the invasion of personal computers into our homes the pervasiveness of easily accessible information gone are the days of sitting through ads on the TV channels to catch a good movie or a series, thanks to the advent of DVRs instant connectivity with people around the world. From text messaging, to phone calls, to video calls, social media and more one of the biggest advances of all (in my opinion) – the invasion of YouTube into our lives.
I still remember getting on YouTube years ago and being fascinated with the different cooking videos that I was able to access. That soon led to the discovery of various other channels for crafts and activities and many other things. Now you can watch entire movies and TV shows and myriads of other things! With billions of users and viewers, it is no wonder that YouTube quickly turned into a business avenue for many folks. Millions of people now run successful channels on YouTube, some have monetized their channels and some have not. But the strategies to make the channels a smashing success remain the same. You can follow these strategies and have roaring success as well! These strategies will work for people who are looking to start their own YouTube channels as well as those that have started their channels but are struggling to get viewership and more.
Compelling Content
There is no substitute for this. The content you put on your channel HAS to be worth watching, not for you but for your intended audience! It has to draw the viewer’s attention to stay and watch the entire content. It is a known fact that the human attention span is only 8 seconds(lesser than that of a goldfish’s span of 9 seconds!). So if the video is not engaging in the first few seconds, you already have lost the viewer!! So ensure the content is engaging from the start to the finish and is so compelling that it makes the viewer want to leave a comment or reach out to you. I have seen all kinds of contents do well, if it is well-made – from tutorials, inspirational, informational, entertainment related, how-tos, reviews and many more.
Customize your channel
Let’s say you produce good content and put it on your channel, but that is not enough. How do you ensure that your target audience can reach that content? Customize your channel so it reflects what your brand is. Have an introductory video that outlines what they can expect from your channel. Have a relevant channel name too. The more niche your channel is, the more easily it can stand out and draw the right target audience. Don’t try to be all things to all viewers!
Add relevant meta-data
Simply put, meta-data is information about your video and includes tags, description, thumbnails, category, title and even closed-captions. The more succinct, clear and concise you are with your meta-data entries, the easier it is for the YouTube algorithms to find your video and display it when searched for. Many people presume they can get away with misleading entries. Youtube penalizes such owners by barring their videos from playing. Another common mistake is to disregard the thumbnail entry. Thumbnails are like trailers to your movie. Again by creating a custom thumbnail that speaks relevantly to your video, you have a higher rate of success.
Consistency and Frequency
Posting consistently and at a regular frequency is a must. It is perfectly fine to post a video only once a month, if that’s what you can do. But let your viewers know that ahead of time in your intro video and your channel description so they know what to expect. And then live up to your commitment. Posting too frequently feels like spamming. So maintain a healthy balance and STICK to the frequency you commit to.
Engage
In addition to posting videos, engage with your audience. Reply to comments and answer questions. Use the annotations feature on YouTube to get your audience to take action, such as click on a link to subscribe, or go to your website, to share or to even simply comment on the video. Once you get to a level of comfort with your audience, you can even seek audience feedback on recommendations and preferences.
Social Media
Share your video on other social media platforms. Don’t rely on only YouTube’s search and suggested videos feature for people to find you. Additionally, remember YouTube is a social platform by itself! So engage with other YouTubers’ and comment on and share other relevant content. Build relationships with other YouTubers’ as well. What other strategies have you used to climb the success charts on YouTube? Featured photo credit: Pixabay via pixabay.com
