Get Viewers to Watch Your Content

If you are a content creator and still don’t know the secret formula to being successful on YouTube, then you’re not alone.  Creating unique content that draws in a crowd is becoming more and trickier these days… especially the part about creating content that is worth watching.

In YouTube’s Creator Playbook, they tell you to “Create content that is unique, compelling, and entertaining or informative.”  Well, that says it all… doesn’t it?  Actually, their words of advice can make one scratch their head and wonder where they should start.

It’s true!  Brands spend a lot of time, effort, and money on their brands.  Some have become more successful than others.  So what is the trick to making content that is unique enough to become a standardized name throughout the world?  Would you be shocked to find out that it’s all about marketing?

Most content creators make videos… really great ones… and then upload them and hope for world-wide success.  But more than now, this almost never happens.  In reality, this process takes a little more effort than this.

Videos need more than just their initial upload to become great.  You need to get viewers to watch your content by building a social sharing network that helps your videos get distributed in the right direction.  There are actually places that creators can share a video that can give it more exposure and engagement.  Here’s why:

• Viewers don’t like being interrupted by ads and if your video content feels like an ad, they won’t stay around to watch it. They are mainly searching for content to be informed or entertained.  So think of your video content as an ad being placed on YouTube and then distributed in several different places throughout the realm of social media if it is well liked.  Ask yourself‒ does it fit your audience?  Is it too long or too short?
• Discover through analytics how long your viewers stay to watch your content. Are they long-term viewers or do are they short-lived only after 30 seconds?  Are you marketing your video content in the right places?  Remember, your target audience is the most important viewer here.  And if they like what they see, they will share it.  So if it is amazing… it will get viewed.  So be sharable.
• And don’t forget to spread yourself out. It’s not only YouTube you want to be hooked up with.  There are all kinds of publishers out there on the web like Twitter, Vine, Vimeo, and Facebook.  This seems to be the circle of life for video content.  Think of it as “what goes around comes around.”  What a great way to amplify your exposure to all types of platforms.  Look at putting specific content during the holidays, an event like the Super Bowl, or around a certain topic.  Consider where your content is going to fit in during these certain occasions so that it is more discoverable and fits in to what is trending.
• Find time to engage with your community. They love feeling like you made content specifically for them.  It’s also a great way to get your viewers to engage.

Yes, there are tons of ideas out there to market your video content online.  Try out a bunch of different ways of marketing yourself until you find what fits you best.  Find out which method turns heads and engages your target audience.

We all agree that marketing our branded content is more than just uploading a few videos on YouTube.  It’s about discovering the effective elements that your video content must have to be discovered.  That is why there is really no specific set of rules as what you must or must not do.  But be diverse.  Integrate your content on different sites, see what is effective and change your marketing strategy if it isn’t working as well as you would like.