How do I get more views and subscriptions on my YouTube videos? Well, that’s a literal million-dollar question.
Small changes can add up to big numbers. And more subscribers means more views, more views means more shares from YouTube, which means greater reach.
Hi. I’m Matt Brown from HubSpot, and this is Skill Up. The show where you’ll learn how to take your sales, marketing, and service skills to the next level.
How do I get more views and subscriptions on my YouTube videos? It’s a literal million-dollar question.
But if you’re managing a YouTube channel for your business, what you really want to know is how can you get more people to buy your stuff? Right? Views and subscriptions are the stones in the long path towards a successful business.
Or you’re just looking to monetize the channel. Which, fair. Still a million-dollar question.
So, as someone who doesn’t personally run views and subscription farm for a YouTube channel, let me tell you how! Ok fine, yes yes, I asked the experts. And I packaged them up into three stories.
You’ll hear from Amy Landino of AmyTV and Ben Uyeda of HomeMade Modern. But first, we start with YouTube expert and content creator Nick Nimmin.
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[NIMMIN: When it comes to getting more subscribers and views on your channel, the very first thing to keep in mind is that you have to make it worth it for the people that are watching your content and the more worth it that you make it for the people that are watching your content, the more they're going to subscribe to your channel.
What I mean by that is this, there's an exchange that takes place when people are watching videos on YouTube and that exchange is they're spending their time. The one thing that we never get back, they're spending their time. To consume your content, whatever that content happens to be. So there has to be a, uh, they have to feel that it's worth it to spend their time there.
So if you can make content in a way that's helping people, that's inspiring people. That's making people think in a different way. It's motivating people, something like that to where you're actually giving them something. Then you're going to increase the rate of people are subscribing to your YouTube channel.
And when it comes to getting views, another thing that you can do, that's going to help you get more views is actually learning the discovery systems of the platform, you know, learn how to rank videos and search and learn how to make thumbnails that are clickable. Learn how to read your analytics so that you can make the right content decisions for the specific people that you're trying to reach.]
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[LANDINO: If you want more views and subscribers, first and foremost, you have to know whom you want to talk to. You have to know them really well. And I would even get in. Have a coffee with somebody who'd be a perfect person to subscribe to your channel and know them and then ask some people for help. The initial thing to do, if you want YouTube to send you more traction is to bring some traction to the platform.
YouTube sees, Oh, look, Amy brought a viewer. To our website and they stuck around. That's big for your channel. That is a massive piece of engagement on its own for helping you grow. So the more that you really get to know these people and you make the right content for them and then bring a couple of them over on your own.
Just encourage that from maybe your Facebook friends or to your email list, then start to show YouTube who would be. Best for this content for them to show it to that's when you're going to start to get recommended and added to the home page. But if you don't bring a little bit of audience, they're not going to send you anyone.]
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[UYEDA: So when you start a YouTube channel, you have zero subscribers. Even though I have a lot now I'll start at zero. So initially I just shared my first YouTube video to the, you know, 500 or so friends that I have on Facebook. And what I really focused on when I did that is to see not how many people like it.
Cause they didn't just might like it because they're being supportive. But how many of them shared it? I didn't care about the lights. I didn't care about the encouraging comments. I cared that they thought that the message, I was packaging into that video. Was worthy to share with their friends. And so that's the only thing you should be focused on early on.
If you have an ad spend. That's great. Yeah. But if you don't, you're going to grow it organically. Like the way we did Jesse. Is at least one person sharing our message and if not, change your message.]
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That was some great advice. What I want to do now is walk through some specifics. Things that will boost your views and subscriber numbers.
The first thing you can do is to spend time engaging with your viewers. It might come off as tacky on other platforms, but on YouTube it’s totally normal.
Ask your audience to subscribe. And no shame here. Ask friends, partners, employees, your neighbor’s adorable dog. Whatever and whoever. But also ask it in your video, because the people watching your videos are oftentimes not your subscribers. Ask them for thumbs up, to like, or to drop a comment.
One unusual thing you can also do is start having longer videos. Now, that might seem odd. I get it. [sarcastic] How can a longer video result in more subscribers? Well, simply put, when somebody invests the time to watch a longer video, they're probably more likely to subscribe to your content.
The quick caveat here is it really depends on your content. Dragging out videos just to be longer without any additional value is torture for viewers’ eyes, ears, and hearts.
The next thing is to embed your videos elsewhere. That could be your website, your social media channels, or even places like Quora. The truth is vast numbers of individuals don't actually view videos on YouTube. That’s because videos embedded on other sites still count toward your video and channel stats.
Creating a great trailer can also help you get subscribers. Tell people what your channel is about, what they can expect to see, why they should watch, maybe any discounts for products, and why they should subscribe.
Quick pro tip: Be very aware of the music you choose. Get your sonic branding tight, and really set the tone for your channel. It’ll likely be the first thing new viewers hear when landing on your channel.
Now, yes, you’ll need at least 1,000 subscribers to include links in your cards, but you can always direct people to more of your videos in the videos themselves. It helps keep videos up and build more affinity for your brand.
You’ll also want to be consistent with your videos. Try to aim for at least one video a week. If you can do more, do more. If not, don’t listen to that first part. Ultimately, it’ll help you keep your view count up and keep subscribers coming back to your channel to watch more content.
SEO expert Brian Dean suggests that you upload a clip from a longer video to your social channels. If you have a 20-minute video, pull a 30 to 90-second clip from it and post it natively on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, or other channels. Then, tease the full clip in the description, but link it in the comments.
This gets around the social channels’ algorithms that want you to view all video content within their platform, rather than sending you elsewhere. That’s, as we say in Boston, a wicked smart marketer.
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It's a lot to think about, but fortunately, most of these are suggestions. Small changes can add up to big numbers. And more subscribers means more views, more views means more shares from YouTube, which means greater reach.
And for those of you thinking about monetizing directly on your channel, the more views you have, the better off your ability to drive revenue.
Next episode, ah, we’re already at episode eight? Well, just one to go. And we’re grabbing our tiny shovels, donning a nice wide brim hat, and rolling up our sleeves. Because we’re digging into search and SEO.
See you there.
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