What Niche are you in? Choosing the right niche for your YouTube channel is essential. If you
have a strong interest in something such as tech gadgets or travel then
this is a good idea. To be successful as a YouTube influencer you need
to choose a niche that will be popular with YouTube users.
Some YouTube influencers are in more than one niche. There is nothing
to stop you doing this as you progress but we recommend that you
choose one niche to get started. Is there money being spent in your
chosen niche? Are there products and services in the niche where you
can make money from sponsorship or affiliate marketing?
This is something that you mustn’t overlook. You need to create
engaging videos on your channel to amass views and subscribers.
Defining your voice at the beginning is the best way to go. You know
who your target audience is so how are you going to connect with them?
Creating a profile for your ideal subscriber is a good thing to do and it
will help you define your voice. Think about the demographics of your
profile subscriber. What is their age range, gender, interests, hobbies,
employment status, location and more?
You will give yourself a much better chance of being a successful
YouTube influencer the more that you know your audience. Creating a
subscriber profile will provide you with clarity and help you to
determine the type of video content that you need to create for your
audience.
The most successful YouTube influencers do not pretend to be
something they are not. It is best for you to “be yourself”. This will
make it easier for you to create engaging videos for your audience. It is
not easy to maintain an “act” where you are pretending to be someone
that you are not.
Use your personality to engage your audience. They are not expecting
you to be a Hollywood star so don’t waste your time trying to be one. Be
natural and passionate about your niche in your videos and the views
and subscribers will come.
Make Engaging Videos
YouTube influencers are not shy about being in front of the camera. If
you have a problem with this then you need to overcome it. You are only
going to build a lot of subscribers through KLT (know, like and trust).
Your audience cannot achieve KLT with you if they never see your face
on your videos.
Think about the type of videos that you can create for your channel.
“How to” videos are extremely popular on YouTube and a lot of users
search for these. If you are an expert in your niche then create videos
that show your audience how to overcome problems.
Another popular type of video on YouTube is the product review. Here
you will discuss different products and talk about what you like and
don’t like about them. You can use affiliate marketing here to make
commissions from recommending products.
Always think about the value that you can provide with your videos.
Never create videos that are “salesy”. People do not like to be sold to.
Show and tell is the best thing to do. Make your videos entertaining no
matter what type you are creating.
A lot of niches change often and you can be the YouTuber that provides
the latest information about these changes to your audience. New
products and services, changes to the way things work such as rules and
regulations – the possibilities are almost limitless here. Just keep your
finger on the pulse of what is happening in your niche.
It doesn’t matter if you have competitors in your niche – in fact, this is a
good thing because it proves that there is demand for videos about the
niche. You can be different with your videos by adding your own
personal spin to them.
Create a Content Schedule
Creating a content schedule will keep you focused and ensure that you
will never run out of ideas for future videos. Start by brainstorming ideas
for your niche. Write everything down and you should have a pretty long
list once you have finished your brainstorming session.
You can get inspiration from other video creators on YouTube. What are
they doing and how can you do it better? Don’t concern yourself about
coming up with totally unique ideas for video content. If there is a video
that is popular in your niche, how can you make this even better?
Solving the problems that your audience has in your niche needs to be
your main aim. If you don’t know what these problems are then you
need to find out. Your audience will really appreciate you creating
videos that will answer their burning questions.
Video Creation
Whatever videos you decide to create for your YouTube channel they
need to be high-quality. This does not mean that you need Hollywood
style equipment to make your videos. You need a good quality HD
camera and a good quality microphone. In addition to this, we
recommend that you invest in a tripod or stand for your camera.
Nobody is going to be impressed if your videos are low quality in any
way. Yes, you can shoot videos using your smartphone but the quality
may not be the best. We recommend that you invest in a good camera
and a microphone. You need to take your YouTube influencer business
seriously.
There are good free tools that you can use for video editing. For
Windows computers you can use the Movie Maker which is free from
Microsoft. Apple computer users can use iMovie. You can purchase
other video editors that will do a lot fancier things but this is not
necessary to get started. Search Google to see what other free video
editors are available.
We recommend that you do your video creation and editing using a
desktop computer or laptop. These devices are a lot more powerful than
your phone or tablet. Using a larger screen is a good idea as well
especially when it comes to editing.
If you are going to create “how to” videos and need to record your
screen then you will need good screen recording software. OBS Studio
is free and works with both Windows and Mac computers. It has
everything that you need to get started.
When you are recording yourself on camera you need to be in the
middle. You can use the “rule of thirds” where you break up the screen
into thirds and position yourself in the center. Be prepared to practice
with your camera until you get this right.
Rather than creating a script for your video and then reading this out
when you record, we recommend that you create a list of important
points that you need to raise in the video. Reading from a script can look
and sound very unnatural which you want to avoid.
Use Video SEO Techniques
YouTube is the second largest search engine in the world after google.
Many people use YouTube to search for what they want as they would
prefer to watch a video than read a blog post for example.
No matter how good your videos are, if YouTube users cannot find them
with search, then you are wasting your time. You need to SEO optimize
all of the videos that you upload so that you give them the best possible
chance of appearing in the search results for specific keywords.
For each video that you create, perform keyword research for it first.
You can do this for free using the Google Keyword Planner. Identify the
keyword terms that you think users will search for to find your videos.
Put your most important keyword in your video title. There is a video
description box under the video and you must add text here and include
your keywords in it. You can also add URLs to your video description.
Add tags to your videos which contain the keywords that you want to
appear in search for.
We recommend that you remind your viewers to subscribe to your
YouTube channel and “like” your video at least once. You can also ask
them to leave a comment. Telling people what they need to do online is
necessary. Never assume that they will just subscribe.
Finally, you need to create compelling thumbnails for your videos. If
you do not add a thumbnail image then YouTube will select a section of
your video as the image. This was OK a few years ago but it isn’t now.
You can use Canva.com for free to create great looking thumbnails for
YouTube videos. Be consistent with your thumbnail designs so that you
stand out from the crowd and that users will instantly recognize your
videos. Outsource the creation of your thumbnails on Fiverr.com if you
want to.
Post New Videos Regularly
If you want to be a successful YouTube influencer then you need to be
consistent. A lot of good influencers post new videos 2 or 3 times each
week and this seems to work well for them. You can work up to this
number if this is not possible for you to start with.
As your subscriber base grows, they will expect you to be consistent
with your video posting. If you start by posting videos on a Tuesday for
example then stick with this. Tell your subscribers that you will post
every Tuesday and do everything that you can to ensure you stick to this.
Posting new videos regularly will help to develop your library. As the
number of videos grows on your channel, the more content that you will
have for your subscribers to watch. This is good for your overall
standing on YouTube as it tells the algorithm that your videos are
popular.
Use Social Media to Promote your Videos
All successful YouTube influencers have social media channels that they
use to promote their videos. You do not need to create a profile on all
social media platforms. What you do need to do is to find out where
your target audience hangs out and make sure you have a profile on
those channels.
If your audience mainly uses Facebook then it is unlikely that they will
use Tik Tok as well for example. Do your homework here and find out
which social platforms your audience uses. You can also take a look at
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the YouTube channels of your competitors to see what social channels
they are using.
Once you have the necessary social channels in place you need to add
content to them. Of course, you will want to tell your followers
whenever you launch a new video on YouTube. But it is better if you
can do more than this. It will take time to build up a following on the
various social channels and publishing valuable content regularly is the
best way to do this.
Tell the story of your YouTube channel on your social channels. Why
did you create it? What are your aims with the channel? Ask your social
followers for ideas for new video content you can create. Get them
involved as much as possible. Engagement and interaction are essential
to build up and maintain a good following on social media platforms.
Monitor the Performance of your Videos
After you have uploaded a few videos, you need to start monitoring how
well they are performing for you. There are a lot of helpful metrics
available in YouTube analytics. You can see at a glance how many
views your videos are receiving; the number of comments users are
leaving and other important metrics.
By paying careful attention to these metrics, you can see which of your
videos create the most engagement. Ask yourself why this is the case.
What is it about these videos that makes them the most popular?
You can find Audience Retention Graphs in YouTube analytics that will
show you what kind of habits your viewers have. Use this information to
discover:
• Your most popular videos (by engagement)
• Times when viewers click away from your videos or your channel
• Comments that can help you to improve your videos
You need to be prepared to make consistent improvements to your
videos. This information is very valuable to you. For example, if you see
that viewers are clicking away from one of your videos at around the
same time then investigate why this is happening.
Some people are likely to leave valuable comments about how you can
improve your videos or provide you with ideas for new content. When
you receive a comment on your videos be sure to respond to it as quickly
as possible. Always thank users for making constructive comments.
In the next section, we will discuss using YouTube promotional
tactics…
Using YouTube Promotional Tactics
When you have created and uploaded some videos to your YouTube
channel there are specific tactics you can use on the platform to promote
your channel and videos. Most people that upload YouTube videos do
not use these tactics but you should because they will help you to get
more views and subscribers.
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