Yesterday, a friend of mine asked me: “Hey, can you give me some tips to grow a YouTube channel?” And that question inspired me to write today’s blog post. You see, all artists want more subscribers, likes, views and comments. We live in a time where numbers are very important to gain notoriety.
Since there are many people listening to music on YouTube, how to be discovered among millions of videos and how to grow a channel?
1. Create good content… and different!
It seems a little bit obvious, but the truth is that there is no magic formula to grow your YouTube channel. However, content is king! A good, well-produced video can be the key to success for an artist because it allows him/her to differentiate it from other artists.
Look at Cercle. A few years ago, nobody knew of its existence and now… BOOM! It’s one of the best music channels on YouTube.
My advice is: do what you love and dedicate all your efforts to your passion. If you’re good at a certain music style, I’m sure you will create great content and amazing videos. (See 4 Reasons Why You Should Make More Videos)
2. Find your niche
Many of you have probably found incredible artists from related videos on YouTube. It’s possible that you guys even discovered me this way. But with more than 300 hours of video posted every minute on YouTube, it’s no longer enough to create a good video.
The smaller and more specific your niche, the easier it will be to attract new subscribers. For example, if your music style is Minimal Techno, why can’t you be even more specific? There are many sub-genres that are still little explored like High-Tech Minimal and even the Melodark.
By delimiting your niche, it will be much easier to reach and attract your audience. When someone from your target audience discovers your channel, they must think: “Wow, that’s what I was looking for!“ And they will watch, like the video, share and interact with you.
3. Keywords in tags and video description
YouTube is one of the largest search engines in the world and writing descriptions with keywords can help visitors find your videos more easily through search.
At this stage, you have the opportunity to stipulate your niche and define the audience you want to reach. For example, if your track or DJ set is similar to Solomun’s music style, it will be important to include the keyword Solomun in the tags and video description. It can also be used in the title of the video if it’s used in a natural way and not just as a clickbait for people to open the video (this will bring negative consequences to your channel).
So, make a general description of the video with a natural language and don’t use just one set of keywords. If you want to do this, do it in the end of description. For example, at the end of each description in my videos, I always include a part that says Related to, where I write all the keywords that I consider relevant to that video.
4. Share your videos on social networks
Sharing your videos on all social networks is one of the most effective ways to expand your channel because it garners them immediate attention, backlinks and potential for having key influencers like or share the video content.
As you know, social media are a series of communities that may share a passion for your music, or already be searching for it. In addition, you can leverage the value of an audience you have already built.
That way, it’s always a win-win situation because you are generating views on YouTube and you are also generating interaction on social media at the same time. All in one!
5. Use YouTube Creators
YouTube Creators has a series of free online courses that will help you grow your channel. And there is no one better to help you on this than YouTube itself.
All courses are useful. It’s your task to decide which are the most important and which ones you can apply considering the type of content of your channel.
6. Thumbnails
A good thumbnail highlights your videos from others, creating a huge opportunity for the audience to be interested in your content.
Just as you probably clicked on the video that the thumbnail most called your attention, the audience will also click on the video that the thumbnail stands out positively from the others.
A good thumbnail is crucial in increasing click-through rates on videos and generating more interaction. In the end, the best thumbnails attract more clicks.
But pay attention! A thumbnail must be related to the video. Don’t use thumbnails as a clickbait. This will spoil the credibility of your channel. Use thumbnails wisely!
7. Be Patient
YouTube isn’t an exact science and things are not going to happen overnight. So be patient.
Create content with some regularity and over time you will realize what type of content generates more interaction with your audience. For me, my DJ Mixes works perfectly! People like this kind of sets because it’s something they can hear constantly at work, at home or while driving.
YouTube is undoubtedly a platform you should not ignore because if you succeed on YouTube, you are very likely to succeed also with an artistic career.
But like everything else in life, good things take time. The faster the climb, the faster the fall. So, take your time, be patient and BE THE BEST!
Until next time.
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