YouTube Subscribers

YouTube has over 2.6 billion monthly active viewers—that’s over one-quarter of the world’s population.

As the owner of a YouTube channel, capturing some of those viewers is how you grow your audience for the long term.

However, gaining YouTube views is insufficient. As you make additional videos over time, you want to discover how to attract subscribers for your YouTube channel who will watch, share, and interact with your content.

How to get more YouTube subscribers

1. Delete old, poor-quality videos from your channel
2. Create videos people actually want to watch
3. Consider your channel branding
4. Create a “channel trailer”
5. Come up with a pitch
6. Design eye-popping thumbnails
7. Capture the viewer’s attention in the first 10 seconds
8. Create YouTube shorts
9. Collaborate with other YouTubers with similar audiences
10. Cover the hype, but don’t try to create it every time
11. Share your videos in niche online communities
12. Encourage binge watching
13. Use YouTube cards to suggest other videos
14. Maintain consistency
15. Invest in YouTube SEO

1. Delete old, poor-quality videos from your channel

Creators’ brands develop and expand throughout time. You can talk about a variety of subjects, produce different kinds of material, and reach out to new audiences. If previous content doesn’t relate to the present content you’re producing, it’s acceptable to delete it.

Check your YouTube channel for underperforming videos. Keep an eye out for the following:

• The video has become outdated. 
• Production quality is poor.
• Only a few people have viewed it. 

These not-so-fabulous YouTube videos might turn off a viewer and prevent them from subscribing. Get rid of it and move on! 

2. Create videos people actually want to watch

This second piece of advice for increasing your YouTube subscribers might seem straightforward, yet many videos on the platform fall short of the target. According to research, 88.4% of YouTube videos receive fewer than 1,000 views. 

Another popular platform is YouTube. 500 hours of content are being uploaded to YouTube every minute. Why should they watch your video when there are so many others to select from?

The seven-figure blogger and YouTuber Adam Enfroy suggests giving viewers what they want to see. “By adhering to a single, easy rule, I’ve been able to develop and continue to increase my audience on my YouTube channel, which has amassed more than 55,000 subscribers in just under two years. Knowing your audience will help you generate material that people truly want to view, not just what you think they’ll like to see, he advises.

“Wow, how can you do that? By looking at each show’s viewing counts, determining what works and doesn’t based only on statistics, and creating material based on the programs that attracted the largest audiences. Give your viewers what they want by letting your content be guided by the numbers.

Know your audience, and create your content based on what they actually want to see, rather than what you think they want to see.

Adam Enfroy, founder of AdamEnfroy.com

3. Consider your channel branding

YouTube marketing frequently overlooks the importance of channel branding. But it’s one method to stand out from the crowd and promote your brand. Whether it’s through your channel art or what you wear on screen, YouTube is a terrific platform for developing brand credibility.

“When it comes to filming, most YouTubers give little consideration to what they are wearing or their setting. It’s a great chance lost! In Let’s Talk Money on YouTube, investing guru Joseph Hogue, a CFA, explains. In less than five years, Hogue’s channel has over 565,000 subscribers. He attributes the expansion of his channel to two things: deliberate content, and branding.

“You will be interacting with people on a more intimate level whenever you can leverage what you say, how you say it, what you dress, or what is visible in your background to show your underlying ideas and value offer,” he claims.

“People will recognize you as a result of these branding cues. This means that even if people aren’t constantly interested in what you’re talking about, they will continue to watch your YouTube videos merely to get to know you better. 

What should you wear in your next YouTube video? Hogue recommends asking yourself the following questions:

• What are your core beliefs and values (i.e., loyalty, spirituality, humility, compassion, honesty, integrity, community, humour)?

• What kind of environment do you want to create (i.e., relaxed versus professional, easy-going, or focused)?

• What does the branding say about your credibility, level of experience, and ability in the topic?

When deciding on your personal brand, be original. Choose components that relate to your audience because people follow people. For instance, if you’re creating a channel for the most recent Yeezy releases, focus on current fashion trends like oversized t-shirts. A humorous bow tie and button-up might amuse your audience and increase your credibility if your channel is about investment.

The goal is to build connections with like-minded people. Your brand is the main way to attract them on YouTube. 

Anytime you can use what you say, how you say it, what you wear, or what is visible in your background to show your core beliefs and value proposition, you are going to be connecting with people on a more intimate level.

Joseph Hogue, Let’s Talk Money

4. Create a “channel trailer”

You should make a teaser film or trailer to advertise your YouTube channel after learning how to do it. This channel trailer can be seen at the top of many YouTube pages, and it automatically starts playing when users visit such pages.

Create a trailer video of your own that you can show to unsubscribed visitors to quickly tell them what to expect from you.

Making a special trailer for this ad has the advantage that you can combine footage from earlier YouTube videos or directly address your audience and ask them to subscribe. Make sure the trailer video is in top condition. To generate these films, polish them up, and gain more subscribers, you can use a free video editing program.

Here’s a fantastic illustration from Shopify Learn that demonstrates the channel’s personality, tone, and focus (helping merchants expand their online businesses) (passionate about entrepreneurship).

5. Come up with a pitch

An elevator pitch is an often underestimated tool that’s relevant to all self-starters, whether you’re an entrepreneur, a freelancer, or a creator.

YouTubers are no exception.

Use this pitch whenever you need to succinctly explain what your channel is about if you want to learn how to become a YouTuber. You can use it in your introduction, your closure, your about section, or anywhere else.

The majority of YouTubers currently include a sentence like, “If you liked this video, please hit the thumbs up, leave a comment, and subscribe.” at the end of their videos. With an outro, which teases the stuff to come rather than what viewers just witnessed, this call to action is greater, though.

You can simply say, “I post [the videos you post] every [when you post], followed by a teaser for what’s coming,” in your pitch to prospective subscribers. These brief moments effectively convey the spirit of your channel, encouraging potential subscribers to click the Subscribe button.

6. Design eye-popping thumbnails

When it comes to attracting YouTube subscribers, thumbnails are, in some ways, more effective than YouTube advertisements. Consistency improves the appearance of your channel, thus it is time well spent to ensure it.

YouTube lets you choose which frame to use as the thumbnail for each video, but you should look into designing your own.

Create unique YouTube thumbnails for each video using Canva (a free piece of software) to draw viewers in and establish a sense of coherence among all of your videos at a look.

Below, you can observe the difference it creates. Each individual video is clickable, and they also explain the brand’s mission, which is something that every prospective subscriber wants to know.

7. Capture the viewer’s attention in the first 10 seconds

We have an attention war due to new technology. Research has shown that technology can interfere with our ability to concentrate. Moreover, the average person sees around 10,000 ads per day. 

Unsurprisingly, there are a lot of online distractions with which your YouTube video will have to contend. Gaining more subscribers requires grabbing your audience’s interest as soon as possible.

No of how long your YouTube videos are, Monte Deere, CEO of specialised shoe retailer Kizik, advises grabbing the viewer’s attention within the first 10 seconds. “In our most popular video, which has received millions of views, the clip starts out with a guy being mock-slapped.

“We play off the fact that viewers instinctively want to stay watching to learn why to keep them intrigued. Over 1,000 more subscribers were added as a result of this video’s exceptional ability to retain viewers’ attention for the full two and a half minutes.

8. Create YouTube Shorts 

YouTube Shorts are vertical, short-form videos that were produced with a smartphone. From the YouTube app, you may upload a YouTube Short directly to the site. YouTube Shorts, which debuted in the US in 2021, swiftly topped 6.5 billion daily views worldwide.

You can record, edit, and add components like music, text, speed, and compilations to existing video making tools to make Shorts. While watching the video, viewers have the option to subscribe to your channel and like, share, and comment on Shorts.

Through twice-weekly webinars and podcasts, Maverick’s head of digital media, Luke Tew, has been increasing the audience for his company. Tew makes use of Shorts to repurpose these other venues and increase his YouTube audience. He “extracts and highlights important moments in those videos” using the Shorts platform. People watch the long-form video and subscribe when the Shorts pique their attention.

“Shorts are now providing the platform with the most organic growth, so utilising them to support your longer-form videos will help your content get a little more exposure. Obviously, a subscriber’s decision to watch something on YouTube is based on its content. Making every effort to promote your featured material will therefore make a difference.

When people are interested in what they see in the Shorts, they watch the long-form video and subscribe.

Luke Tew, Maverick

9. Collaborate with other YouTubers with similar audiences

Collaborations aren’t uncommon on YouTube and are a great way to get exposure to a new audience.

Suggest a cross-promotional concept to a YouTuber you know or would like to collaborate with. It’s normal practice to have your potential partner appear in one of your YouTube videos and vice versa so that both of you can gain exposure to the viewers of the other’s channel.

Here’s an instance of a hot-wing-fueled chat with Harley Morenstein of Epic Meal Time and Sean Evans of Hot Ones. Then Sean made the spiciest ribs ever on Epic Meal Time. It’s a match made in heaven between the two channels because they both focus on elevating cuisine and provide similar forms of entertainment.

10. Cover the hype, but don’t try to create it every time

Consider creating YouTube videos that capitalise on current enthusiasm as part of your video marketing strategy since you are aware that there is a strong interest there.

If you can discover a suitable overlap with your material, making a video based on a popular trend or celebrity can be a terrific way to attract some of that attention back to your channel and gain new subscribers.

Some examples include:

• Covering existing songs instead of always posting your own original music
• Parodying whatever is going viral at the time (like Pokémon Go or fidget spinners)
• Responding to another YouTuber
• Reacting to a viral video
• Newsjacking a story that the media is talking about

By strategically timing these posts, you may attract new subscribers to your channel and make your YouTube videos more relevant to those who might not otherwise watch them.

11. Share your videos in niche online communities

Most likely, you already post your films to Twitter or Facebook. However, have you looked into other online groups, particularly those where you know your audience hangs out?

Once you’ve optimised your channel to grow your subscriber base, niche communities in Reddit, Facebook, forums, and other places that relate to your video’s audience may enjoy what you produced and opt-in to obtain more.

Try to aim for relevancy instead of just the size of the community when you post in subreddits or in Facebook groups.

As a YouTuber, you should be open and honest about who you are and what you do since these are communities (use your pitch from above). Make sure you’re adding value first and foremost since users are protective of the integrity of debate in these forums.

12. Encourage binge-watching

It makes sense that a person will be more likely to subscribe if they watch more of your videos. They have more opportunities to follow you, and they also understand why they should.

Playlists are a terrific method to help consumers navigate YouTube and motivate them to watch more. Depending on what the playlists are labelled, this is advantageous for YouTube SEO and appearing in search results. To view suggested keywords and trends, use a keyword tool like Ahrefs.

If you have a lot of content, think about creating playlists. This not only helps organise your videos into categories, but it also offers you control over the video that plays next rather than having YouTube show anything else.

Alternately, you may publish a multi-part content series to entice viewers to subscribe. The CEO of Subtle Beauty, Rachel Reid, used it to expand her beauty company on YouTube. “One clever approach to do it is to build a fascinating multi-part series that’s posted over time,” she advises when aiming to convert spectators into subscribers. 

“You improve the likelihood that viewers will return to your channel by dividing up content they are tuning in for into instalments. Subscribers who are motivated to see the next video are more likely to do so.

Share a link to your video from a playlist whenever you can. In this manner, viewers are continually presented with content from your own channel that corresponds to the video that initially drew them in.

By breaking up material that your viewers are showing up for into instalments, you increase the chances that they return to your channel. Motivated viewers will be more likely to subscribe to ensure they catch the next video.

Rachel Reid, Subtle Beauty

13. Use YouTube cards to suggest other videos

Your greatest option for suggesting additional video content is YouTube cards. Within the YouTube video, these are clickable interactive components that resemble thumbnail overlays. Use them to propose movies, channels, links, playlists, or even items.

14. Maintain consistency 

The key to any successful YouTube channel—the key to building an audience anywhere, really—is consistency.

In addition to having a consistent theme throughout your channel’s material (such as a format, a topic, or a target audience), you also need to make that theme clear to visitors. For your YouTube channel, you must create a brand.

The time it takes for viewers to learn about you and your goals is limited. And if you stop to think about it, people don’t subscribe because of the video they just viewed, but rather because they want to receive future access to similar information.

Before they could spread out and thrive on their personalities alone, even well-known YouTubers like PewDiePie and Casey Neistat, who don’t seem to have a particular “thing,” needed to maintain a regular brand of video content.

Decide on the concept of your channel—what your promise is—and convey it quickly, especially when you’re just getting started. If you want the YouTube algorithm to recommend your material, this is very crucial.

Additionally, it’s critical to keep track on your YouTube stats over time. As much as best practices offer direction and assistance when you first launch your own channel, as soon as you start to see success, you’ll also want to apply your own measurements and benchmarks.

15. Invest in YouTube SEO

Getting identified in YouTube search results is essential for obtaining followers, regardless of how established or fresh your YouTube channel is. There are a few crucial components to pay attention to:

1. Improve your video titles

When it comes to optimising your videos for search on YouTube, using the appropriate keywords in the titles can help a lot. The extracted keyword should be in your video’s title to help it rank.

There are plenty of SEO tools online to help you do keyword research. Check out Ahrefs to get keyword ideas for your campaign.

2. Optimize video descriptions

Similar to how video titles help people find your content on YouTube, descriptions are crucial. Empty descriptions will not increase the number of search views.

Include the keyword you used in your title in a brief synopsis for each video that explains its topic. You should experience increased click-through rates, more top positions, and a rise in subscribers once you start producing videos that are keyword-focused.

3. Tag your video with popular, related keywords. 

You can add phrases and words called “YouTube tags” to the metadata of your video. Because they provide context for your video, both the YouTube search algorithm and users adore them. A minor but significant correlation between YouTube tags and ranks was discovered by an industry researcher.

Should you buy YouTube subscribers?

Naturally, “grow-quick techniques” like purchasing subscribers won’t benefit you in the long run. You may have a worthwhile audience without having a million subscribers. All you need is a small but devoted following who adores what you share with the world.

So while technically you can buy YouTube subscriptions, it’s not necessarily a good idea.

It’s possible that purchased YouTube followers won’t be as interested in your channel and content. As a result, even if your subscriber count may increase, your engagement metrics could decline.

Plus, buying followers and subscribers is largely frowned upon in digital marketing.

When it comes to bots, automation, and deceptive messaging, YouTube takes action. You agree not to use or launch any automated system that sends more request messages to the YouTube servers in a given period of time than a human can reasonably create in the same period by using a traditional online web browser, according to the terms of service.

If anything, YouTube has proven that there’s an audience for almost anything on the internet.

Whatever it is you create, you can go out and find yours.

Build yourself a loyal subscriber base to grow your YouTube channel

Gaining YouTube followers requires patience and perseverance, just as with most content endeavors. There are no immediate outcomes. However, if you concentrate on producing interesting content and promoting deeper interactions, viewers will tap Subscribe, and you’ll be well on your way to developing a devoted following.