As someone who is focused on YouTube as a content platform, I'm sure that, like me, you're always looking for cool and innovative ways to connect with your audience on YouTube.
What are some of the best tools out that to help you make the most out of your YouTube channel? 
Here's what I mean by that. I'm sure by now you have uploaded a video or two to YouTube. Perhaps you even created a playlist or learned how to add annotations that link back to your website. Of course you should always try to send people back to your blog from outposts like YouTube, but let's face it, lot's of people will never leave YouTube and head for your home base unless you've given them a darn good reason to do so.
You need to make a connection with the people as they're viewing your videos so that you can grow your audience with the content you're sharing.
Get to know your YouTube demographic and peak their interest so they are compelled to consume even more of your content. But don't just stop at the content of your individual videos, target your audience through some of the other fantastic features that YouTube has to offer. Here are some quick examples for you.
Your Story Starts on Your YouTube One Channel Home Page
Try to think of your YouTube channel as a complete package. Because it stands to reason that anyone who wants to learn more about you, will more than likely visit your One Channel page – especially if they are watching your vides on their desktop computers or tablets.
Back in August of last year I encouraged you to work on your One Channel Design by sharing some examples of inspiring cover art from other successful YouTubers like Marie Forleo and Marquis Brownlee. Question – did you take action yet? Did you invest 15 – 20 minutes or less to put up a YouTube cover image?
Here's an analogy for you. Would you pick up a book in a bookstore that didn't have a cover on it? Of course not. You might even think to yourself that the publisher didn't even care enough to engage you with a book cover therefore the book probably isn't worth your time.
Do yourself a favor and take the time to create some cover art for your One Channel design. There are lots of tutorials out there for using free software like PicMonkey, Canva, Paint.net, etc. Keep it simple if you want – but by just keeping the generic YouTube cover art you send a message to your viewers. It says you don't really care nor do you have the time to engage with them. And I'm sure that is not the story you want to tell about your brand.
Customize your YouTube URL and upload a trailer video as well. At the very least pick one video that shows your personality or represents you in some way and let's people know what kind of videos they can expect to find on your YouTube brand channel.
Fill up the rest of your One Channel page with playlists featuring your best content. Use gorgeous, eye-catching video thumbnails that add visual interest and seem to scream “click me”. Test different layouts and rotate the different sections to keep things fresh.
Google+ Provides the Underlying Theme or Back Story
I know, I know, plenty of YouTubers still have a sour taste in their mouth when it comes to the fact that Google forced them to have Google+ accounts. Don't fall into this mold. If you really want your YouTube channel to be the best it can be, you can't ignore the strong connection between YouTube and Google+. Embracing your Google+ presence can only help you tell your story and forge deeper connections with your fans. It's what separates the “men from the boys” so to speak. Here a few of the reasons Google+ has become the “spine” of your YouTube Channel, you'll need an account if you want to:
- Start or maintain a YouTube Channel
- Send messages and notifications to your subscribers
- Manage multiple YouTube channels
- Associate your website to your channel
- Link from your videos to your website
- Record a live Hangout
- Reinforce your branding
- Click here to learn more
Keep in mind that a link to your Google+ account (Page or Profile) will appear on you YouTube Channel header. The last thing you want someone to do is click on that link and find an “unfinished” profile.
Find Out If Your Strategy is Working
Did you know you can install Google Analytics on your YouTube Channel yet? Set-up is pretty quick and it will give you insights on the performance of the One Channel Page. Take a look at YouTube Analytics for all the super geeky details about how long people watch your videos and which one's are more popular than others. Check to see what devices your videos are predominately being watched on, don't take this for granted. For example, you might be surprised to see that almost 80% of the views on my channel are happening on computers – not mobile devices.
But when you think about it, this makes sense because most of my videos are tutorials where I'm showing people how-to do something on their computers (with the lone exception of my Otterbox video). It's important for us to have this type of information so that we can put together a strategy. By checking your analytics, you'll know if people are closing your annotations or if they are clicking them. If most of your viewers are already subscribers or if they are watching on mobile, don't expect people to click your Call to Action annotations – in fact, you might want to get rid of them altogether.
There's another site you can use to get a quick overview of how your channel is doing. I shared this site with you guys in the past, but now they even have a mobile app so you have no excuse not to download it. Check out SocialBlade and take a look at the grade they give your channel. Here's mine (not bad – I got a B but I need to work on getting an A).
The Story Continues With Each Video
As you're creating the actual content for your videos, don't forget to keep the story going. There might be thousands of YouTubers sharing the same message as you, but what makes your videos unique is you. Share your experiences, or why you recommend a specific tip or why you're even making the video in the first place. Don't get carried away and go on and on about yourself, but let your audience know that you're making each and every video for THEM. If you have more that 20 – 25 videos consider NOT giving people a Call to Action every time. Think outside the box and remember that your audience is human and most of them will be smart enough to subscribe to your channel without your blatant demands.
Collaborate with other YouTubers whenever possible so your audience can watch you step out of your comfort zone and make connections with others. Test out different styles of videos too – and remember to just keep going back to those analytics to see how you're doing.
There's another site you can use to track the progress of your individual videos called VidIQ. There's even a Chrome extension that can give you additional insights to what other YouTubers are doing with their channels. Watch this short video I recorded called YouTube Hover Cards and VidIq Stats.
Hey guys I got a couple quick tips for you on YouTube today.
We now have Hover Cards so if someone's looking at one of your videos and they hover over your channel name they will see your YouTube banner and also your description that you have on your YouTube channel so if you don't have your YouTube channel banner art now is the best time to go ahead and get that taken care of so that people will be attracted to your channel and want to subscribe.The other tip I wanted to share with you is about your YouTube stats and also checking the stats of other videos and other channels that you watch. Well VidIQ – they have a Google Chrome Extension now make sure you install that extension and this is what you'll see. Next to a video that you're watching you're going to see statistics such as how many subscribers they have, how many views, you know the Facebook likes… All the stats but also something that's been hidden from us for a while which is the YouTube tags.
So now this is the way to do your research on the SEO that you're doing on any of your videos. You can check out the tags of the popular videos that you're trying to compete with so go ahead and get that extension from Vid IQ just go to vidiQ.com/vision.
I'll talk to you soon.
Peace
Final Thoughts
YouTube and video marketing provide a powerful way for you to reach the masses with your message. It gives you the opportunity to reach out and make a deeper and perhaps more relevant connection with your audience. It's much easier to communicate your message through video than it is through the written word or even audio. I hope you are encouraged to tell your story and connect with your audience. Please share your experience with using video so that we can all learn from each other and stay inspired.
I haven’t been very active on YouTube recently. Last video that I’ve produced was related to fund-raising project for my website and the previous were tutorials. It is in my to-do list, though time is never enough. Probably I should outsource part of my work or hire more workers.
Hi Kaloyan,
Do you have the One Channel art up on your YouTube channel? Did you create the image yourself or will you outsource that also?
Hello Ileane Mam.
As far as I am concerned YouTube is the best way ( Beside SEO ) to get the targeted traffic on your blog and to create a branding. I have published some video and users were happy with my work. it can give you traffic., brand name, popularity and yeah you can also earn well.
I am currently planning to launch a new channel specifically on gadgets review. I am undergoing some processes before actually starting it. You setup the studio and all the aids.
This is surely a great share. It actually encouraging me to do my youtube thing soon. So thank again for that. I would look forward to hear more from you 🙂
Peace
Ashi
Hi Ashi,
Gadget review videos are doing quite well on YouTube so I’m sure you will have success in that area. Good luck with your new channel.
Well
It is a market with tough competition specially the review one. Personally I believe in quality. You there is a example of that. Last year a channel was created named powerdrifft on youtube. They review automobile. Now they are really appreciated by the users. They have grow really fast and people compare there videos with TopGear.
If you see his review video you would be amazed by the filming quality and the script they use in each video. In the YouTube if you are presenting something in a unique way its gonna benefit you so much. So thats the thing I am gonna hold for.
BTW thanks for letting me share my thoughts. Have a great day ahead. 🙂 🙂
Hi friend,
Read your post that was amazing information related to youtube audience.
We’ve planned to work with Videos, and also this tip will definitely help Perhaps I could incorporate that idea into your about page video We are planning about making?
Thanks for posting.
You’re welcome Manoj. Best wishes!
I didn’t try youtube videos yet. 2 reasons which made me refrain from doing youtube based leads, frustrating part of making actual videos and I thought it might not worth that doing.
But now I have been wondered to see you guys are using youtube to drive some consistent traffic to your blog which make things awesome.
I will try my part on youtube from now. Thank Ileane
Deljo, the only way to get better at making YouTube videos is to get started! Practice makes perfect but you have to start somewhere right?
I have always read that leaving links at youtube and uploading videos there actually brings in traffic but I wasn’t sure how to and when but very recently I just did a setup and now coming this post here is a great help. Thanx
Such great content, Ileane!
What, specifically, is SocialBlade looking for when it grades your channel? I heard a few years ago that the number of comments was important. Now, it seems like the total number of minutes viewed for each video is more important.
What are the top 3 or 4 most important considerations to get a high grade?
Hi Joan!
That’s an excellent question. Here’s what I found on the Social Blade FAQ page;
Thanks for stopping by Joan and for sharing the post too!
Hello Ileane Mam.
Youtube is nodoubt one of the best and trusted way to build audience and get targeted traffic to our blog.So I recently joined youtube but later found it’s not so easy to do the job there.We need to work real hard to make a great channel and also get some good targeted audience to our blog.
So I have started following some youtube based blog and just found this blog of your’s.So just wish to say thanks for guiding newbies like me through your awesome articles like this.Keep sharing and guiding peoples.
Hey Ileane,
I’m embarrassed to say that I’ve totally neglected my YouTube channel. I don’t even have a cover photo or a welcome video up. I know as they were making those changes last year I had a LOT going on in my life. I definitely don’t need to ignore it although as we all know they recommend to stick with the platforms that are working for you and focus on those. I’m probably not focusing on YouTube because I’ve ignored it! Duh!
I don’t do a ton of videos although people say they enjoy the ones I do but with the way things are heading for me this year I have a feeling that everything is going to start tying in together so I’m going to bookmark this post and get to work.
Thank you for that royal kick in the butt young lady, I needed it.
Have an awesome week Ileane and thanks again.
~Adrienne
Adrienne,
You do such a great job with video I’m really happy to see that you are starting to get back in the swing of doing them. Now that you are using Canva, it will take no time at all for you to whip up some cover art for your One Channel design. Even if you don’t have an actual trailer video, just use one of your popular videos (preferably a short one) and set it as your trailer. In the description of the video you can explain that this is an example of the type of video people should expect to find on your channel. Actually the Canva video or one of your Twitter videos will do just fine until you get time to do a trailer.
People love your videos because they really get a chance to see your personality. You have a great way of connecting with your writing but once people hear your voice over a YouTube video, when they read one of your blog posts, that can just imagine you reading it to them. Well at least that’s how it is for me anyway. lol
Love you girlfriend!
According to me telling a story and inspiring people through your story are two complete different things. If you can teach people and make people follow your steps by motivating them, medium hardly matters. But yes no doubt this is also important for a better presentation.
Hello; that was a good share. I tried out the social blade link, but it said my rating is tbd which i hope still means to be determined? at least it found my channel and was in general easy to use for this blind blogger and podcaster. I’ve done most everything you suggested except send messages to my subscribers and change the images on my youtube home page. I have even been doing hangouts. I have a couple offers to collaborate but haven’t come up with a good idea for a topic yet. people seem to be willing to help. i noticed a forum on social blade and the mention that you can find people to collaborate with there. have you tried this or do you have any readers who have? thanks for the post and take care, max
Hi Max! Nice of you to stop by and leave a comment.
I only use SocialBlade for the stats. SocialBlade is a network that YouTubers can join that offers an alternative way to make money on YouTube. However, you have to turn your AdSense account over to them, which I’m not interested in doing. I haven’t explored their forum but they do have a dynamite YouTube channel with tons of useful tips and tricks to help improve your channel. I know that you need to have a certain level of subscribers (it used to be 1,000 but I haven’t checked lately) in order to join the network but I’m not sure of the criteria to join the forum. I encourage you to reach out to them on their blog or YouTube channel to see what you can find out.
I think Hangouts are one of the best ways to get started with collaborations so you’re on the right track.
Thanks again Max!
Hi Ileane,
Sure it is important to connect with the targeted audience and for sure without this one may be busy doing zero work. Good thing nowadays we can communicate to anyone across the world. I like the way we are able to upload videos on YouTube and share it with people. It is working for the best in the business world. Love the post. Laura.
You are great Ileane. You are so great on camera. You do a great job on YouTube. If there was a blogging show, then you should be on it as its host. So far have neglected it completely but am serious to start it very soon.
Hi Shalu! Thanks so much for saying that. I never really wanted to get in front of the camera but my friend Lisa Irby encouraged me to do it. Now I still have my bad hair days when I just stick to screencasting. 🙂 Thanks for your comment.
Hi Ms. Ileane!
I’ve been reading a lot about video marketing and it looks like I can’t run away from it any longer, especially if I want my blog to be a success.
Thank you so much for this post full of valuable information. You have definitely given me some great resources.
Before I jump in front of the camera I need to build up my confidence first, lol.
Thank you for putting this together for us! Have a wonderful evening!
Hi Corina,
Just start off with screencasting. My first 80 or so videos were done without me ever getting in front of the camera. Another good way to get started is with Hangouts. That way you have someone else to lean on if you get nervous. Thanks for stopping by Corina and for sharing this one!
Hello Ileane,
Indeed I’ve learned lot of youtube tips from this blog and I guess this post is yet another in that series. Well I’ve already created few youtube channels and I’m implementing all the things which I’m learning day by day.
Thanks for share.
every time I read about video creating and video marketing i get really upset and very sad. I am not good with videos, never created any videos and I think will never do. 🙁
Ileane, this rocks
I am considering doing a little more Youtubing, if I can squeeze it in with the podcast and site reviews. And this info is awesome. So much I had no idea about youtube and now you have put it all in one place for all the benefit. The analytics tip alone is gold
thanks
ashley
Hi
Everytime I visit your blog, I learn something new. And this time about Youtube. Youtube marketing is a great way of earning good amount and you have mentioned some great ways to connect with our readers/customers. Thanks a lot.
You shared a useful article about connecting with audience on youtube . I am graphic artist and recently started blogging and trying to follow these awesome tips
for my new blog. Keep rocking and thanks for sharing such a infromative tips.
Hey Ileane, great update on YouTube best practices. My channel is only a ‘C’ on SocialBlade. I have the VidIQ Chrome add-on installed as well and I try to get the “Great use of tags” popping up when I hover over my tags everytime! Keep up the good work, Ileane.
I really enjoy watching your videos Rob and I make sure to share them when I get a chance.
Another cool site you can check the grade of your YouTube Channel is called Strike Social http://www.strikesocial.com/ The scoring is a little different and you might some additional insights.
Thanks for stopping by Rob!!
Signed up! Got a Strikescore of 185! 🙂
Hi Ileane,
this is my 1st time here. I start promoting my business on youtube and learn something here, thanks.
After reading an article i got inspired to earn money from youtube channel and after that i was confused about the things how to start, what to upload and other basic things.But this article cleared all mo doubts and its like a complete guide.
Thank you IIEANE so sharing this useful information.
Hi,
I read your full blog article. I wanna say that You Tube is the best way to connect the people just like your near and dear ones around the world. By using it the world is seems to be a village. Cause anyone can connect with others within a shortest possible time. I like this blog too!
Hi Ileane, thanks for sharing this information. YouTube is a great way to engage with your audience