they may use other social media channels to recruit subscribers for a free trial.
Your marketing goals will vary based on the size and scope of your business, but you can certainly use social media to connect with your target audience and grow your channel.
As you release new content, post a schedule on social media so your followers across all platforms know when to expect new content. This step adds another layer to your consistency, but you can use your other profiles to build this aspect of your brand image.
Include a transcript and detailed description
There are two main reasons you should always add a transcript and a detailed description of your videos.
First, you're doing a service to your followers. Consumers like the ability to read along, and the hearing impaired cannot enjoy your video without a proper transcript. Take small steps to improve accessibility, and you'll see that a more diverse audience will start following your channel.
The second reason deals with YouTube SEO. You're likely familiar with SEO as it relates to your website, but it turns out that search engine optimization plays a significant role in the success of your YouTube channel.
When someone is looking for a keyword, the title, description, and transcript are all pulled from videos to form the context of your content. If your content aligns with the person's search intent, you're more likely to appear at the top of the results, so they are more likely to watch your content.
Because context plays such a vital role in SEO, the more data you have for the algorithm to look at, the better chance you have of getting your content on display for the correct audience.
Use creative engagement tactics
Next, let's talk about various engagement tactics you can use to get more people to subscribe. You can take countless approaches to engage your audience. The most common tactic is to encourage your subscribers to join your email list. Let them know that by subscribing to your list, they will get even more exclusive content not aired on YouTube.
You can send out the bonus material and special promotions that apply to your online store. Because emails have a 22.68% open rate across all industries, many marketers prefer to keep in touch with their customers using email marketing.
Additionally, some marketers have found that lead nurturing through email resulted in 50% more sales. If you're a small channel looking to make it big, this could be a big deal for you. If you're not actively using email to talk to your audience, you're missing out on a massive opportunity to promote your new videos and updates.
There are plenty of other ways you can engage with your subscribers without using email. Another common strategy is to host an online contest on your channel. Tell viewers that you are giving away a gift card or product from your store, and encourage them to engage with your brand for a chance to enter.
In many cases, you can simply ask people to share your video, tag their friends or subscribe and comment. All of these actions build engagement on your channel, which will help you spread brand awareness and position yourself as an expert in your industry.
Review your analytics
You may be familiar with the value of Google Analytics when you want to review your website data, but are you taking time to review your YouTube analytics? You can learn so much by examining the behavior of people that visit your channel.
For example, if you notice that one of the topics you cover gets more attention than the rest, you can use this information to publish more great content in the future. Use this as an opportunity to figure out what people liked about those videos in the first place. You may have an underlying customer persona trend that you can resolve through your content.
You can also fine-tune your channel as a whole. Look for features that users are not using, and remove them after a period of inactivity for a more organized profile page. Some creators start split testing their different features to see if they can get more engagement by moving things to other parts of their channel. How you split test and evolve your channel, in this case, is up to you.
The last thing you should look at when reviewing your analytics is your link traffic. Some marketers miss out on significant opportunities because they don't pay attention to incoming links. Imagine if over half of your traffic came from Facebook, but you didn't know because you didn't check the links. Now you decide to reel in on some of your social media marketing, including Facebook. You've effectively cut off one of the most significant traffic sources but didn't realize it because you forgot to review your channel analytics.
Back to you
If you log on to YouTube right now, you'll have no problem finding millions of pieces of content featuring every topic under the sun. You can stick out from the crowd, but you have to take the first step and start growing your YouTube channel.
We have highlighted several helpful tactics you can start using today on your channel. Remember that all good things take time, and your account might not blow up overnight. However, if you're persistent and consistent, you'll have no problem managing a channel with the potential to reach millions of consumers from around the world.