Before we get into the whole “how people get YouTube subscribers so fast” thing, here’s a fact for you- YouTube users watch 1 billion hours of videos every day on the platform- equivalent to 8.4 minutes per day per human.
Baffled? I guess you are not. We know how popular this video marketing platform is, after all, who does not watch YouTube?
Are you an aspiring YouTuber? Do you envy those beauty gurus and viners with millions of subs? (I mean, everyone is pretty much jealous of them). So why not get a cheat sheet of all the tried and tested strategies that actually work? In this blog, I’ll share with you a few tips and tricks that you would need in increasing your subscribers count.
Without further ado, here are 13 hacks that will skyrocket your YouTube channel and get you hundreds of subscribers in no time:
1. Draft A Catchy Channel Theme
A lot of YouTubers start uploading videos without having any context of what they actually want to do with it. They might upload a random gaming video on one day, a vlog on another day. The audience gets confused and, as a result, doesn’t even care to subscribe.
Okay, let me frame it this way. You need to provide a reason for the viewers to stick with your channel. They watch your video, like it, visit your channel to understand the genre of content you deliver. And if they are not clear about what they do, they might not be able to make up their mind and will choose not to subscribe.
Everything in your channel should point towards your very purpose. For instance, the viewers of the YouTube channel The King Of Random know that they will watch engaging and informative science experiments.
They have a distinctive banner, with their logo and the channel’s purpose, their thumbnails have a still from their experiment, and their video titles yell about their channel’s genre. Plus, they have their logo on the top right of their thumbnails.
2. Clean up Your Channel
Before we get into any of the good stuff, we need to do some housekeeping. While you might think everything is going flawlessly, your audience might not think so. Okay, I know this might sound a bit offensive. But you have to accept that when you are new to the YouTube community, you are not a known face. The viewers are going to identify you based on your channel’s vibes.
Take a hard look into your channel and evaluate your videos with a critical point of view. Identify the videos that need to be deleted or kept in private- outdated videos, poorly produced ones, or even a flop video that you should have never posted in the first place.
If you have some content of this nature tied to your brand, it is going to drive your visitors away. Delete them, and never look back!
Here we have YouTube For Beginners: How To Start A YouTube Channel?
3. Execute a Top-notch Trailer
Once you decide and draft your channel theme, and delete every video that does not fit in. The next step is to attract your subscribers with the help of a captivating trailer.
A channel trailer is a short video describing what your channel does, that you can upload for the new visitors.
A lot of content creators skip this step, which is not really wise. YouTube auto-plays a channel’s trailer for the users who have not clicked the subscribe button yet. And trust me when I say that it’s really influential when a visitor watches some cool intro of your channel.
Even an immensely popular channel, Alter, created a channel trailer, spooky enough to let its viewers know that they create horror short stories.
4. Deliver High-quality Content
I mean, I know this point is so obvious, you won’t really consider it a hack. But can you define what high-quality content is? YouTube is full of clutter, and you cannot just get away by posting sub-par content. You have to stand out with some really great content.
The key to drafting a good video is more than just high-resolution cameras and a great background. You need to check if you meet the below-mentioned criteria:
Script in Advance
You might be a skilled orator, and you might not be camera shy, and you might think you can wing it in front of the camera. Well, you can- but you shouldn’t. You need to plan and draft a script, read, re-read, and then rewrite it. All this will improve the tone of your script, and your users will be glued to your video- increasing your content watch time.
The Right Setup
What constitutes the right setup? Is it expensive? Absolutely, no. All you need is a mobile with a good quality camera, a simple, well-lit background, a tripod, and a microphone. You might need a few other things, but they are quite affordable as well, to be very honest.
Be You. Do Not Fabricate
It’s very natural for a lot of us to turn into a very different personality in front of the camera. But it is not at all cool to pretend to do so just to get YouTube subscribers. Fabricated content might work for some while, but the audience is smart enough to spot it when they observe the lack of genuineness developed over time. YouTubers like Logan Paul have lost a lot of subscribers this way.
Make First 10 Secs The Most Memorable
About 20% of your audience drops off in the first 10 seconds of clicking on a video. One must NEVER start their YouTube videos with a bland introduction. The users get bored or annoyed this way. You can insert a catchy or funny section from the middle of the video and then introduce your channel. Trust me. It works better this way.
Evolve. Do Not Be Repetitive
One of the most prominent reasons why we all start losing interest in our favorite channels is the lack of uniqueness and repeated content format. One has to evolve and adapt according to the changing trends without losing their own creative touch.
5. Understand and Implement YouTube SEO
Imagine you create the best video that can get YouTube subscribers in no time. How do you ensure that the video reaches thousands of potential viewers out there?
You need to optimize your content according to the audience’s search. Search engine optimization or SEO is the process of ensuring that your content ranks higher than that of your competitors’ videos. Here are some checkpoints that indicate your YouTube SEO:
Use Keywords in the Titles:
Try to frame your titles with the most popular keywords. Various online tools like ahrefs, TubeBuddy, etc. allow you to search for the keywords along with information regarding search volume, searches per month, difficulty, competition. Also, keep your titles short. It fits better when appearing in suggested videos.
Optimize Video Descriptions:
Do not restrict the use of keywords in the title only. Use them in the descriptions as well. But don’t just stuff keywords, make them engaging and readable. A cleverly drafted description talking about what’s in the video is an excellent way of reaching out to the potential crowd.
Insert Meta Tags:
Another way of getting keywords into the video is by using meta tags. Search for some popular videos in your niche and use the ones that you find the most relevant to your video. Do not overdo or stuff it. Focus only on the most significant ones.
Post More Often:
The more often you post, the more regular YouTube considers you. So there are more chances of your videos appearing in the recommended section. Bring consistency and regularity with your videos. Even some of the most popular content creators diminish their audience reach when they reduce their frequency of posting.
Increase Social Signals:
Apart from posting videos regularly, you must also engage with YouTube creators and audiences to make your channel look more ALIVE and not spammy. Be active. Like, comment, subscribe, unsubscribe, etc. Tools like Socinator let you automate your YouTube actions and keep the social signals alive.
Here’s How To Auto Like Comment On YouTube Using Socinator
Add Transcript to your Videos:
YouTube automatically transcribes a majority of the uploaded videos to use them as subtitles. But a majority of the time, they misinterpret a lot of words. You can use any speech recognition technology to transcribe the content and edit it. It becomes easier to insert the keywords this way. And as we all know, keywords are crucial in reaching out to the users searching for similar content.
6. Custom Thumbnails are more Catchy
Your video thumbnail is essentially the cover for your video, just like a cover for any book, and it needs to be absolutely beyond engaging. There’s a reason why the click baits are so popular- it’s because they actually attract visitors.
Customize your thumbnails with real pics from the video, and not with some vague photoshop. We know photoshops won’t work- take the example of 5-Minutes Craft videos. On the other hand, you get some extremely enticing thumbnails from creators like Grandpa Kitchen, Simply Nailogical, etc.
You can also use pictures from the internet, if not from the video itself- you just need to make sure the expressions don’t look fake. Also, using a person’s pic looking directly into the user’s eyes grabs more attention, and improves your CTR.
BTW, here are 05 Tips To Create A Killer YouTube Clickbait
7. Create Binge-Worthy Playlists
Let’s assume someone watched a video out of the 56 other videos on your channel. This video talks about debunking hacks. The viewer might believe that you have more debunking videos and search for it on your channel. They get a playlist of all the debunking videos and start binge-watching them.
Now let us assume that this was a new visitor on your channel. Don’t you think, after watching so many videos, the person will not subscribe? Of course, they will.
Also, let’s look at it this way- YouTube recommends more videos from the playlist in the suggestions rather than any other random video. Some of the most loved channels on YouTube, like Tasty and OK Tested, use this strategy to categorize their content.
This way, the viewer drowns into the pool of similar content from the same channel, and ultimately subscribes to it, even if they are interested in that particular playlist only. Clever!
8. Be Interactive with your Audience
Hear me out- you need to reply to EVERY comment possible unless you have thousands of subscribers. (Because you cannot reply to thousands of comments at once). There’s nothing wrong with being humble.
When you keep your audience engaged with you, they become more loyal to your brand. A lot of people unsubscribe from a channel if there’s no two-way communication.
Apart from liking and replying to the comments, ask your audience to follow you on social media. Put up stories, ask questions, hold giveaways, contests, etc. Organize QnA videos, make your own subreddit, and ask your audience to share memes over there.
There are so many ways to keep your YouTube family engaged and make them feel like they belong to a community with mutual interests. You not only get YouTube subscribers this way, but you also ensure that they never unsubscribe.
9. Use Enticing CTAs
You need to know this- enticing call-to-action buttons are a prerequisite to all successful online marketers. A call-to-action, or a CTA, is an image or a text that prompts a viewer to take action. It can be your channel’s icon or a video suggestion.
I know the idea of inserting CTAs in a YouTube video might sound a bit complicated and technical. But trust me, it isn’t such a mess as you think it is. YouTube allows creators to add end screens and cards in their posted videos. Here’s how both of them work:
End Screen: An end screen is just what you assume it to be- a screen where a CTA appears at the very end of your video. You can encourage your videos to click to click on a video, subscribe, promote a different channel, or even promote a website using the end screen cards.
There are various types of end screens, and you can appear during the last 5-20 seconds of your video.
Cards: Cards are a way to make your videos more interactive for the viewers. This way, you can point viewers towards a specific playlist, channel, a poll, etc. Here’s how cards look like.
Bonus Tip: Track YouTube Analytics
Your YouTube analytics talk a hell lot about your channel. Why not take advantage of it to know what works and what doesn’t?
You can analyze how did you get YouTube subscribers for the first time, the sources of getting the audience, etc. In the Subscribers Reports, you get to know from where and when did you get your subscribers, for instance:
Your Channel: The subscriptions from random visitors subscribing to your channel.
YouTube Search: Subscriptions from the users who found your channel in their search results or queries.
Interactive Features: Subscriptions by clicking on end-screens, cards, watermarks, etc.
Other Channels: The subscribers gained via other creators who featured or linked your channel in their channel.
External Sources: Subscribers gained from websites other than YouTube, such as a blog, social media profile, chatting apps, etc.
By analyzing these sources, you can assess which sources got you more viewers who subscribed to your channel. And create more videos catered to it.
Also Read,
YouTube Marketing: 11 Tips To Promote Your YouTube Channel
Youtube automation, is it possible?
11 Reasons Why Mobile Advertising is Better than Internet Advertising
9 Easy Ways To Increase YouTube Subscribers
There You Go!
While gaining thousands of subscribers on a new channel is next to impossible, you can definitely try to leverage your channel and get YouTube subscribers faster than you would have thought. In this blog, I have included some of the main things you have to keep in mind when running a channel on one of the most popular platforms in the world.
Do you have any doubt? Want to add something? Don’t forget to let me know in the comments below. I would LOVE to hear from you!
