How to get more Impressions on YouTube?

More than 500 hours of video hit YouTube every minute. That’s a lot of content to compete with ” How to get more Impressions on YouTube? “. However, it’s not just about creating great content while growing your YouTube channel; rather, it’s about getting that noticed.

Numerous factors contribute to the platform. However, there is one most important factor: the number of views you get on both your video and channel.

Here are some surefire tactics for growing your YouTube channel and increasing viewership. Whether you’re just starting or want to see your numbers tick further upward, these tips will help you achieve your YouTube marketing goals.

Bonus: We created a template that will help you craft a channel and content strategy that will drive the engagement organically. Download it and get started on optimizing your YouTube strategy today.

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How to grow your YouTube channel in 2024

Growing a YouTube channel in 2024 means a shift in your priorities. No, your subscriber count does still matter. Still, it is what’s happening with your real videos that will determine the real growth of your channel.

Then, when videos are viewed and engaged with enough to keep coming, YouTube decides that it is valuable and pushes it out to more viewers. This creates a great snowball effect: more views = more engagement = more visibility = channel growth.

That’s why making videos people want to watch and engage with will be the basis of a good YouTube strategy. Promoting your videos effectively so they get all the love and attention they deserve comes in almost next.

First off, though, it’s worthwhile to clarify what counts as a view.

What does count as a YouTube view?

Views count the total number of times your video or channel is watched. Any time a viewer plays a video and watches it for at least 30 seconds, YouTube counts this as a view. If a person watches your video several times, each time counts as a new view.

This comes across on all devices whether the viewer is viewing via mobile or desktop. It also comes across in mbeds and videos shared on other social networks like Facebook.

When someone views your YouTube channel, you earn a view. If you’re using YouTube Analytics, you can go to the Overview tab to see how many views your YouTube channel had over the last 28 days.

Why are views important on YouTube?

Views become hence an important path for growing your YouTube channel. The more views your videos receive, the more people the algorithm of YouTube is going to recommend your content. Increased visibility often translates to more subscribers and faster channel growth.

Views are part of the potential ways to make money off YouTube. With more views, the ad money will also add up, as well as potential brand partnerships. And the more you earn on the platform, the more you have to reinvest in your channel to make even better content.

These help expand your brand. Every view is your opportunity to reach a potential customer or fan. Over time, high view counts can boost brand awareness and build brand affinity, which can help you achieve bigger business goals in the long haul.

18 Tips on How to Grow Your YouTube Channel It’s time to take our YouTube channel to the next level. We’re sharing 18 tips to grow your YouTube channel and attract more views. Below, we have Jamia walking through 10 ways to promote your YouTube channel for more views and subscribers.

Write engaging, must-see titles.

YouTube marketing is all about presentation.

Titles are make or break when it comes to your video’s performance. Ask yourself if you’re presenting your content as a “must-see” or “meh?”

The secret to crafting killer titles lies in garnering the attention of your audience without resorting to clickbait headlines. People crave entertaining content, and they also want to know what your video is about from the word “go.”

Examples of this include cases where you draw a page from the YouTube giants’ playbooks, such as BuzzFeed or WhatCulture. For the most part, such videos rely on listicles, question-based titles, or hyperbole [“insane”, “.of all time”] to just bank in views.

Four Buzzfeed YouTube thumbnails with catchy headlines. The headlines are the following: We Tasted the Worst Reviewed Pizza in New York City, Gamer Girls Play Never Have I Ever, Ranking the Internet’s Best Hot Cheetos Combo and We Only Ate Meals From India For a Week.
For example, Athlean X is very good at publishing workout-based videos. Such content can easily slip in the relevant keywords on their titles but is still very conversational.

Five Athlean X YouTube thumbnails with keyword-driven titles. Titles are as follows: The Perfect Home Workout (Sets and Reps Included), Eight Worst Bodyweight Exercises Ever (STOP DOING THESE!), Never Do Pull-Ups Like This: 10 Most Common Mistakes, Do This Every Day: No More Low Back Pain! (30 SECS), and The Perfect Push-Up Workout (3 LEVELS).
“Best-of” lists and “how-to” titles are always a sure thing, too. Food channel Tasty uses click-worthy titles such as this:

An appetizing thumbnail for YouTube featuring a salted brownie. The caption states: “The Most Delicious Brownies You Will Ever Taste.”

The takeaway here is that you should spend some time brainstorming compelling titles rather than just sticking to the first idea that pops into your head.

For the details, many note that a good length for a YouTube video title should fall between 70 characters. Meanwhile, headline analyzer tools, such as those developed by CoSchedule, indicate that an engaging headline should be at 55 characters. CoSchedule’s tool isn’t specifically intended to be used for video titles, but it is excellent for brainstorming titles that are friendly to YouTube to help drive your viewers to your YouTube channel.

Optimize your videos to get noticed.

Just some food for thought: 70 percent of the top 100 Google search results contain YouTube videos. Heck, check it out for yourself. All any given product or “how-to” query on Google does is return something from YouTube.

Google search results page for GoPro Hero featuring videos from gopro.com
YouTube results sometimes appear even before traditional blog posts or websites. Listen: YouTube is the second-largest search engine in the world. Just like people search for products and need problems solved via Google, the same rings true on YouTube.

Perceive all your YouTube videos as any other content that requires keyword optimization, tagging, and the like.

The best practices of YouTube SEO to increase your chances to appear include the following:

Titles and description: Apply target keywords in your titles and descriptions. You can find keyword ideas using a tool, such as Keywordtool.io.

You can speak the keywords in your video: Brian Dean from Backlinko says that speaking your target keywords in your video will help YouTube understand better what your video is actually about.

Engagement: The other great way that the YouTube algorithm interprets to rank videos in its search results is by checking how engaged people are with a particular video. The number of likes, comments, and views counts as engagement.

Categories: Categories can also be used to help YouTube understand who to show your videos to.

Tags: You can add tags to your video, too: categories give YouTube much more context about what your content is. You can use quite a few, so add as many as you can think of.

Just like on SEO for your website, don’t keyword stuff. Use keywords where it makes sense, not to just have ’em.

Understand what your audience wants.

You need to ensure that any form of content you create is relevant to what your audience needs. Whether writing a blog post or creating a video, first, you want to know who your audience is and what kind of content they want from you.

Watch for competitors or other video creators in your niche or industry. Determine which of their videos receive higher views and engagement. That will let you know what your audience would like to learn about and which style of video they enjoy most.

Use competitive analysis tools found on Sprout Social to monitor the competitors. Keep up-to-date with key metrics on YouTube: views, engagement, and followers; be realistic about what you are set to achieve on your channel. Make use of listening features on Sprout to track mentions and keywords around the audience sentiment concerning a particular topic or brand.

Here in the screenshot above, Sprout Social’s Social Listening tool has related keywords and related hashtags for an analysis campaign around sentiment.
Another is to view your YouTube Analytics if you’ve published content already. YouTube offers detailed information regarding the audience, demographics, location, engagement, and more useful stats. You can even take your strategy a step further with YouTube reporting in Sprout Social and see how your content stacks up against other social videos you’ve created.

Sprout Social YouTube Videos dashboard displays posts with several metrics such as video views, estimated minutes watched, average view duration, and average view percentage. Looking for a better understanding of your YouTube metric? Download our video metrics cheat sheet learn the most important metrics you need to track and get ideas for video content through your specific marketing goals. Get our cheat sheet with statistics and analytics of social media videos.

Encourage comments and likes.

Sometimes, what you need to do to ensure your videos are viewed is to ask the viewer. When you consider the immediacy and connection video content can have, this method is something that should be tapped into.

Not everyone who likes one of your videos will remember to drop a like or to become your subscriber, so sometimes these reminders are put into the description or within the video itself.

If you’re a new or emerging channel, there is absolutely nothing wrong with asking for some love straight out. Asking viewers to answer a question in the comments suggestion or to check out another video are both great ways to keep the engagement rolling. You can also embed other videos or add an external link to your website to work almost like a CTA.

Stream live when you want to have a more rapid growth

One of the latest social media trends involves video livestreaming, and it seems like it is here to stay. Since apps like Facebook, Periscope, and Instagram have made it easier to do a live video than ever before, more brands get on board.

YouTube has provided live videos for a long time but only just began gaining popularity. You can check out some of the most popular YouTube Live videos to get a sense of how other brands are using the service.

In the Lofi Girl’s YouTube live-stream video, comments populate in the Top Chat sidebar on the right.

Here are a few examples of ways you might use YouTube Live:

Webinars
Live tutorials
Q&A sessions
Product demonstrations

Don’t get discouraged if things don’t roll as smoothly as you would have hoped for with your streams. After all, part of the fun and risk of live video is that you never really know what’s going to happen. The unpolished, organic nature of live video is precisely why it’s compelling. For more tips on how to get started with YouTube Live, check out Google’s introduction to live streaming.

Tap into views with YouTube Shorts.

Shorts seize on that sticky, snackable form of vertical video that’s ruling the social media roost (hello TikTok, and Instagram Reels). It’s ideal for snapping viewers who’ve become habituated to scrolling ad infinitum on their phones to videos.

YouTube Shorts are no fling-them-hoping-to-get-lucky chance they are quite robust tools to help you grow on the platform. Here’s how you include shorts in the mix of content for your brand:

Share quick tips and mini-tutorials
Funny memes or comedy skits
Update viewers on viral news or the latest challenges
Product features and what people will get out of the product
Answer customer questions
Create before and after videos
Take your audience behind the curtain
This is how we do it here at Sprout Social:

Example of a YouTube Short from Sprout Social.
Source: YouTube

You can stretch out your longer videos into bite-sized Short content to get even more views and brand awareness. Do not forget to add a CTA to watch the full video on your channel and gain more views there as well.

Engage with the YouTube community.

Although you may not think of YouTube as a social network per se, the platform does represent a thriving community where users are engaging via content, profiles, “likes” and comments. It’s pretty “social” if we do say so ourselves.

This article has often been cited for information regarding ways to make sure your YouTube videos don’t end up demonetized. To that end, here are some suggestions: Engaging with your viewers at all is considered a good signal to YouTube. Better yet, interacting with your subscribers might be beneficial in helping you connect more closely with the audience. “Liking” comments take only a few seconds, as does pinning a top comment as some sort of private note to your subscribers.

For instance, the music channel Artists Of Morality regularly likes and comments on recent uploads. The creator of the channel often comments on the posts of subscribers to show appreciation and answer their questions, too. She even requests a call to action or challenges in her pinned comments like the one below:

Art of Morality’s YouTube comment section with multiple threads of engagement that include comments from subscribers and a pinned comment. The pinned comment calls out for viewers to comment with the timestamp of the bride and groom walking in the video for a shout-out in the next video.
Just like any other social network, YouTube is not an exception where you do not interact with your followers by commenting and responding.

Edit your thumbnail

One of the simplest but most effective techniques for marketing your YouTube channel is to create custom thumbnails. Consider the title and thumbnail of your video as a type of one-two punch that grabs a viewer’s eye.

The default behavior for YouTube will automatically capture a screenshot of any video and use that as the thumbnail. Of course, sometimes the image it will capture is a fuzzy shot of you adjusting the camera or transition.

Not such a great look, huh?

Making your thumbnails yourself not only makes your videos look more attractive at first glance but also carries a certain message of professionalism.

Thumbnails don’t have to be rocket science either. You can even create a template with a specific font and style to make it that much more consistent and on-brand. That’s made particularly easy with the help of image creation tools such as Canva. Here’s a great example from Binging with Babish:

Five Binging with Babish templated thumbnails. Each includes a close-up shot of food, as well as a shortened title in bold font.
Want to create easy social media templates to get started using Creator Studio? Take a look at our free YouTube banners you can download right now! 9. Promote other videos you own on YouTube
You are probably covering similar things on YouTube, so make sure to cross-promote your videos where you can.

For example, you can add links in the video description and challenge the viewers to check them out as a kind of call-to-action. It’s upsetting for some that YouTube took away its annotation system. But including links in your description encourages people to watch your videos all the way through without clicking away,

Description box from Sprout for the video Best Times to Post on Social Media. It has a description of the video and resources that feature in it, with links.

Target Google search results

As seen, YouTube is on a roll regarding SEO.

While you shouldn’t make content for either search engines or people strictly, you should market your YouTube channel with the assistance of SEO in mind.

It’s been proved that product reviews, how-to’s, and long content over 10 minutes related to keywords and topics tend to rank well in the SERPs. If you are facing issues with content ideas, or you would like to ride on the power of a buzzword that is trending in your industry, Then, think about the options available for you to accomplish that through marketing your YouTube channel.

The Google search results page shows YouTube videos for the keyword, “TikTok Marketing.” Loads of videos populate; this includes Six YouTube Marketing Tips You Need Right Now by Sprout.

Run a contest or giveaway.

If there is one thing that users love on YouTube, then it is a giveaway. Run a YouTube contest or a giveaway for people to subscribe to your channel and get them engaged.

If you want to keep your contests pretty simple, have people like your video, leave a comment, and subscribe to your channel to enter.

Here are some of our best practices when running any social media contest:

Make sure you are following YouTube’s guidelines.

Reward something related to your brand; otherwise, you will attract only people looking for free stuff.
Be different; reward with other non-traditional requirements such as using your content or by becoming part of your user-generated content.
Avoid, however, hosting too many YouTube contests. You should know that you are getting something from what you’re doing; otherwise, you will spend time, money, and resources on nothing. So do one contest and wait some time, then review your subscriber drop-off rate and engagement figures. If you don’t have subscribers who engage with your work, then you may just be grabbing people looking for free prizes.

Get your viewers to follow your series.

One smart way you can use your YouTube channel is by creating a specific video series on a theme or topic of interest. Sprout Social’s YouTube has different types of series that make up our YouTube presence. Here are some examples of the series: the “Always On” videos.

The playlist of Sprout’s YouTube for the “Always On” series:

Series are a win-win both for creators and viewers. For creators, you hold yourself accountable for creating fresh YouTube content and don’t need to rack your brain for ideas. This gives your audience something to anticipate and thereby a reason to revisit your channel.

Embed your YouTube videos.

The promotion of your YouTube channel can be effectively accomplished in places that are outside YouTube itself.

For example, video content drives higher conversion rates and lower bounce rates on-site. Want visitors to linger a little longer on that product page or blog post? Time to addIt’s time video, like we’ve done below.

And: any time you get the opportunity to send on-site (or social!) traffic over to Youis a win!

Use playlists to help corral and organize your YouTube content

The larger the number of videos on your channel, the harder it becomes for the viewers to find them.

That’s exactly why playlists are so important. They not only offer you the possibility of grouping your videos into categories and doing so as a tool for organizing your channel but also appeal to the viewer’s desire to binge.

For example, the Beardbrand grooming channel has hundreds of videos on tons of different topics. Diverse playlists in this channel guide subscribers to relevant content without needing to dig for them.

15 of Beardbrand’s YouTube playlists featuring hair grooming content.

Partner with other creators and brands

One of the very common tactics of the largest YouTube stars is collaboration with other users. Each collaboration brings you exposure to a new audience. The best thing is new viewers will be more likely to subscribe to your channel because you are collaborating with a content creator they already know and like and trust.

The secret to a good YouTube collaboration is the right partner. You want to find content creators who have similar passions for your brand so that your video will come across as authentic. This now-classic collaboration between BuzzFeed and Purina is a prime example of a thoughtful collaboration that doesn’t come across as overly promotional.

The Tagger should be a handy tool to find your niche’s big influencers. Its Affinity Engine digs deeper into audience interests and behaviors, not just surface-level stats. In other words, you can pin down the right creators whose followers best resonate with your brand’s vibe and campaign goals.

A view of influencer analytics by Tagger.

Run a paid YouTube ad campaign.

As this goes on and marketing in general is now pay-to-play, you can always pay for more exposure via paid YouTube ads. YouTube offers various ad formats to choose from:

Display ads: These are running on the right-hand sidebar of videos, but only on a desktop.

Overlay ads: These are semi-transparent ads that appear at the bottom part of a video. They work only on the desktop.

Video skippable and non-skippable ads: These can be shown before, during, or after a video. Skippable ads have the option to skip after five seconds, but the non-skippable ads need to be watched up till the end so that after watching it the viewer can watch his video.

Bumper Ads: These are not skippable ads. They are to be watched before the viewers can watch their video. They are up to six seconds long.

Sponsored Cards: These cards appear inside related videos. Use them for advertisements for your products or other content.

You can use either a video you already have or can create something new, especially for the campaign. The good thing about using a video you already have is you can choose a video you know you will surely have some success with in the past. If a video has lots of organically gained views and engagement, running paid ads will amplify your benefits.

On the other hand, creating a new video specifically for your advert will enable you to create a more bespoke piece of content that you will have far greater control over. For example, you can create an ad that ends with a specific call to action and, thus, takes people to a landing page or another video. For further information on YouTube’s video ad formats, click here.

Consistently share your YouTube content on social networks

As far as it is known, videos perform remarkably well on social media in terms of engagement and interaction.

So, you should always share your YouTube channel with your social community members asking them to subscribe. You should share your video as soon as it is launched on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn, so your followers will see it. You should also design various snippets or previews for any social platform containing links to your last published product.

With Sprout Social, you can schedule content and cross-promote without jumping from platform to platform. Features like ViralPost® can help also assist with sending information out when your social audiences are engaged.

Sprout ViralPost provides you with personalized best send times.

In pre-production, incorporate best practices.

Wear the producer’s cap now, and include some best pre-production practices. There is a lot that goes into creating a video even before the camera is turned on, however, these techniques will help you in efficient content production.

Contingency Planning: What do you do if your shoot location becomes an issue? What if your talent gets sick? Proactively plan for the worst, and you’ll have prepared for it.

Video Concept Planning-Video planning from the start to the finish: Storyboard all areas of the video, from which sections you can have visual jokes, animations, call-to-actions, etc., to mark it.

Create a shot list. A shot list will help you think of details you need to consider such as lighting, location, and camera angles. Once you have your script and storyboard done, make a list of every scene and note the action and dialogue required for each. Mark the type of setup you want (wide angle vs. close up).
Streamlining your content production means you will probably create more video because your process is a well-oiled machine versus one that always needs repair. Having a set process will also ensure each video is striking the right cord because you take the time to think through important visual details and logistics that add value to viewers.

Because you can be rather more relevant, you get more views and grow your YouTube channel over time.

4 things to level up your YouTube channel

And on top of the 17 tips you now know and probably do not, at least attempt to, live by, get caught up to date on everything YouTube. Level up your game with these resources:

Create a YouTube channel for your brand in 5 easy steps: Simplify set up and perfect your business channel.

11 Tips for Writing YouTube Descriptions: Make your videos stand out and find them as easily as possible using optimized descriptions.

YouTube SEO: How to maximize your video’s ranking – YouTube has emerged as one of the world’s biggest search engines. Follow these tips to ensure that you are addressing audience needs.

YouTube hashtags: How to make use of hashtags to increase your video views – Demystify how hashtags work on YouTube and get more eyes on your videos.
And with that, we have a wrap for our guide on how to get more views on YouTube.

How do you promote your YouTube channel?

Growing an audience on YouTube does not develop overnight, and yes-it can certainly feel like a grind if the space is crowded with competition.

This is merely one of the reasons why having a wide range of promotional strategies at your disposal is beneficial. While some of the tips mentioned above may require more work than others, each one of them can help you draw more attention to your channel and consequently gain more subscribers.

And if you want to supercharge your YouTube presence and start racking up real business results, Sprout Social has integrations you can use that make it even easier to schedule and publish content. Even deeper analytics functionality is available when paired with our integration so you can further improve your video strategy.