YouTube is the largest video-sharing platform on the internet with over 2.7 billion active users from all over the world. It is a great place for aspiring content creators except the competition has only gotten tougher than before.
Nonetheless, there is no need to worry or doubt yourself if you are a complete beginner. With the right planning and strategies, you will make it. There is no better time to embark on the journey than now.
10 Proven Strategies to Grow on YouTube
YouTube offers immense growth opportunities to creators in terms of following as well as capital. 694,000 hours of video content is streamed by viewers every minute on the platform. This implies that there is a lot of potential audience awaiting your content.
These strategies will help you get instant YouTube video likes as well as subscribers on your channel and more views on your videos.
1. Define A Target Audience
Before you begin a YouTube channel, depending on your niche, define who you are going to create content for. Ask yourself, what kind of audience would be the most interested in watching your content? Understand their needs, interests, preferences, behaviors, pain points, and dislikes so you can make videos that resonate with them.
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Having targeted YouTube subscribers who appreciate your style is always a better idea than having a crowd of random subscribers.
2. Devise A Content Plan
If you really want to grow your YouTube channel, treat it as a full-time job. Plan your content ahead of time and stick to it. Begin with the end in mind; what do you want to achieve through the dissemination of your content?
Do you want to attract more traffic to your videos or enhance the number of your subscribers? Depending on whatever your goals are, devise a content strategy and create a plan for executing it effectively.
While you are at it, research your competition. Analyze their strengths and weaknesses, what strategies are they employing to get more engagement and views on their content, and identify how you can do better than them.
3. Pay Attention to the Visual and Textual Elements
When someone comes across any video of yours, the first thing they get to see is your thumbnail, title, channel icon, and name. So make sure all of these elements are powerful enough to captivate their attention the moment they catch a glimpse of it.
Your thumbnails should be visually appealing and your titles should include all the appropriate and relevant keywords to reach the right people. Use a professional photo as your channel icon, preferably a logo or a headshot image with a solid background.
Write a compelling description that provides an overview of the video contents, along with a captivating YouTube thumbnail. It should clearly state what a viewer will find in the video.
4. Create Engaging Content
No matter what type of content you are creating, whether it’s tutorials, promotions, reviews, challenges, or unboxing; include elements that encourage engagement and interactivity. These interactive elements could be anything such as casual chit-chat, jokes, gifs, stickers, bold captions, or questions asked from the audience.
Don’t just narrate a script as it is. Make it fun and interactive for the ones who are watching your content. Start and end your videos with a compelling call to action. It gives your viewers a direction on what to do after they finish watching your video. Leave them with a food for thought and something that adds value to their lives. This will keep them coming back for more.
5. Collaborate With Other Creators
Collaborating with other creators can give your content exposure to a whole new audience, one that is already interested in your type of content. Brainstorm creative ideas for videos together with your fellow creators or propose an idea to them. It could be a trend or challenge that you are participating in with them as well.
Have fun partnering with various creators on YouTube. It doesn’t matter how big or small their following is. When you are a beginner, collaborations can take you places. They provide you an opportunity to learn from more experienced creators and take a deeper look into how they streamline things for themselves.
6. Organize Your Content
Organization of content is an underrated tool. It might not seem like a big thing but it plays a huge part in growing your YouTube channel. This makes it so much more convenient for anyone visiting your channel to navigate through your content. If it’s all haphazard and a particular video of yours is hard to find for anyone, they are not going to visit your channel ever again.
Use timestamps in your videos to break them down into several chapters. This way it will make it easier for the viewers to hop onto whatever part they want to watch first. Make different playlists to categorize your content on the basis of their subjects. Arrange the videos sequentially in each playlist.
The more you organize your content and break it down for your audience, the more convenient it will become for them to go through it. They will have a streamlined experience on your channel and will keep coming back for it.
7. Utilize Shorts to Direct Your Audience
With the rise of short-form content on the internet, YouTube too had to resort to the idea of it. So they introduced a new feature on the platform called “Shorts” that provided a dedicated space for shorter videos.
Shorts offer a fantastic opportunity for creators to use them as a means for their growth. How is that possible? Let us break that to you.
You can use Shorts to direct your audience towards the longer videos you have published on your channel. Take out interesting snippets from your long-form content and post them as Shorts. This will intrigue the viewers and get them to watch the whole thing in one go.
8. Cross-Promote Your Videos
Leverage the power of social media to enhance the visibility of your content among a wider audience. Share your videos across all your social networks so you can generate more traffic on your channel.
While you are working as a content creator on YouTube, it’s best to have a public profile on other social media platforms as well. Build an audience on all of those profiles so you can share the content you publish on YouTube with them too.
Whenever you launch a new video, make sure to share its link and snippets everywhere you can with the maximum number of people. This will help you increase your subscriber base and viewership.
9. Evaluate Your Performance
YouTube analytics are a great way to keep track of your performance. Analyze your performance regularly to know what your audience likes and takes more interest in on your channel. Apart from that, you will be able to find out what areas you need to work on to improve your performance.
It’s important to keep evaluating your performance every now and then in order to close any loopholes present in your content strategy.
10. Stay Persistent
One of the most important characteristics to develop in yourself to succeed in your YouTube journey is staying consistent and persistent despite all odds. You will encounter failures and setbacks but don’t lose hope. It’s all a part of the ride.
Post content on your channel consistently and build a strategy that works for you as well as your viewers. It takes time to yield the results you desire for your channel and get where you have to. So keep going, onward and upward!
In A Nutshell
Nothing in this world comes easy, neither does success. So when you are on your way to something big, be prepared for failures and lessons. The aforementioned strategies will help you succeed in your YouTube journey with flying colors if you follow them aptly. It’s not too hard to devise a strategy that truly helps your channel grow. Be consistent and have fun creating content!