YouTube remains one of the most popular platforms for online marketing. Video is increasing in popularity with the rise of TikTok and Instagram’s introduction of video reels. Despite this, YouTube still remains a firm favorite for video marketers, and businesses continuously turn to the platform to share stories, promote products, and connect with consumers.
One thing many businesses are overlooking is the watch time of their videos. Watch time is the key to successful YouTube marketing. The aim of the game is to keep your watchers watching your videos the whole way through. If your viewer gets bored of your video and turns it off, not only have you lost a potential subscriber and buyer, but you’ve also discouraged them from watching any content you put on the platform in the future.
In this blog post, we’re sharing five simple ways you can increase your YouTube watch time.
1. Choosing Correct Titles and Thumbnails
The title and thumbnail is the first impression of your video. This means it’s essential that both the thumbnail and the video title entices the user and gets them to click on your video.
You want your thumbnail and title to stand out. If someone is searching for a particular subject, with five hundred hours of video uploaded every minute, they’re going to have a lot of content to choose from. Your goal is to make them click your video instead of the other million available to them.
How do you do this?
You achieve this by having a vivid, eye-catching and informative thumbnail and captivating copy that goes with it. Your thumbnail and title need to work together to tell the viewer that clicking your video will provide them with the answers they need.
YouTube is a search engine, and you must approach it in this way. Users don’t want to be scrolling for hours; they want easy access and quick answers. Your YouTube thumbnail and title copy are what tells them if you can provide these answers or not.
2. Using Cards Throughout Videos
If you don’t know what cards are, you’re already doing something wrong. Cards are an incredible marketing tool that gets your viewers to consume more of your content. Having relevant cards pop up during your video not only encourages views, but it shows you have authority in the topic you’re discussing.
Cards are notifications that are formatted to pop up in certain parts of the video and encourage action. These are simple to use embedded call to action tools.
You can use cards to promote other similar content, push products, or provide easy link access to something you reference in the video.
Adding cards to your video enriches the watcher’s experience and encourages them to take action and keep interacting with the information you put in front of them.
For example, ArXe Ventures, a leading marketing agency, found bounce rate on YouTube dramatically decreased by using cards at the end of videos.
3. Using Video Premieres
YouTube premiers are a relatively new feature to the platform, which means your competitor creators are less likely to be utilizing them.
YouTube premiers show your video in subscribers feeds with a date and time for release. This means that even before your video goes live, your viewers are aware of it.
You might be wondering, what difference does it make if my YouTube video is premiered or just simply uploaded?
The answer is quite a lot of difference.
By viewing the thumbnail and video title before the video is uploaded, your viewers will begin to look forward to and anticipate its release. This anticipation is what’s going to encourage them to come back and watch the video when it goes live.
YouTube premiers can help create buzz around the release of a video and inspire a sense of community as your subscribers experience the new video together for the first time, all at the same time.
4. Creating Playlists
Creating a playlist of your videos inspires viewers to watch more of your content, and even binge-watch through a series of videos. As a nation obsessed with Netflix drama’s, it’s not surprising we enjoy being pushed to consume more video when the one we’re currently watching is over.
Alongside introducing your viewer to more of your YouTube videos, a playlist is a great way to exhibit expertise in your field. By showing the user how many videos you’ve produced on this subject, it indicates that you’re knowledgeable on this topic. As a result of this, the viewer is more inclined to trust what you say and comes back to your videos to learn more.
By suggesting your viewer more content to consume and showing them you know what you’re talking about, your watch time will increase significantly.
5. Using Long-Tail Keywords
Lots of YouTubers disregard SEO marketing. Google owns YouTube. Which means you should be taking advantage of SEO marketing in your videos, and to increase your watch time.
As mentioned previously, YouTube is a search engine, and so, there are several ways you can optimize your content to show viewers you have the answers they need. One of the most effective ways to do this is by using long-tail keywords.
If you’re unfamiliar with what long-tail keywords are, these are less specific keywords. Less specific keywords are searched less often, have less traffic, but are easier to rank for.
Long-tail keywords tend to be more niche-specific, which means they can help you connect with your ideal viewer/client. By optimizing your YouTube content with 5-7 keywords or keyword phrases, you’re going to attract viewers that are genuinely interested in your content. This is more beneficial to your watch time as it means these viewers are likely to stay on your videos for longer and consume more of your work.
YouTube keeps advancing their platform to help marketers succeed. This means that increasing your watch time isn’t actually too difficult. The key to increasing your watch time is to make sure your videos reach their ideal viewers. Once you’ve optimized your YouTube videos to do this, you can implement calls to action to keep your viewers engaged and keen to watch more.
These skills can also be transferred to other social media platforms – and be used instead of paying money for Instagram Growth Services or other similar agencies.
If you achieve these simple steps, you can increase your watch time, find a dedicated community of viewers, and successfully market on YouTube.
Recommended reading: 10 Amazing Tips How To Grow Your YouTube Channel
[Images – Main Photo by Noah Buscher on Unsplash; Two party girls by Julia Larson from Pexels; other images from their respective websites and/or social platforms]
Jamie Ashley, founder of ArXe Ventures, is a Digital Marketing enthusiast. He owns several blogs including The E-Commerce Entrepreneur, where he shares the latest tips on Social Media and SEO.