YouTube is the 2nd most visited website in the world with over 2 billion active monthly users. It is, therefore, the best platform to promote your business on, build brand awareness, reach a bigger audience, and boost sales.
So, if you don’t have a channel yet, it’s high time you created one.
Millions of people prefer and interact best with video content and that is one of the reasons for its popularity.
Take advantage of the power and convenience that the platform brings and take your business to the next level.
This guide will help you to create a YouTube business channel, get more subscribers, get more views, create an effective marketing strategy, and optimize for SEO.
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CREATE YOUR BRAND ACCOUNT
Use your existing Google account to login to YouTube. Click on your profile and select ‘My channel’ on the drop-down menu. Go to ‘Create a new channel.’ Enter your brand name and hit ‘Create.’ Add a channel manager and get access to great features such as YouTube analytics and the ability to change account managers and owners.
If you use your personal account, you will not be able to customize it for your brand, you cannot add account managers, and you won’t have access to other necessary features. So, I recommend you separate the two.
After successfully creating your brand account, go to ‘Customize channel’ and an image. You can use a business logo, a personal picture, or any image that represents your brand well. Add a cover photo by going to ‘Edit channel art.’ Use YouTube’s channel art templates to pick the right size for your image and ensure it is responsive on all devices. Go to the ‘About’ page and fill in the important details such as your company email, channel description, site URL, links to your business pages, and so on.
Upload a new video by going to the video icon on your top menu. Hit ‘Publish’ after selecting the one you want to share with your audience.
Set permissions and allow your team members to manage the channel using their Google accounts. Go to ‘Settings’ by clicking your profile icon. Click on ‘Add or remove managers’ then ‘Manage permissions’ and invite users.
Promote your channel.
Let people know about your new channel and ensure you reach your target audience by taking the following steps:
● Create a great layout.
Your channel layout helps people to easily decide whether or not they should follow you or watch your videos. So, create one that convinces users to stay on your channel and become loyal subscribers. Use playlists to enable users to move from one video to another and quickly find what they need. Progressively organize your videos according to the information they provide. For example, if you are offering advice on launching a startup, pick a relevant playlist name and upload your videos accordingly.
Your first video could be about the importance of starting your own business. The second one could give valuable advice on how to go about it. The third could focus on marketing your business, and so on.
● Plan your content.
Create regular content. Know what your audience wants and give them precisely that. Share useful information that will make them fall in love with your content and hit the ‘Subscribe’ button. Don’t just post two or three videos and leave it there. Post a new video at least twice a week and set aside an hour or so daily, to manage your channel. For instance, creating your content, responding to comments, editing your videos, and so forth. Remember to share interesting and engaging information around your niche. This will help you to build authority and easily become the go-to-person for specific content.
● Write compelling titles.
Your title determines who clicks on your videos. Therefore, write compelling ones that raise curiosity and encourage clicks. Optimize your headlines and help users know what they will find by following your link.
Congratulations on starting your new channel and making it visible to the public, it’s now time to move on to the most important step; growing your audience.
GET MORE VIEWS
Increase traffic to your channel and ensure people watch your videos by taking the following steps:
● Use custom thumbnails.
Create unique and compelling thumbnails to get users to click on your videos. Pick a unique color and stick to it. Don’t share misleading information to grab attention. Use appropriate headlines that are an accurate representation of the video content. Meaning, your videos should contain the exact information that your thumbnail says it will. Use attractive images that highlight the best part of the video.
● Optimize your videos.
Your video titles and descriptions help users decide whether or not to follow your link. So, use catchy titles and accurate descriptions. Optimize them for SEO and increase traffic to your channel. Use meta titles, meta descriptions, meta tags to rank high on search engines and ensure people find you. Include keywords relevant to your video content. Mention it at least 4 times on your descriptions and no more. Avoid keyword-stuffing. Provide an accurate description of your content. Use timestamps to help visitors navigate through your content and quickly find what they are looking for.
● Create highly-engaging videos.
Create lengthy videos to rank high on YouTube searches. Have at least one video on your playlist that is 15 minutes, 30 minutes, or an hour long. Ensure viewers watch to the end by sharing highly-engaging content. Share unique data or statistics throughout your video. Use graphics and pattern interruptions to capture attention.
You can also record 2 to 3-minute videos, create a series, and increase watch time. Produce fresh content and give viewers something to look forward to. Record a series on some of the best or on-demand topics in your niche. Divide your content into small chunks and provide progressive information on each video.
● Learn from influencers.
Research your competition. Learn from channels that have the highest views and a lot of subscribers within your niche. Observe how they layout their content. What sort of information do they share? What videos have more likes and comments? How are they structured? And how is the information presented? Implement some of their strategies but find a way to stand out.
● Create unique content
Create unique content that no one else is producing. Figure out what your target audience needs. Ask them to make a few suggestions via the comments section or on your social pages, blog, and site.
● Share how-to videos.
Keep things interesting by including how-to-guides, DIYs, and interesting facts. For example, you can evaluate products, teach a new skill, share helpful resources, or recommend the best services on some of your videos.
● Connect with influencers.
Connect with influencers and engage with their content. Comment on their posts and hit ‘Like’ to encourage them to do the same.
Getting users to watch your videos is a sign that you are in the right direction. Nonetheless, you want to ensure they keep coming back and continue clicking on your videos. The best way to achieve this is by turning them into subscribers and encouraging them to recommend your channel to their friends, workmates, and so on. Here’s how:
GET MORE SUBSCRIBERS
You want more and more people to interact with your content and better understand your brand. Achieve this by getting more subscribers and ensuring viewers hit the ‘Subscribe’ button after watching your videos.
The following tips will help you to do just that:
● Produce quality videos and content.
Invest in the right equipment to produce high-quality videos and give your brand the professional look it deserves. Create valuable content that your target audience wants and finds useful. Identify their challenges or problems and offer solutions. Share helpful information such as updates, industry trends, free resources, how-to-guides, and so on.
Reach a broader audience by taking advantage of YouTube’s great features such as captions and channel trailers. Add captions to help non-native speakers and ones with hearing impairments engage with your content. Give users a channel preview by creating trailers. YouTube channel trailers automatically play when unsubscribed members access your page. Make the most of it. Get visitors to fall in love with your content and encourage them to subscribe. Share interesting and compelling information.
● Form a personal relationship with your audience.
Engage with your community. Interact with viewers and show them that you appreciate their engagement and value their opinion. Respond to comments and questions. Hit ‘Like’ when someone leaves a positive comment. Ask your viewers what information they would like you to share. Find out what their current challenges are and help them meet them. Offer practical advice and ensure they keep coming back to your videos.
● Use social media.
Advertise your channel on all your social media platforms. Add links to your posts or profiles. If you already have a decent number of followers and connections, ask your audience to visit your channel and subscribe. Mention what they will benefit from it. Talk about the purpose of the channel. Why you created it as well as why they are the perfect fit for it.
Embed your videos on your Facebook page, LinkedIn page, and blog. Give users highlights of your content and inspire action.
● Go live.
Use live videos to capture attention and boost interaction. Just make sure you stream interesting content that keeps viewers engaged and retain their attention. You can run contests, have a Q&A session, record customer testimonials, or share event videos. Interview influencers or successful entrepreneurs. Help visitors meet their goals by asking interviewees to give tips and offer invaluable advice.
Promote your service or product here and there but not on all videos. Include exciting offers on your promotional videos. Offer massive discounts or giveaways exclusively to subscribers. Create premium content and make it available to subscribers only to encourage more subscriptions. Just make sure the content remains unique, valuable, and worthwhile.
● Create video taglines.
Use a catchy tagline to attract more people and grow channel subscribers. Pick a unique description and one that’s not widely used by your competitors. Add it in front of your channel art to command attention, make people aware of what they will benefit from your videos, and get more subscribers.
● Ask for subscriptions.
Last but not least, ask viewers to subscribe at the end of each video. Mention the benefits of doing so. For example, say “Thank you for watching. Stay up to date and don’t miss exciting offers. Hit the ‘Subscribe’ button and get notified each time a new video is out.”
Increase traffic and grow your business by creating an effective marketing strategy.
MASTER YOUTUBE SEO
You want your videos to have high rankings and more so to appear on top of YouTube’s search results. That way, you will get more views, get people to engage with your content, and turn them into loyal subscribers.
Top 3 ways to master YouTube SEO.
- Use the right keywords.
Use the right keywords on your videos. Make sure they are relevant to your content. Search for popular ones or ones that people normally use when searching for certain information. Go on YouTube and begin your search. If you type in certain words or phrases around your niche you will get suggestions. For example, if you are a marketer, the minute you search for ‘Online Marketing’ you will receive a lot of suggestions such as ‘Online Marketing techniques’ ‘Online Marketing tutorials’ ‘Online Marketing tools’ and so on. Come up with an exhaustive list of relevant keywords and use the best ones on your videos.
Use YouTube search report to find the most popular keywords that people use to find your videos. You can also use Google for a list of common phrases that you can use.
- Optimize your videos.
Optimize your video title and description for SEO. Add target keywords and make sure they fit in with your text. Include important links on your description to help people learn more about your business. Add your site URL, links to business pages such as your Facebook page, Twitter account, LinkedIn page, Instagram page, and a link to your blog.
Add subtitles, transcripts, and closed captions for high rankings. Add link cards, channel cards, playlist cards, or donation cards to your videos and inspire action. Add a call-to-action, watermarks, and end screens for more engagement.
Ask viewers to like, comment, and subscribe after each video. More likes, comments, and subscribers mean higher rankings.
- Increase your watch time.
Get people to spend more time on your videos and get your videos on top of YouTube’s SERPs. Use timestamps and CTAs. Create great and well-structured content. Include playlists, produce highly-engaging content, and make the most of the first few seconds. This is because your first 10 or 20 seconds determine how long someone stays on your video. Get to the point as soon as possible and deliver on what both your title and description promise.
Connect with your audience at a personal level. Share personal experiences here and there to help them easily relate with you. Use YouTube Analytics to gain access to important information such as engagement reports, watch time, retention rate, demographics, traffic sources, your top-performing videos, and so forth.
Come up with an effective marketing strategy.
Come up with effective methods to market your channel and get more views.
Use the following tips:
● Create videos for a specific audience.
● Identify your target audience and cater to their needs.
● Interview thought-leaders.
● Boost your click-through-rate (CTR).
● Get featured in influencer videos.
● Be consistent.
● Produce fresh and up-to-date content.
● Create high-retention videos.
Use the right tools.
Use the right tools to accelerate results and meet your goals. Some great SEO and marketing tools include; SEMrush, Canva, HubSpot, Ahrefs Keyword Explorer, BuzzSumo, Hootsuite, and Google Search Console.
Now comes the best part; getting results for your efforts.
MONETIZE YOUR CHANNEL
Make your channel work for you and monetize it. There are many ways to make money on YouTube. You just have to ensure you understand and follow their monetization policies so that your channel doesn’t get suspended or terminated. If you stick to the guidelines and follow the rules, there is no limit to how far you can go.
Top 5 ways to monetize your YouTube channel.
- Sell your products.
Once you raise brand awareness, get more subscribers, and build trust, you can sell your product or service. Your followers will be more than happy to buy from you because they trust your content. They know you are an expert at what you do because you always provide free valuable content. So, advertise and promote your business on some of your videos. Mention discounts, coupons, and freebies. Share a link to your store and ask them to visit your site.
- Become a YouTube partner.
Partner up with YouTube and run ads on your channel. You can add them at the beginning of your video, in the middle of your video, or at the end. You must have 1000+ subscribers and 4000 watch hours to join the YouTube Partner Program. Get paid each time a viewer clicks on or watches the ad in full.
Make sure your content meets YouTube Partner Program requirements. Which includes creating content that doesn’t promote violence, isn’t controversial, and so on.
- Become an affiliate.
Affiliate marketing is one of the best ways to monetize your channel. So, become an affiliate for the right products. Pick and advertise products or services that are within your niche as well as ones that are relevant to your content. The kind that your audience wants and finds useful. Add affiliate links to your video descriptions and mention them on your video. Be honest and transparent. Tell viewers that you receive a certain percentage each time they click on a certain link or make a purchase via the shared link. You can make up to $1000 or more monthly if you do it right.
- Run an ad campaign.
Use paid YouTube ads to market your product or service, reach a bigger audience, and turn users into customers. Choose ad formats that you prefer. You can opt for bumper ads, overlay ads, skippable in-stream ads, or non-video ads like banners and sponsored cards.
- Use crowdfunding.
Set up a crowdfunding account and ask your subscribers to make small donations. Talk about the upcoming project. What it is, what they will benefit from it, and how their donations will help, and so forth. Start a crowdfunding campaign and use other social networks to get more people invested in the process.
Add a YouTube ‘Sponsor’ button beneath each video. You can also offer rewards to supporters. For example, early access, exclusive content, shout-outs, behind-the-scenes access, etc.
You can also create sponsored content, work with brands or influencers, sell services, license your content, and set up fan funding.
Your brand channel can help you make the most of your marketing efforts, grow your audience, build brand awareness, and reach your financial goals. So, own one and follow the above-mentioned steps to ensure you fulfill your aims.
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