Video is a great way to engage with your audience. It tells a story, paints a picture, and showcases a message in a way that propels past the written word. A well-done and carefully crafted video is powerful, especially for those who are looking to share something with a large number of people.
Creating a YouTube channel is one of the best ways to get your videos out to a wide audience. With billions of users a month, YouTube makes it possible for anyone to create, post, and share videos with the world. When done well, YouTube channels can get thousands, sometimes even millions, of followers.
If you’re using YouTube to share videos, knowing what it takes to grow your channel is essential. Here’s what you need to know:
Nail the Basics
When it comes to your YouTube channel, ensuring that you have the basics covered is important. The basics include the common elements that every video should have. They’re things that some people might not even think about when posting a video. Yet, these components are actually some of the most important.
They’re the things that stick out to the audience before anything else. They’re the things that grab people’s attention and get them to actually watch the video. In fact, if the basics aren’t optimized, there’s a good chance most people are going to scroll on by.
Taking the time to get these basics down is essential:
Stand Out Title
The title of your video is one of the first things people will see when scrolling through YouTube. If you don’t make sure that your title stands out, your audience will likely keep looking.
Your title should be creative and compelling, showcasing what your video is about in a succinct yet interesting way. It’s important for your title to contain your top keyword, which should relate to the content of your video. Your title should also create an emotional response by showcasing your audience’s pain points. Through your title, the audience should believe that your video will provide value to them.
Video Optimization
Your videos should be optimized in order to engage and retain the audience. Retention is essential because the YouTube algorithm shows videos with high retention to more people. In order to optimize your videos, you’ll need to do a few things, including:
- Create great content. Write a script in order to deliver a top-notch video. Remove any unnecessary parts from the script and keep relevant content.
- Film a quality video. Use good tools that ensure the quality of audio and lighting.
- Professional editing. Make sure your video looks and sounds great with proper editing.
Eye-Catching Thumbnail
Other than the title, the thumbnail is the first thing people see when they’re scrolling by your video. It’s another component that can either make or break the views your video gets. If your thumbnail is eye-catching, there’s a good chance people will stop and take a look.
Make sure your thumbnail stands out by:
- Checking out the thumbnails of ranking videos that contain your keyword. Videos that are ranking will give you a good idea of the types of thumbnails you may want to use. However, if you follow an idea from another video, make sure to include your own, unique features to help your thumbnail stand out from the others.
- Using bold text with light colors. This combination has been shown to be more inviting to people. Videos that use the combo in their thumbnails have a much higher click-thru rate.
- Including people. Thumbnails that have one or more people do better than those with random images.
Well-Written, Relevant Description
Your video description should be optimized by using some keywords, including pain points, and sharing a call to action. It should also have differentiating and relevant factors that help it stand out from other videos.
Make sure your description is well written and that it shows the audience you are an expert. The quality of your description will draw people in or send them away. By optimizing your description and ensuring its relevance and quality, you will encourage people to watch.
4 Ideas to Grow
Once you have the basics of your YouTube videos optimized, it’s time to focus on other components. Here are a handful of ideas you can use to grow your YouTube channel.
Engage with the Audience
Today’s consumers are all about connection. They want to build some sort of relationship with the people and brands that they follow. The opportunity to talk and connect on a more personal level gives businesses a chance to build a strong, loyal audience. Through engagement, you can make your brand more relevant to your target market and begin to build a professional relationship with them.
Engaging with your YouTube audience can be done by responding to any comments on your video. You can respond with written comments or address comments in some of your videos.
Another way to engage with your audience is by getting to know and tailoring your video content to them. When your videos are relevant to your audience, they will feel more connected with you and your brand.
Focus on Branding
You’ll want to brand your YouTube channel cohesively with your overall brand. Include your logo, slogan, and other aesthetic elements on your YouTube channel and in your videos.
When you have a recognizable brand, your audience will expect to see elements of it on any platform you utilize. Make sure that your custom elements are visible throughout your channel in order to build and retain your audience.
Utilize Other Platforms + Brands
Don’t put all of your eggs in the YouTube basket. There are tons of popular platforms out there that can actually help you gain more YouTube followers.
Build a following on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and other popular platforms. Utilize these accounts as a way to generate traffic to your YouTube channel. You can promote your YouTube channel and share your videos from these platforms. Link to your YouTube channel and send your social media followers over.
Don’t forget to partner with influencers or brands in a related niche! This is a great way to grow your YouTube channel as it uses engagement, relevance, and your followers in a cohesive manner. New subscribers will already be connected in similar niches and are more than likely to stick around.
Run Regular Contests on YouTube
Use your YouTube channel to run regular contests through KickoffLabs. YouTube is a great platform to use for promoting and sharing a KickOff Labs contest.
Create a campaign through KickoffLabs and then announce it on your videos. This referral based system is excellent for growing your Youtube channel with little effort on your part. You simply design and launch the contest (with the help of KickoffLabs) and send out your launch hype announcements. As your first participants respond and enter they will be incentivized to spread the word about your contest to their network of friends and followers to earn additional entries for themselves.
Creating the perfect giveaway and getting consumers excited about your offer can be done in minutes with our Youtube Giveaway template. This template is curated for Youtube Growth and can be easily customized ot your brand using our pre-set widgets to boost conversions and increase brand awareness! We also offer over 50 additional actions on other platforms to further spread reach
Send followers from other social media platforms to YouTube to learn about your KickoffLabs contest. Have your followers refer others to your channel and your contest, increasing both the success of your contest and the subscribers to your YouTube channel.
Conclusion
If you want the highest exposure for your brand, you’ll want to focus on creating great videos, sharing them, and growing your YouTube channel. There are a number of things you can do to help increase your YouTube subscribers instead of just creating a channel and hoping it takes off.
Focus on the basics of a great video by optimizing your titles, thumbnails, and descriptions. You will also want to make your brand part of your channel, use other platforms to generate YouTube traffic, engage with your audience, and share your KickoffLabs contests. By following these tips, you’ll see your YouTube channel grow in spades.
Are you ready to grow your brand on Youtube? Visit KickoffLabs, or email our support team at support@kickofflabs.com, and check out how easy it is to set up your own viral giveaway contest today!