5 Key Ways to Better Market Yourself on YouTube

YouTube is the internet’s main hub for video content. People from all over the world visit YouTube every day and can spend hours on the site watching videos. Content creators have seen a lot of success posting on YouTube and have made a ton of money doing so, but the ones that make the most amount of money and gain the most attraction to their accounts are the ones that know how to market themselves best.

There are quite a few concepts to understand inorder to reach the same status as some of these huge YouTubers. The great thing is you do not need a bachelor’s degree in marketing or advertising to understand these concepts. However, the best techniques and strategies that content creators use to boost their channel’s success do take time and effort and you will not see the advantages of doing these things overnight. If you truly want to be a successful YouTuber, the most important thing to understand is diligence. Being consistent with your uploads is the most important thing to do because you want to avoid gaining new subscribers just to lose them due to your lack of production. Besides consistency, there are several more ways to go about achieving success on YouTube.

Proper Video Titles

Too many people post a video with a boring title and expect for the video to do all of the talking. Which is a great strategy only if people actually click on the video in the first place. The title is supposed to be your video’s hook, the thing that grabs people’s attention. Grabbing someone’s attention may sound tricky, since there are so many other videos they can click on instead of yours, but it is not as hard as it seems.

A good video title is both concise and descriptive. No one wants to click on a video that is titled “Makeup,” nor do people want to watch a video titled “I did my makeup today and my mom walked in and we talked about yada yada yada.” The first title isn’t explanatory enough while the second is describing useless information in the video that you want the viewer to see for themselves, that is if it is actually interesting.

People will be more likely to click on a video titled “How I Did My Own Makeup For Senior Prom” or “My Makeup Looked Soooo Good After Using This!” The first title shows how it is about to be a tutorial of some kind, people go to YouTube all of the time for ‘How to’ videos. People that are looking to get questions answered commonly like seeing it done throughout a video instead of reading about it. The second example is a clickbait title. You have probably seen all sorts of YouTube videos use clickbait titles to draw attention, most even use all capital letters to make the video seem more exciting. Do not be ashamed of using clickbait titles. Everyone does it and it works, as long as there is some point or entertaining aspect to your video, no one will complain. Some of the biggest YouTubers, such as David Dobrik, use clickbait titles for most if not all of their videos.

Titles also become easier as you become more and more popular, but you might need some extra help to draw more attention to your videos in the beginning. This is where SEO comes into play. SEO stands for ‘Search Engine Optimization,’ this is the phrase used to describe how content pops up when someone searches for something. You may notice that when you search for something on Google, videos are some of the first pieces of content to appear and they will more often than not take you to YouTube.

For your videos to appear for a Google or YouTube search, you must use keywords in your title. Now, these keywords are different for every topic and vary all of the time, but Google Ads has a service called Keyword Planner that is extremely useful in finding the right words to use. Follow the link and the service walks you through how to best navigate SEO by using specific words.

Channel Character

Having original content is one thing, but creating a channel that has its own flair is another. A quality YouTube channel should include a custom profile picture along with an intriguing cover photo. Viewers like to see content creators that care about their product and work hard to be original. However, a profile picture and cover photo is just the start, these are just tools to use to catch a person’s eye when they visit your channel.

Your channel’s description is also another important factor that will reel in more viewers. A good channel description includes keywords that describes the content you plan on posting. Not only is this great for SEO, but it also shows audience members your plans as a YouTuber and what you strive to share with them.

Along with your description, you can also add a schedule. As mentioned before, being consistent with your video production is important inorder to gain a fanbase. In a day and age where new content is being posted everyday, to be as successful as possible you will need to post consistently. A schedule on your channel will show viewers when you will post and what you plan to post in the future. People will return to your channel if they see a video concept that they are interested in that is coming up on your schedule.

Lastly, a YouTube channel should include your contact information. This does not necessarily have to be your phone number and honestly shouldn’t be, but information such as your social media handles or email are good things to include. That way if people want to collaborate with you on future videos, they can contact you using those outlets.

Content Quality

A pretty self explanatory concept, but it needs to be mentioned. People do not want to watch a video that has terrible quality. The concept of quality can include a few factors. One is simply the video’s technical quality. Viewers want to watch high definition videos, not videos that are recorded from a phone. This may mean that you will have to invest in a good camera or other equipment depending on the content you are planning to make. Video quality also includes proper editing techniques. Again, depending on the content you are working on, you may not need to edit as much as others. However, editing is still important since it is unlikely that everything you record will be important for your video’s integrity.

If your video only needs to be about 10 minutes long and you have 25 minutes worth of video recorded, you will need to know how to edit out the unnecessary parts of the video. Some videos require more than just cutting parts out and also need extra features to spice up the video; including, titles throughout the video, captions, and intro and outro cut scenes with music. The better the quality, the more views you will get.

Understanding Your Audience

Your audience is your main focus, for without an audience you will not see success on YouTube. So, understanding your audience and what they want to see is important. Now, everyone’s audience is based on their own content. An easy way to understand your audience in the beginning is to look at competitor’s channels. Look at what successful YouTubers do and you can learn from how they run their channel. The tricky part about this is to not mimic those content creators. You are just looking at them to use as an example, not to copy. If you have an idea for a YouTube channel, chances are someone else is already doing something similar. What you have to do is learn from them and then put your own twist on the content you produce.

For example, celebrity interviews have been around forever, since the dawn of time. There are so many people interviewing celebrities, from talk show hosts to magazines to YouTubers. The point is, interviewing celebrities is nothing new and if you were to do the same thing, you would have to be different inorder to stand out from the others. That is exactly what First We Feast did with their YouTube series Hot Ones.

Sean Evans, host of Hot Ones, interviews celebrities one on one, but eats spicy wings with them during the course of the interview and the sauces get hotter and hotter and the interview goes on. By the end, the celebrities are typically in a great deal of pain from how spicy the wings get and the audience gets to see their reactions as well as hear their answers to Evans’ questions. This is a whole new take on the typical boring celebrity interview that has gained a lot of traction and viewership. What they did was take a concept people have done for ages and made it original with their own flair. That is exactly what you need to do to gain an audience on YouTube.

Understanding your audience is also important when you do eventually gain a fanbase. People traditionally do not like following someone for one thing and then they randomly switch up the content. If you are a sports channel, stick to sports. If you are a fashion channel, stick to fashion. You get the gist.

Engage

The last piece of advice is to simply engage with your viewers. When people comment on one of your videos, respond to them and have a conversation. Potentially do giveaways on your channel, people love free stuff and that will draw them to your content. Also, don’t be afraid to plug your channel in your videos. It may feel corny, but if people enjoy watching your videos, introduce them to the environment you have created on YouTube.

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Ask viewers to subscribe to your channel and like your videos. Getting views is huge for success on YouTube, but getting likes and gaining more subscribers is equally as important. Some people watch a video, get the information or entertainment they were looking for, and then just leave without leaving a trace. Giving a friendly reminder to like and subscribe is nothing to be ashamed about because that’s how you get paid. Most people respect that and will help out, especially since it only takes the click of a button.