25 YouTube Marketing Strategies to Skyrocket Your Traffic

A friend recently asked how you get traffic from YouTube. As I started to describe all the methods, it occurred to me that I should be writing this down.

Here are the YouTube marketing strategies I wrote down to help my friend. They are relevant to any small business looking to use the video platform to increase their brand awareness and skyrocket their traffic.

Before we start, you do need to remember one important thing. YouTube is not just about jumping in head first and slapping up some videos. You need to have a plan to utilize the most effective YouTube marketing strategies.

25 YouTube Marketing Strategies

You might be wondering what strategies would help your business the most. You are not alone and for this reason we have 25 killer YouTube marketing strategies that will skyrocket your traffic starting now.

#1 Your YouTube strategy starts with channel optimization. Your YouTube channel is your home base for the video platform. Therefore, you need to spend time optimizing the channel.

First, make sure you have the right name. This is the name that viewers see when they watch your video. Whether you use a brand name, your own, or a new one make sure it fits your image.

Second, take advantage of your channel description. This is where you want to give a brief but catchy summary using your keywords. Walmart is a great example of how to get the most out of your description section. Without being overly wordy, they have conveyed what they are about as a company and what the viewer will gain by watching the videos on their channel.

 

 

Third, take advantage of the Channel Art and Channel Icon to present your brand to visitors. The Martha Stewart channel uses these features to provide a clean and crisp atmosphere with a minimal amount of added text.

Just by looking at her channel art below, you know what she does. Additionally, links for both the Martha Stewart website and social profiles are included as well.

 

Fourth, let new visitors know what your channel is about by adding a Channel Trailer like the one below. This should be like an intro video to describe your channel or business to viewers.

To add your own channel trailer, simply visit your channel and click on the ‘For new visitors’ link as shown below. Next click on ‘Channel Trailer’ and either upload your snippet or enter the URL for your video.

 

 

One point to keep in mind is that in order to use this feature, you must have the channel browse view enabled. To do this, simply follow these steps:

• Hover your mouse over the channel name and click on the pencil icon that appears on the right side.
• Click on edit channel navigation.
• Enable the browse view and click save.

#2 Optimize each video you upload. Without a lot of effort you can get a lot more eyes on your videos simply by taking the time to optimize them. Want to know the best part? It only takes a few minutes to do. Include your keywords in the title, description and tags.

 

#3 Annotations are the text overlays you often see pop up on videos that you watch YouTube. At first glance this tool might not seem all that important but think again. With annotations you can insert clickable links like they did in the image below, turning your video into one that is interactive. Whether you want to gain more subscribers, highlight your website, link to other relevant videos or ask viewers to share your video, you can do all that and more with annotations.

 

 

#4 Transcribed videos rank higher so include a transcription of each video your produce. You can find a ready-made transcript provided by YouTube by going to your video and underneath it clicking on ‘More’ and then ‘Transcript’. Review the transcript because it is not without error. However, it does provide a good base to start transcribing the video.

 

If you want to update your transcript, then upload it following these steps:

• Click videos under the Video Manager.
• A list of your videos will appear.  Click the arrow key next to the edit button.  A drop-down box will appear.
• Click on ‘Subtitles and CC’.

Next click on your language.

Then click on ‘Upload a file’. From here you will be taken through the steps to add your transcribed document.

#5 YouTube cards provide much more comprehensive information than annotations. They act like a teaser of sorts and are very visually appealing.  You can place them anywhere in your video and they can be used to recommend other videos, websites, merchandise and playlists.

They also work on mobile devices which is an added bonus. Presently there are six types of cards that are offered: Fundraising, Merchandise, Video, Playlist, Fan Funding, and Associated Website.

#6 Playlists organize your videos and offer another opportunity to use your keywords for traffic. When putting together playlists it is important to include appropriate keywords in both the playlist title and description. That way, you can receive more traffic for your videos on YouTube, as well as Google.

#7 Keyword research is important and YouTube has made it a whole lot easier with their YouTube Suggest feature.

Typing in your keyword will provide you with other searches that are similar and that people are performing.

The keywords help you create relevant information that can be used to target a relevant audience for your videos. To make it easier to be found, include these words in your titles, tags and descriptions.

#8 Create engaging videos that people actually want to watch.  Just slapping together any old video is not enough to build a loyal and engaged group of followers.

You do not need to use tons of expensive special effects or equipment, but at the same time you want to create something that people will actually want to watch.

Take the powerful, yet somewhat weird Poopourri video. This one video launched an internet sensation product. Essentially, they sell air scents that you spray into your toilet.

While the topic might stink, the 354% increase in their fan base, along with the 278,000 shares they received from the video do not.

#9 Consistency is key. Effective YouTube marketing requires consistency. If you want to build your following and viewership you have to produce content on a regular schedule. This does not mean you have to create a video every single day but it does mean having at least a few chosen days out of the month to share new videos that your audience can count on.

Take YouTube star, PewDiePie. He has over 9 billion views to his videos. The reason behind his success is consistency. He posts almost every day, and increased his presence as he started to gain prominence on the site.

#10 Add a call to action. To get any kind of ROI from the content you create, it is vital to include a call to action that tells people what they need to do next. This can be anything from asking for a share or like, leaving a comment or any other action you want the viewer to do next.

According to Multi Vision Digital, consumers are 64% more likely to purchase a product from you after watching an online video. That means not having a good reason to buy at the end of your videos can tank sales when you sell on YouTube.

#11 Embed your YouTube videos on your website. Not everyone will necessarily be headed to YouTube so sharing your videos on your site is one more opportunity to get viewers to see them. They are easy to embed by placing some code that you can copy from YouTube and voila – your video is displayed beautifully.

#12  Include a YouTube subscribe button on your website. The buttons can be downloaded directly from YouTube, making it an easy strategy to implement.  It is one more way that works well for growing your audience.

#13 Share your videos across other social media platforms. You are not limited to only having your videos seen on YouTube. The options for sharing are plentiful and easy to use. Share to sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Reddit, Stumbleupon, and Digg only take a push of a button with YouTube’s social sharing buttons.

#14 Promote your channel on your printed marketing materials. You are already using printed materials to spread the word about your business so it only makes sense to include information about your YouTube channel.

#15 Email marketing can make a dramatic impact on your YouTube success. Include a link to your YouTube channel with every message you send out. Place it in any of the regular templates that you use and you will never need to think about it again.

#16 YouTube advertising can be extremely effective at reaching your targeted audience. They offer four different types of ads that you can choose from and they are great for the cost conscious business owner.

Take specialty toy maker Rokenbok. They use TrueView ads to show families their fun and educational videos. Currently, 50% of their clients now come from YouTube.

#17 Smart YouTube marketers know how important it is to take advantage of thumbnails and use them for effective branding. You can create them easily and use them to make your videos stand out.

Below you can see where popular YouTuber JP Spears has used them for his videos. While they are not overpowering, they do add a unique touch that makes them stand out.

#18 Who doesn’t love a good story, right? We all do and that includes your viewers as well. Using storytelling in your video marketing strategies is extremely effective in engaging your audience and creating interest in your brand. Videos that take viewers behind the scenes of your business and interviews with experts are some of the ways that you can market AND tell a story at the same time.

#19 Create videos that answer questions your viewers are currently asking. It might not always be easy to figure out what your audience is interested in learning more about, but using a tool such as Serpstat makes it super easy. Just enter your keyword and it will provide you with the questions being asked around that topic.

#20 Intros and outros are snippets of video you see before you get to the actual video. They are similar to the intros and outros that you have probably seen thousands of times on television when you watched a favorite show.

Intros and outros are a great way to sneak in a bit of promo material about your company, products and/or services without coming across as being salesy.

To ensure you are being consistent in your marketing messages, it is very important that if you use intros and outros that you include them in all of your video content. It does not take long for your audience to expect them in your videos.

#21 YouTube Analytics help you understand what YouTube marketing strategies work. Knowing things such how many shares and views your videos are getting is some of the data that YouTube provides.

This information allows video marketers to expand on what they know their viewers want and provide more of that particular kind of content.

#22 Less is more when it comes to the videos that you create. Although you may have a great message to share, if it takes more than a few minutes to convey it, you are better off creating several short videos as opposed to a lengthy one.

According to MiniMatters, of the top 10 most popular videos, the shortest was 42 seconds and the longest 9 minutes. The average was 4 minutes and 20 seconds.

Yes, some people get away with 15, 30, or even 60 minutes videos. However, short and sweet generally are best.

#23 Turn your YouTube videos into podcasts to gain a wider audience. Opinions vary as to whether or not taking the audio portion of your videos and uploading them as podcasts is truly effective.

However, considering that it is one more way to re-purpose your content, it certainly can help you reach out to more people. With the popularity of ipods and other mobile listening devices, it makes sense to offer an additional way to have your content consumed.

#24 Partner with others who have an audience similar to yours. Teaming up with other video creators can help both of you to reach more people. For example, if you have a business that provides dog walking services, you could partner up with someone who has a business that offers organic treats for pets.

#25 Use good equipment. Here is the final determinant for using YouTube to skyrocket your traffic. The better the equipment you use, the better chances you have of succeeding.

You need a good microphone, video camera, and editing software. Most of it can be found on Ebay and/or Amazon for a few hundred dollars today.

However, if you want to sound professional to your clients, you need to provide a professional experience. If you hear noises in the back or the video is grainier than a wheat field it is time to update.

Final Thoughts

As we move forward in time, video is predicted to continue growing in popularity. Invodo shared in their report – Video Statistics:  The Marketer’s Summary 2014, that 74% of all internet traffic will be video by 2017. That is a staggering number and to stay on top of this trend it is crucial to work on your video marketing strategy. A solid plan must be put in place now to guarantee that your business will not fall behind in the future.

Lastly, getting started with your YouTube marketing strategies does not need to be overwhelming. Like anything, if you start small by creating a few videos and continue to create them consistently, you will be on the path to experiencing the growth that video marketing offers.

Thoughts, opinions, suggestions and most significantly your own experiences of marketing at YouTube, share in the Comments Section below. Looking forward …

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