It’s every businessman’s dream to go big on YouTube. Video is the number one digital medium on the web, and YouTube is the leading video platform. However, a stigma has developed for channels with few subscribers.
Many businesses think their YouTube marketing campaign is a bust if they don’t have a certain number of subscribers. This couldn’t be further from the truth. If you want to make money with YouTube without stressing about your subscriber count, stay tuned.
What Is YouTube—Really?
YouTube is simultaneously a free service and a social network.
As a free service, YouTube functions for people to upload videos for universal viewing, sharing, and embedding without the hassle of conversions or self-hosting. As a social network, people use YouTube to promote these videos and grow their brand.
Because of YouTube’s dual function, we often mix these two objectives. Services bolster an existing marketing strategy, whereas social networks stand as their own marketing campaigns.
With either objective, YouTube is monetizable—just in different ways. YouTube as a service works to support an existing marketing plan through video marketing. By itself, YouTube can give you a great way to harvest your audience.
With either option, converting your viewers and subscribers to external monetization routes can be one of the most effective ways to make money.
Subscriber Count vs. View Count: What Matters?
If you focus on using YouTube as a social network, your goal most likely will include the following:
● Increase subscriber count.
● Increase shares.
● Channel branding and recognition.
As a service to support your other digital marketing efforts, YouTube best supports these goals:
● Increase views.
● Increase shares.
● Increase conversions.
Although many of the goals overlap, the central difference is a focus on subscriber count vs. view count. Valuing your subscriber count means you value YouTube as a social network. Placing a higher priority on view count means you care more about the attention your video itself is getting, not necessarily your channel as a whole.
You only want to build your subscription count on YouTube if YouTube is your main distribution platform for informing and promoting to your audience (i.e., your subscribers).
But if you are active on other social networks, then you can use YouTube videos for marketing on these websites by embedding and posting links. Your CTA (call-to-action) on your YouTube videos could ask viewers to “follow us on Facebook” or “start this free trial” instead of “subscribe here.”
Monetizing Your YouTube Videos Without Subscribers
Now that you understand the function of YouTube as a video hosting tool, you can shift your monetization focus from gaining subscribers to growing conversions. Let’s look at how anyone can make money with YouTube without a single subscriber.
YouTube Partner Program
“The YouTube Partner Program lets creators monetize their content on YouTube. Creators can earn money from advertisements served on their videos and from YouTube Red subscribers watching their content.”
- Reference: YouTube Partner Program overview
Admission into the YouTube Partner Program is independent of your subscriber count. However, you do need at least 10,000 channel views to be considered for monetization.
Sponsorships
Sponsorships on a YouTube channel or video work just like other sponsorships. Brands will pay you to promote their product briefly on your videos. However, many factors determine whether you can secure sponsors or not, such as the popularity of your videos or your target viewer demographics. You can find sponsors on websites like FameBit.
Affiliate Marketing
Similar to sponsorships, affiliate marketing is where a business will pay you to mention their product or service in your videos. Affiliate marketing is popular with many YouTube creators.
To find affiliates, you do not need a certain count of subscribers, but you will need some power behind your videos that make it worthwhile for the affiliate.
Monetizing by Converting
Conversions are the meat of subscribers' YouTube monetization. This is where YouTube marketing turns into video marketing. The impact of an effective video marketing strategy is undeniable.
Instead of focusing on promoting or monetizing your YouTube channel, re-focus on the video content. What are you planning to achieve by creating this type of content? Where are the CTA’s in your video? Who watches your videos and are they sharing them?
Don’t expect your videos to get views without effort on your part. Share your YouTube video on social media—Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat. Encourage your email subscribers or your blog readers to check out your video and share it if they find it interesting.
Wrap Up
The truth? Video marketing is where YouTube’s power comes from. Use the power of video to your advantage. For the most part, your target audience will appreciate a well-made video more than a lengthy blog post or a non-visual podcast.
If you want to start making money on YouTube, it’s time to be serious. Create content that people are dying to watch, share, and comment on. Promote this content and pitch it to sponsors. Leave no room for laziness in your YouTube video marketing strategy, and you will be rewarded fruitfully.
Brenna Clarine is a freelance blogger who writes and edits articles on a variety of topics. Her passions include animals, videos, and technology. Check out her work and benefit from her company’s unrivaled freelance video editing and videographer services at Valoso.
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