Video Marketing 101: 3 Ways to Get More Video Views on YouTube

If you’re just getting started with your vlog or with your video marketing strategy, don’t worry, you’re not alone…and you’re not too late! These three powerful strategies will help elevate your video views (and probably your likes, comments, watch time and subscribers too!)

Growing a YouTube Channel is one of the hardest online businesses to get started with…even harder than starting your blog in my opinion, but it’s completely do-able if you make a commitment.

Before we get started…I want to remind you to do your due diligence.

What does that mean? Well don't take advice from bloggers who are telling you how to grow a YouTube channel when they have 3 videos and 15 views on their own YouTube channel.

Seriously.

Check their channel before you take their advice, because there sure is a lot of bad advice floating around!

If you’re a blogger and you’re just starting to focus on YouTube, this article will help you learn more about how to get started with your video marketing strategy.

Because that's what it is…a strategy.

A consistent strategy that you have to work for.

It's not magic.

Anyone can do it.

YOU can do it.

You just need to follow the proven strategies.

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Ways to Get More Views on Your YouTube Videos

The way the YouTube algorithm works is that the first 24-48 hours of publishing your video are the most critical to establish both views and engagement.

That means that even if you optimize your title, description and tags, if you’re a small channel, your chance to rank in the search results will be amplified tenfold if you can generate some engagement during the first 2 days of when your video is released.

What exactly matters about the Title, Description and Tags?

There is some preliminary work you need to do BEFORE you make your video. Because once you've already made your video, it's too late to take the steps needed to get more video views unless you've done the pre-requisite work.

So lets chat about the pre-requisite work first.

Stop Guessing!

So you think you know what you want to publish a video about? The only way it will be successful for a small YouTube channel is if you REALLY know your competition first.

Put it this way, you cannot compete against a huge channel for the same topic.

Why?

Because you'll never rank for that topic. You've got to be very strategic about your video topic.

I don't aim to compete against a channel that has 100,000 or more subscribers because if I do try to compete with that channel for the same topic, the YouTube algorithm will never favor my channel.

It doesn't matter if my video is 10x better than the larger channel…the first step is to zero in on a topic that is not as competitive.

You CANNOT Guess.

If you think you know what topic you want to make a video about, first ask yourself these 3 questions before you create your video:

1. Which 5 channels come up in the search results when I search for that video topic?
2. What is the size of the channels that come up in the search results?
3. Is there a long-tail keyword phrase that you can rank for that is more specific?

Here's an example:
A topic you might think you want to make a video about: Affiliate Marketing

Is that a bad topic or a good topic? Well if you're a new channel, you will never rank for the keyword “affiliate marketing. Why? Because if you go to YouTube and search Affiliate Marketing, you will see that the keyword phrase “affiliate marketing” is far too competitive, it has over 246,000 searches per month and a 2.00 cost per click rate on Google Adwords. That means it's highly competitive.

Given that keyword is so competitive, what should you do instead? Choose a long-tail keyword such as “affiliate marketing tutorial” which has only 1,600 searches per month. As you'll notice in the search box above, as a small channel, you will be far more likely to gain traction in the search results (ie: the algorithm) if you focus on a long-tail version of that keyword phrase.

See how adding the word “tutorial” at the end makes a significant difference?

Now…did you already make the video? Because if you did not, then what I would recommend is focusing on SAYING that phrase out loud within the first 15 seconds of your video.

That's right.

Say the word you are trying to rank for.

Because YouTube can HEAR you. The algorithm knows what you're saying. So if you want to rank, you have to use the words that you are trying to rank for in the video.

See how important the pre-requisite work is?

Here's what to do (besides just planning it out properly) to get more views (Hint…Tip #3 is the Best Pinterest HACK Ever!):

1. Create a Trailer to Get More Video Views

Creating a trailer is literally only 5 more minutes of work once your regular video is complete. Simply take the first 20 seconds of your YouTube video and turn it into a trailer to share on your other social networks such as Twitter and Facebook. The reason for this is because the algorithms of the other platforms prioritize video, however, not when it's a video that links off the platform.

The algorithms for Twitter, Facebook, and even LinkedIn aim to keep people on their platform, so that means if you post just a link to your YouTube video inside your post on those platforms, it will not get a good reach. That means the algorithm will not show it to many people. The best strategy to optimize for views and clicks to your YouTube video is to upload a shorter “trailer” video natively to the other platforms and then add the link to the actual YouTube video inside the comments. Click here to see an example of a trailer.

The algorithm does not pick up “comment” links, so your native video will now have a better chance at getting in front of more of your audience on Facebook Twitter, or LinkedIn. In addition, the idea of a trailer is to “tease” the full video content and make them want to click to watch more. This method works exceptionally well in the first 24-48 hours of posting your video on YouTube.

2. Join an Engagement Pod to Get More Video Views

I know it sounds odd if you're new to blogging and vlogging, but I'm not talking about searching around aimlessly on Facebook, because if you do that you'll only find the spammy groups. Most of the time, the largest groups are the worst ones of all. I've joined groups of 100 people, 1,000 people, 10,000 people and even 100,000 people and do you know which one are the best? The ones that number between about 100 and 1,000 people.

I do suggest if you are just starting out, you spend some time and join one or more engagement pods to help get your video some lift in the initial 24-48 hours.

What is an engagement pod?

It’s typically a private Facebook Group of like-minded people who are all interested in connecting, sharing, and growing their online business. Groups typically post daily share threads to help you get more views, likes, and comments on your blog or vlog.

Keep in mind, these groups are not your “potential customers” they are other bloggers and vloggers hoping to get reciprocation. In other words, if you like and comment on their video, they will do the same for you.

Not necessarily because they are interested in your topic, but because they want you to comment on their video.

This is huge. I am part of at least 5 different engagement pods, and sometimes I see people who are making videos because they have the expectation that those engaging with it are interested.

They are not.

Keep this clear in your head.

The pod is to help you get lift inside the YouTube algorithm within the first 24 to 48 hours of when you post your video. Do not expect to gain customers from your pod members.

And remember, this only works when you first post your video. If too much time has passed, don't waste your time in a pod.

The more views, likes, and comments you can get, especially in the first day or two, the more the YouTube algorithm will recognize your content as high quality, and the more likely you are to be put in front of an audience that you’re actually aiming for.

It doesn’t necessarily matter if your pod is made up of people in your same niche, the idea is to get views, likes, and comments to show both the algorithm as well as social proof that you are legit and not spam.

When you post a video and you don't immediately drive traffic to it, the algorithm considers it low quality and will not push it into the search results. Then guess what? SOL. (Shit out of luck)

So, who am I and why am I qualified to give out advice about YouTube?

Hi, I’m Kate, it’s nice to meet you! I spent 14 years in corporate and agency marketing, and I am also a Mentor in Sunny Lenarduzzi’s YouTube for Bosses and Authority Accelerator programs.

I help answer questions about starting and growing a YouTube Channel in two private Facebook Groups, serving over 5,000 students. If you haven't purchased one of Sunny's programs, unfortunately you cannot join her private groups, however, you can join jump on board my brand new group for free! Since I've just revamped the group, it is free for now, but I anticipate closing it to member's only once it gets a little larger, so take advantage now while you can!

Btw, my Facebook Group, The Creative Entrepreneurs Society, is obviously focused on strategies for badass girl bosses, but I will answer any and all questions related to online business and YouTube as well in my Private Facebook Group because the more information you're armed with, the better positioned you are to grow your online business on any platform!

What's different about this advice?

After 14 years, I know what works for large corporations, and I know what works for small business owners. I’ve used countless strategies and tools, so I don’t recommend one over another because I’m trying to get paid as an affiliate…I recommend what works for a specific goal. And, I only recommend tools that I personally use and find helpful.

Leverage your engagement pod to get some likes and comments in the first 24-48 hours, this will help give you video a boost organically inside the algorithm.

Once you’ve got some traction from your engagement pod with watches, likes, and comments, then the algorithm takes over and starts putting your video in the sidebar or the search results so that people will see it when they are searching for the topic that your video is about.

Keep in mind this only works if the video is properly optimized for SEO.

3. The Ultimate Pinterest Hack to Leverage Pinterest to Get More Video Views

Create a Pinterest Pin that goes straight to your YouTube video, and pin it to a board with a high virality score. Yes. It's that simple.

What exactly does that mean? Well, you'll need to be using Tailwind to leverage this feature, but for less than a hundred bucks a year, it's one of the Pinterest software tools I use every single day and it's well worth the business investment. Plus, your software tools are deductible as a business expense!

Be sure your pin description is also optimized with long tail keyword phrases that accurately describe what the pin (and video) is about, and then add the YouTube URL directly to the pin URL.

The key to making this strategy effective is that you have to also have an active Pinterest account. If you don't use Pinterest in the right way, well, it's not going to gain any traction to your video either.

Circulate that video pin on Tailwind and on your Group Boards. Since both YouTube as well as Pinterest are search engines, the pin will keep delivering traffic directly to the video.

Not sure what I mean by Pin optimization and virality score? These are more advanced Pinterest Marketing Techniques.

If you're interested in learning more about how to use Pinterest effectively to grow your website traffic (and your YouTube video traffic!) be sure to check out my online course where you can dive SUPER DEEP into some of the concepts and strategies that I presented in this blog post. Learn more about here: The Pinterest Business Plan. This course is ideal for Virtual Assistants and Social Media Manages looking to up their Pinterest game!

By the way…if you're getting some value from this blog post, I would love to ask for a favor…would you subscribe to my YouTube channel? It's a great FREE way to support a small business blogger, and it costs nothing more than a moment of your time! Thank you so much my friend! If you want me to “like” your channel back, leave me a comment on any of my videos with a link to your channel and I'll hit you back with a Subscribe.

Okay, now where were we?

Still have questions about Pinterest (or YouTube?). Join my FREE Facebook Group, The Society of Creative Entrepreneurs. It's actually not just about Pinterest Marketing or YouTube Marketing, it's a place where you can ask questions about all things online marketing (including video!) and connect with other bloggers, social media influencers, and online entrepreneurs.