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Video Marketing, Video Strategy

How to Get More Views on YouTube

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.

Disclaimer: This blog post may contain affiliate partner links which allow readers to easily find and access the resources mentioned. There is no additional cost to you to use these links. For our full privacy policy, terms, and conditions of using this website click here.

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.

Affiliate Marketing Example Gif

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.

get more website traffic

Pinterest YouTube Hack
YouTube Tips for More Views
Pinterest Hacks
August 31, 2019/by Kate Murray
Online Marketing, Video Strategy

Video: How to Actually Get Started

Are you a small business owner who is thinking about incorporating a video strategy into your online marketing?

If you’ve been considering creating a video strategy to promote your blog or business, there is no better time than now to start planning. Lets be real though…it’s not the easiest medium to master. This article will give you some golden nuggets so you can get started in the quickest and most efficient way.

Preliminary Work: Get Clear About the Focus of Your Video Strategy

I know what you’re thinking…I’ve already got a focus. I thought the same. I had already brainstormed more than 30 topics, but it takes a lot more effort than that to nail it. Before you get started, I recommend taking some time to answer the following questions:

  1. What sets your blog or business apart from others? Write down a few things that make you different. You’ll need this in the introductory section of your video, but zero in and be able to articulate what you do in just 5-10 seconds. No really….I’m not kidding. This seems obvio but you’ve got to be able to state with confidence exactly what you do in 5-10 seconds flat. Great video is not just a screen capture, in order to nail it, you’ve got to pretend like you’re a news anchor.
  2. Who do you serve? This question is vital to understand who your audience and your target market is. Here are a few tidbits to get you started thinking clearly: How old is your ideal customer? What do they do for a living? What are their hobbies? What brought them to your blog? How can you help them? The truth is, producing engaging content for your blog or video strategy is not about figuring out who is reading it or watching it…it’s more about deciding who you want to be your target, and then producing content for them.
  3. Who are your competitors? Before you launch your blog into a business, and your business into a video strategy, it’s imperative that you know exactly who you are competing with. Give me a name and URL, not just a broad “I’m competing with people who blog about making money online.” This is not going to be about looking at what others are doing in comparison to you, it’s about looking at what they are doing that is working well and how you can capitalize on that knowledge.

Once you get through the initial stages, planning a collaboration with your competitors is ideal, but not at the very beginning. When you focus on relationships and building each other up instead of competing, you both win! There is more than enough space online for everyone, so don’t feel that your nîche is too saturated. There will always be room for your own personal expertise, and your personality with inevitably resonate with someone better than a competitors.

After you’ve done some soul searching with these questions above and conducted some hard core research and competitive analysis, you’re ready to get started with the actual video production strategy. Keep in mind, though, you will not reach your goals if you spend too much time checking in on what everyone else is doing and trying to replicate it. Instead, do your research, decide what works for you, and then create
your own plan.

The Methodology: A Video Strategy that Works

There are 4 parts to this video strategy. Although they may seem somewhat obvious at first glance, don’t get all rockstar on me…pay close attention, because there are some critically important factors that you’ll need to understand completely that accompany each part:

1. Research the Video Topic Thoroughly
2. Scripting, Recording, Editing
3. Publishing and Optimization
4. Engagement & Sharing

Research

Lets dive into research first. Yes, you’ve got to do some competitive analysis (i.e.: take note of what is working for your competitors) to see what others in your nîche are talking about, but you’ve also got to understand how to do proper keyword research so that you’re choosing the topics and keywords that will actually benefit your ranking ability based on the size of your blog (or the size of your YouTube channel).

By the way, I would love it if you’d Subscribe to my YouTube Channel…I post a new video each week, and if you love learning about tips for bloggers and small business owners, you’ll enjoy my channel!

One of my biggest pet-peeves I have is the nîche blogger who decides to tackle an unrelated topic when they don’t really understand it. This is what promotes the stereotype whereby most digital agencies and corporate online marketers don’t take bloggers seriously. (I can attest to this first hand, as I spent 14 years of my career working in corporate and agency marketing before starting my own blog in 2006).

I admit, I used to be guilty of stereotyping bloggers…there was a time when I thought bloggers didn’t know what the heck they were talking about. Not ironically, it was because most of those writers (and some vlogers too) went off track for the low-hanging fruit. What do I mean by that?

When you have a nîche blog about a topic that you have an expertise in, such as a finance blogger, and then you suddenly gain some perspective on SEO so you decide that you’re qualified to write a blog post about it, that is going off track. So when that happens, here’s what the rest of us are left with…instead of actually getting some good advice by reading the blog post with a catchy headline about SEO, you get one or two regurgitated tips that are not helpful because my goodness you’ve already updated your alt-tags and meta-data descriptions with keywords and you’re still not ranking in the search results.

…So you and me…we spend hours reading blog posts that offer nothing new on the topic we’re researching. We fall victim to clicking on those catchy headlines, yet we’re lucky if we come across a blogger who actually knows what Schema means.

Just like Mr. Finance Blogger spent 15 years working in finance before starting his blog, keep in mind that a truly qualified digital marketer likely spent 15 years performing and implementing SEO research on hundreds of websites, and might even remember what life was like before Penguin. Ok this rant is over.

If you are curious about what the pros say, read this to learn about SEO and the proper way to update your markup.

The moral of this story is stay in your nîche. When you really focus and stay on point, with your writing and your video, you will grow your audience and thus your revenue much faster. When you chase low-hanging fruit and deviate from your expertise, thinking that it’s working for others so you might as well give it a try, then you’re just fooling yourself. Stay in your lane, capisci?

Here’s a quick example of how to do keyword research (the right way!)

Lets say you are writing a blog (or producing a video) about how to do affiliate marketing. Let’s assume your email list has less than 1,000 subscribers and your following on social media is around 100 to 500 per channel. You already know that using a free Chrome browser extension, keywordseverywhere.com will allow you to look up the keyword phrase “make money online” which returns a result of 201,000 results per month (as of the date this blog is being published). Do you think that seems like a good keyword phrase to use in your meta-data?

Search Results

I mean heck, TWO HUNDRED THOUSAND people are searching for that phrase every single month, it must be good, right?

The answer is a resounding “NO!” You will never rank for that keyword with the stats above. No matter how many times you type the words “make money online” into your meta-data, your foundation does not support enough of the other ranking factors to get you on the first page of Google. In fact the first organic search result is for Entrepreneur magazine. Is that magazine one of your competitors that you identified above? Not likely. In order to get the strategy right, you’ll first need to clearly understand how to conduct keyword research the right way.

PRO TIP: How to get Keyword Research Right

To rank a small blog or small channel, you need to focus on long tail phrases that offer a search volume of less than 100 per month. Here’s an example long tail phrase that is more focused on one are: how to make money online using your phone

There is much less competition for this phrase (the volume is only 40 per month) because it is much more targeted.

How can you zero in and get crystal clear about your topic to make the search volume much less? Start with the keywords everywhere free browser extension.

If you would like a more advanced technique to do both competitive analysis as well as research video specific topics, I highly recommend both SEMRush (a tool used by digital agencies to perform SEO services for their clients) or TubeBuddy (less expensive option). Click here to start a free trial of TubeBuddy today!

Scripting, Recording, and Editing Video

So it’s not like you’re going to just sit in front of the camera and start talking about your topic! If you did that, you’d have a completely failed video strategy, kind of like I did back in January. I literally sketched out 30 topics and planned a rough outline of what I was going to talk about. My thought was that I did not want to read from a teleprompter because I wouldn’t look natural and relaxed. Well, I muddled through it, but I can tell you it was not effective in building my business one iota. I was about to give up, but instead I invested a substantial sum of money and hired a very specific, niche, video mentor.

I was determined to get it right. I learned that there is a specific script formula that needs to be followed in order to get it right. The short description is “Hook, Story, Offer” but unless you’re a superstar sales person, that might not make complete sense. (By get it right I mean monetize….in other words, grow your subscriber base and your revenue with an evergreen lead magnet that plays off the video).

Want to watch a webinar on the “hook, story, offer” strategy? Click here. (You can schedule a time to watch it, doesn’t have to be right this moment).

Once you’ve got your script written, there are some tools you’ll need to deliver it well. I started out by stacking my laptop on some books and recording myself in front of a white wall. I still do this because I think it’s less distracting for viewers than having a messy office behind you.

Here is a list of some of my favorite tools and resources that I use personally. (Please note: I do not recommend products that I do not personally use, so if you have any questions at all, please don’t hesitate to ask me.)

Editing Software (for Mac): Screenflow
Webinar Software (if you are seeking an all-in-one solution for a lead magnet): Webinarjam
Landing Page Builder with ECommerce Functionality Built in: Clickfunnels

Cameras:
Canon Powershot Elph – from $150
Logitech HD Pro Webcam – from $200
Canon 70D – From $650
GoPro Hero 3 – from $115

Microphones:
Rode Lav Mic
Rode VMGO Video Mic
Boya By-Mic

Tripods:
Livestream Gear
Ravelli

Lighting:
Lumee Light Case for iPhones
Cowboy Studio
Diva Light
Fancierstudio

Publishing and Optimization

On to the third step. Publishing is not as simple as clicking Publish…at least not if you’re going to do it right! It’s important to pay close attention to the tags you use in your videos. One way you can begin is to research the tags that your competitors are using, (again, use TubeBuddy because that will highlight exactly which tags you can rank for). You can also enter those tags into a Google search bar to find out the search volume. Using Google’s Keyword Planner is another way to give you an idea of long tail phrases and search volume. As you prepare to publish your video, you’ll pay close attention to the title, description, and tags. These should be repetitive, and since voice recognition is increasingly important, you should also repeat these key words and phrases in your actual video script.

PRO TIP: Meta-Data is much more than just Title and Description

Other places you can incorporate these tags are within the subtitles, the featured image meta-data, and by using hashtags. Adding hashtags anywhere inside the description box will allow your hashtags to show up right under your title.

Want to learn exactly where to add your meta-data for video SEO? Watch this video.

Tip: If you don’t know how to lookup the Source Code to find Keywords inside your competitors videos, you can use TubeBuddy to do it more easily and efficiently.

Engagement & Sharing

Lastly, the methodology of sharing should be done in a strategic way so that you can get as many eyes on your video as possible when it goes public. The first 24 tho 48 hours of publishing a video is the most important, because that indicates to the YouTube algorithm that people are genuinely interested in your video and it allows your video to rank in the search results. Assuming you’ve followed the protocol with tags, descriptions and optimization, this will help your video get as many eyes on it as possible.

Plan to send an email to your list encouraging them to watch your video. Also post or schedule on your other social channels such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram to drive even more views to your video.

PRO TIP

Create multiple Pins for your video as well, as Pinterest is a great way to drive traffic to your videos. Did you know that Pinterest now attracts 150 million people per month? If you’d like some additional tips on using Pinterest to drive massive amounts of traffic (to your blog or your videos) check out my Free Pinterest Business Plan Checklist.

Boost your Engagement!

By the way…if you’re interested in boosting engagement for your own blog or video, I provide share opportunities for all nîches inside my private Facebook Community, the Digital Collective, where we come together for the purpose of connecting and sharing, and growing each other’s social media and blogs! I currently post share threads every Friday (since the group is still small) but we are growing…and as the group grows I will move the threads to more often with a goal of once a day! Click here to join!

Join Today! The Digital Collective of Women Entrepreneurs

Have you tried video yet in your marketing strategy? Let me know in the comments below!

Disclaimer: This blog may contain affiliate partner links which allow readers to easily find the resources mentioned and support this blog at no cost to you. While we may earn minimal sums if a reader clicks, you are in no way obligated to use these links. Thank you for your support!
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