11 Effective Ways to Grow a Community on YouTube!

Today I want to show you what are some of the best ways you can utilize to grow a bigger and stronger community around your YouTube channel.

You´ll find there are a number of effective strategies you can implement right away to boost your number and build a loyal fan base.

Without further adieu let´s dive in!

1. Name Your Tribe

One of the very first strategies most successful YouTubers usually utilize is naming their tribe.

But, what does that mean?

It basically means that you want to give a vibe of pertinence to a group through a label, an actual original name that is only related to your channel.

Let me give you an example.

Justin Bieber fans are the Beliebers, Kathy Perry fans named themselves the KatyCats, the same happens with some actors, and also with YouTubers.

The point is that you could use this by naming your people in a certain way, it should fun and unique, not necessarily very original but yet relatable to your channel, your own name, or your content.

2. Disregard The Numbers

Whether you have 1 or 100,000 subscribers you should always act as if you were just trying to help a friend or entertaining a brand new viewer.

The point is to keep the right mindset, which is giving away your very best in every video you make.

You should not try to think of it as reaching a certain number of views or subscribers, at least not at first.

However, having a specific goal you want to attain can be pretty good to motivate yourself.

I would suggest you focus on creating really good content that helps people out.

In fact, don´t ask for anything in return, not even that they subscribe or like your videos, everybody´s already doing that.

You must focus on helping them, show up every week, do your research, deliver with purpose, do exactly that a couple more times, at least for the next few weeks and then you can ask.

It´s like Gary Vaynerchuk says on his book “Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook: How to Tell Your Story in a Noisy Social World”, give before you ask.

It is a far more compelling marketing strategy to give away free content without asking anything more than their attention and then occasionally ask them to subscribe or like your videos.

3. ¡Dive Into the Comments!

This one is key.

In fact:

Videos that have engagement signals outrank videos that don´t, meaning that more comments get you higher rankings!

So, you´ll not only build a strong and engaged community but you´ll also get a bigger one.

Comments are one of those so-called engagement signals.

Now, you should have a strong Call to Action at the end of your video and also leave the very first comment on your video that lets your viewers know that you´re interested in what they have to say.

That will show your viewership that you really care about what they think and that you are willing to put in the work to listen to them.

You will see that this is what most successful YouTubers are doing.

But you don´t want to stop there!

You MUST reply or at least leave a like that lets your viewer know that you´ve read their comments.

I recommend you to do exactly that for the first 48 hours after you´ve released your video.

4. Email Marketing Strategy

Leverage your engagement power with a call to action so that people subscribe to your email list.

You can offer them a “bribe” and give away a free PDF that summarizes what you´ve talked about on your video or simply ask them to subscribe if they want to get more exclusive content.

In other words, you´ll get them to take action and join a private network that you´ll own and that you can manage however you want.

In fact, utilizing this method is one of the most effective ways you can take advantage of if you´re trying to build a community.

You´ll reach a mobile audience where social media and other platforms can´t compete!

Besides the obvious benefits like having a direct reach to your audience, there are a number of research studies that have revealed the many uses you can get from having your own email list.

For example, YouTube´s algorithm values how your videos perform in the very first 48 hours after uploading, so having an engaged list where you can let your people know that you´ve just released a new video can be very effective!

PRO TIP! Tuesdays are the best day of the week to send emails according to a Coshedule Research. Also doing it between 10 a.m. and from 8 p.m. to midnight proved to be even better, same research.

5. Schedule Live Events

Another great way you can grow your audience and build a strong fan base is through Live streaming.

YouTube lets you complement your day-to-day schedule with this feature in order to increase engagement.

The best part?

There´s no post-production process and they give you instant analytics and offer tools, like chatting with your viewers live!

In fact, they want you to do live streaming to encourage a stronger communication reach with your viewership.

As you´ve seen you can host these live events to offer a different approach with your content and the way you connect with your community.

Showing some behind the scenes content and giving to your most loyal viewers a much more personal and unfiltered image of yourself can make an effective way to build a strong bond.

6. Get Into Blogging

People want to know if you´re for real, and one great way to give a vibe of serious business and branding is having a blog to support your channel.

That way, you can reach your audience in a whole different manner and get them to read some of your content.

You´ll also be able to embed some of your videos which will affect positively how well you rank on the platform.

Needless to say, you´ll get more views as you rank both on Google and YouTube!

As with the next tip, we´re going to see you need to target your audience with precision and get them to watch your content beyond the YouTube platform.

How you can do that?

Well, that´s the good news, YouTube has already done a great job at it by doing the Traffic Source Report, which you´ll find in your analytics.

They´ve even recommended that in their Academy, inside the “Grow your community” section.

Make sure to check it out!

7. The Right Social Media

It is not so much about learning the advanced tactics and methods of social media marketing or even getting into as many platforms as you possibly can.

You need just a couple of the most effective ways to approach your audience through different sources and make your brand stand out by variating your content strategy across those platforms.

Above all, having some extra online presence gives you a little more credibility which helps to build trust with new viewers.

The “right” social media approach should be to focus on those platforms where most of your actual audience is.

Use the data from your YouTube analytics and figure out what your audience demographics and general stats are, where do they come from, how old they are.

That way you´ll get a better sense of who is watching your videos so you can retarget them in a different environment.

For example, a younger audience might be more attracted to an influencer who develops a presence on platforms like Snapchat or Instagram.

Now go and do your homework!

8. Over the Shoulder Method

The main purpose of this technique is to deliver unique content only to those willing to take some action.

The good news?

You´ll be able to boost your community engagement and get more viewers in the process.

This is what you should do.

Your first option:

Offer your audience a brief summary of what you just talked about through a downloadable PDF that they can access to if they subscribe to your email list.

A helpful and good looking infographic also works great! If you´re willing to put in the time.

A second option:

Let them know they´ll get to some of your exclusive private videos or blog posts that you only make available for your email subscribers.

A really powerful way to make them wonder and pick their interest.

Just make sure your content is good and actually helps your viewers or fulfills a need they may have.

Design for Sharability

Now, if we´re talking about going overboard and making the most of your videos then you can optimize your content for sharability.

In fact:

By doing that you´ll get twice the exposure with half the work!

But, what makes videos sharable?

Well, let here a couple proven tips that actually work. (According to the Content Marketing Institute)

Evoke an emotional reaction. Basically making people feel something, whether is joy, sadness, surprise, or whatever it may be, increase the likelihood of sharability.
Optimize for Social Media. You can easily use a clip or two from your original video that could serve as a teaser that you can upload and share on social media. In fact, Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram make a great example of that.
Be practical. If you could share actionable tips and hacks that people can put in practice immediately it will create much more engagement.
Use effective storytelling. It means that you should have a short and concise introduction, a pre-planned middle, and a strong end, preferably with a direct call to action.

9. Trailer Power

Everybody knows that your channel trailer can turn random viewers into brand new subscribers.

If you actually know what the heck you´re doing!

The real question is:

How do you create an awesome trailer that gets the job done?

That´s easy, use the TOP Formula by Brain Dean. (Target your audience, Origin story, Pitch to subscribe)

Target audience. You want to make sure to let the viewer know that he or she came to the right place by saying who your channel is for in the very first seconds of your trailer video.
Origin story. A great way to make those new watchers into loyal fans by helping them to relate to you and your content easily. Find a way to tell your story in a compelling manner and get your message across.
Pitch to subscribe. End with a strong call to action asking them to subscribe to your channel if they want to learn more about you and don´t miss any of your upcoming videos.

10. 3 Top Branding Channel Tips

One of the most effective ways you can build a community whether is on YouTube or any sort of platform out there is through proper branding.

Here are some best practices you can apply right away to get your viewers to come back for more and create great content that gets recognized!

Slogan Phrase

Many YouTubers that have already created a good fan base have a niche slogan phrase that usually says at the beginning of their videos or sometimes they spell it throughout the content.

This does two things.

First, it makes your brand more memorable and stays longer with the viewer.

Secondly, evokes the essence of your brand and it serves as a catchphrase that can be related back to you and your videos.

Thumbnail Recognition

Another very important aspect of branding a YouTube channel are thumbnails.

Whether is just you and some customized graphics or text, or you get a very professional looking photo of something related to the topic that the video is about, your thumbnails are the very first way your viewers get in touch with your content.

Having a consistent design, choosing a nice font for your text and using the same colors are some basic methods to make yourself and your videos more recognizable.

It also gives a much more professional vibe and makes the viewer think that you are taking this seriously and not just uploading videos here and there.

PRO TIP! Avoid using the same colors that YouTube does as you´ll blend in with the platform. A tip I´ve picked up from Brain Dean´s videos.

Video Formatting

Last but not least, having a video format.

Not so many people talk about the fact that having a video format not only makes your job easier as you get better at it but also gives the audience a certain level of expectancy and convenience to consume your content.

It´s another way of branding yourself and your channel as a whole.

People will know what to expect from your videos and therefore will not be disappointed after clicking.

11. Bond With the Viewer

It`s all about sharing your story and find some common ground.

Asking for some feedback it`s not only useful for you as a creator but it also gets your audience involved in your content creation process.

if you actually care about your viewership and the message you want to deliver it´ll show on camera.

In other words, when you do a live streaming, comment on your videos, or ask people to take any type of action you should be always aware of the way you communicate.

You want to appear as real, authentic, have a conversation with the viewer as if you were talking to a friend.

Although showing a professional self may be a good idea in some niches most of the time people search for videos on YouTube because they want more personal content, a 101 interaction.

Keep that in mind next time you are on camera.

Final BONUS!

As a thank you for getting to the end of this blog post I want to leave you with this last strategy.

In order to build a strong community within the YouTube platform, you can take advantage of your “winner” videos.

You may wonder, what the hecks are those?

I mean those videos that get the most amount of subscribers for your channel, it´s not necessarily your most viewed videos.

Go to “Subscribers” in your Analytics tab and then click on “YouTube watch page” on the right.

You´ll get a list ordered by the videos that get the most number of subs to your channel with the exact amount for each video. Those are your winners.

Now, what you should do is use one of your winners as a channel trailer!

You´ll not only save the time you´d be spending by making a channel trailer but you´ll get for sure more subscribers.

The Digital Hustler

How to Grow a Community on YouTube