How to Promote Your YouTube Channel and Gain New Subscribers

You spent a lot of time making a video and downloaded it on YouTube. The idea was great and you did your best shooting and editing it. However, it didn’t become so popular as you expected. So is there a way to promote your videos and YouTube channel? How to get views and subscribers? Originally, the only ranking factor for videos on YouTube was a total number of views. Many years passed, and now YouTube has a complicated algorithm which evaluates engagement.

Here are the main ranking factors according to YouTube Creator Academy:

• titles, descriptions, thumbnails;
• the total amount of time users spent watching your video;
• likes, dislikes, comments;
• personal preferences of the user (what people watch and what they don’t).

Sounds easy, however, everyone faces certain difficulties when it comes to promotion. That’s why we collected practical tips to help you promote your channel.

1. Create content that promotes itself

This is trivial, but life. You need to analyze your niche and find out what kind of content your audience is looking for. If people don’t like your content, even if you spend thousands of dollars on promotion, it won’t become popular. Conduct research and find the best channels in your niche. See what types of videos they post, what people like, dislike, and what kind of information is lacking. Provide some additional value and your content would promote itself. Here are some post ideas to help you.

Interviews, video answers

Interview a well-known expert who works in your industry. It’s a great piece of content, you even don’t need to share your personal experience. All you have to do is to prepare questions and to learn more about this person. People will see a famous name in the headline and would definitely click on it.

Reviews, tutorials, and how to’s

How often do you watch “How-to videos” on YouTube? We guess often, as video is the most easy-to-understand source of information. Reviews are also a great content as you can compare popular services, gadgets, and goods, show their pros and cons.

Entertaining content

Entertaining content is the main reason why millions of people daily go to YouTube. However, it doesn’t mean that you need to post fail compilations all the time. There are many ways to find out how to entertain your audience. If you still don’t have ideas check out the article where Youtubers speak about their most popular videos.

2. Optimize keywords

YouTube is a search engine where people are looking for the information they need. That’s why you need to think about the keywords. If you don’t know what kind of keywords to add, ask yourself several questions: What is your video about? What do people type on YouTube to find it? Choose your keywords and add them to your video. You need to add them to your:

• Headline;
• Description;
• Image files;
• Tags.

Good keywords will also help you attract traffic from Google. Videos will rank high in search engines if you optimize them properly. Look for keywords in Google keyword planner and focus on their volume and relevance.

3. Catchy title and creative thumbnails

When people see your video in the related content or search results they look at your headline and thumbnail and decide whether to click it or not. The title has to be catchy and informative, so people will understand what the video is about. And the image has to be relevant and attention-grabbing.

How to make a good thumbnail?

Use close-ups on faces
Faces always attract our attention and create trust

Choose bright colors
Add a background with a bright color, it will catch people’s eyes

Combine your images with text
You can add the main point, a joke or provide more information. Use graphics editors to create a thumbnail (Photoshop, Crello or the other ones).

Be consistent with your designs
People will start to recognize your content and watch more of your videos.

4. Use call-to-cations, End cards/screens

Sometimes call-to-actions seem annoying, but they work. Most people are passive and you need to tell them something directly to help them make the next step. That’s what the most of successful YouTubers do. At the end of your video ask people to like, comment or subscribe to your channel. Be clear about the action and don’t include too many tasks.

End screens will also help you move your viewers to the next step. You can ask them to subscribe to your channel, follow you on social media or show related video.

5. Promote your videos through email and social media

If you are starting a corporate blog on YouTube, you probably have a huge list of your clients’ emails. Create a useful video, tutorial or how-to guide, and share it via email. A number of views will grow and you will get the first subscribers. Share your content on social media and include the link to your channel to your email signature.

Try to find as many groups on Facebook, related to your topic, as you can. Be active in these communities, post your videos and they will get a huge reach.

6. Collaborate with influencers

After you gained your first subscribers you can think about collaboration with other bloggers or brands. If you have common aims you can cross-promote each other on your channels. It’s a very effective and a free way to attract new subscribers. However, avoid advertising – interview each other, do challenges, and make it look natural.

7. Advertise

YouTube has great advertising options, which allow gaining more views. Youtube promotion is not cheap, so you need to plan your campaign carefully. The first seconds of your video have to attract the viewers’ attention and make them watch more. YouTube targeting options also allow reaching a specific audience, according to their interests, age, or gender.

8. Be active

Try to respond to as many comments as you can and engage your audience. Ask your subscribers their advice or share a personal story in comments. Viewers will be more active if they know that they will get a response.

Try to post consistently – the more videos are on your channel, the more people watch them. Create content plan and post videos according to it. Post videos on certain days of the week, it will help your subscribers know what and when to expect.

If you have recently created a YouTube channel and started to promote it, you’ve made the right choice. Video is one of the main trends and every year it’s becoming even more popular. YouTube is a very powerful social network with amazing opportunities, so take the most of it.