If you’re using video marketing, good for you! You’re one of the 61% of companies using video as part of their marketing efforts.
You’ve created some great video content, but what happens when you can’t get anyone to view it? I’ve put together a few simple tips to help get more views on your YouTube videos.
But first, why should you be using YouTube as part of your video marketing strategy? YouTube now has over a billion users - almost one-third of all people on the internet. More YouTube stats:
- Every day 1 billion people watch videos YouTube.
- YouTube overall, and even YouTube on mobile alone, reaches more 18-34 and 18-49 year-olds than any cable network in the U.S.
- More than half of YouTube views come from mobile devices.
- YouTube has launched local versions in more than 88 countries
- You can navigate YouTube in a total of 76 different languages (covering 95% of the Internet population).
And don’t forget, Google loves YouTube, since they purchased the media company back in 2006. Videos on YouTube are going to show up more often in Google search results.
Now, how you can boost your YouTube views:
1. Upload new videos regularly, and preferably on a schedule.
Setting a schedule keeps you creating regular content, and it will also let your audience know when they can expect something new from you to look forward to! New videos will also trigger more views. When you upload a new video, those who have subscribed to your channel will receive a notification.
2. Post each of your YouTube videos on Facebook using Facebook’s native video uploader to get more eyes on your content.
Facebook videos now get more engagement than shared YouTube video links on the social site. To get viewers back to your YouTube channel, include a call-to-action within the Facebook video post to “check out my other videos on YouTube” with a link to your YouTube channel.
3. Keep your video titles to 50 characters or less.
Any longer, and your title will get cut off, decreasing the chances it will get clicked in search. Long titles are intimidating, and you should be able to convey what your video content is in a short and snappy title.
4. Embed your YouTube videos on your blog and promote them to your social media audience.
This will not only increase video views, it will increase your site’s pageviews.
5. Try keeping your videos to around 3 minutes.
Research by Buffer Social shows the ideal length of a YouTube video is 2 minutes and 54 seconds. Naturally exceptions can be made for certain types of content, but promotional videos should be short and sweet. No one has time to watch long videos, and you’ll lose your audience’s interest, or lose them from the beginning, if they see the video is going to be long.
6. When choosing keywords for your videos, run a quick Google search to see if there are video results for those keywords.
If there are, your video has a better chance of ranking in search. Like I mentioned earlier, Google loves YouTube, and video results are displayed prominently at the top of the results page, and on a video results page. This means people search YouTube and people searching Google will be able to see your videos.
7. Create a compelling brand channel.
To give your videos the best chance of getting discovered via YouTube search, start by optimizing your channel.
- Choose a Short, Descriptive Channel Name
- Include Relevant Keywords in the Description
- Fill in Additional Details (Choose an icon that represents your brand, upload an attractive cover photo and fill out your profile and Link to Your Channel on Your Website)
- Include a channel link on your website to let your fans know about your YouTube presence.
8. Write a great description.
Tell people what’s in your video so they won’t be disappointed if they click the link. It might be tempting to talk up your video or over-promise in an effort to get more views, but remember that your goal is to promote your brand and give people a favorable impression of your business. Disappointing your viewers will not successfully complete your goal, even if it does get you views.
Focus on the first 100 words of the description, which is all that most potential viewers are going to see or read. Just like your title, short and snappy is better than long-winded.
9. Add Annotations and Cards
What are Annotations and Cards? These are ways to add notes to your video that viewers will see while watching.
How can you do this?
Add Annotation
Go to the video you want to annotate in by selecting Creator Studio from your account.
Select edit. From the drop down menu, select Annotations. Click "Add Annotation" to add a new annotation, and choose from the five annotation types in the pull-down menu: Speech bubble, Note, Title, Spotlight, or Label.
Try using the different annotations to enhance your videos and encourage people to like your video, subscribe to your channel, as well as click to your website!
Add Card
You can use cards to add interactivity to your videos. Cards can point viewers to a specific URL (from a list of eligible sites) and show customized images, titles, and calls to action, depending on the card type.
To add a card, follow the same process of annotations but select Card from the Edit drop down rather than annotations.
10. Add the Video to Relevant Playlists
There is no restriction on which videos you can put in a playlist, they can be yours, someone else’s, or a mix of both.
This means that you can mix in popular videos that belong to you or other people with some of your own which haven’t gotten as much love therefore upping the view count and watch time of the videos that need it.
Have you tried something that worked great for your YouTube channel? Share it with us? Or let us know what questions you have, I'm always happy to answer them!
