Introduction
Over 25 million YouTube channels are out there. You would think it is too much even to plan on looking for an audience where already is so much done. However, two billion people watch videos on the platform every single day. They explore new channels, videos and even learn about products they want to buy or follow. Therefore, if you can meet your audience somewhere, probably you won’t find a better place than YouTube.
The important thing is how YouTube designed its algorithm. On the other platforms, it takes a whole lot to break it, but YouTube doesn’t hide it and even publish papers on the way it functions. The algorithm focuses on the audience, practically following it to understand what to offer to users.
It means that you need to make them interested enough to stay on your channel as long as possible. It will affect how YouTube will place you in search, whether or not the platform would suggest your videos to the non-followers.
How can you promote your branded YouTube channel?
There are lots of ways to tell about yourself and find your most loyal viewer. We prepared 25 ways to promote the YouTube channel. It only made sense, with such an enormously vast space as YouTube happens to become. And 25 sounds like quite enough to cover all the aspects one needs to know to succeed. So it goes, our recommendations on promotion.
1. YouTube ads
For what is worth, YouTube itself is a marketing space. If you want to build a promoting campaign, paying advertisements offered by YouTube ads could be a part of it. Imagine that you’ve spent, let’s say, a significant amount of time working on the video, including such vital aspects as storyboarding or making a script, shooting, recording voice-over and editing.
Now, you are waiting for somebody to watch your video and assess it appropriately. This is the stage where inexperienced brands realized that great content is not enough. Maybe the part of being great is also the ability to speak about yourself, even if we only talk about the YouTube brand channel.
To make people familiar with a brand, you might be helpful to use a series of YouTube ads. It increases chances for your content and the audience to find each other. Since there are several types of these ads, it might have a colossal impact on your visibility for a targeted audience.
2. A title
Later, you’ll find out that a plethora of methods to promote the YouTube channels has nothing to do with money. You don’t have to pay for many things if you want people to find you. One of such things is a title. A unique title is what naturally captures attention.
Even you, when seeing something unusual, probably won’t refuse to watch a video. It may be terrific, right? Your hallowed duty is to provide viewership with unique and engaging content. To promise it is to name your video in a way that makes them interesting. Keep it as short as possible. Not too short, though. It may be helpful to include your keywords in the title. Try to avoid any temptation to turn to clickbait titles.
3. The YouTube channel description
The nature of engaging some strangers on the internet is quite contestable. A proper description is what needed no less than paying ads or unusual titles. You want to know why? YouTube is paying enormous attention to descriptions. It is critical to make it as right as possible both for a channel and each video you upload.
The algorithm will recognize it later and will place your channel or video in the search according to it. It doesn’t have to be very meticulous, though. Riveting content quite often includes not just what a viewer sees in the video, but a feeling he or she gets overall. A description is not beyond it. Your content will be certainly much more appreciated with a good description.
4. Join the community of like-minded channels
All the brands and channels are fighting for a viewer’s attention. That’s true, and nothing can deny it. However, people think and swallow information in blocks and tend to look for similar content. For example, if you are making videos about the environment, unlikely that your subscribers won’t watch other channels that reveal information on this subject. Post link on friendly channels, join the community.
5. Always tell a story
Storytelling is a new way of engaged people. Not actually new, but it works impeccably in business. If you want to sell a product, tell a story, make a storyboard that builds it up. In fact, you need a story even for a brand. It is easy to place information where it belongs to when we have a context. There is more sense in a good story that you might have believed.
Modern marketing has its own rules, and one of these essentials is a narrative. How it works, then? Stories make for better business because they evoke a state of mind that is very hard to reach otherwise. We tell the stories in order to understand ourselves and to understand something else. They play on our emotions, making many things easier to comprehend. A well-built narrative can tell what your brand is about.
6. Publish content regularly
Publishing new content is key. Don’t forget that there are so many channels on YouTube, and viewers can easily switch to them. The interest, as well as attention, has to be kept. You don’t want your viewers to visit your lifeless channel. The best way is to find out what kind of schedule fits your content best.
Besides, if you have a publishing schedule, it will help you to evolve your content. The more you publish, the better content you will produce as you can plainly see on the other channels that have succeeded. To get tumultuous reception when your new product is launching accustom your viewer to regular posts on the brand channel.
7. Include a call to action
A call to action is absolutely necessary. There’s something profoundly moving about asking your viewer to subscribe or to swipe up.
It is not about selling stuff, but merely an invitation to learn more about your values, your attitude toward your customers and the viewers. If you make it with care, no viewer can’t miss it.
Call to action also so vital because it’s like some sort of reward for watching the entire video. If a viewer has come to the very end of it, offer him something else.
8. Join Live Streams in order to be seen by a different audience
little exposure in someone else’s universe won’t do any harm. It may be fruitless, or you may bring some new loyal followers to your channel.
9. YouTube SEO
Search engine optimization is still crucial for those who want to be ranked higher in the place YouTube gives them.
Relevant keywords are very helpful here. Learn how YouTube SEO works and do your best to make your videos appear at the top of the search.
10. Use YouTube stories
It is a new invention that initially appeared on Instagram, but now it’s spreading everywhere. YouTube is not an exception. The difference in YouTube stories is that these short video posts are going to have a much longer life.
If on Instagram, it exists for one day only, on YouTube, your message will hang for seven days. You have to be more thorough here in choosing the content for these stories.
11. Create thumbnails
Thumbnails are a very significant matter. On a visual platform, the image has the central meaning, naturally. A YouTube user may notice thumbnails before he sees a title.
You can choose what YouTube will offer you, but the better idea, of course, is to create it yourself. The quality of thumbnails you get from YouTube is not very good, and also it might be similar to others.
12. Add captions
If you are including subtitles, you give yourself a chance to reach an audience that might be genuinely interested in your content, but don’t understand your language.
Some people can’t understand pronunciation properly, so captions could be extremely helpful for that matter.
13. Leave the information that will help to reach you personally
It is always the case that somebody who find your content valuable would want to create a collaborative project. And this brand will try to reach you.
You cannot predict it, but you have to be ready and open-minded to the possibility.
14. Launch regularly contests and giveaways
It is an excellent way to treat your audience and build a better relationship with them. Giveaways or contests are done in exchange for some effortless action – comment or repost. Your followers or even followers will get something from your brand. It is useful as a promotion tactic and for raising brand awareness.
Contests are a great way to increase the activity among your followers. Basically, they stop passively watching your content, but take real action. It may also bring new followers, simply because the ones you already have will share the information about giveaway or contest.
15. Create a series
The YouTube channel is something that requires consistency. If you come up with some interesting ideas about a series that does not necessarily have to be related to your brand activity or a product, your audience will look for the next episode.
16. Playlists are required
Without playlists on different topics (maybe not even related to your product – don’t be narrow-minded and give people something else to enjoy), it is hard to reach the point where your content will be really engaging. YouTube fancy playlists, and encourage creators to add them.
17. Make your own live sessions
Live meetings with subscribers have become one of the most anticipated and popular forms of talking to the audience. It is quite intimate because people will be able to see you and ask questions almost directly. It is a big trend now not only on YouTube but on other popular social media as well.
Live video can last for hours, depending on how many people will be interested in asking you something. Besides that, YouTube is the most popular among live platforms.
18. Collaborate with other channels that make content similar to yours
YouTube is not always about competitive efforts; sometimes, doing content together is an advantage for both channels. Besides, there is a term: cross-promotion. That what we are talking about at the moment.
Cross-promotion is an easy way to find new people who would watch and enjoy your videos. You have to be open to that. Sometimes, the other channel could offer you this, but it’s a rare opportunity.
Look for channels with similar content and check out if their audience could have an interest in you. Just help people discover your channel. It is helpful to incorporate your brand videos into an email newsletter, Instagram account, blogs.
19. Do you have other social media? Promote your YouTube channel there, too
No one would ever believe you if you say you focus your brand activity only on YouTube. Of course, you have Facebook, Twitter, and something else.
Probably, some people are looking forward to learning more about your product. Promote your channel on these platforms. Give links, write an elegant description, tell everywhere that new video has just been uploaded.
20. Promote the entire channel
Most of the time, you will be promoting a particular video, and this is entirely understandable. Each time you upload a new video, you promote it. However, sometimes tell about your channel in its entirety. Post a link to your account every time you can.
21. High-quality video and audio must be provided
Maybe it is not given for some people, but the quality of video, filming of 3d animated video has to be the best you can provide. Otherwise, your promotion will be a waste of time.
22. Upload videos that do not address to something immediate
In other words, upload artistic animated video that will be marked by your brand and style; in other words, a timeless video. Give something people can genuinely enjoy, they will come back to it from time to time.
23. Don’t break YouTube rules
It doesn’t sound like a promoting tip, but actually, it’s very important. In order to stay competitive, you should respect the boundaries set by the platform.
24. Check updates on the platform and use them
Every time YouTube is updating one of its features is an opportunity for creators to invent new promotional tools. Hop on as soon as possible to the new things and use them for your good.
25. Offer high-quality, outstanding content
This is the most obvious thing still worth being mentioned. Many channels concentrate its efforts on the ads and promotion but forgot to start with the essentials – to produce content that will be compelling, new, eloquent, and worthy of the people’s time.
All the advice we have already given you makes total sense only if you have worked hard on the content. Exceed the boundaries your theme set for yourself, and, surprisingly, you might receive even more attention than you can count on.
Conclusions
YouTube has a broad audience that will be pleased with new and great content. It’s an excellent opportunity for brands to find people who would want to learn about their products through this platform. Even though the number of hours that are already uploaded on the platform is uncountable, you will find your place there.
Reflect on things that worked and look at what didn’t to prevent yourself from ideas that will slow your progress down. YouTube offers analytics tools to learn what exactly your audience finds working, engaging, or worthy of attention.
It is a way to know who represents your audience – the countries, age, gender, and so on. YouTube analytics is necessary to use because that’s how you learn what is right in your content and what resonates with other people.
