YouTube has long surpassed linear TV as the most watched video entertainment.
Over 2 billion logged-in users visit YouTube each month, and every day people watch over a billion hours of video.
The YouTube viewer population is scattered in 100 countries across the world.
The major viewer countries are India, USA, Brazil, Japan and Russia.
No wonder brands, big and small, are busy building their presence on this powerful video platform.
According to a study completed in 2019, over 500 hours of video were uploaded to YouTube every minute.
That’s 30,000 hours of video uploaded every hour.
And 720,000 hours of video uploaded every day to YouTube.
Let’s put that in perspective.
It would take you close to 82 years to watch the amount of videos uploaded to YouTube in only an hour.
That’s a lifetime of watching YouTube videos.
So, with all those videos arriving on the site every minute, your challenge is to get views for your videos.
The videos that you have worked so hard to create.
How The YouTube Audience Watches
Fortunately, unlike broadcast TV, YouTube viewers don’t just switch on and what whatever is playing.
Most people come to YouTube and search for something specific to watch.
The search on a topic, a person’s name, or even a specific show.
Once they have watched something, the YouTube algorithm learns what interests each viewer and shows them more of the same.
Because Google owns YouTube, the video content suggested to a viewer is also influenced by their Google search history.
Knowing how viewers use YouTube helps you to prepare and package your own videos.
Here are five easy ways to help your audience find and watch your YouTube content.
1. Create Quality Content
Producing great content is the most important success driver to grow any YouTube channel.
Growing your audience on YouTube is like increasing your fanbase on Facebook or your blog readership.
It all starts with great content.
If your content is valuable, memorable, and engaging, viewers will keep coming back.
If your viewers like and comment on your videos, it tells the YouTube algorithm that it is worth watching.
YouTube will then suggest your video to other people with similar interests.
If your video content is of low quality or little value it is unlikely to be liked or shared.
2. Use Call-to-Actions in Your Videos
Placing call-to-actions within your videos can help to promote engagement with your viewers and grow your channel.
Always ask your viewers to Like your video, and Subscribe to your channel.
Always do prompt your viewers to take these actions within the first 13-50 seconds of each video.
Prompting your viewers to subscribe early in the video is a proven strategy to grow an audience.
Next, ask your viewers to leave a comment about the video.
Then remember to answer these comments.
The YouTube algorithm promotes videos and channels which get a lot of engagement (viewer activity).
So each comment, like and subscription helps to give your content better visibility.
You can also use annotations in your video to get viewers to subscribe to your channel, or you can edit them into the final video so that they can blend seamlessly into the content.
3. Create Custom Links
You will automatically have a subscribe button placed on your YouTube channel for your viewers to see.
To increase engagement and get more subscribers, you can also create a custom link to add to your channel.
You can experiment with different call-to-actions to see which one gets the most clicks.
4. Link Your Website or Blog
YouTube gives you a way to connect your company website or blog to your YouTube channel.
This can help to improve the search results.
It also shows that your channel is the official representation of your brand on YouTube.
You can also add keywords that describe your channel.
This helps improve the visibility of your channel in YouTube and Google search results.
5. Create a Channel Trailer
YouTube lets you use a video as a welcome trailer for your channel.
A welcome trailer doesn’t have to be long, but it is an excellent opportunity for you to let people know what your channel is about.
Growing your YouTube channel isn’t just doing a bit of marketing and promotional work now and then.
You have to create the best content that you can and make sure it provides value.
Growing your audience will take some time and hard work, but it will be well worth the effort in the long run.
Starting a YouTube channel for your business is a great way to create brand awareness and grow your business.
So many of our members have been asking for advice, we have just launched a new publication and 7-part correspondence course called YouTube Success.
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