Learn how to promote your YouTube channel, see what’s trending now and find out what you can do to make content everyone will want to watch.
Learn how to promote your YouTube channel, see what’s trending now and find out what you can do to make content everyone will want to watch.
Remember when Instagram was just for photos and Twitter was just for text? Those days are gone – today’s social media is all about video content. It’s in your Instagram and Facebook feeds and embedded into tweets. Thanks to the moving picture’s popularity, every app is now a video app.
The hype around videos is good news for content creators who work in this medium. If your go-to apps are TikTok or YouTube, you can cross-promote your content on social media without leaving your mainstay platforms. And that’s just the kind of promotion we’ll focus on here – driving traffic to your YouTube channel and encouraging fans to stick around. People (and search engines) love videos, and with the right knowledge, you can help them find yours.
If you’re passionate about making videos, you probably don’t need a rundown of YouTube’s popularity and engagement stats to prompt you to get your start. But if you’re using social media for bands, brands, or anything in between, you’re missing out on marketing magic if you haven’t yet jumped on the video bandwagon.
If you're in a band, you probably already have enough audiovisual content to launch an account. If you have a brand, you can start filming content related to your product or service, like unboxing videos or product tutorials. Anyone can make YouTube videos – you don’t have to be a producer, comedian, or influencer. Here’s why you should:
For those old and new to YouTube, the first thing you should do before worrying about promo is to polish your account. Don’t drive traffic to a channel that feels like it was thrown together in a rush – viewers should feel that wow factor the moment they land on your page. Use high-quality profile pictures, upload a robust but curated selection of your best content and write YouTube video descriptions that give viewers a basic understanding of what they’re about to watch. While you’re at it, throw a few hashtags on your YouTube descriptions. Once your account’s ready for visitors, here’s how to drive traffic:
Bring followers from other social media platforms to your YouTube channel by sharing a teaser clip. Fans may even reshare your clips, exposing new viewers to your content and expanding your reach. People will check out your profile when they see how great your content is, so be sure to add a YouTube channel link to your bios on every platform. Since sites like Instagram don’t give you much space to work with, use a Linktree so followers can access your entire web presence with just one click.
You want viewers to come to your content organically, and search engines can help. Hot keywords give your content a better chance of appearing in internet and YouTube searches. You can find SEO (search engine optimization) keywords for your video titles by drafting a list of potential headers, searching them on Google and YouTube, and seeing if the right kind of visual content immediately comes up. If so, that combination of keywords is likely perfect.
People don’t always pay attention to titles when searching for video content. So grab their attention with an image. Use a high-quality picture or video still for your custom thumbnail instead of letting YouTube choose the image and quality – the default snapshot isn’t always the best.
Interact with your users every one to two weeks in a live stream. You can run a Q&A session or a special event for your followers. Give viewers a call-to-action (CTA) like a fun challenge or an invitation to check out your webpage or Spotify playlists. This tip is especially useful if you’re an influencer, public figure, or performing artist because interacting with your fans live makes them feel more connected to you.
Let people know any time you drop new content. Use your presence on other social media platforms to your advantage. Just like posting clips of fresh videos, posting about the latest additions to your YouTube channel will drive traffic to your page.
Take advantage of YouTube’s features. YouTube Shorts is a spin-off application that allows you to post 60-second vertical videos. You can use this platform to – you guessed it – drive traffic to your primary YouTube channel. And anyone with more than 1,000 subscribers has access to an interactive tool called YouTube Community, where you can take a break from video to connect with viewers through features like polls, GIFs, text, and images.
Partnering with another creator working in the same niche is a great way to score new fans. Make an appearance in one of their videos, and feature them in one of yours. You’ll both get new follows from people in your target audience who are happy to find a similar creator.
Understanding the algorithm is the key to success on any social media platform. The YouTube algorithm considers two factors: the video’s popularity and the tendencies of the person who’s searching. Here’s what you can do to meet YouTube’s standards:
Another way to tailor your YouTube content to the algorithm is to create videos around trends. Here’s what’s currently trending:
Ready to see your subscriber count shoot up? Polish up your account, create search-friendly content and use smart social media promotion, and who knows – you might just be the next YouTube star.
