Do you think the only way to promote your YouTube channel is through paid ads or through premium methods?

Then, this one time, you are going to love to be wrong. If you are searching for “how to promote my youtube channel“- we have the answer to your problem.

The fact is, you can go a long way by promoting your YouTube channel without paying a penny.

It will take some work and some time, and yes, It will require some research and some trial. But it will be possible in the end.

There is no better time than now to figure out how to promote a YouTube channel.

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How to Promote YouTube Video for Free?

Promote YouTube channel for free

For freshers who want to promote their YouTube channels, please note today YouTube is the second most visited site in the world.

The reason, nowadays, adults spend almost six hours per day watching videos.

If you want to be highlighted on YouTube, you have to use as many promotional strategies as possible. Below mentioned are effective methods to promote your YouTube channel.

• Optimize: optimizing videos for more visibility
• Use informative titles and descriptions
• Customize your thumbnail
• Interact with your audience
• Understanding your audience and their interests
• Be consistent in promoting your videos on YouTube
• Run paid YouTube ads and campaigns on your channel
• Produce high-quality videos
• Run contests
• Brand partnership
• Create playlists
• Make use of intro and outro video
• Add a Call to action
• Go live
• Cross promote your videos on YouTube

How to Promote YouTube channel for Free

Below are a few tips on how to promote a YouTube channel for free.

1 Optimizing videos for more visibility

The very first thing and most important thing to promote your YouTube channel are to optimize your channel.

People search for videos on YouTube and they do Google search too. So, make sure that your videos appear in their search results.

In 2018 YouTube was the second most popular search term. There are no rules set for which the keyword will help YouTube video rank well. But a bit of research can go a long way.

Mentioned below are the ways to find keywords for videos.

How to find keywords for videos

Researching for possible keywords with the help of google ads and keyword planner.

Scan the SERPs (Search Engine Result Pages) for the keyword. (Top ranking results are videos or written content?)

Twist your keyword and try again. Try other words like” Tutorials” or “Tips” or “How to”. If you are facing issues getting video results.

Prioritize those keywords that suit your video content.

For example- “Workout from home tutorials” turns up far more results than “workout from home tips”.

2 Use informative titles and descriptions

The video title is the first thing that the user sees, and if it is senseless, it might be the last.

Tips for writing solid and attractive titles and descriptions

• Keep the title short and simple; most of the popular videos have short titles. Make sure to stick to 60 characters, otherwise, the long tags may get cut off when displayed.
• Make sure to include the keyword in the first of the title to avoid losing valuable information. Most of the users online read the focus on the beginning of the title and ignore the rest.
• Engaging does not mean clickbait; the best headlines give benefits or create an emotional reaction. Clickbait is attractive but can harm the channel’s reputation in the long term.

YouTube has an auto-complete feature which is a great way to find popular keywords. Search for a particular topic and see what the title keyword suggests.

3 Customize your thumbnail

Creating a custom thumbnail is one of the easiest and the best ways to promote your YouTube channel. The custom thumbnail describes your video content and tells the viewers what the video is about in a snap.

Youtube produces automatic thumbnails for all the videos, But the auto-generated thumbnails may not be visible properly or can be blurry or out of focus. To boost impressions, create an eye-catching thumbnail for every video you post.

Tips for free promotion of YouTube channel with Thumbnails

Here are the few simple rules to use thumbnail for best results

• Format: JPG, GIF, BMP, or PNG
• Use high contrasting image for your video
• Size: 2MB limit
• Resolution:1280×720 px (16:9 ratio is good to go)
• Add colors and text to uplift the clicks
• Make sure to use a close-up image
• Use a stock photo

4 Interact with your audience – one of the best free ways to promote YouTube channel

Content creation is not the end; YouTubers need to engage with their viewers constantly.

Most famous YouTubers often interact with their audience and monitor their channel to check if their videos are performing well.

It is essential to respond to the positive comments along with the negative ones.

Posting some responsive videos will encourage your viewers and will also increase the number of subscribers.

Use google analytics to identify your topmost viewers and show them some love.

Understanding your audience and their interests

With the type of YouTube content you produce or post, you should make sure that your audience is interested in it.

Whether you write a blog or create a video, you should start with knowing your audience and what type of video content they expect from you or what kind of video they want to see.

Suppose you are starting with promoting your videos on YouTube channels.

Make sure to have a look at your competitor’s YouTube channels.

Look at their most viewed videos and their engagement with their audiences.

This will give you a clear picture of what your audiences expect from you or what type of content they are interested in.

Another way to look at your YouTube analytics is after you posted a video.

YouTube gives you detailed information about the audience demographics, location, engagement rate, and other helpful statistics.

5 Be consistent in promoting your videos on YouTube

It is essential to stay consistent with promoting your video and promoting them.

Every time you post a new video, make sure to update your social media platforms like Instagram and Facebook, this will attract new viewers and also remind them of the existing videos on your channel.

Make sure to use a particular color combination and theme and be consistent with it. It will help to create an identity of your own.

And also, ensure that video graphics, channel art, and video introduction should go hand in hand.

6 Run paid YouTube ads and campaigns on your channel

Marketing nowadays is becoming more pay-to-play; you get the option of more visibility through paid Youtube ads. YouTube provides various video ads formats to select from:

• Sponsored cards- These sponsored cards display with particular ads. You can use these sponsored cards to promote your products.
• Skippable ads and non-skippable ads- These are the type of ads during or before the video. Skippable ads can be skipped after five seconds, but non-skippable ads cannot be skipped; you can watch the video after the ad is over.
• Display ads- These ads are shown on the ride side of the video and are available only on the desktop.
• Overlay ads- These are semi-transparent ads shown on the bottom of the video and are available only on the desktop.
• Bumper ads- These are non-skippable ads that have to be watched before the viewer can view them. These types of ads are a minimum of six seconds.

7 Produce high-quality videos

Producing poor-quality videos can weaken even the video with the best content. It is important to make sure to create professional-looking videos before you post them. Before shooting a video, make sure to use a decent camera, do a soundcheck before recording, and learn some editing techniques.

8 Run contests (contests image)

Running contests online is another best way to get more audiences involved. With a single video posting on the channel you can get stir-up likes and comments and get more subscribers for your channel. There is a blog post on how to run a successful Youtube contest.

9 Brand Partnership

Brand partnership is another best way to widen your reach. It can also help you with new content ideas when you are out of ideas.

For a successful partnership there is a golden rule “Be Authentic”.

Go for brands that suit your personality and the needs of your audiences. If it does not make sense with partnering with certain brands, then look for other brands. Inauthentic brands can do more damage than good.

10 Create playlists (create playlists image)

Creating playlists is a good and the best way to get more viewers. It is because these videos are a little addicting, as the one video gets over the other video will begin.

Playlists play an important role as they appear in the YouTube suggested video columns. Plus you can also add keywords in playlists titles.

11 Make use of Intro and outro video

Creating your own identity is an important part of a promotion which you can achieve seamlessly with the help of an intro and outro video.

An intro video is of 3-4 seconds plays at the start of the video. An outro video is a video that is played at the end of the video, where you can ask people to subscribe to your channel.

12 Add a call to action

Make sure to include CTA buttons in your videos to make the most of your hard-earned audience.

If you want them to click through your website, the CTAs are always clear and compelling.

YouTube just released a new call to action extension for in-stream ads. But there are also other free ways to add CTAs to the videos.

13 Go live

YouTube is the most popular of all live stream platforms. Take advantage of this by creating engaging content for the viewers. Q&As, webinars, and events all work live. Browsing YouTube is another great way to get inspired.

14 Cross promote videos on YouTube

Chances are you are covering similar topics on YouTube that overlap with each other. To squeeze more out of your older content, ensure to cross-promote your videos when it makes sense.

How to promote YouTube channel on social media

Make sure to use the best social media platforms to promote your YouTube channel for free. Social media has gained popularity over the years and therefore it has become important to promote the channel on social media.

Promoting the YouTube channel on different social media platforms reduces the chances of people missing out on the videos and it also helps in expanding viewers for the channel. However, it is important to market your YouTube channel in the right manner and in the right place.

Here is how to promote YouTube Channel on Social Media

1 Choosing the right social media platform-

If your viewer and subscribers are falling down, this is the right time to switch and promote your channel on social media. But first, choose the right websites to promote YouTube channels.

Choosing the right social media platform is important because each has a different content style, community, and personality of connection. Instagram and Twitter have direct messaging, so they are a great way to connect with people.

2 Focus and slowly build up

Focusing on one particular platform to connect with viewers outside YouTube is smart. You will know how much time it is taking to manage the profile and Work on it accordingly and then slowly you can move to different platforms.

3 Manage accounts by yourself

Even if you have a strategist to look after your account. It is good that you manage an account by yourself in this way you will learn how users behave, the type of content posted, and the language of the app/site.

Watch your videos and see what best can be done to get more viewers and subscribers. As you explore you learn more about it and gain knowledge, which helps in growing your viewers and subscribers.

FAQ