YouTube Marketing Strategies: 10 Tips to Grow Your Channel

Are you looking to increase your YouTube subscriber count, generate more views and potentially increase sales? Using the right YouTube marketing strategies can easily help your YouTube channel’s performance.

In order to be successful on YouTube today, you must delve into the platform’s dynamics. It will ultimately help you understand what works for others and where you can make a difference. Here’s 10 tips to help you grow your YouTube channel today.

What is YouTube marketing?

So what exactly is YouTube marketing? To put it simply, YouTube marketing is when you promote your business or product on YouTube’s platform by uploading valuable video content on your company’s YouTube channel or using YouTube ads. 

YouTube marketing allows business owners and content creators to deliver beneficial content for viewers to easily access and share, increasing brand presence.

Why is YouTube marketing so important?

YouTube is the second most visited website in the world, following close behind Google. With 2 billion people logging in every month, YouTube users say that videos help 68% of them make a purchase decision. The number of SMBs advertising on YouTube has doubled over the last  2 years, so there’s no surprise that more and more companies are including YouTube as a part of their marketing strategy.

Our 10 tips to growing your channel

1. Use a welcome video

There may be more people than you think checking out your YouTube profile, but unless you have a proper welcome video, they might not understand what your channel is about and simply not subscribe and go elsewhere.

That’s why a welcome video is a very important element of your channel.

Let’s just say it’s like the introduction of yourself on your resume. This gives your audience a preview of who you are, what kind of content you make and what they can expect from your channel. So make sure to film a nice introduction for your potential and current followers. Try to make it engaging, funny, short and attractive. Remember, the first impression is usually the last impression. 

And if you already have a welcome video, make sure it still best represents you and your channel, and if it doesn’t, it might be time to revise it.

For some inspiration, check out Pat Flynn’s YouTube channel, which features a welcome video that is very much aligned with the theme of his channel.

2. Keyword targeting

Picking the appropriate keywords and applying them in your video title and description can greatly impact your video’s performance. This is because YouTube, like its parent company Google, is a huge search engine. 

Competitor YouTube analytics can also help determine what the most searched word for your genre is, what’s relevant to your channel, and what isn’t. Alternatively, you can type in keywords into YouTube’s search bar header and browse what keywords are being suggested that relate to your channel.

Once you have formed a keyword list, build them into phrases or what we call “long-tail keywords” that have low search competition levels. Usually, these phrases contain 3 – 4 words that point to your content. Use your long-tail keywords in video descriptions, and anywhere that you’re able to write text like thumbnails, translations, titles, links, and tags. The more times you include the same keywords, the better chance you have to be seen.

3. Create eye-catching video thumbnails

Top-performing videos on YouTube all have one thing in common—a unique YouTube thumbnail that stands out to viewers when they’re endlessly scrolling. Eye-catching YouTube video thumbnails send a positive message to your consumers and entice them to click or tap on your video. Thumbnails are like mini billboards that capture your audience’s attention, so you want to make them as fun and exciting as possible.

YouTube thumbnails must be 1280 x 720 pixels with a minimum width of 640 pixels. We recommend using the dimensions of the 16:9 aspect ratio. Thumbnails should be under a 2MB limit and in JPG, GIF, or PNG image format.

Other tips for creating eye-catching thumbnails include:

• Adding readable text 
• Using high-quality and relevant images 
• Including human faces to build connections
• Keeping your branding consistent with branded colours and graphics
• Accurately representing the video

4. Include CTAs in YouTube videos

Content creators and business owners should always include a CTA to any video content. Whether it’s text within your outro or YouTube cards, CTA’s will boost the number of views to your website, other videos, and even increase sales or subscriptions. 

We suggest placing CTAs at the beginning and end of your video content. So what should you include? Promote CTAs like where to subscribe, encourage likes, comments, other videos, and tell your audience to follow your brand on other social media platforms.

5. Engage with your audience

It’s important not to overlook the fact that YouTube is a social media channel, and therefore demands social interaction. If you’re just posting videos without encouraging comments and discussion, you’re missing a trick. 

YouTube rewards channels with great engagement, including overall time spent on channel, watch time, likes and dislikes, and most importantly, comments. So try to respond to every comment you receive (if possible!) and encourage users to engage with audio/visual prompts. 

You can also take the time to visit other channels and engage, this could be a brand similar to your own or simply one you admire. Don’t always wait for the audience to take the initiative either. Post questions or comments that can drive engagement by asking questions relevant to the content or even just asking what content they like to see on your channel or would like to see more of. Plus, make sure to thank people for sharing on Youtube and other channels. 

Think about using a social content distribution and engagement dashboard to help you keep track of key engagement metrics on YouTube.

6. Show up & stand out

If you’re running YouTube by yourself or as part of a small organisation, it can be extremely beneficial to personalise the channel by participating in videos. When you put a face to a brand, your audience can more easily connect with you as an individual. This is especially important for vloggers; fitness, life, or business coaches; and solo entrepreneurs. 

Every video you make doesn’t need to include your face, but you should feature regularly enough to engage your audience. Additionally, if you are this type of YouTuber, use a photo of yourself on your channel (and not your logo). 

7. Look out for the watch time and make use of time stamps

YouTube prefers to have users stay on the platform for a longer period of time. This is because the longer a user stays, the more advertisements they will see. Therefore, YouTube’s search algorithms favour videos with longer viewing times.

Time stamps are a useful feature that allow you to mark specific sections of your videos, making it easy for viewers to navigate to the content they are interested in. Implementing time stamps can enhance the viewer experience, increase engagement, and encourage viewers to watch more of your content.

• Identify key sections: Review your videos and identify the key sections or topics covered in your content.
• Add time stamps in the video description or comments: You can add time stamps in the description box of your video or in the comments section. Use a format that is easy to understand, such as “0:00 – Introduction,” “2:30 – How to,” etc.
• Be accurate: Make sure the time stamps accurately correspond to the specific sections or topics in your video. Double-check the time stamps to avoid any confusion or errors.
• Highlight time stamps in your video: You can also highlight the time stamps visually in your video by using captions or annotations, making it easy for viewers to click and navigate to the desired sections.

8. Add captions to your videos

Ever remembered a great line from a TV show, typed it into Google or YouTube, and found the exact clip on YouTube? If that great line wasn’t in the title or the description, then you found that because the search engines used the captions to find the video.

YouTube provides automated captions, but they may not always be accurate. I recommend that you review and edit the captions to ensure their accuracy.

You can also add custom captions to your videos by uploading a transcript or writing engaging captions yourself.

When adding captions, consider the following tips:

• Review and edit automated captions: Review and edit the automated captions provided by YouTube to ensure accuracy. Correct any mistakes and ensure that the captions reflect the actual spoken words in your videos.
• Provide detailed captions: Use detailed captions that accurately reflect the content of your videos. Captions should include not only the spoken words but also relevant sounds and background noises.
• Add keywords to captions: Include relevant keywords in your captions to improve the searchability of your videos. Use keywords that are relevant to your content and niche.
• Consider different languages: If you have a global audience, consider adding captions in different languages to cater to viewers from diverse regions.

9. Cross promote your videos

Chances are you’re covering similar topics on YouTube that overlap with each other. To squeeze more out of your older content, make a point to cross-promote your videos when it makes sense.

For example, you can drop links in the description of a video and encourage viewers to check them out as a sort of call-to-action. Although some might be disappointed by the removal of YouTube’s annotation system, linking in your description encourages viewers to watch your videos all the way through without clicking away.

10. Encourage viewers to follow your series

A smart way to promote your YouTube channel is by creating a specific video series that covers a recurring theme or topic.

Series are a win-win for creators and viewers alike. For creators, you hold yourself accountable for creating fresh YouTube content and don’t have to rack your brain for ideas. For your audience, they have something to look forward to and likewise a reason to keep returning to your channel.

Final Thoughts

Growing a YouTube audience doesn’t happen by accident. And yes, it can certainly feel like a grind if your space is crowded with competition. That’s exactly why it pays to have a variety of promotional tactics in your back pocket. 

Your platform strategy requires patience and hard work but it’s important that you also understand your viewers – what they like and want, and what might be beneficial to them. If you’re a brand or company, releasing exceptional video material to YouTube will help you demonstrate your competence and strengthen your brand.

Although some of the tips above require more effort than others, each one can help you get more eyes on your channel and more subscribers as a result.

If you’re ready to ramp up your YouTube presence and start seeing real business results, Rokir’s marketing team can help you plan, create, schedule and publish content. We’re also on hand to help you dive even deeper into analytics to improve your video strategy. Get in touch today!