For content creators on YouTube, getting a steady stream of new subscribers is crucial. Having more subscribers means having more people to catch your live streams & video posts, more income via ad revenue, and more influence in your space. An account with 3 million subscribers gets a lot more attention from major industry players than one that only has a few dozen subscribers.
But how can YouTube content creators grow their subscriber count? What can you do, specifically, to get more people to click on that subscribe button?
While there are no guaranteed ways to hit the supermassive subscription numbers enjoyed by top YouTube celebrities, there are some things any creator on YouTube should be able to do to increase their subscriber count. Some ways you can increase subscribers on YouTube include:
1: Posting a lot of quality content on a consistent schedule
The one thing any aspiring YouTube celebrity should do is maintain a consistent posting schedule for their videos. The more regularly you can post quality content, the better.
It sounds like something that would be easy, but as any experienced YouTube creator knows, keeping to a regular schedule while producing quality content is anything but easy. There are always delays, reshoots, errors, and more to be fixed prior to uploading any video. But, if you can keep a consistent schedule, people will start to check in on your channel on the days you normally post; giving you more opportunities to earn subscribers.
One way that some creators stay on schedule is to actually create content a week or two ahead of time whenever possible. Scheduling your production so that content is ready the week before you plan on posting it gives you some breathing room if something goes awry and lessens the pressure a bit.
Of course, there are occasions where you might not be able to wrap production up so far in advance, such as if you’re doing news-style content discussing the latest developments in your industry or if you’re a reviewer who wasn’t able to get a review copy of a product until the actual launch date.
Also, be sure to take some time to really think out your video titles and descriptions. For people searching YouTube videos through the search bar, these are the first (and often last) impressions that people will have of your video. Consider the following:
- Is the Title Descriptive? Does the title give a good sense of what the video’s content will be? If not, you might need to rework it.
- Is the Title Accurate? One of the fastest ways to lose subscribers is to bait and switch viewers with titles that say one thing when the video delivers something else entirely.
- Do You Have a Description That’s Informative & Accurate? The need for specificity and accuracy in the description is just as important as it is for the title. While many viewers might never open the full description, it’s important to put something in there because it helps with video optimization.
- Do You Have Tags? Tags help by acting as keywords for your videos, increasing their visibility in searches that use those tags. Using accurate tags helps ensure that the right audience finds your video and subscribes.
- Do You Have URLs and Citations? Adding website URLs and source citations to your description helps build your authority when you’re citing other sources for information. Also, having URLs to your personal website or other social media channels helps you build engagement with your fans and increase subscriptions on those platforms as well.
2: Make use of your other social network accounts
You might have friends and followers on your other social media networks that don’t log into YouTube as often. Logging into these other networks to post some of your videos or to guide people to your YouTube channel could increase your subscriber base by adding fans and followers from these other networks to your YouTube account.
Or, you might even be able to promote your best videos to a whole new audience by posting a video link on Facebook or similar networks. For example, if one of your Facebook followers shares your YouTube video with their friends on Facebook, you can reach new people who might never have heard of you otherwise and turn them into fans.
3: Ask viewers to subscribe in your videos
It only takes a few seconds to say “Please like, comment, and subscribe.” However, many content creators don’t ask viewers to do this.
Making a personal request for your viewers to subscribe can massively improve the chances of earning a few subscribes or likes from people who came to your video through the search bar or were referred by a friend.
The effect is modest, but if it gets you just one more subscriber, then it’s well worth the 5 seconds of effort it takes to say.
4: Partner with other content creators
Many of the biggest, most popular channels on YouTube don’t do it alone all the time. There are a ton of content creators out there who team up with content creators from another channel for special crossovers.
The advantage of these crossovers is that they give both channels a chance to attract new subscribers.
Before engaging in such a collaboration, it’s important for you to carefully consider who you’ll partner with for your video. Picking a content creator who has a similar, but not necessarily identical, focus is probably for the best. Also, working with a channel that has a similar size to your own channel helps ensure some parity so that you don’t wind up as a footnote in the other channel’s video.
When doing these crossovers, be sure to put a link to the other creator’s channel in the video and in the description, and ask them if they can do the same for you. This makes it easier for both of you to attract a few new fans from the collaboration.
5: Use thumbnails and other design elements on your channel
The look of your main channel page and your video thumbnails tells YouTube viewers a lot about you—so you’ll want to make sure you send the right message here.
Everything on the channel page and in your video thumbnails should be centered around a consistent brand image and tone whenever possible. Additionally, this brand image should look pleasing to the eye in some fashion—mismatched or garish color palettes could easily chase potential subscribers away.
This is something that even experienced content creators might struggle with, as the demands of designing for a responsive webpage so it looks good on desktops, tablets, and phones may require a different skillset than the one you’ve honed for making great videos.
Using custom thumbnails for your videos can add a touch of personalization that set your video apart from the scores of generic or random screenshots that get used as the default image for video thumbnails. This increases your chances of getting people to click on your videos in search and then subscribe.
These are just a few ways that YouTube content creators can increase their subscriber base and reach. For more channel development tips, subscribe to our blog!
