5 Ways To Double Your YouTube Subscribers

Huge amounts of views, likes, and comments on an individual video is a wonderful thing, and a great ego boost for any creator. But we’ve lost count of the number of channels who have been active for years, and whose view count vastly outnumbers their subscriber count. Why is that an issue? Well, if you are a brand or a creator using video as a marketing tool then, as with any other medium, you need to build a loyal fan base. Anyone can watch your video, but not everyone will have the inclination to subscribe so they can engage further with your brand. And, YouTube confirms that subscribers tend to watch twice as much video compared to users who don’t subscribe. What more incentive could there be? Of course, you could strike lucky and attract hundreds of thousands of subscribers on the back of one great video, but getting back to the real world, here are 11 ways that you can generate more lovers of your channel.

Use Annotations to Drive Subscriber Sign-Up

If you want more subscribers then you need to ask for them! Believe it or not, not every viewer that likes your content will think to subscribe to your channel. They may bookmark you, or link to you in their blog or social feeds. They may even visit your channel everyday, but they won’t always commit to subscribing, so prompt them by adding a strong call-to-action annotation to your video. At ReelSEO, we usually add this towards the end of our videos, often in the end-slate, but use your analytics data to determine the best spot for you.

Create a YouTube Channel Trailer

In March 2013, YouTube introduced a fantastic marketing tool for creators in the form of a ‘Channel’ or ‘Subscribe’ trailer. This clip can be uploaded to the home page of your channel, and will auto-play if a non-subscriber arrives on that landing page. It stops auto-playing if the viewer subscribes (or turns it off every time). This feature is the PERFECT opportunity for you to introduce your brand and content to the viewer so why not create one today.

Get Active on Social Media

YouTube isn’t an island (as a famous poet once didn’t say), and you won’t give yourself a chance to build your subscriber base if you don’t venture outside its walls. There are a couple of ways to do this. Firstly, make sure that your social networks are linked to your YouTube channel so that your fan base can follow you wherever you may be active. Sounds obvious, but we are still seeing a lack of a cohesive strategy when it comes to social video marketing. You can assume that your followers, and potential followers will take the time to find your presence on the internet, or you can make it easy for them, and provide links.

Increase your Uploading Frequency

Now this is easier said than done, but you cannot ignore what’s being said here. The main reason someone hits the subscribe button is because they admire the works of the publisher and love to hear more often from them. YouTube subscribers usually do not like channels that are not regular. Consistency is the key here to develop a long-lasting relationship with your existing subscribers and developing new ones. Release your videos in a timely, recurring and structured fashion.

Try to publish a video in a week or at least once or twice in a month. Stick to your schedule and do not upload videos as and when you feel like doing it, it will hurt your reputation. Whatever you do, make sure that your schedule is prominent and upload videos accordingly.

Use ‘Subscribe’ buttons on your blog

This makes sense, and there’s no reason for you not using it. YouTube provides an option to link to your official web page and make sure you link yours if you got one. The efforts you put into getting visitors for YouTube channel could be channelized into your website or blog for providing an outlet for your most dedicated and curious followers. Moreover, your channel also gets verified as an authentic representation of your brand on YouTube.

Under the channel settings of your YouTube page, add your website’s or blogs’ URL to link your channel and its associated webpage. You may also consider adding your blog/website URL in the channel description itself. Similarly, add ‘Subscribe’ buttons on your blog, at the sidebar to drive more subscribers to your YouTube channel

Tags: Social Media, subscribers, youtube