18 Tips How to Increase YouTube Subscribers

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A great way to start achieving your YouTube marketing goals is to grow your followership or subscribers. YouTube themselves has said that subscribers usually watch twice the number of videos watched by non-subscribers, and this should be a motivating factor for you to keep aiming at higher and higher goals. This article will take you through 1) how to see where you currently stand, and 2) the makeover: 18 tips to increase Youtube subscribers.

HOW TO SEE WHERE YOU CURRENTLY STAND

To know how people are responding to the videos you’ve already posted, check out your analytics. Just click on ‘Analytics’. You will see statistics for all videos you uploaded to your channel. Click the place where it says ‘This Month‘ and select 365 days, last quarter, this quarter or any long time period, to get maximum data. Engagement metrics are important. As long as the channel is your official one on YouTube, or you upload a good number of videos, you should be able to view some engagement metrics such as likes, dislikes, shares, and comments. If you found that you are getting far too many dislikes compared to likes, or not enough shares or comments, it could mean you need a slightly different approach with respect to your video.

Click on ‘Audience Retention’ present on the sidebar, and you can know more about the nature of people’s engagement with your videos – in particular, the duration of time for which people watch your videos. The top-left corner gives you average view duration. Any value above 50 percent is good, and 65-70 percent is even better. Also, consider individual videos. While one video may show 75 percent for its average percent view, another may just show 30 or 40. For the latter video, you’ll have to do a study into what makes people stop at 1/3rd of the video. Either consider the possibility of improving the video content or of replacing the video with a new one altogether. If people don’t feel interested in watching your video through or even half of it, it will be extremely difficult to increase your number of Youtube subscribers.

THE MAKEOVER: 18 TIPS TO INCREASE YOUTUBE SUBSCRIBERS

1. Give them quality and value

There’s no point in uploading videos just for the sake of uploading them. The videos must be quality, and their content should be of value to the viewers.

2. Videos should be consistently good and frequent

Make sure all the videos you upload are characterized by quality and value. Post videos frequently so that your viewers can expect something to be on the way soon. If you stick to a schedule, that’s even better. This will get you some followers.

Ray William Johnson brought out his Video Blogging channel on YouTube in 2007. His posting of 3 to 4 videos per week consistently made his one of the most familiar YouTube channels with in excess of 10.7 million subscribers and 2.5 billion views.

3. Optimize

You have to think about the keyword applications of the title and description of your video. You may even want to go further by optimizing your channel name and channel page as well. Have a look at the tags in the most liked broadcast in your genre to see whether yours have been properly phrased. Hit on the keywords that your prospective viewers are utilizing in their searches. Hitting the correct keywords is particularly important with respect to the title of your videos which should also be attractive (not ordinary) and grab attention.

Don’t resort to spam tactics such as filling the description portion with keyword lists, which are a feature of the most dreadful videos. Spam could cost you a penalty.

4. Incorporate annotations

YouTube has a wonderful feature that enables annotations to popup on a video. Annotations are a kind of link that appears on top of a video when it plays, and in the course of specific points as determined by the timestamp. Some of the applications of annotations are:

  • As simple messages that inform people about updates to information present in the video;
  • To incorporate a call to action such as to get the viewer to subscribe;
  • To point the viewer to the like button;
  • To make people aware of free offers, product releases, upcoming tours and so on.

Once you have created an annotation, you can personalize the color or font. You can make the annotation stand out or blend in. After that, you can select the points where you want the annotation to begin and end. If you would like the annotation just to come at the close of the video, you can make it begin at a later point in the video. If you would like it to cease at a particular point, you can get that done too. Even linking to your YouTube channel is possible.

However fantastic a tool they may be, annotations should be utilized sparingly and chiefly for call-to-action links. The more they are utilized, the greater the probability of users switching them off completely. Try not to use annotations that cover the screen unless you have to modify the information on a whole-page slide of an old video.

5. Subscribe to other channels

When you subscribe to other channels, the respective creators may feel like subscribing to your channel.

6. Start a playlist

Playlists enable you to divide your videos into categories that provide a quick and easy reference for viewers. This is better than just uploading the videos one after the other in no particular category which makes it difficult for viewers to search for videos relating to specific topics (just like looking for a needle in a haystack). When a person is watching videos that appear in a playlist, it typically encourages him to check out more videos, thereby increasing the number of views. Another great benefit of playlists is that they showcase your knowledge of pertinency in your videos.

You can create playlists with your content or else, introduce ‘Featured Channels’ in your existing channel. By linking to similar pertinent content, you establish yourself as a straight filter for your viewers, and you invite goodwill from those people who you feature. If the other featured content creators don’t perceive the value of that gesture, all you have to do is tell them to feature your videos. The same applies to reviewing and commenting on other people’s work. The more you involve yourself in the YouTube community, the more video creators and users begin to recognize you and what’s unique about your videos.

7. Offer an incentive

Establish some incentive that would make users want to subscribe. Make it publicly known what your present follower count is and the count you are aiming at, usually a sensible number greater than the current number. After that, chose something to do after the aim/goal is reached. Will you deliver more content and on a regular basis or will you be bringing out a special video? Would you be offering a gift to a lucky subscriber as soon as you accomplish your goal? Whatever you decide, you can encourage this kind of contest on other social media channels for additional benefit. Within no time, you’ll have followers.

8. Reply to comments, interact with existing subscribers, top fans

Though it may appear to be a daunting task, try as best as you can to reply to all comments. You won’t regret it. Not all people who post videos to YouTube do this so if you do, it would create a fantastic impression and develop a loyal viewer base. Loyal viewers comment, share and like which means more followers and/or subscribers for you. Also, make it a point to communicate with your existing subscribers and top fans. You can find out who your top fans are by visiting the Video Manager Dashboard. From this dashboard, you get to know which followers are associated with maximum interaction with your channel, and you.

9. Include a YouTube widget in your blog

Provided you also have a blog or website, it’s a great idea to guide your site’s users to subscribe by way of incorporating a YouTube widget. The widget on your website or blog means that visitors can check out your channel (and hopefully subscribe to it too), with no need to leave the blog to do so.

10. Just ask (calls-to-action)

A simple and straightforward way of getting people to subscribe is to ask them to. Just incorporate a call to action towards the video’s close. This is common in popular videos. The culmination of the video is followed by 10 or more seconds where you are asked to like and subscribe. There is usually a box that takes you to some other video and an arrow pointing to the subscribe button. An effective call to action for your video’s end would include:

  • What to do? Like the video and become a subscriber
  • How: Tell them about the buttons on video interface
  • Why: To see more videos from your channel

11. See what your competition is doing

Subscribe to the channels of your competitors – those who would be contending with you for views, subscribers, and finally sales. The aim is to see where they erred and learn from those mistakes to make success come easier to you. Aspects to study include:

  • Posting material: Are they getting positive or negative comments/reactions for their videos? Find their mistakes and do it right with your video(s).
  • Days and times of posting: Observe when your competitor posts and mimic the schedule. If they have been doing YouTube for long enough, chances are they know the best days and times for getting maximum views. In turn, you save time not having to figure out when to ideally post, all on your own.
  • Posting frequency: Posting 3 times a week could increase your views considerably compared to posting just once a week. People appreciate channels that post fresh content posted consistently and frequently.

With your research of the competitors completed, you can start crafting a firm YouTube marketing plan.

12. Consider transitions

If you intend to bring out a series of videos revolving around the same main concept (whether reviews or how-tos, or something else), think of common effects and transitions that you can incorporate in all videos of the series. This would provide a unified feel to your content, thereby communicating a look of professionalism to the viewer.

Transitions greatly impact your video branding and can thereby contribute to the success of your YouTube channel.

13. Let your viewers know what the next video is about

Tell your viewers when your next video will be coming and what it will be about. This would assist with generating buzz for the coming video. Let them know on which days of the week you would be posting videos; put the information in annotations, at the close of your video, on social media platforms and maybe even in your video description. You can even send an email to your subscriber list announcing the release of your next video.

14. Develop a channel trailer

In early 2013, YouTube brought out an amazing marketing tool for video makers – a ‘Subscribe’ or Channel’ trailer. The tool provides an incredible avenue for you to showcase your content and brand to the viewer. You can upload the clip to your channel’s home page and it will auto-play a non-subscriber come to that landing page.

15. Word-of-mouth and other marketing

Among the people, you can promote your video to are bloggers with a considerable following, active users of social media and possibly, other YouTube vloggers. For this, you can share a YouTube subscription link. These people may assist in getting more viewers your way and in boosting your channel’s subscriber count.

16. Host guests (industry leaders)

Hosting leaders in a particular industry as guests in your videos will increase your reliability within the industry. In spite of the fact that bringing in guests may involve an upfront cost, there is incredible ROI to be got. The benefits of guest appearances include:

  • You get more daily views: Typically the first few videos will experience an increase in views.
  • You get their fans: It is not that the industry leaders are giving you their fan base. However, they are likely to promote the videos you hosted them in, and the resulting traffic could be astronomical. This naturally would raise your subscriber count.

17. Get the thumbnail right

After the initial videos and whenever it is possible, put in the effort to create a custom thumbnail instead of using one of the already available options.

18. Thank the subscribers

If the default setting is such that you receive an email whenever someone subscribes, you can consider visiting that person’s profile and expressing your thanks for his subscribing. As the number of subscribers goes up, it may become difficult to thank everyone, and you may be forced to stop if you can’t keep up. However, the expression of thanks lends a personal touch and may cause the subscribers to return, like and share your video, and/or leave comments. This in turn means more followers/subscribers for you.

Initially, it may seem like a lot of hard work. However, the soar in views and followership that you will soon gain from the efforts are worth it. And you can then turn your engaged YouTube subscribers into a massive income.

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