Even if you decide to look past YouTube’s enduring domination in everything from vlogging and commentaries to movie trailers and interviews, you must consider that it’s also the second-largest search engine in the world.
That means it beats out Amazon, Facebook, and Bing — quite an accomplishment for a video-centric platform.
There are two things I’d like you to take from that opening: firstly, that anyone who wants to get their video content seen can’t afford to overlook YouTube, and secondly, that with so much traffic going through it every day, there are many challenges in appearing prominently.
Take into account that 300 hours of video are uploaded every minute. That’s a content torrent, and if you don’t stand out then you’ll be swept aside.
With a sophisticated system in place to automatically reconfigure layouts and recommend content, YouTube is difficult to impress, but it’s absolutely worth trying (particularly if you’re growing a brand). There are actually some simple things you can do to raise the likelihood that you’ll be seen through YouTube — here are 5 of them for you to try:
Follow thumbnail trends
The thumbnail may actually be the most important part of a YouTube video when it comes to being chosen.
The average visitor will have their Home panel filled with countless options, some from their subscriptions and others from trending accounts, and it isn’t the descriptions that typically lure people in — it’s the thumbnails.
Consequently, don’t just stick with the auto-generated thumbnails: create custom thumbnails that make your video as appealing as possible. Here’s a guide on doing just that, but the main points are that you should use a deliberately-taken still, frame it using contrasting colors, and confirm the title (and theme) through overlaid text.
Embed your videos wherever possible
It’s true that not every video view offers the same value, but it’s also true in general that more views are better, so if you can get more views at no significant cost, you might as well.
That’s why there’s no good reason to upload YouTube videos and just leave them alone when you can easily embed them elsewhere — through social media, at the very least.
Reach out to people you know who might be willing to embed your videos in their relevant blog posts, or follow suit in sharing them through social media.
You can just include links, of course, but they’re not as compelling because they add a layer of abstraction — allow your embedded videos to be watched without visiting YouTube, and you’ll pick up some easy views. Just make sure they don’t autoplay because you only get credit for a video if the viewer manually starts it (I recommend giving Jeff Martin’s Marketing Speak appearance a listen for more insights).
Use the 50/50 clickbait title split
Clickbait is a problem across the internet, and YouTube is no exception: you’ve surely seen videos with titles such as “I COULDN’T BELIEVE WHAT I SAW IN THE FOREST” or “THE BEST PRODUCT I’VE EVER BOUGHT”, written to hook people while being so vague that interested parties need to watch to find out what happens.
The problem with these titles is that they’re often annoying and they’re not useful for keyword search, but if you refuse to use any clickbait tactics, you’ll fall behind.
That’s why I suggest using a 50/50 split, something that the Linus Tech Tips channel has started doing well: it now starts its titles with clickbait-type titles before finishing in clearer titles, as in “Apple, Please Keep Doing This! – iMac 2019 Review”. This covers both bases. (The channel also has solid thumbnails with strong contrasts and good framing, as seen below.)
Create interesting playlists
Once you’ve started watching YouTube videos, you can easily be drawn into watching a lengthy series of them, and the playlist function plays a big part in this.
You’ll know of the auto-generated playlist made as you’re watching a video: the system queues up related videos for you to consider, and autoplays the next video in the list shortly after the last has ended.
On your channel, you can create specific playlists attributed to certain topics, and sort your videos by type and relevance. This is good for search but even better for making it more likely that someone who watches one of your videos will go on to watch more of them.
Which playlists you should create will depend on the nature of your videos, but you could have an education playlist, or an interview playlist, or a guide playlist (cater to your audience).
Optimize based on analytics
YouTube analytics give you a lot of information about how people are watching your videos, showing things like how long they’re watching for and which devices they’re using. This data is exceptionally valuable when you have a regular content production process for YouTube, because every video gives you feedback that can help you make the next one perform better.
Here’s what the main analytics view looks like (for a channel with no videos, at least):
For instance, suppose you notice that your videos with extended intros perform markedly worse than those without them, you can resolve to get rid of intros entirely and see how that affects viewership.
Combine this with paying close attention to your YouTube comments and social media feedback, and you’ll have many changes to boost your metrics (something that’s good for audience retention and for looking worthwhile to YouTube’s algorithm).
Each of these simple YouTube tips can help you bring in relevant views, so add them to your content marketing strategy and start making the most of the power of video.
About the Author: Kayleigh Toyra is a half-Finnish, half-British marketer based in Bristol. I love to write and explore themes like storytelling and customer experience marketing. I manage a small team of writers at a boutique agency.