How to Grow Your YouTube Channel in 2022: 20 Tips and Ideas

How to grow your YouTube channel

Whether you want to create awareness, raise money or simply produce content, YouTube is a great platform for it. It’s one that can be used by a variety of creators from different industries, and in so many ways. It’s even often referred to as the second-largest search engine in the world!

Of course, when it comes to growing your YouTube Channel, it isn’t all about good quality content alone. From keywords to links, music for YouTube to sponsorships, great branding, competitions, subscriptions, and more, there are numerous ways to grow your channel, some of which we have delved into more detail about below…

Here Are 20 Tips to Grow Your YouTube Channel in 2022

Learning more about the inner workings of YouTube is a great way to begin to grow your YouTube channel.

When it comes to growing your YouTube audience in 2022, there are a number of handy tips and tricks you should follow…

1. Create high-quality videos based on a single keyword or topic

If you wish to grow your channel’s viewer numbers, it’s best to find yourself a niche and focus on it. It’s wise to choose a single topic or keyword that you’ll want to focus your content and YouTube videos around, as this will allow your channel to show up better when potential viewers search for your topic.

YouTube keywords for SEO

One top tip is to focus on the topics that users are most frequently searching for on YouTube search and Google. You can use a keyword tool to assist you with this. There are numerous keyword tools available online, all of which will help you to enhance your YouTube channel. Check out our guide to keyword tools and research to get more info on this!

2. Repurpose high-performing content that already exists

Spent hours and hours making your latest video? It would be a shame if you put all that effort in, just to upload it once to your YouTube channel. Repurposing content means that you take existing content and reuse it either at a later date or for a different video or social media platform. For example, when you post your latest YouTube video, create a portrait cut-down version too and upload this to YouTube Shorts, TikTok and Instagram Reels. Create a teaser version to post on Instagram and reuse your thumbnail as an image when you share the video on Facebook and Twitter.

There are numerous ways to reuse and repurpose content, which will ensure a full content calendar, resulting in happy subscribers.

One way to make your video feels like a completely new one is by adding new music to the videos. There’s plenty of music for your YouTube videos available and you can even use mainstream music now (!!) so if you want to add Sia to your content, go ahead. It’ll breathe new life into your video.

3. Engage with your audience

You should also interact with your audience and make friends to build a community. This is hugely important and necessary if you wish to grow your YouTube channel. To ensure you’re engaging effectively, it is important to learn more about the habits and styles of your target audience. You can then tailor your YouTube video content and video titles according to this.

Those who feel that they have a personal connection with you are much more likely to keep watching your exciting content. The easiest and most effective way to do this is to respond to comments. This will help to turn viewers into not only subscribers but loyal viewers. As well as creating a relationship, engaging with your users will allow you to embrace new ideas, many of which will be suggested by them – and all for free! 

Now, not all comments are nice, but try not to let it get to you and if you respond to something negative, always try to turn it into a positive. For example, if someone says they hate your background, simply tell them thank you for the feedback and that you hope it didn’t distract them from enjoying the rest of the video.

4. Improve your branding

Your YouTube channel should boast a well-defined style and tone. It’s key that your imagery, graphics, lighting, and hues are consistent.

How to create a successful YouTube channel

A channel that showcases a well-designed aesthetic ensures users can identify your brand through thumbnails, videos, and phrasing – even when they’re not on your page.

This method works to showcase your brand to viewers, which ensures they know what your brand is about and who you are, as well as what they should expect from your YouTube channel going forward.

This is especially the case if you use custom thumbnails and tap into YouTube marketing and YouTube metrics.

5. Promote your video content on your other social channels

One way to generate traffic is to promote your own videos via other social media channels, such as Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. Those who use these social channels more frequently than YouTube will still see the link to your content and can click directly through to it.

This promotion can be done organically and via paid ads or boosted posts, as well as via video marketing and YouTube Suggest – all of which will help you to increase your channel’s watch time.

Don’t forget to use the keywords you identified from tip 1!

6. Collaborate with other content creators and team up with brands

how to grow your YouTube channel with collaborations

Increase your following and promote your YouTube by collaborating with like-minded creators. Doing so will enable you to increase brand awareness by sharing your brand message engagingly and authentically.

Those who follow one creator avidly and respect their opinion will likely subscribe to your YouTube channel too when recommended to do so.

7. Use YouTube cards and post great thumbnails

Thumbnails are a great way to entice potential viewers to click on your videos, which means they need to be aesthetically pleasing and compel users to click through. Most viewers look at the thumbnail before or instead of reading the title.

With this in mind, you need to think about your target market and aim your creative content at those you wish to attract. A few tips for creating the perfect thumbnails include:

  • Creating a thumbnail that is relevant to the content it contains. So focus on showing something intriguing from your video, but avoid using Clickbait thumbnails.
  • Keep thumbnails consistent in both format and style – this will make you more recognizable as a brand.
  • Make thumbnail text clear, concise, and bold enough to read in a matter of seconds.

Here are some more tips from pro YouTube creator Stream Scheme:

Don’t forget that creating content, and in this case thumbnails, is a constant learning process! Try out new things and use analytics to see how your audience reacts. When your click-through rate increases, you know you’re on the right track; so keep using those same techniques and make further tweaks to improve from there. 

8. Encourage viewers to subscribe

Gaining free YouTube subscribers is a great way to boost your organic reach. There are numerous ways to convert viewers into subscribers, some of which we have listed below…

  • Simply ask your viewers to subscribe to your channel page. In certain cases, all your viewers need is a prompt or reminder to subscribe. You don’t need to do anything too crazy, a simple message at the beginning and/or end of your video is enough!
  • Demonstrate why your YouTube channel is a must-have. What value do you bring to the viewer that they should keep wanting to come back for?
  • Always add a subscribe option in the end cards of all your videos. Giving your viewers more places and opportunities to subscribe is never bad! 
  • Finally, and admittedly this one is pretty obvious: create great content. Always hold your content to a certain standard and try to make improvements to your ideas and set up wherever you can.

9. Post videos frequently and consistently

For best results, try to post a minimum of one YouTube video per week. If you can’t achieve that, aim to at least be consistent. For example, try to upload one YouTube video per week for 52 weeks as opposed to 52 videos in one month and no videos throughout the rest of the year.

Calendar showing consistent upload schedule to YouTube

Consistency is what keeps people returning to your channel, and it also establishes a routine. Learn what day and time your audience is online the most by using YouTube analytics. This will ensure you’re posting videos when your audience is most likely to see them.

10. Verify your Google account

Another way to attract viewers to subscribe and promote your YouTube channel is to verify your Google account. Everyone who has a YouTube channel can upload videos, which can span as long as 15 minutes in length. Those who wish to create content that is longer will need to verify a Google account.

Lengthier videos are the key to growing your channel as they allow for longer watch time and different types of content. Long videos may not be the best when you’re just starting out as viewers may not be invested in you enough yet, but once you have a decent following, longer videos will really help you connect more with your audience and even earn more ad revenue.

Verifying your account is easy, simply visit www.youtube.com/verify and follow the step-by-step instructions. This process must be completed on a computer as opposed to a mobile device. Once verified, videos that are 12 hours long or 256GB in size can be uploaded.

11. Create video titles that are catchy and engaging

As well as creating expert YouTube content, it’s important to create titles that are just as catchy as the video itself. To write YouTube titles that really attract your audience, you need to convey what the video is about in an intriguing way. 

Make sure the title is less than 70 characters, and you should include numbers, keywords and power words. Clickbait should also be avoided as users want to watch content they’re expecting from the title.

12. Increase your chances of getting recommended

YouTube recommendations are a selection of videos that YouTube suggests you might want to watch next, shared on both the viewer’s homepage and ‘up next’ section. 

YouTube recommendations algorithm

As a content creator, there are a few different ways to increase the chances of getting your videos recommended. This includes increasing your views and engagement, encouraging viewers to stick around to increase your watch time, as well as building authority on the platform.

Find out more on how to get recommended on YouTube with our guide to the YouTube recommendations algorithm,

13. Determine what your target audience wants

A good way to do this is to sift through comments on videos made by similar creators. You can target users who aren’t happy with the videos available as they may still be looking for answers.

Other ways to determine who your target audience are and what they want is to:

  • Ask your viewers what they really want from your content
  • Do regular polls as community posts
  • Identify industry trends and what other creators in your niche are doing
  • Establish who your target audience isn’t
  • Use YouTube’s analytics to your full advantage

14. Host a competition or a giveaway

A great way to heighten brand awareness is to host a competition or giveaway. Ask viewers to subscribe to your channel to be in with the chance of winning a prize. This can be something related to your brand, an item from a sponsor, or something entirely different.

However, make sure to abide by YouTube’s contest policy, as well as their Privacy Policy, terms of Service, and Community Guidelines.

Please note: avoid encouraging or infringing upon 3rd party copyrights and make sure the giveaway is free to enter. YouTube offers more information on this, as well as content ideas, on their website.

15. Create a video series and encourage viewers to follow

Think of a topic you want to cover that would be too much to discuss in one video and there you have it – your first step to creating a video series. Now follow these tips to make sure your video series becomes a success.

  1. Start a playlist for the series.
  2. Plan out in advance what content will be in the series.
  3. Make sure the end cards for videos in the series link to other videos in the same series.
  4. Add links to the playlist and the next video from the series in the description. 
  5. Collaborate with other creators during the series. This will grab the attention of that creator’s audience and attract them to your video series. 

16. Embed your YouTube videos

If you have a blog or website, that’s a great place to share some of your videos. And the best way to do so is by embedding them. It’ll look like this:

It’s easy to embed YouTube videos providing you follow a few simple steps: 

  1. Using a computer (as opposed to a smartphone), select the YouTube playlist or video you wish to embed.
  2. The next step requires you to Click ‘share’.
  3. Click ‘embed’ from the list of available Share options.
  4. When you do this, a box will appear. From here, you will need to copy the HTML code.
  5. Go to your website and paste the HTML code.

Now you have a playable YouTube video on your blog or website! Psst.. the view count on YouTube increases with views on the embed too. 

17. Create a playlist for YouTube videos

Any user can create a playlist on YouTube, whether that’s to display on your channel or keep private. There are several reasons why you should make YouTube playlists:

  • Videos can be organized by theme, content or audience type.
  • Playlists can be easily shared
  • Playlists engage viewers for longer periods of time, which will help you get recommended.
  • With playlists, viewers can rely on autoplay to guide them through the content they want to see.
  • Playlists are indexed separately on YouTube search results. Audiences will see your entire playlist when searching for that subject, making your content more easily discoverable. Although playlists are less likely to rank than videos or channels.
  • Playlists help to keep episodes of a video series in order and organized. 

18. Use CTAs to increase engagement

You can add a call to action (also known as a CTA) overlay or an information button overlay which allows you to link to other videos throughout the current video. This is a great way to promote your YouTube channel and video offering as it encourages viewers to watch other videos on your channel that are relevant to the one they are currently watching. For more information on creating CTAs to increase engagement, discover YouTube’s guide on adding call-to-action overlays.

19. Try out live streaming

Girl streaming on Twitch

Live streams generate more video views on YouTube and rank higher. Streams also aren’t restricted by time, and any viewer interested in your content can search and view your videos as and when they please.

Increased watch time results in more views and ultimately more subscribers.

20. Invest in a YouTube ad campaign

Investing in a YouTube ad campaign is a way of advertising your content to maximize your user reach. Whether your ad plays before another creator’s video, or shows up first in the YouTube search results, this is a great way of captivating your audience and expanding your digital reach.

You’ll be able to customize the ad to meet your goal and target audience, as well as set a budget to suit you. Ad success can be viewed in YouTube analytics, to enable you to learn more about who is watching your ads. 

There are several options to choose from when it comes to displaying videos on YouTube, these include: 

Non-skippable video ads, display ads, overlay ads, sponsored cards, and midroll ads.

Now you know how to grow your YouTube channel

Growing your YouTube audience is hard work and certainly doesn’t just happen overnight. When the platform is crowded with competition, it is a hard feat to make your videos stand out from the crowd.

mainstream music for YouTube

One way you can easily make your videos stand out from the crowd, without too much extra effort is by upgrading your soundtrack. For too long now, content creators couldn’t use mainstream music without getting a copyright claim and inevitably demonetized (booo!)

It was time for change, so we made mainstream music licenses for content creators possible. Now, you can license tracks from the likes of Charlie Puth, Megan Thee Stallion, Sia, XXXTentacion and many more. Plus, you can now also get stock music! Try it free for 14 days and get 25% off your first mainstream music license! Happy days.

Content and SEO Marketing Manager

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