4 Ways to Optimize Your YouTube Channel for Conversions
Want to get more out of your YouTube channel? Wondering how to turn viewers into customers?
how to improve your leads or sales by taking advantage of YouTube tools and features.
- Optimize Your YouTube Channel Page for First Impressions
Update Your YouTube Profile
Only the first 150 characters or so appear in Google search and the first 100 characters or so appear in YouTube search. For best results, include your main keywords in the first sentence of your description. That way, prospects can quickly understand what your channel is about and decide whether your brand can meet their needs. Then head to the Home tab of your channel to update the branding and make sure it’s consistent across your logo and banner. In your banner, add a link to your home page or another branded landing page where prospects can go to contact your business, subscribe to your list, or make a purchase.
Design Eye-Catching Thumbnails
In addition to streamlining the branding in your profile, take time to create a consistent look for your video thumbnails. These graphics may be small but they can be a major factor in increasing your click-through rate (CTR).
To create eye-catching thumbnails, combine visuals from your video with simple text overlays. The text should act as a hook that draws in viewers right away. While your thumbnails don’t have to look like carbon copies of each other, a consistent design can help prospects easily identify your brand in search or on their YouTube home page.
Choose Trailers and Featured Videos
Add a channel trailer or featured video. Both are optional but each can help attract and convert prospects at different stages of the customer journey
- Channel trailers automatically play for new prospects who haven’t subscribed to your channel yet. Short videos that introduce your brand or longer tutorials that show what your brand can do often work best for top-of-funnel prospects.
- Featured videos automatically play for subscribers, as long as they haven’t already viewed the content. Your latest video or content geared toward the consideration stage of the customer journey often works best in this spot.
2. Align YouTube Video Content With Your Marketing Funnel
Create Content for Each Stage
you want to publish videos that appeal to a lot of people but producing one-size-fits-all content isn’t a realistic goal for most brands. After all, your prospects are at various stages of the customer journey. That means they need different types of content to guide them toward a conversion. So what’s the right type of content for each group of prospects? The specifics depend on your business and what you offer but these ideas can point you in the right direction
Introductory videos that share your brand’s story to build trust in your team and your products or services
More in-depth videos that give an overview of how to use your products or services
Tutorials and step-by-step guides that walk prospects through features that address specific pain points
Advanced tutorials that show long-time customers how to do higher-level tasks or get more value from your products or services
Engage With Viewers via Live Content
For most brands, publishing pre-recorded video on YouTube is the norm. Naturally, pre-recorded video lets you reshoot as many times as you like and use post-production tools for a professional-looking product. But you shouldn’t rule out live video entirely. Livestreaming can complement your pre-recorded content and give viewers more opportunities to engage and convert. Live video also tends to appear more authentic, which can help your brand build trust. If you plan ahead, you can even script live video and create professional sets, which can result in high-quality content.
Nurture Prospects With Playlists
In most cases, a single video won’t be enough to lead viewers from the top of the funnel all the way to a conversion. Instead, they may need to watch several videos, either all at once or over the course of weeks or months. To help prospects find the content they need to make a decision, organize your videos into playlists—which play each video automatically. You can group content by theme or customer journey stage.
3. Guide YouTube Viewers to Conversions With Calls to Action
Ideally, you want prospects to view and engage with a lot of your content. When viewers engage with your videos, the
Ideally, you want prospects to view and engage with a lot of your content. When viewers engage with your videos, the YouTube algorithm is likely to place your content on prospects’ home pages. When those same viewers watch your videos regularly, your content can guide them through their customer journey organically. But it’s important to remember that the views themselves aren’t conversions. So how do you turn viewers into warm leads and paying customers? Strong CTAs are critical for getting viewers to take the next step and you should incorporate them throughout your YouTube content.
Optimize Titles and Descriptions
Great captions can boost your videos’ search engine optimization (SEO) and give you numerous linking opportunities. First, let’s look at how to leverage the SEO potential of your video titles and descriptions. Although you may know YouTube as a social media site, it’s also a search engine. Optimizing your video titles and descriptions can increase the chances of your content appearing in your prospects’ search results. Start by identifying the right keywords for your video. Your channel’s analytics can reveal some of the search terms people use to find your content, which may give you some good keyword ideas. But for more in-depth data, you typically need a third-party tool like TubeBuddy to find keywords, identify the most effective video tags, and even see what keywords and tags your competitors are using.
Add YouTube Cards
YouTube allows several types of cards that can link to videos, playlists, and channels. You can add up to five cards throughout a video at specific times. That means you can direct viewers to other content that’s likely to be useful and guide them toward a conversion.
Insert Clickable Links
These links appear behind an “i” icon in the upper-right corner of the video and can include a CTA. When viewers click the icon, a panel appears on the right side of the screen with clickable content. In the panel, you can recommend other videos or add links to content on your website.
4: Leverage YouTube’s eCommerce Features
If your business sells eCommerce products and your channel meets eligibility requirements, you can create a merch shelf for your YouTube channel. Merch appears on a Store tab on your channel, as well as in a scrollable panel below your video descriptions. Viewers can click through any merch item to browse and buy instantly.
Conclusion
By optimizing your channel, producing high-quality videos for every stage of the funnel, and using effective CTAs, you can create a successful YouTube lead generation strategy. When you add existing eCommerce features like merch and upcoming features like live shopping, you can start driving revenue directly from YouTube
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