YouTube Channel Income
Did you know that people
watch 5 billion videos on YouTube every day? In fact, 300 hundred
hours of video are
uploaded to YouTube every minute!
This might not
even surprise you, as YouTube is the leading service that made it possible to
easily put videos online in 2005. Flash forward to 2017 and if your marketing
strategy does not have a video
component tied to it, your visibility and business growth potential
will suffer. Video should become a critical piece of the marketing puzzle
because of how much video content your audience is consuming.
But, with many
other companies knowing this, it’s becoming harder and harder to stand out
amongst your competition. This is why advertising spend does need to be
allocated to services like YouTube in order to gain visibility from your target
audience.
Although similar to paid
search spend, the world of YouTube advertising can seem a bit
overwhelming and complicated to navigate at first.
Hence, this
guide will walk you through the several aspects of running a successful YouTube
channel and make a killing using these tips.
Chapter 1
About YouTube
YouTube is the
leader in online video, and the premier destination to watch, share, and
promote original videos online. YouTube is fully integrated with Google Ad
Words for video, leveling the playing field for businesses that want to reach
new customers with
online video.
YouTube
is a video Social Networking site and the 2nd most popular search site on the
Internet after Google, who owns YouTube. YouTube video watching is a
significant activity on the Internet, with over 1 billion visits to YourTube
daily and over 100 million videos watched daily. And it's easy for anyone who
sees your video to rate it and share it with his
Social
Network.
How YouTube Works?
YouTube's
theme is “Broadcast Yourself,” and as such encourages everyone to make and broadcast
videos on everything imaginable. YouTube is owned and operated by Google, and
leverages the search power of Google.
All
YouTube videos are indexed by Google's search and will appear in Google's
search results when you select Video in the search options on Google. Using
YouTube is a great way to get listed in Google's search results since Google
gives YouTube videos priority in their search results.
YouTube
videos can be viewed by anyone with access to the Web site. No user account or
log-in is needed to search for or watch videos. Setting up a user account, on
the other hand, allows you to upload videos, and also lets you customize your
viewing with YouTube by subscribing to “channels” and giving feedback ratings
on videos.
When
you set up your own YouTube user account, many of the familiar functions of
Social
Networking
are offered as options, such as sending a YouTube video link to a friend or
contact, commenting on a video,
and rating a video. You can also link to a YouTube video
from
your blog and include it in a post.
Using
YouTube for Marketing
Videos
on YouTube can be short and simple. For your marketing, decide on a goal for
your YouTube activity. Some common themes include customer support,
educational, product instructions, customer interviews, employee interviews,
event videos, and professional produced videos.
Your
YouTube videos need to have tags and descriptions associated with them for
search in YouTube, so use your keywords and be sure to include them when you
upload your video. Google's search bots cannot index the media, only the text
associated with the media, so adding tags is critical to your video being
indexed.
Just like any Social Media, creating an
account and only posting once (one Video) won't have a great impact. Creating a
series of videos, however, will result in increased search optimization and
followers of your YouTube channel. Find a way to implement regular video
production into your marketing effort to build an audience on YouTube and
increase your ranking.
Video
Production
For
production, you can use a hand-held video camera. Any major brand that has a
microphone input will produce good video. Good sound quality is important for
video production and making your YouTube video easy to understand. If you have
a story to tell, make some notes and rehearse those several times to make it
sound more natural when you are reading from them.
If
you find you're better at ad-hoc video, keep a video camera with you for part
to capture some of your daily activities. If you have a Smartphone, use the
built-in video camera to capture some short videos. Simple YouTube uploading
from a YouTube app is usually a feature included with most smart phones.
Microsoft
Windows Live Movie Maker and the Apple iMovie applications allow basic video
editing and are a good place to start for editing your own video productions.
Consider getting a professional video made if you decide to expand your
marketing and want more complex stories told in your videos. The production
quality on YouTube is improving and a good video production can be created for
$1,000-$4,000 as a starting point. The higher the budget, the more you'll get
in scripting, production preparation, and concept development by a
professional. But don't let that stop you from doing something on your own,
good
audio
quality and a steady camera can result in an excellent video.
Remember,
it's the message and content that's important to viewers.
YouTube Analytics
 |
YouTube Analytics is a self-service
analytics and reporting tool. It provides data about each video you upload, so
you can easily track how many views it gets, where people are coming from to
find it and what type of people are watching it.
YouTube Analytics can give you information about:
•
the
'firsts' for the video, including the first referral from a related video,
first referral from a YouTube search (including the search terms used), first
time the video is embedded in another website
•
how many
views came from each referral source
•
which
gender and age groups the video is most popular with
•
which
countries the video is most popular in
•
how many
comments and ratings it has received.
YouTube channels
You can set up a YouTube channel for your business, bringing all your videos together. This
allows you to customize your channel with images representing your firm. Your
channel includes an 'About' section where you can provide a short description
of your business and
a
link to your website or contact details.
Your
channel is where you group the videos you make and upload, the videos you watch
and like, and the playlists of videos you create.
Your
channel will have a web address (URL) that you can promote on your website or
marketing material. People can subscribe to your channel. This means when they
log in to YouTube your videos will be listed on their YouTube homepage.
You
can also create 'playlists' within your YouTube channel to organize your videos
by subject or type. For example, you could have a playlist featuring videos
about each of your product categories, or you might have a playlist for videos
contributed by your customers for a video competition you run.
YouTube Advertising
YouTube
incorporates features that let businesses promote their videos to people who
might be interested in them, targeting customers by demographics, topics or
interests.
Advertisers
pay each time someone views their video. You can choose which locations your ad
will appear in, what format it will be, and even how much you are prepared to
pay per view (if you want to boost the prominence of your ad over your
competitors). YouTube's advertising guide explains how it works.
Why Opt for YouTube for Business?
Starting
a business and making sure that it prospers into something profitable – these
are two completely different tasks. You need to put in a lot of effort to make
sure that people see your product or brand. YouTube is one of the best possible
tools for this job. Here are some of the important benefits that your business
will get by building a strong presence on YouTube.
•
Popularize your product: If your business is trying to get into a new
market with a particular product,
you can simply make a video of the product working and show the benefits that
the product has. If done in a creative manner, you will soon find that there
will be many people liking your video and going for your product.
•
Get feedback: You can use YouTube even if you are not completely ready
with your product. It can be a great
tool to figure out the response that the product might get.
You
simply have to put up the video of your prototype.
•
Sharing made easy: As a young business setup, you may have people
located at remote locations. It
might not be possible for you to share all the material with them. YouTube can
be a great way to share presentations or something similar with these remote
employees.
•
Simplify tasks: For businesses that often get client calls regarding
problems with the product, YouTube
can be a lifesaver. You might not have a work force to cater to all these
problems. In that case, you can simply make a video with systematic details and
share it on YouTube so the users can access it.
•
Increase your brand visibility: If you are unable to make a video regarding
your business due to time
constraints or lack of good content, then there are other methods. You can
simply go, rate and comment on relevant videos. You can also share some good
videos on your channel. Simply by doing this, you are making your brand more
visible and communicating with other users.
•
YouTube Insight: Once you have your video on YouTube, comments are not the only way to analyze them. In addition
to comments and ratings, there is an Insight feature also available on YouTube.
This is a reporting function, which provides you with statistical data
regarding the people visiting your video. This is helpful as you can figure out
whether your campaign is actually working or not and make changes
accordingly.
•
Increase your site’s traffic: YouTube also allows you to insert links into
your videos. By doing this you can
channel traffic from your YouTube video to your own site. Search engines also
index these videos, and video results are comparatively lesser than text
results. This increases the chances of a person finding your business video
through a search.
•
Save Money: One of the most important factors in any marketing
campaign is money. Conventional
methods like advertising on television or newspaper require a lot of money, but
YouTube allows you to upload your videos completely free. From setting up your
channel to analyzing the traffic on your video, it costs you nothing.
•
YouTube Ads: With such a huge number of views everyday YouTube is one
site where you would definitely want
to run an ad campaign. You have multiple options available when it comes to the
kind of advertising campaign you want to run. You can use one of the several
marketing programs or you can use the video target tool
to
place your ads.
Get the Maximum Out of YouTube
You
can build your company’s presence on YouTube, but the job is only half done. To
make sure that your campaign succeeds, you have to put in a lot of effort. The
most important thing would be make proper use of your channel. YouTube gives
you the option of customizing how your channel looks. You should take full
advantage of this as it allows you to stand out amongst other regular channels,
and makes a positive impact on the viewer.
Many
companies simply ignore their channel. After the initial bursts of enthusiasm,
you may find that there is nothing happening in the channel and this may discourage
you. Even if you have nothing new to post, make sure that you keep up to date
with the comments.
You
should also make sure that you keep your content organized. You have the option
of creating playlists. So you can group all the relevant videos together into a
single playlist, or you can sort them on the basis of time.
YouTube
is one of the fastest growing sites and is a great platform for you to showcase
your company. When it comes to social media marketing there are very few sites
more important than YouTube. All you need to do is make full use of the
features provided by the
site
and be patient. YouTube can do wonders for your business if used correctly.
Chapter 2
The Technical Guide to
setting up a YouTube
Channel – Step by Step
1.
Channel features for YouTube creators
Use YouTube's
channel features to customize your channel and support your brand. These
features are available to all creators who have verified accounts.
To see what features you're currently eligible for, go to your account features page.
Monetization: If you meet the monetization criteria, you
can enable
monetization to earn
money from ads on videos.
Longer videos: When your account is
verified, you can upload videos longer
than the 15-
minute limit.
Link to external sites: Use annotations
in videos to link to external
sites.
Custom thumbnails: Upload a custom thumbnail for your video.
Content ID appeals: Appeal rejected
Content ID disputes.
Unlisted and private videos: Make your
videos unlisted and
share your private videos.
Live events: Learn how to create a live
streaming event.
Series playlists: Group videos into series playlists to
help viewers discover them.
Customize channel layout: Customize your
channel's layout with branded banners and
channel trailers.
Hangouts on Air: You can create a live
Hangout on Air event.
Video editor: Edit your videos' content
using the YouTube Video
Editor.
2.
Manage your channel with Creator Studio
You can use
Creator Studio in YouTube to organize your channel, manage videos, and interact
with fans. You can go directly to Creator Studio or
follow these steps to navigate to your Creator Studio:
1.
Sign in to your channel at www.youtube.com.
2.
In the top right, click your
account icon.
3.
Click Creator Studio.
Tools in Creator Studio
Dashboard: Check
for notifications and alerts from YouTube, including the latest updates,
stats, and notifications for your review.
Video Manager: Organize and update your videos from one place or dig into a particular video to adjust settings individually.
Use tools to optimize a video, tweak its settings, or
bulk update changes across videos with a single click.
Community: Communicate and collaborate with your fans and fellow creators. Review and respond to comments, read private
messages, see videos where you've been credited, or
review a list of fans (if
your channel has at least 1,000 subscribers).
Channel: Adjust
settings that affect your channel overall, such as signing up for
monetization, controlling your upload defaults, or enabling live
streaming.
Analytics: Review
your channel's performance and get info on how your channel is growing. Find reports and data to help
you evaluate your channel and video performance,
including views, subscribers, watch time, revenue for partners, and
more.
Create:
Access the audio library and video editor to
create new videos, add sound effects or unique
music, or experiment with transitions.
3.
Basics about your channel
Your
channel is where you can organize your video content for your audience. As a
channel owner, you can add videos, playlists, and information about yourself or
your channel for
visitors
to explore.
Classic desktop
experience
1.
Sign in
to your YouTube account on a computer.
2.
On the
left, select My channel.
3.
Use the
drop-down menu next to your name to view your channel as Yourself, a New visitor, or a Returning subscriber. When you want to go back to viewing as
yourself,
click
Done at the top of the screen.
4.
Use the
tabs to navigate previewing the channel:
Home: This is what your audience sees when they visit your
channel. They can view a
feed
of your activities or preview different sections of your customized layout.
•
Videos: Use this to see a list of all uploads publicly available
for subscribers or all of the videos
you've publicly liked. You can sort by most popular or date added.
•
Playlists: This is a list of all the playlists that you've created.
Discussion: If you've turned on the
discussion tab, this will display comments left on
your
channel.
•
About: Use this to add a channel description (maximum length of
1,000 characters), set your channel
country, enter a business contact email address, and define social or other web
links.
•
Links
that you add here are featured just below your description and use the icon
from the corresponding social network when displayed. You can overlay up to
five of these links on your channel art as shortcut icons.
•
To edit
your About tab, hover over the content, then click edit
.
New desktop experience
1.
Sign in
to your YouTube account on a computer.
2.
Under
your profile picture at the top right, select My channel.
3.
Click Edit Layout.
4.
Use the
drop-down menu next to your name to view your channel as Yourself, a New visitor, or a Returning subscriber. When you want to go back to viewing as
yourself,
click
Done at the top of the screen.
5.
Use the
tabs to navigate previewing the channel:
Home: This is what your audience sees when they visit your
channel. They can view a
feed
of your activities or preview different sections of your customized layout.
•
Videos: Use this to see a list of all uploads publicly available
for subscribers or all of the videos
you've publicly liked. You can sort by most popular or date added.
•
Playlists: This is a list of all the playlists that you've created.
Discussion: If you've turned on the
discussion tab, this will
display comments left on
your
channel.
•
About: Use this to add a channel description (maximum length of
1,000 characters), set your channel
country, enter a business contact email address, and define social or other web
links.
•
Links
that you add here are featured just below your description and use the icon
from the corresponding social network when displayed. You can overlay up to
five of these links on your channel art as shortcut icons.
•
To edit
your about tab, hover over the content, then click edit .
4. Turn
comments on or off
Classic desktop experience
• Manage channel settings
You
can decide if you want to allow viewers to comment on your channel.
1.
Sign in
to your YouTube account on a computer.
2.
On the
left, select My channel.
3.
Under
your channel banner, click settings
.
4.
Turn Show discussion tab on or off.
5.
If you
have the discussion tab turned on, chose a comments setting:
•
Display automatically: Comments will always show on your channel.
•
Don't display until approved: Comments won't show on your channel until you approve them.
Comments
are not available on private videos. If you want to allow comments on a video
that's not publicly available, post an unlisted
video instead.
• Manage video settings
You
can decide if you want to allow viewers to comment on specific videos.
1.
Sign in
to your YouTube account on a computer.
2.
Go to
Creator Studio > Video Manager.
3.
Select
the box next to any of the videos you want to manage.
4.
At the
top of the screen, click the Actions
menu.
5.
Select
More actions > Comments.
6.
Select or
unselect Do not allow comments.
•
New desktop
experience
• Manage channel settings
You
can decide if you want to allow viewers to comment on your channel.
1.
Sign in
to your YouTube account on a computer.
2.
Under
your avatar at the top right, select My
channel.
3.
Under
your channel banner, click settings .
4.
Turn Show discussion tab on or off.
5.
If you
have the discussion tab turned on, chose a comments setting:
•
Display automatically: Comments will always show on your channel.
•
Don't display until approved: Comments won't show on your channel until you approve them.
Comments
are not available on private videos. If you want to allow comments on a video
that's not publicly available, post an unlisted video instead.
• Manage video settings
You
can decide if you want to allow viewers to comment on specific videos.
1.
Sign in
to your YouTube account on a computer.
2.
Go to
Creator Studio > Video Manager.
3.
Select
the box next to any of the videos you want to manage.
4.
At the
top of the screen, click the Actions
menu.
5.
Select
More actions > Comments.
6.
Select or
unselect Do not allow comments.
7.
An
important step in managing and promoting a YouTube channel is to add the right
channel keywords.
Keywords can indeed help users to discover
your YouTube channel when they make searches on Google, YouTube and other
search engines. So the first step is to choose the keywords that specifically
represent your channel and the type of content published.
Once done, sign-in to YouTube, click on your
profile picture displayed at the top right corner
Type your keywords in the Channel Keywords field and then click on Save
Separate your keywords with a space and use
quotation marks when search terms are in the form of short phrases.
5.
Create or edit channel art
Channel
art shows as a banner at the top of your YouTube page. You can use it to brand
your channel's identity and give your page a unique look and feel.
Use
the guidelines and examples below to set up your design. Keep in mind that
channel art looks different on desktop, mobile, and TV displays.
Add or change channel art
1.
On a
computer, sign in to your YouTube account.
2.
In the
top right menu, select My Channel.
•
New channel art: Near the top of the screen, click Add channel art.
•
Existing channel art: Hover your cursor over the existing banner
until you see the edit
icon
. Click the icon and select Edit channel art.
3.
Upload an
image or photo from your computer or saved photos. You can also click the
Gallery tab to choose an image from the YouTube photo library.
4.
You'll
see a preview of how the art will appear across different devices. To make
changes,
select Adjust the crop.
5.
Click Select.
6. Verification
badges on channels
When
you see a 
verification
checkmark next to a YouTube channel's name, it means that the channel belongs
to an established creator or is the official channel of a brand, business, or
organization.
Verification
badges don't affect search results for the channel or grant access to
additional features on YouTube.
How to get a verification badge
Eligibility criteria
Once
your channel gets 100,000 subscribers, you’re eligible to submit a request to
YouTube for a verification badge. Note that we've made changes to this process
over time, so you may see many types of channels with verification badges on
YouTube. Note: If you’re an advertiser
interested in a verification badge, contact your sales manager to learn more.
Keeping
your verification badge
Once you have a
verification badge, it'll stay on your channel even if your channel's
subscriber number changes. If you change your channel's name, you can't keep
the verification badge for the renamed channel.
YouTube reserves
the right to revoke your verification badge or terminate your channel if you
violate our Community
Guidelines or the YouTube Terms of
Service.
Manage your channel icon
Your
channel icon shows over your channel art banner. It's the icon that displays to
other users for your videos and channel on YouTube watch pages.
The
default icon for your channel is the image associated with your Google Account.
You can see this image in the top right corner of the page when you're logged
into YouTube and other Google services. If you want to change this image, you
can modify it in your Google
7.
Channel icon specs
Use
these recommended guidelines when creating a new channel icon. Do not upload
pictures containing celebrities, nudity, artwork, or copyrighted images since
this violates our Community Guidelines.
•
JPG, GIF,
BMP, or PNG file (no animated GIFs)
•
800 X 800 px image
(recommended)
Edit & update channel icon
You can choose
to upload a new image, use a still frame from one of your uploaded videos, or
use your default image.
Classic desktop experience
1.
Sign in to your YouTube
account.
2.
On the left, select My Channel.
3.
Hover over your existing
channel icon in the top left of your channel art banner.
4.
Click the edit icon .
5.
Click Edit and follow the on-screen instructions to select the new image.
New desktop experience
1.
Sign in to your YouTube
account.
2.
Under your profile photo at the
top right, select My Channel.
3.
Hover over your existing
channel icon in the top left of your channel art banner.
4.
Click the edit icon .
5.
Click Edit and follow the on-screen instructions to select the new image.
8.
Customize channel layout
You
can customize the layout of your channel so that viewers see what you want them
to when they get to your page. If you don't customize the layout, all visitors
will see your channel feed.
This
is recommended for creators who upload videos regularly. You can add a channel
trailer, suggest content for your subscribers, and organize all your videos and
playlists into sections. Or, for example, you can always show your channel
trailer to new visitors.
Before
you can customize your layout, you need to turn this feature on:
1.
On a
computer, sign in to your YouTube account.
2.
In the
left menu, click My Channel.
3.
Under
your channel's banner, click the settings icon .
4.
Toggle Customize the layout of your channel to
on.
5.
Click Save.
After you've
enabled channel customization, follow the instructions to create a channel trailer for
new visitors and create channel
sections to customize the layout on your channel.
9.
Organize content with channel sections
You
can organize and promote content that you want to highlight on your channel
using channel sections. A section lets you group videos together in a
particular way so that your audience can make easier decisions about what they
want to watch. You can have up to 10 sections on one channel.
10.
Create a channel trailer for new viewers
You can have a
video trailer show to all unsubscribed visitors to your channel. Your channel
trailer is like a movie trailer - use it as a way to offer a preview of your channel's
offerings so viewers will want to subscribe. You can't currently watch channel
trailers on the YouTube mobile apps.
By default, ads
won't appear when the trailer is playing on the channel page in the trailer
spot (unless the video you've chosen contains third-party claimed content).
This helps keep the user focused on learning about and subscribing to your
channel. If the viewer is already subscribed to your channel, they'll see a
video under "What to Watch Next" instead.
11.
Set a channel trailer
Before you start: To set
up a channel trailer, you have to first turn on channel customization for
the channel.
1.
Upload the video you want to be
your channel trailer.
2.
Go to the channel you want to
manage.
3.
Click the For new visitors tab. If you don't see the "For new
visitors" tab, follow these
instructions to
turn on channel customization for the channel.
4.
Click on Channel trailer.
5.
Choose the video by selecting
its thumbnail or entering its URL.
Note: If the
visitor to your channel is already subscribed to your channel, they won't see your
trailer. Instead, they'll see a video under "What to Watch Next."
Follow these instructions to
set the featured content you want to show.
Quick
tips for creating channel trailers
•
Assume the viewer has never
heard of you.
•
Keep it short.
•
Hook your viewers in the first
few seconds.
•
Show, don’t tell.
•
Ask viewers to subscribe in
your video and with annotations.
Find out more
about how to produce a
captivating channel trailer that hooks your viewers and turns them
into subscribers.
Change or remove the channel trailer
1.
Go to the channel you want to
manage.
2.
Hover over your channel name
and click the edit icon.
3.
Select Change trailer or Remove
trailer.
12. Global
Audience: Best practices for localized channels
As
your audience continues to grow and your channel reaches global communities speaking
varied languages, it’s common to consider whether it makes sense to separate
content by language into individual, localized channels, or continue to
maintain one larger (global) channel with multiple language content. Brands and
advertisers often turn to one of three models to address their global audiences
but ultimately it’s up to you to decide what works best for your channel and
audience.
A. One channel with multiple language content
In
this model, brands establish one main channel where content is uploaded in
multiple languages for multiple geographies.
Branding
With
one channel to represent your brand presence, your brand and any associated
assets will be consistent across regions. If your audience uses the same terms
for search across languages (ex. a product name) this channel will be highly
relevant and easy to discover.
Engagement
Driving your
audience to one global channel will consolidate your viewership and channel
subscribers and make it easier for users to find your channel in YouTube
search. Once discovered, it may prove more challenging to engage with your
subscribers from across the world as a single audience since content can be
available in varied languages. As such, your channel’s audience will be
fragmented by language, and your channel community will see
posts, comments, and feed updates in many different
languages. To help your audience stay engaged, you might consider adding subtitles and
captions to your videos to make your content more accessible and
available to a larger audience. You might also create unique sections and
playlists on your channel for each key market to provide a
consolidated
offering by language and drive watch time.
Management
With
all of your content in one place, your team can focus all resources on managing
this single channel and make it easier to maintain consistent global branding
and tone. Of course, the actual number of resources needed to manage a channel
will depend entirely on the regularity of uploads planned and the intensity of
your individual channel strategy. Being consistent with uploads, ensuring brand
equity and audience management is critical to growing a successful channel.
B. Multiple channels each with unique language content
Here
brands create multiple channels, each featuring different language and
geography content. This can be very helpful for languages with various
alphabets or search terms.
Branding
With
a unique channel for each geography or language, brands will have the
opportunity to customize each channel to the local audience and easily
incorporate local events and promotions. If your brand identity varies slightly
in different regions, this will allow you to respect those differences and
incorporate them into your channel strategy.
Engagement
While
your viewership and subscribers will be split across multiple channels by
language preference, this does allow for you to have focused communications
with a specific, engaged audience. All items on the channel will be targeted to
a language specific audience which may result in an improved user experience.
Users may be less likely to get confused or disengaged because of varying
language content once they discover the brand channel in their preferred
language. Don’t forget that you’ll want to specify which language a particular channel targets since users may see various channels
available in search and
typically larger
channels trump smaller channels. It will be important to cross-promote your
various language channels amongst each other to help improve discoverability. A
great way to ensure that you’re cross-promoting effectively is to add channels
of interest to
the “featured channels”
section your channel’s about tab.
Management
With
your channel content spread across multiple regions/languages, each local
channel will need to allocate resources to manage the channel on an ongoing
basis. Whether your channels follow a predefined framework or rely on local
teams to manage, you’ll want to be sure your brand can devote enough resources
to launch and maintain each channel with a regular upload and engagement
schedule.
C. One global channel and supporting local channels
With
a single channel to serve as the main brand hub to feature global campaigns in
the main brand language and territory and supporting local channels targeting
different languages and regions, brands can foster a larger global presence
while still connecting to their local regions with specific content.
Branding
With this
distribution of channel content, you can still showcase consistent global
branding in your hub channel while using the various local channels to feature
local events and promotions. It may be helpful to adopt templates for your
video metadata and
video thumbnails to
help maintain brand consistency across your various channels.
Engagement
With
so many channels, viewership and subscribers will be segmented across multiple
channels but users are able to find the relevant content for their specific
language and receive a consistent experience when viewing content and engaging
with the channel community. It will be important to use the main global channel
to help drive viewers to your local channels using video metadata, channel
descriptions, and featured channel programming. Depending on upload frequency, more frequent
uploads on the local
channels
may result in those channels receiving a more prominent placement in search.
Management
This
channel organization structure requires coordination between global and local
teams but allows for flexibility when it comes to customizing the brand message
for local markets or featuring local campaigns. This may be the most
resource-intensive channel organization structure as you will need to dedicate
time to both a larger global channel and several local channels but the actual
number of resources will depend on the regularity of uploads and engagement
strategies implemented on each channel.
13.
Opt in to channel recommendations
You
can opt in to have your YouTube channel listed on other channels that your
potential viewers might be watching. This section is called "Related
channels" and you can see it on the right side of channel pages while using
YouTube on a computer.
Channel
recommendations are created based on:
•
What
channels are watched by the same users
•
Whether
the videos are about similar topics
•
Whether
the channels are suitable for the same audience
You can't control what
channels appear in the “Related channels” section on your own channel, but you
can opt out to remove the section completely.
14.
Turn your channel recommendation on or off
1.
Sign in
to your YouTube channel.
2.
In the
top right, click your account icon > Creator
Studio.
3.
In the
left menu, select Channel > Advanced.
4.
Under
"Channel recommendations," opt in or out:
•
To opt in: Select "Allow my channel to appear in other
channels' recommendations."
This allows your
channel to appear in "Related channels" sections across YouTube.
•
To opt out: Select "Do not
allow my channel to appear in other channels' recommendations." This
removes the entire "Related channels" section from
your channel page.
15. YouTube - How to add weblinks to
your channel
Web links may include:
•
A link to
your social profiles (Twitter, Facebook...)
•
Your
email address.
•
A link to your
website or blog.
Here's how to get started:
•
Sign-in
to your YouTube channel.
•
Click on
the Menu button > My Channel.
•
Go to the
About tab and click on +Links.
•
Enter
your email address in the first field:
To add a link to your blog or website, scroll to
the
•
To add a
link to a social profile, scroll to the SOCIAL LINKS section and click on the
Add button. Use the drop menu to select the service of your choice and paste
the URL of your
social profile in the adjacent field:
16. How to close a YouTube channel?
•
First
log-in to your YouTube account.
•
Click on
the small avatar located top-right > Settings
•
In the
Overview section, just under your Username, click on the Advanced button
•
Click on
the "Delete channel" button and follow the procedure.
17. Connecting a
YouTube channel to your social accounts
This allows YouTube to share you public
activity (new video upload, likes..) on your
social channels.
The procedure is as follows:
•
Sign-in
to your YouTube channel.
•
Go to
YouTube Settings > Account Settings > Connected accounts:
To connect to a Facebook page or profile:
•
Click on
the Connect button.
•
Enter your Facebook
credentials and click on Log in:
Chapter 3
Tips on Starting a New and
Successful
YouTube Channel
Truth be told, there is no set formula for
a successful YouTube channel. But there are a few key ingredients that will
make your chances of YouTube fame all the more likely.
YouTube megastars like Ryan Higa, Ray William Johnson, and Bethany Mota have amassed
billions of views simply through vlogging. This has almost certainly raked in
seven figures or more in revenue, while leading to untold opportunities outside
of YouTube.
And then there are the channels that house
much more substance, while still
remaining impressively popular. Take Creative Live, the
Ask Gary Vee Show,
and Big Think.
These channels may all be entirely
different, but share the common factor of regularly being watched by huge
numbers of people. This is because they’ve stuck to at least some of the key
ingredients below.
• Making the Most of Metadata
Successful YouTube channels often need
more than just engaging videos to become popular. The metadata — title,
description, keywords, and tags — are incredibly important, too. It’s based in
large part on this data (in combination
with other things) that YouTube ranks your videos in their search results. In
other words, good metadata ensures your videos are
discoverable.
Take Gary Vaynerchuk, for instance. His
descriptions include timestamps that not only help viewers navigate his videos,
but are also full of relevant keywords. Links mentioned in the video are posted
in the description. There’s also a short explanation about what different
series’ of Gary’s videos are about, along with
information on where you can find out more
about him.
When it comes to crafting your own
metadata, use resources such as YouTube’s autocomplete search bar, YouTube Trends, and Google Trends to find the best keywords
and tags to use. Include your most important link above the fold, as well as
two sentences to describe the content within the video.
Also make sure to describe what your
channel is about, and let people know where else they can follow you. Lastly,
include a call to action (usually asking people to subscribe to your channel).
If you’re so inclined, producing and
publishing a transcript of your YouTube video is also a sensible
move.
• Carefully Craft Your Title
Your video titles should
be short and snappy, offering a quick and intriguing insight into
the content of your
video. Don’t forget to include your main keyword(s), too!
The best way to do this
is to look at your title as if you’d never come across your brand before. Would
you click on it? If you’re not sure, change it. This often means moving any personal
branding within the title to the end, so the main keywords appear first. It
also means including episode numbers for serial content. And very importantly,
be honest.
Don’t promise content
that you don’t deliver on.
• Vary Your Content
Speaking of content, in very broad terms,
there are two kinds of content you can produce and
publish on YouTube.
The first is “Pull
Content”. This is generally evergreen content, with a wider, more viral appeal.
This pulls new people to your channel and convinces them to subscribe.
The second is “Push Content”, which you push to your subscribers because it’s what you know they want to watch.
Your channel should be made up of a
mixture of these two types of content. Take Jimmy Fallon as an example. Fallon
has a huge following, but a relatively small number of his videos attract a
disproportionate number of views. An obvious example is his video with Obama, which 12 million
people have watched (this always seems to happen when Obama appears on
YouTube). This content has a wider appeal than most of Fallon’s
other content, but has likely been responsible for a large number of his almost
10 million subscribers.
You should be looking to mix your content
up like this, too. Not all of your content should be too niche, because you
need to reach new audience members who will look forward to your push content.
• Video Thumbnails
If you’re aiming to create a popular
YouTube channel, you’re going to need consistent branding. This branding need
to be recognizable for people who learn to love your content.
Plus, if your video
thumbnails are instantly recognizable, it means you don’t need to waste
valuable real estate in your video title by including the name of your brand there as well.
The School of Life is
a perfect case study here. They use the same, large font mixed with fun imagery
and bold colors for each thumbnail. This means that when one of their 650,000
subscribers is on a School of Life binge, they can easily recognize more School
of Life videos from the suggested videos sidebar. Naturally this leads to more
views, and means they don’t need to write “School of Life” in every video
title.
• Keep Things Consistent
To take things further than simply
consistent branding, your content
should be consistent, too. People will only subscribe to your channel if they
know what it is they’re looking forward to.
If your audience loves your rants, publish
a rant on the same day every week. If it turns out a certain structure for your
videos was well received, make that your normal structure. If
you’re answering audience
questions, make sure it’s a regular show.
Ryan Higa’s 16 million
subscribers know that he’ll have one video uploaded for them each week. This
keeps people looking forward to that next episode, knowing that they won’t have
too long to wait. You could even use a tool like Wips to
create a chrome extension to alert users when you publish your next video.
• Create An Effective End Card
YouTube allows you to add an end card
(sometimes called an end slate) to the end of each of your videos, so make the
most of it. Many You Tubers don’t use this feature at all. Others simply use it
to display their logo. This is a waste.
You should be setting up an interactive
end card that not only prompts people to subscribe to your channel, but also
cross promotes your other videos. When you do this, at the end of your videos
people will be able to see a couple of your other titles. Even if they don’t
want to watch them now, they may think “this channel has some cool stuff!”, and subscribe so they can watch
later.
Again, check out Jimmy
Fallon’s end cards to see some fantastic examples.
• Engage, Engage, Engage
When people are giving you their
attention, especially when they go to the effort of commenting on your videos,
the least you can do is base. How YouTube is a social network.
Even if you don't run a
channel, YouTube can be useful for interacting with the community.
After all, when people feel they have
access to the person behind the brand, their loyalty rockets. This isn’t
implying that you have to reply to every comment, but at least wade in
occasionally to let people know you actually pay attention to what they think.
Though by all means, ignore the YouTube
trolls.
To bring Gary Vaynerchuk back, this is
someone who’s engaged with his audience hundreds of thousands of times. He
responds to a huge portion of the tweets he receives, and reads virtually every
comment on YouTube, while replying to many of those that arrive first. If he
can do it, so can you.
• Involve Your Audience
Allow your audience to
become part of your channel. You can do this in various ways, from
reading out comments, to asking them#QOTD (question of the day).
Photographer Chase Jarvis occasionally publishes videos like these (above), where he asks people to submit their photos so he can offer a professional critique. This is a perfect way to enable your audience to have
a real stake in your channel,
allowing them to direct the content, if even in a small way.
If you want more ideas, read about various ways you
can involve an audience during a presentation. Many
of these apply to publishing YouTube videos, too.
• Collaborate With Other YouTubers
If you have a fairly popular YouTube
channel already, chances are that another YouTuber with a similar audience will
be happy to collaborate with you.
By producing a video with
other collaborators mean their audiences will get to know you,
and vice versa.
If you want to keep things simple, you
could just give a shout-out to a channel you recommend, and ask another channel
to do the same for you. This is a simple and effective way of gaining new
subscribers and views on your videos.
•
Integrate your channel in your website and
social
You have a website and
now a YouTube channel. Great! Now it’s time to share your videos outside of
YouTube and your website should be their first stop. Here are a couple of ways
to
showcase your videos on your website.
•
Front and center: Your videos take time and effort to create, so why not
show them off? You can add your
YouTube video to the home page on your website so
it’s
one of the first things that a visitor will see!
•
Blog all about it: If you have a blog on your website, then your YouTube
videos have a home away from home
now. You can embed them right into new blog
posts and even tell
your website subscribers by sending a newsletter!
•
Add a YouTube Playlist
•
Sync your website with your YouTube Channel or
Playlist:
•
Go Social: Take pride in your work and share your content on your
business social networks. The more
you share, the more exposure, and that’s what this is all about. Share it
everywhere!
•
Think about investing in YouTube ads
If
you’re looking to target a specific age group, gender, interest, or location,
YouTube
Advertising
can help you do it all.
It’s not imperative
that you use YouTube ads, but it could very well be a suitable offering for
your channel. Just remember that with the right combination of content and
engagement, much of your growth will be organic. YouTube ads can just be the
icing on the cake.
•
Analyze, optimize, repeat
Even the best can do better. Once you
have a foothold on your channel, it’s time to get a bird’s-eye view of how it’s
performing. YouTube Analytics will help you along the way and will guide you in
the direction of how you may want to optimize your videos for the future. Analytics
will allow you to get insight on the people who are watching your videos, which
allows you to hone into your target demographic even further. It’ll also give
you a better idea as to why one video may have performed better than another.
It’s a powerful tool for your budding channel.
Conclusion
These ingredients to a
successful YouTube channel are nothing unless you implement at least some of
them. No one ever said becoming YouTube famous was easy, but by following some
of the commonalities that many successful channels share, you’ll have a much greater
chance of succeeding, too.
Chapter 4
How to monetize your
YouTube Channel
How
does YouTube monetization work?
With
over a billion users, YouTube is the largest video hosting website in the
world. In fact…
•
People
watch hundreds of millions of hours every
single day on YouTube.
•
Around
300 hours of video are uploaded every
single minute.
•
There are
over a million companies advertising
on YouTube.
•
Partner revenue is up 50% year-over-year.
So there’s lots of
opportunity to make money on YouTube.
How Does YouTube Monetization Work?
YouTube
monetization is fairly straightforward. Companies create advertisements that
get placed at the beginning of your videos. These are called pre-roll ads. Each time a viewer
watches an ad all the way through, you get paid.
To monetize your videos, you
need to follow a few basic steps:
1. Verify your YouTube
account.
Until you do so, you
won’t be able to take advantage of YouTube live, hangouts on air, or upload
videos longer than 15 minutes. It’s very easy to do, and doesn’t take very
long.
2. Join the YouTube Partner Program
Once you’re in the
YouTube Partner Program you’ll be eligible for pre-roll ads. There are a
few more criteria for
this program, but nothing too difficult.
Mainly, YouTube wants to ensure that you
are uploading only original content, content that is advertiser-friendly, and
so on. Beyond advertising, benefits include advanced product features,
strategic and technical support, as well as access to advanced programs, such
as YouTube Space and development
programs.
For more information on what it takes to
become a YouTube Partner, visit YouTube’s Working Together page.
A Few More Ways to Monetize Your Videos
Becoming a YouTube Partner is the most
basic way to earn money as a YouTuber. But preroll ads aren’t the only way to
make money from YouTube. Here are a few other ways to monetize your YouTube
channel:
•
Sign up your own sponsors.
If you’re really passionate about what you do, you’ll be able to
build a YouTube following. And the more people you get on board your channel,
the easier it will be to get your own sponsors.
There are plenty of successful YouTubers
who take time in their videos to promote other products and services – and each
time they do, they earn money.
•
Promote your own products and services.
This is where the real money is at,
because you don’t have to split revenue with anyone else. When you create and
sell your own products, you keep the vast majority of the revenue.vWhen you use
videos this way, your videos are simply a form of free advertising.
•
Build an affiliate relationship.
Affiliate marketers are like advertisers.
But instead of earning a flat fee for advertising, affiliates earn a commission
for each sale. This can be much more profitable, especially
since there are so many
high-paying products out there.
To create affiliate relationships, you can
either sign up with a major affiliate network, such as Clickbank or Rakuten
Linkshare, or you can work out an individual relationship with a business.
•
Create a separate paid video stream.
Locking some premium videos behind a
paywall can be another way to earn more money than you’d get from advertising
alone. YouTube has
experimented with this feature in the past, with
mixed results.
Vimeo offers this type of program. And
other vendors, such as Amazon and PayLoadz, allow you to upload and sell
downloadable video content.
•
Create a Patreon account.
Patreon is
a service that allows your fans to become your patrons. Each time you release a
new piece of content, your followers donate money to your cause.
As you can see, advertising is only one
way to make money online. You can sell your own products, become an affiliate,
or turn your fans into patrons. However you choose to make money, make sure you
put lots of effort into marketing – the more you self-promote, the more money
you’ll be making.
How to Monetize YouTube Videos With
AdSense?
One of the easiest ways to monetize
YouTube videos is to enable the monetization option for your YouTube account
and link your channel with your Google AdSense Account.
Google AdSense is
a Google program that helps publishers make money from their content. As a
YouTube creator, you can join the publisher program to start making money from
your
videos.
YouTube Monetization with AdSense
Monetizing your YouTube videos with Google
AdSense is one of the most common and easy ways to make money from your YouTube
videos.
Once you have associated your YouTube channel with an
AdSense account, you will have the option to submit your videos for
monetization.
Your video will be approved for
monetization if it passes YouTube monetization requirements. General
criteria of meeting such requirements include provisions that your videos to be
advertiser-friendly and that you own the rights to the content to use it
commercially.
In this chapter, we will
walk you through steps that you need to complete to monetize
YouTube videos and start
making money from your videos.
YouTube Monetization Update: YouTube has introduced some changes to its
Partner program limiting only
channel over 10k views to enable ads on their videos. For new YouTube channels,
you will need to fulfill the minimum threshold of 10,000 lifetime views to
apply for the YouTube partner program and enable monetization.
Summary of Steps – YouTube with AdSense
Here’s the summary of steps to associate
YouTube account with AdSense for monetization if you know your way around both
YouTube and AdSense.
1.
Go to your YouTube dashboard by
clicking on your YouTube account icon and
Creator Studio.
2.
From your Creator Studio
dashboard, go to the Monetisation page
under Channel
Menu on your left sidebar
(Channel > Monetisation)
3.
Under the “Guidelines and
Information” section, you will see information about FAQ –
“How will I be paid?”.
4.
Click on the AdSense
Association page and follow the next step that directs you to
AdSense and YouTube
association page.
5.
Sign in with the Google Account
that has AdSense enabled and the one that you want to associate with your
channel.
6.
Once you have logged in, click
to accept the association on the page.
7.
You will now be redirected to
your YouTube account and soon receive message and
notifications to enable
monetizations for your videos.
Follow the detailed guide below with all
the steps that are involved in the YouTube monetization process with AdSense.
Link YouTube Account to Google AdSense
Follow the steps below to
enable monetization on your YouTube account and link your
YouTube account with
Google Adsense.
Step
1: First, you will need to go to your YouTube
Creator Studio dashboard. When you are on
YouTube, click on your icon on the top left, and click on the Creator Studio button that takes you to
your creator studio dashboard.
ou should be able to see your channel
status as Partner Verified before you proceed with other steps.
Step
3: Once you enable the monetization for your
account and complete the YouTube monetization
agreement, there’s one more step left to do.
You now have the option to monetize your
videos, but you will need to link your YouTube account to an Adsense account.
Step 4: At this point, check to see that
your account is enabled for Monetization under the
Account Status.
Although there’s no link
or button to configure the AdSense account on this screen, there are few ways
you can go ahead from here.
You should immediately receive an email outlining the steps that you need to take forward to be paid by YouTube.
If you already have an AdSense account,
you can simply sign in with the Google account that you have used to sign up
for Adsense. If you are signed into AdSense already, you should see a screen
that asks you if you want to sign in using the same address.
One important thing to note here is that
you don’t need an AdSense account associated with the email account of your
current YouTube account. You can link to your any other independent AdSense
account.
Creating an AdSense account is another big
topic but if you need to signup for an account – Sign in with your Google
account first, and you will be guided to apply for an Adsense account.
You should obviously have
used a Google account to setup a YouTube account but if you want your AdSense
account to be on a different account you can click on “Create Account” and it’s easy to follow along.
Step
7: Assuming you have an AdSense account already,
click on sign in and it will now take
you to Step 2 in the process where it will simply list your YouTube channel
under my website.
(The YouTube URL shown here is ID-based
URL of your YouTube Channel. Learn how to claim custom
YouTube URL here. )
Accept the Association
with your Adsense account and it will redirect you back to YouTube
Confirming all the
details.
That’s all you need to do
to link your YouTube account to AdSense account! You should
now see options for
AdSense settings and to review and change your AdSense association.
There’re few more steps
that you need to do to start making money from your videos.
Enabling Monetization for YouTube Videos
Step
8: Like mentioned in the email that you receive
after enabling monetization, you will need
to go to your Video Manager and
enable monetization on all of your videos published already on your channel.
You should also receive an email saying
that your AdSense account association with YouTube has been approved and that
you’re ready to start making money from your videos.
Click on monetize my videos to enable monetization on videos that you have already published on your YouTube Channel.
Step
9: For videos that you upload after associating
with an AdSense account, you will see an
option to enable monetization for each of them directly in your upload manager.
When you upload your videos, go to your
Monetization tab and flip the switch button for Monetize with Ads. You will
also be asked to agree with the terms that you own the rights for the video and
its content.
Ad Formats to Monetize YouTube Videos
As you can see above, you can choose from
all the available Ad formats that will decide the type of Ads that will appear
in your YouTube videos.
Here’s the list of all available Ad
formats for YouTube videos that can help you decide to choose from. Select all
Ad formats so that YouTube can choose and decide itself to display the most
relevant Ads to your viewers.
▪ Display Ads – Ad sizes of 300×250 or
300×60 appearing on the right side of the
videos on desktop devices.
▪ Overlay Ads – Ad sizes of 468×60 or
728×90 appearing on the lower end of the
videos on desktop devices.
▪ Skippable Video Ads – Full sized video ads
that play before your video in the player
and can be skipped after 5 seconds. The Ad play on several devices and can
be inserted before, during, or after the main video.
▪ Sponsored Cards – Displays cards with
related products featured in your video, on
desktop and mobile devices.
You don’t see in the screenshot above under
Ad formats options but depending on your account, you might also see options
for Bumper Ads (6 seconds long, Non-skippable
video ads) and Non-skippable video ads
up to 30 seconds long, available to monetize Youtube
videos that you upload.
Chapter 5
Tips to Promote
Merchandise on Your
YouTube Channel
How YouTubers Can Make Good
Merchandise For Their Channel?
You probably already know
that selling cool branded merchandise is one of the most popular ways to make
money with your YouTube channel, right? It’s not only a great way to bring in
some revenue, but it’s also a great way to increase brand recognition and grow
your overall reach.
When people see their
friends wearing fun t-shirts with your logo on them, they’re going to wonder
what your brand is all about, and you’re going to get more recognition. Of
course, to make this strategy work, you have to create products that really
stands out, so let’s talk about a few tips on how to make merchandise for your
YouTube channel that will rock.
Making Merchandise for Your YouTube Channel
First of all, you don’t
have to be super crafty or a professional graphic designer to make YouTube
merch. If you have a cool logo and brand colors, you really have the essential components
to get started, and you don’t even have to worry about physical inventory or shipping
and handling, either.
Making your merchandise can actually be as
simple as a few swipes and clicks. Just find a print on demand (PoD) site that
you like, such as Spreadshirt or District Lines, upload your designs,
experiment with additional design options (wording, photo art, etc.), and
choose your merchandise. Then you can set up your online store, embed it in
your website, and/or link to it from YouTube. It’s really that simple.
Get Your YouTube Channel’s
Viewers Involved
Of course, you’ll want to
make merchandise for your YouTube channel that viewers will want to buy, but
that’s actually pretty simple, too. Just ask them. In your videos, blog posts,
and social media posts, ask your viewers for feedback about the kinds of merchandise
they’d like to see from you. Poll them on which designs they like best. You
could even run a design contest with your viewers, too.
Make Merchandise That Interest People
As you decide which items to sell and
which designs to use, keep in mind that you want to create merchandise that
your viewers will really want to wear and use. Create really attractive
designs, and use engaging wording that is relatable, funny and/or insightful,
and make sure that it’s in line with your brand voice and the persona that you
present on
YouTube.
Use Your YouTube Channel’s
Brand Colors
Unless it really goes
with your channel’s branding, you don’t just have to go with a simple black
print of your design on a white t-shirt or a white mug. Why? Because it can
seem too generic and doesn’t really have that “stand out” factor.
As you make merchandise
for your YouTube channel, it’s important to remember that you want to increase
your brand recognition. Using your channel’s brand colors can do that while
making your merchandise more attractive and fun.
Go for High Quality When Creating Clothing
We cannot emphasize this enough. When
choosing the materials for your YouTube channel’s merch, you’ll be given some
options. Do not go with the cheapest t-shirts that you can find. They’ll be thin, weirdly sized, and they won’t make a good
impression on your viewers. You want them to fall in love with the way your
merchandise fits so that they want to buy more just because they love wearing
it.
Order Samples Before Promoting the Final Product
If you’re not sure about a t-shirt, mug,
or other piece of merch, just order one for yourself before you start promoting
it on your YouTube channel and on social media. This is an inexpensive way to
make sure that you’ve made the right choice for your products, and it’s
a great way to start
promoting them, too.
When you get the products in, if you love
them, you can start wearing or using them in your YouTube videos. If not, you
can make the changes you need to make to ensure that you’ve chosen the right
products to promote.
Most Print-on-Demand
sites don’t have minimum orders, so you can get just one item to make sure
you’re on the right track and to test out the customer experience on the site
you’ve chosen, too. After all, you don’t want to go with a site that’s
difficult to work with or your viewers won’t buy your merchandise, no matter
how cool it is.
Aim for Marketing Success with Your YouTube
Merch
In the beginning stages, you want to think
of your branded merchandise as more of a marketing effort than a revenue
builder. This is an opportunity to get your merch in more people’s hands, so
set a really reasonable price that your viewers won’t mind paying when you make
your YouTube merch. It’s important to remember that in order to get people to buy
something, you must give them great pricing and value.
How Vloggers Can Promote and Sell
YouTube Channel
Merchandise?
So you’ve decided to make
and sell merchandise for your YouTube channel. You have some really cool
designs that feature your channel’s name, your logo, and/or a phrase you use a
lot. You’ve chosen quality products that your community of viewers want to buy
and will love using. Now how do you get the word out about your merch as a
YouTuber?
Check out these tips for promoting your YouTube channel
merch and see how much more you can sell.
• Show Viewers Merchandise in Your YouTube Videos
First
of all, the easiest way to let people know that you have cool merch is to
display it in your YouTube videos. Order one of each of your items, and then
wear or use them during your videos.
Wear that cool hoodie,
hat, or t-shirt that you’re selling online, or put them up in the background.
Place a branded coffee mug or water bottle next to you on your desk or table when
you’re filming. Hang a branded poster behind you. There’s so many things you
can do!
Then, at the end of your video when you
get to your call to action, be sure to mention the YouTube channel merch you
have made available for sale that is shown on screen. For example, you could
say something like, “And if you like this shirt I’m wearing, check out the link
in the description to get your own!” Or you could add an annotation link in the
video itself that takes your viewers to your online store.
• Link to Merch Store in Your Descriptions and About Page
Whether or not you mention the YouTube channel merch you wear or use
in your video, be sure to include a link to your online store in your video
description. If you want to make sure that
your viewers see it (and, of course, you do), you’ll want to put it in the
first three
lines of the description
so that it appears before the “Show More” link.
In addition to putting a link in your
video descriptions, you should also include a link to your online store in the
“about” sections and pages of all of your online presences. Link to your store
on your channel’s about page, Facebook page, Twitter bio, and more. Wherever you
can, make sure that people get a direct link to your online store so that
buying your YouTube channel’s merch is easy.
• Showcase Products in Your Social Media Posts
Speaking of social media, you also want to
post pictures and links to your products on all of your social media pages.
Take photos wearing your new hat, t-shirt, or hoodie, and post it on social
media with a link to where fans can buy theirs. Feature new products that have
just become available. Repost and share pictures of your fans when they post
photos of themselves wearing or using your YouTube channel’s merch.
The more you do this, the more recognition
you’ll create. You can even create your own branded hashtag for people to use
when they wear and use your merch and clothing. Then you can go through the
pictures and posts that have that hashtag to find great images and links to
repost to your own account.
•
Use YouTube
Cards to Promote Your Channel’s Merch
YouTube cards are basically a way to take
annotations to the next level. A card could be a link to a specific URL, a
customized image, or a call to action.
When a card is added to a video, a teaser
will appear in the video, and then after the teaser disappears, the viewer can
access the card just by hitting the “i” button in the top right corner of the
video for more information. Then they can scroll through the cards you’ve added
to the video and click on them to go to your online store, check out a specific
product page, etc.
Conclusion:
here you go – six things to consider when
you make merchandise for your YouTube channel so that you can effectively get
your channel’s brand out there and make some money while you do it. Have fun
with your designs. Don’t be afraid to get creative. And don’t forget to promote
your cool new merch in your YouTube videos and on social media! Keep these tips
in mind to get more people to see your store and buy your YouTube channel
merch.
Chapter 6
How can Beauty Vloggers
grow their YouTube
Channel?
Do you have tons of beauty tips and
tutorials to share with the world? The beauty vlogging community on YouTube is
a warm, accepting, and great place to experiment with new looks and styles,
share your secrets, and learn from other beauty gurus like you.
Your expertise on all things makeup can
take you a long way in the beauty vlogging community, but it never hurts to
have a few really great tools and resources to make things easier for your
YouTube journey. Check out these helpful tools and tips that can benefit you as
a YouTube beauty vlogger.
And, with the help of these simple and
effective tips, you should be able to grow your audience and establish your
YouTube channel as a place where your fans and other YouTubers can get great
content, ask questions, and give their own feedback on tips and techniques that
have worked for them.
• Start a Beauty Blog
First of all, you can get more viewers for
your YouTube channel by creating and maintaining a companion blog for it. By
sprinkling relevant keywords and phrases naturally throughout your content,
your blog will start showing up on Google searches for those keywords. If you
post quality entries with great tips and other fun and informative content,
people searching for beauty tips will find your blog and start reading your
content.
Then you can help your YouTube channel out
with your blog by embedding your YouTube videos in your posts, and your new
readers will soon become new viewers and subscribers.
• Mention/Tag Brands Used in Your Beauty Vlogs
Mentioning and tagging brands that you use
in your YouTube videos is a great way to get more exposure, too. When you use
branded hashtags, those brands’ followers will see your posts when they search
through those tags. When you tag and mention the brands using their usernames
on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram they’ll have a higher likelihood of seeing
your content, too. Then they’ll be more likely to retweet or repost your
content and give you a shout-out. Those brands have many followers, and a
simple retweet or repost
can give a boost to your
YouTube channel.
In fact, if you do a great job of creating
quality content and you showcase a brand’s products well, they may even
approach you and offer to sponsor one or more videos on your YouTube channel.
• YouTube Collaborations are Effective
Look around online for YouTube beauty
gurus who vlog about related topics to yours, and you’ll find a lot of
opportunities for collaborations. From collab videos to guest appearances and
guest vlogs, YouTubers help each other out all the time by collaborating and
sharing their fan bases, and you can, too.
Reach out to beauty vloggers like you, and
offer to exchange shout-outs, mentions, and YouTube links, or ask if they would
be interested in cross-promotions on social media. The more you collaborate and
build each other up, the more you can grow your YouTube channel.
• Always Disclose Sponsors and Sponsored Content
Next, if you’ve landed a
YouTube sponsorship, don’t hide it. If you’re upfront about your sponsorships,
your audience will appreciate your honesty and will know that they can trust
what you have to say. You can do this by simply stating something like, “Today,
thanks to [Cosmetics Brand]’s generous sponsorship of this episode, I’ll be
using their new mascara for this eyelash curling tutorial…” This way you’ve
shown the brand in a positive light, and you’re not hiding anything from your
audience.
• Pinterest and Instagram Marketing
Beauty vlogging is very visual. When you
film a make-up tutorial, you’re showing your viewers how to achieve an end
result, and you should be able to showcase that result in images. That’s why
Pinterest and Instagram are such great social tools for beauty vloggers
on YouTube.
On Pinterest, you can use your pin boards
to link to your YouTube videos and playlists, images of other beauty gurus’
work, and much more. If you’re pinning one of your videos, make sure that you
set the thumbnail to be a still of the finished look that shows what your
audience can expect to achieve.
On Instagram, you can link to your YouTube
channel or a playlist on your channel in your profile. Then post the finished
results of different tutorials and tips on a daily basis. Be sure to mention in
your captions that viewers can click on the link in your profile to see how
it’s done.
• Interact and Engage With Your Viewers
Now, remember that your audience is really
a community of people interested in makeup, hair, and skincare. They all have
different experiences with different products and techniques, and some of them
are beauty gurus like you, too. Get involved and engaged with your audience,
and you’ll see them posting, tweeting, and sharing your YouTube beauty videos
more and more often.
For really effective engagement, read the
comments on your videos and respond to them. Get involved in the conversation
there and on social media. If one of your YouTube videos has been up for a few
hours and hasn’t gotten any comments, don’t be afraid to post a comment of your
own asking your viewers a question about the video.
And, of course, you can also engage your
viewers in your videos. Give shout-outs and mentions for great comments and
feedback. Ask them to tell you their thoughts in the comments. Get the
conversation going in your video, and then keep it going in the comments and on
social media.
• Network With Other YouTube Beauty Gurus
Finally, reach out to other beauty gurus
on YouTube for more than just collaborations. Network and build relationships
with them. Talk about them positively on your social media platforms. Respond
to and retweet their tweets. Get to know them and help build a sustainable
community around beauty vlogging, and you’ll be setting your YouTube
channel up for long-term
success.
•
Get Royalty Free
Music with YouTube’s Audio Library
First of all, do you ever find yourself
wishing that you had some royalty free music to use in your YouTube videos?
You’d love to use some of your favorite tunes, but you know that there are
copyright issues there that you don’t want to mess around with. Instead of
limiting your beauty vlogs to no music, though, you can use YouTube’s audio library to download free music for
your videos.
You can find the kind of musical beats
you’re looking for with searches by genre, mood, instrument, or duration. Be
sure to read the attribution requirements on the music you pick, though. Some
songs are licensed differently and will require you to include artist
attribution with your beauty vlogs. Other than that, have fun finding the best
songs and sound effects for your YouTube videos without spending any money.
• Check Your YouTube Stats with Social Blade
Social Blade is
a well-established YouTube statistics tracking site that lets you monitor your channel’s
growth. On a daily basis, you can track subscriber and view counts to see gains
and losses, but that’s not all. You can also compare your metrics with up to
three other channels at the same time so that you can look at your progress in
terms of other channels in a relevant niche.
• Stay Organized as a Beauty Vlogger with Trello
Whether you’re scheduling collaboration,
sponsor meeting, social media chat for viewers, or anything else in regards to
your YouTube channel, Trello is an incredibly
cool visual organization tool that will help make it easy to stay on track!
It’s not only a website, but you can also
download the Trello mobile app so you can stay organized, update checklists,
and make notes for your YouTube channel on your phone or tablet, too. Trello
makes it easy to create schedules, agendas, and task lists, so you can
streamline everything you need to do for your YouTube channel on a daily,
weekly, or
monthly basis.
• Design Things for Your YouTube Channel with Canva
Interested in designing custom thumbnail
images for your YouTube beauty vlogs? Looking to create cool graphics for your
social media posts? Want to make great images for your content? Check out Canva.
This graphic design site makes it easy to
create professional looking graphics in a number of different formats. Plus,
the site offers a huge database of stock images. It’s never been easier to
create custom thumbnail images and/or design graphics for your YouTube channel.
Try it out today and see how much more you can add to your beauty vlogs and
social media presence.
Chapter 7
Tips to create a Gaming
Channel on YouTube
If you’re a big fan of
gaming content, then you probably already know that there are a lot of YouTube
gaming channels out there. Maybe you’ve followed them to beat tricky stages or
levels. Maybe you’ve watched reviews to see if you should check out a new game
that you’ve been wondering about. Maybe you’ve watched them just for fun.
Whatever your reason for
tuning in, you know that you’re not the only person online who wants to make or
watch gaming videos on YouTube.
You know that there’s an audience for the
kinds of videos you want to create, and you know that you have a lot to
contribute as a YouTube gamer. That’s awesome! As you make a YouTube gaming
channel and begin your journey, keep these five things in mind:
• Create a Unique Experience for Your Gaming Videos
First of all, you don’t just have to create a gaming
channel with a bunch of videos of you playing through games without
commentary or any input. These might be useful to a lot of viewers, but they
don’t really give your viewers any particular reason to choose one of your videos
over any other play-through video.
Take some time to add your own personal
spin to your videos. Let your personality shine through to give your content a
unique vibe. Provide viewers with a reason to choose your content, and make
them look forward to seeing new gaming videos from you.
• See It as a Marathon and Not a Sprint
Next, as you make a
YouTube gaming channel, remember that you’re probably not going to get a huge
following overnight. You’re not going to put up just a couple of gaming videos and
miraculously get millions of viewers. Expecting that is like taking off to run
a marathon thinking that you’re running a
sprint race. In other words, you’re going to burn out fast, and
you won’t hit your goal.
Your channel will grow,
slowly but surely, and you’ll see new viewers and subscribers engaging with you
on YouTube and across social media. It might not happen all at once, but if you
stick with it and let your passion for gaming push you through the hard times,
you’ll get there.
•
Viewers Are
Essential to a Gaming Channel’s Growth
However, you can’t really
get there if you ignore your viewers. They’re the people who tune in, like your
videos, and subscribe to your gaming channel. They’re the ones who’ll share
your videos on Facebook and Twitter, and they’re the ones who’ll help you
really grow your channel – if you engage with them.
The more you build a relationship with
your audience, the more they’ll support you and the faster your gaming channel
will grow.
This means responding to their comments,
taking video requests, giving them shout-outs, and inviting every opportunity
to engage with them, from asking questions on Facebook (and responding to
answers) to making Q&A videos on YouTube that specifically answer the
questions your viewers have asked in the comments.
• You Need to Build a Presence Outside of YouTube
In addition to your YouTube presence, when
you make a YouTube gaming channel, you need to have presences across social
media. Create pages and accounts on Facebook, Twitter, and/or Instagram, and
use these platforms to give your audience content that they can’t get from your
videos. Take them behind the scenes. Show them some bloopers. Share gaming tips
and content. Host a live streaming Q&A. There’s a lot you can do!
Have fun engaging with your audience and
providing them with more content on social media, and your channel’s brand will
see a lot more recognition. Make sure that you post different content to each
of your social media pages, though. You want to give your
followers exclusive content, posts, and videos on each
platform so that they have a reason
to consistently follow
you on all of your online presences.
• Maintain an Uploading Schedule for Gaming Videos
Finally, when you make a YouTube gaming
channel, you have to be consistent with your videos. Post your uploading
schedule on your channel’s home page, on your social media profiles, and in
your video descriptions.
That way, your viewers will know when they
can expect more content from you and when they should click over to YouTube for
more videos. This helps create more momentum for your channel because your
return viewership will increase as people know when to come back for more
content.
Of course, just posting
your uploading schedule isn’t enough. You also have to stick to that schedule.
Choose a frequency that you can live with. If you can’t upload a gaming video
every day or every other day, that’s okay. Uploading one video per week
consistently is better than uploading randomly and constantly falling behind on
your promised schedule.
Conclusion:
These are five important things to keep in
mind when you make a YouTube gaming channel. If you understand them and take
them into consideration throughout the process, you’ll be able to create and
grow a channel with successful results. Have fun gaming!
Chapter 8
How to Guest Vlog on
YouTube and Get More
Channel Views
One
way to grow your YouTube channel’s audience is to exchange guest vlogs with
other vloggers in your niche. Although it’s a marketing strategy that bloggers
have been successfully implementing to expand their presence for a while now,
can YouTube vloggers also do the same?
Yes,
definitely! We’re going to look at exactly why that is, and how you can use
guest vlogging to grow your YouTube channel.
What Is Guest Vlogging on
YouTube?
Guest
vlogging is pretty much just like guest blogging. The basic idea is that you
provide content for another YouTube channel, possibly in exchange for a guest
vlog from your partner for your own channel. There are many ways to achieve
this – you can collaborate on a single video idea together, make separate
videos for each other to upload to your own channels, and more!
Growing Your YouTube Channel with Guest Vlogs
Much
like YouTube
collaborations, guest vlogging can potentially increase your
channel’s reach if done correctly. The most obvious way that this occurs is by
sharing each other’s audience. Ideally, you’ll find a partner whose audience is
similar to your own.
Their
viewers will follow the guest vlog back to your channel, earning you more
viewers in
the
long run. In addition, the same process occurs when you host your partner’s
guest vlog
–
their viewers will visit to your channel to watch one of their favorite
creators, and some will likely stick around to see what else you can offer
them.
How Do You Guest Vlog on YouTube?
After
determining what you want to get out of guest vlogging (solidifying your
position as a niche authority? Growing your own audience? Getting more exposure
for your website or product?), you can then begin finding the right
collaborator, and reach out to them about guest vlogging.
The
most straightforward method for guest vlogging is to create your own video,
just as if you were creating it for your channel, and send the video to another
YouTube vlogger to be published on their channel. Your collaborating partner
will also do the same. We’ll cover a few important key points for success when
making a guest vlog, shortly below.
• Collaborating with the Right Partner
Your
guest vlogging partner’s viewership should be similar to your own. Perhaps you
don’t want to target your own niche, but you can find another YouTube vlogger
who targets a related sub-niche. Additionally, it’s a good idea to work with a
partner that has a style that goes well with your own.
Someone
who creates relevant content with a similar format can be a great fit. Why?
Well, because they’ll also be creating a video for your audience, and having an
audience with similar interests will really help bring results!
•
Understand Each
Other’s Audience on YouTube
If
your audiences are similar, but different, then you’ll need to do some basic
research to learn who you’ll be speaking to on YouTube. A great way to do this
is to watch their previous videos, putting yourself in the shoes of their
audience. Take a look at their most popular YouTube videos and content that has
the most interaction.
You
don’t want to copy their format, but this should give you a good idea of what
their audience is interested in. It will help you understand what to focus on
in your video to best engage their viewers.
• Create Content That is Relevant to Viewers
On
that note, it’s important that your content is relevant to their viewers,
specifically. Find a way to relate your channel to their interests, and decide
on how it will connect to the typical focus of the host channel. Be sure you
aren’t repeating a topic of conversation that your host channel has already
covered before.
• Add Branding to Your Guest Vlog
It’s
also important that your content makes it easy for new viewers to find your
YouTube channel. In other words, be sure to add branding to your guest vlogs.
Put your channel name and social media handle(s) in your video intro or as
in-video graphic(s). End the guest vlog by mentioning where viewers can best
keep up with your content and updates (keep it short and avoid too much self
promotion).
A
great strategy is to include a link in the video description that directs the
host channel’s viewers to a custom playlist containing videos that you have
grouped together specifically based on their interests. It’s much more
effective than just linking to your YouTube channel’s home page.
• Make the Guest Vlog Engaging For YouTube Viewers
Of course, all videos that you create for
YouTube should be engaging, and the guest vlog is no different. Not only do you
want an engaged audience, so does your host. Your clicks and likes are theirs
as well, in a sense. If you create engaging content that encourages conversation
and interaction, there’s a good chance you’ll have more guest vlogging opportunities
in the future.
• Just Be Yourself
Even though you’re guest vlogging on
someone else’s channel, be sure to showcase your unique personality. It can
sometimes be tempting to try out a new persona for a new channel, but this will
probably only disappoint, for two reasons. The first is that viewers who enjoy
your guest vlog will want to see more of the same on your own channel. The
second is that the YouTube creator hosting you probably
agreed to do so based on your
channel; if you change
your style now, they may feel blindsided.
However, it should be noted that, for the
most part, you should focus first on targeting the host’s audience, and second
on maintaining your own style. If your host always offers quick, bite-sized
list videos, their viewers probably won’t want a 20-minute long unboxing video.
Check out their usual format, and then insert your own style and personality
into an appropriate vlog type. Be creative!
• Avoid a Sole Focus on Self-Promotion
As mentioned earlier, don’t just spend the
video talking about your own channel and why people should subscribe to you on
YouTube. Instead, focus on creating a high quality video that viewers will
enjoy, and that will encourage them to visit your channel naturally to see more
great content. The best way to do this is to film the vlog as if you were
creating it for your own YouTube channel.
•
Don’t Let Guest
Vlogs Disrupt Your Schedule
Your YouTube viewers have come to expect
and look forward to videos on your channel. When you’re hosting content from
your guest vlogging partner, don’t sacrifice an upload of your own unless your
uploading schedule is normally flexible.
Keep your own schedule consistent to keep
your YouTube channel growing, but add in the guest vlog as additional content
on your channel. This will allow your regular viewers to continue getting the
content they want, but also provide them with “something extra”.
It also ensures that any
new visitors from the guest vlogger’s channel will see brand new material when
they visit your YouTube channel.
• Build Buzz with Your Viewers Beforehand
Finally, it’s important for both partners to let their
audiences know about the guest vlog content beforehand, and to encourage them
to support and share the guest vlogs they watch. You can explain why you’ve decided to guest vlog and what you
enjoy most about your partner’s channel and content, and get excitement built
up before the vlog is
uploaded.
It’s also a great strategy to help benefit
your partner and their host channel, as it brings more viewers to their
content. Your partner should be excited to do the same when guest vlogging on
your YouTube channel.
Conclusion
As you can see, guest vlogging can be a
really cool way to grow your YouTube channel. Just remember, the key to guest
vlogging on YouTube successfully is for both partners to create great vlogs for
each other, while hosting and promoting the guest vlogs published on your
channels to your respective audiences. If done right, it can help both
collaborating vloggers grow their YouTube channels.
Chapter 9
Advanced Tactics for
Promoting Your
YouTube Channel and
Increasing Subscribers
Here are 9 tactics that
will give you the best chance to rise above the noise:
1.
Create thumbnail images that
draw viewers in
2.
Give your videos irresistible
titles
3.
Use search keywords that show
mostly video results from Google
4.
Include calls to action
5.
Make sure you’re allowing
people to embed your videos
6.
Cross promote your YouTube
channel like a pro
7.
Make playlists
8.
Consistency pays off big time
9.
Engage with viewers through
contests, response videos, and collaborations
300 hours of YouTube
video are uploaded every minute—if
you want to get noticed, you have to get serious about promoting your channel.
It’s not rocket science, but it’s not going to happen on its own. Let’s take a
deeper dive into 9 best practices and how they can help you grow your numbers.
1. Create Great Custom Thumbnails
You have a split second
of a viewer’s attention as they are deciding which video to watch. Other than
your video’s title, your thumbnail is critical for enticing that click. Don’t
miss this opportunity to design an image that reinforces what your video is all
about. VICE’s use of thumbnail optimization led to a promotion on YouTube’s
homepage, and one of their most popular videos to date:
Keep a few rules in mind for the size of
your custom thumbnail because it will also be used as your preview when someone
embeds your video on their site. Google recommends that
your thumbnail:
•
Have a resolution of 1280X720
(minimum width of 640 pixels).
•
|
Be uploaded in image formats such as .JPG, .GIF, .BMP, or
.PNG.
•
Remain under the 2MB limit.
•
Try to use a 16:9 aspect ratio.
You can upload a custom thumbnail as soon
as you upload a video by simply choosing the custom thumbnail option. To add one
to an already-existing video, go to your Video
Manager, click Edit for the video you want to work with and then click custom thumbnail.
2. Give Your Video a Killer Title
You want something descriptive enough to
make someone want to watch, but not so long that it’s cut off when displayed.
You need to make it sound exciting, but not so over-the-top that it looks
spammy. Try to include keywords for search and irresistibly clickable
adjectives.
3
. Reverse
Engineer Google’s SERPs
There are several different YouTube
optimization techniques to improve your search rankings, but the SEO tactic
that will have the most lasting effect is all about keyword research. One way
to think about video keyword research is by reverse-engineering
Google’s search engine
results pages (SERPs).
The idea here is to focus on keyword
searches in google that will almost always serve you video results. For
example, if someone googles for “cool
dance moves” it makes sense that google would serve a results page full of
videos because nobody really wants to read an
article about cool dance
moves. Here’s a screenshot of that search:
If you find a lot of
video results instead of just text listings on page one, that’s a great keyword
to work with. You may want to try related queries such as “awesome dance
moves” or “cool dance skills” to see where you may be
getting results that are more related
to the video you are
producing, and potentially less competitive to rank for.
4. Use Calls to Action to Engage Viewers
Having a viewer watch your video and then
leave means you may not have given them a chance to do anything else to engage
with your channel. According to YouTube, there are four main types of user
action: subscribe to the channel, watch more videos, like or share a video, and
leave a comment. YouTube gives several options for including CTAs within a
video to get people to take one of these actions:
1.
Direct Host-Mentions. This is actually a
style of video where you talk to the camera
and tell people what to do. In this video example at the 4:30 minute mark,
you can
see that the author
directly tells you to “let us know in the comments down below.”
1.
End-cards. An end-card works similarly
to a card except that they appear at the end of a video and take up the whole screen. For example, in the screenshot
below you can see College Humor’s end-card featuring large subscribe button.
This button is clickable so it makes it easy to take that next step.
