YouTube is one of the extremely effective platforms you probably hear about a lot. The platform contains a huge amount of online content on a wide variety of topics.
Such a platform with a billion users can be a source of attracting a huge number of users, especially considering the high requirements that YouTube imposes on companies before allowing them to publish video content.
According to Mark Fidelman’s research, YouTube is the most accessible social platform for marketing campaigns involving opinion makers. Some campaigns launched three years ago are still profitable today.
If you currently have your own YouTube channel, you have probably already felt that the path to a higher level of engagement is not so simple. The number of YouTube views is a statistic about the popularity of a resource. They give the marketer a sense of immediate satisfaction.
YouTube’s algorithm works in a way that videos with a large number of views are not preferred. The user’s “session time” spent on a particular account is taken into account to a greater extent. This is why you need to hook the visitor, make him/her spend more time watching the video, and interact with him/her in the comments.
A high rate of audience engagement has a direct impact on online promotion. Users who actively discuss content leave comments, place hearts, make shares, encourage other people to subscribe, order goods and services. This is why the owner of a new YouTube channel needs to get the first YouTube subscribers with a high level of involvement. The more such viewers there are, the faster the project will become known, in demand, and effective for business or earnings.
- Simple and beautiful thumbnails help increase engagement
BuzzFeed uses engaging headlines to customize its target audience. They arouse users’ curiosity and eventually get them to click on the link.
YouTube is also a search engine. And when a user searches for queries via their search bar, visual thumbnails take up a significant portion of the results.
Our attention is naturally focused on the photo, so you likely will not attract more clicks if the thumbnails you use are boring.
An interesting fact from YouTube Creator Academy: 90% of the most successful YouTube videos have a personalized thumbnail.
If you add personalized explanatory text or branding to your image, it will help you stand out from the competition.
It should be high-resolution images (1280 x 720 pixels) and the text should be readable on all screen sizes.
When editing an image, consider zooming in and out to take all devices into account. Check out the device report inside YouTube analytics you can use to find out the strength of your mobile audience.
Add cards and endscreens to make the user perform the desired action
If you have been in marketing for a long time, you know that marketers have to be straightforward.
Do you want a user to subscribe to your YouTube channel? Then don’t keep it a secret. Want a user to like your video? Then remind him/her of it.
A great way to maintain your subscriptions and engagement levels on YouTube is to use cards and end screens. These are little boxes that appear during videos and remind the user to take action.
To keep users happy and present on the page, videos should be short
You will be in good standing with the platform if viewers watch your video longer. This is the key ranking factor for videos. The percentage of videos viewed is much more important than the number of minutes, but obviously both are worth considering.
The attention span of modern humans is decreasing all the time, which is why it is so difficult to get people to watch videos for a long time. The average user spends 20 seconds on the site.
Tip! Buy YouTube views with high-retention to boost this metric.
Consequently, it is very important to grab the attention of your viewers within the first 10 seconds, if not even 5. So this is how to retain the user:
Put a good story into your content. For example, entrepreneur Gary Vaynerchuk shares personal stories, thus connecting with his audience.
The longer your video is, the shorter the viewing time is. So try to keep it under 3 minutes.
- The basic principles of marketing and SEO also apply to YouTube
The basic principles of marketing do not change depending on the platform. Only the tactical ways of implementing them change.
Here are 4 strategies to help you get to the top of search results on YouTube:
Actively promote your videos – YouTube has a large audience, but when you are a newcomer you have few subscribers. Consider creating a blog where you can embed your videos.
Keyword search and optimization – This can be a starting point for creating video content. Insert keywords into your keyword planner, this is useful for determining search volume and competition.
If you target those keywords, you will get good results not only on YouTube…but even on Google, it will start sending traffic to your video from its first page.
The easiest way to find “video keywords” that are guaranteed to get you a spot on Google is to search for them. For example, the keyword “how to make an omelet” displays video results at the top of Google search results. That way, you will achieve video rankings if you target the keyword. You also need to create a 250-word description, keeping in mind the laws of SEO text writing. Add some tags; this will help Google and YouTube determine what your video is about.
Conclusion
YouTube is a great channel for building an audience. But the best news is that this platform is not yet oversaturated with marketers because of the high barrier to entry.
If you have a YouTube channel, you can use the four tactics we wrote about in the article to improve engagement levels. If you do not have your own channel yet, try to create one soon.
