How to promote YouTube videos

Today, YouTube is one of the most effective channels for business promotion. However, it is not enough to shoot a video and upload it to your channel. You need to work on the design and navigation of your YouTube channel and the promotion of the video. In this article, we will tell you what is video promotion on YouTube.

Video promotion strategy

You need to develop a promotion strategy and make a publication plan if you want to attract new subscribers and keep existing ones. The right promotion strategy is the first step towards millions of views and sales through YouTube. So, the promotion strategy:

1. Decide why you need a channel.
2. Formulate what makes it unique.
3. Identify your target audience and segment it.
4. Design the channel and think over playlists and headings.
5. Make a content plan and publication schedule.
6. Think about your advertising campaign strategy.
7. Choose ways to promote for free on YouTube.

The main requirement for YouTube videos is quality. The point is not in the technique for shooting and an expensive professional camera, but the content of the video. That is why videos shot on the phone in 5 minutes often come out on top — they are interesting or useful for subscribers.

There are video formats that are always in demand and can be the basis for building a promotion strategy:

• manuals and instructions;
• reviews;
• interview;
• storytelling; 
• entertainment content.

Use these formats in your promotion strategy to promote videos on YouTube. To always remain entertaining and not lose the audience, it is important to publish content regularly. You should alternate formats if your promotion strategy requires, and notify subscribers of the release date of the following video. When creating a content plan, leave free space in the publication schedule for situational videos, for example, on the occasion of an event in the company or industry.

Video optimization

Like any content for promotion, videos need optimization. Google singles out YouTube among other sites and ranks videos from there in the results of organic distribution. Therefore, it is worth optimizing the video to meet the requirements of the search engine. To do this, use the same methods as in SEO — creating a semantic core, collecting and using key phrases, filling in tags, and more.

Semantic core

If the semantic core in SEO is a set of keywords and phrases that describe the service and is built around the primary keyword phrase, then promoting a video on YouTube works a little differently. The specialist builds a semantic core around the theme of the video, which becomes the basis of this core. Queries are collected using Google Keywords Planner, Semrush, and other services.

Title and description

These are the first steps in promoting a video on YouTube. Come up with a title that contains a keyword phrase. We encourage you to use questions and calls for action because they are more eye-catching. In the video description, briefly write what your video is about, using the main keywords in the first paragraph. Also, add links to the channel, other playlists, social networks, sites, etc.

Tags

YouTube tags work similarly to keywords in SEO texts. Users use them to find the content they need. We recommend choosing phrases with low competition and high search volume, and the most important tags to be the first. This way, it will be easier to promote videos on YouTube. You can add up to 15 tags in total.

Call to action

Be sure to include a call to action at the end of the video. You can do this with screensavers that invite viewers to subscribe to the channel and view other offers or other playlists. 

These are the key points that will help you promote your video on YouTube. We also recommend using tips related to what the video is about, if necessary, time codes if you are shooting long videos, and subtitles. 

Free methods to promote videos on YouTube

Video optimization — the use of tags, keywords, and calls to action — is one of the free methods of promotion on the resource. But several other methods can also help promote YouTube videos for free:

• publication of announcements and information about new videos on social networks, on the website, in emails, so you will provide the first views;
• active communication with subscribers — respond to comments, leave reactions, add helpful links and other content related to videos;
• collaborate with other channels and bloggers on similar topics to share traffic.

Paid methods to promote videos on YouTube

It can also be a collaboration with other channels, but on a paid basis, as well as: 

• advertising on other social networks;
• contextual advertising in Google Ads;
• advertising with a mention of your channel in the description of the video or the video of other bloggers.

To achieve the best results, we recommend using both paid and free methods, or order a video promotion on YouTube from the digital agency Lanet CLICK.