How do I drive traffic to my YouTube videos?

With so many social networks competing for your time and budget, you need to be intentional about how you prioritize your marketing efforts.

Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest and Twitter often take center stage for brands looking to reach their audience on social media, but don’t underestimate the potential of YouTube. We’ve talked a lot about what a growing force video is – and will continue to be. It’s huge, and YouTube is still the place people flock to for information and entertainment.

When your brand has an engaging, relevant and frequently updated YouTube channel, it gives your audience a reason to subscribe, share content and keep coming back. And that enthusiasm only feeds the brand loyalty you’re trying to build.

So if we agree that YouTube is a great marketing tool that builds brand loyalty, that brings up an important question: How do I drive traffic to my YouTube videos? You can have thousands of fantastic videos, but they’re no good to you if no one watches them.

It can be a challenge to stand out and get noticed by your target audience when there’s a lot of noise out there. Try these four strategies to drive traffic to your YouTube videos.

1. SEO Descriptions

This is a simple but important step that many people neglect to take. For every video that you post to YouTube, you can enter information that helps interested viewers find it. Don’t rush through this and jot down throwaway text. Take a few extra minutes to think through the topics and interests your video relates to, and use those keywords in your video’s description. The keywords in the video’s tags, title and descriptions will help get more eyeballs on your YouTube channel.

2. YouTube Ads

YouTube offers brands robust advertising options to hook audiences when they’re already watching related content. You can select any video to create a YouTube ad, then set a daily budget. You’re only charged for an ad when a viewer engages with it, meaning that if someone skips it before 30 seconds (or the end), you don’t pay. You can target ads based on interests, age, gender, location, etc. Analytics track how each ad performs, including where it’s viewed, how many clicks it gets and how many views you paid for.

3. YouTube Influencer Campaigns

Your potential customers are already watching YouTube videos, and they have their trusted favorites that they rely on for tips, tutorials and recommendations. Influencer marketing connects you to the perfect influencers in your arena and finds a way to work with them in an authentic way. They won’t just be putting up your commercial on their YouTube channel; instead, they’ll use your products and talk honestly talk about your brand, encouraging their followers to check you and your videos out. A shout-out from a popular influencer in your space gives your YouTube channel a lot of attention from the people you want to reach.

4. Facebook Ads

Facebook ads, like those on YouTube, are highly customizable. They allow you to set your daily or campaign budget and target your audience based on age, interests, gender, location, behaviors, etc. You can set these ads to drive traffic to a URL of your choice, whether that’s a specific YouTube video you want to promote or your channel. Facebook lets you select either a photo or a video to feature in your ad, so you can even upload a short, attention-catching clip from one of your videos.
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