Maintaining a successful YouTube channel means more than just uploading quality or clever video; you need to think about search, engagement and growing a subscription base.  Below are ten key tips to keep in mind to make sure that you are getting the most out of your effort on YouTube.

1. Branding
Ensure your brand is evident and prominent to your channel visitors as soon as they arrive at your channel by applying brand related colors throughout the interface and a suitable brand standard image as the background.  How to create a branded channel: http://www.google.com/support/youtube/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=94526

2. Titles
Appropriate titles for your videos are imperative for YouTube search.  Ensure to include your company name in the title of each video.  You cannot rely on having your company name in your channel alone to find your videos through search.   This is a common mistake that I see when performing consulting services for many of our clients.  Other than your company name, include other keywords (do not over do it) that relate to the video, such as the product, service, purpose or names of other key individuals in the video, if necessary.

3. Descriptions & Tags
Once you have sorted out your title and used appropriate keywords concisely, ensure that your description of the video uses those same keywords and elaborates on the videos content as well as includes other keywords that are not suitable for your title.  Yes, you may include links in your description and no, you do not need to use any HTML tags to do so; simply include the website addresses that you need and voila, YouTube will convert your links once you save and upload the page.
Similarly, do not forget to add tags, which should be important keywords that relate to you business and video.

4. Playlists
No, your YouTube channel does not need to be populated solely with videos that you create.  Pool a listing (or several lists) of videos through YouTube’s playlist feature.  Your playlists will include videos made by other YouTubers and could include other videos such as useful industry resources.  For example, on my personal YouTube channel I have playlists per top social media tool and feature recently released videos by each company to keep my audience informed. Obviously, you want to stay away from promoting competitor videos, but any content that you would consider to be complementary are videos that you can link to a given playlist and promote on the homepage of your channel. How to make a playlist: http://www.google.com/support/youtube/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=57792

5. Engagement
There are multiple ways to encourage engagement within your YouTube channel.  Either at appropriate points throughout your video or especially at the end of your video, you should ask for audience input in the comments section below where your video will be posted.  In your video’s description you may also conclude with copy that encourages audience feedback and further contribution to your initial work.

6. Subscribers
Ultimately, you want to raise the number of subscribers to your YouTube channel.  Firstly, subscribe to YouTube channels of other users that relate to your industry.  Secondly, when promoting your YouTube channel, ensure to remind viewers to subscribe to your YouTube page.  On your blog and website, instead of just having a button link to your YouTube channel, have a button that says “subscribe” and then the YouTube logo and link to this button to your subscribe page in order to encourage subscriptions to your channel right from the start.  How to use subscriptions: http://www.google.com/support/youtube/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=159998

7. Bulletins
One of the newest features on YouTube is bulletins.  Now you can send bulletins or messages rather, to your list of subscribers.  When used appropriately, bulletins can be a great way to grow hype over a new video project that you are in pre or post production on that is not yet released.  You can send messages that promote other videos on YouTube and other links in general.  Think of bulletins as updates and useful for promotional use.  How to use bulletins: http://www.google.com/support/youtube/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=178035

8. Annotations
Have an important point to reinforce or a helpful link to provide during your video, use annotations and provide those extra notes.  Annotations, when used properly (think Pop-Up Video) can provide for a more complete and even interactive viewing experience.  Do not overdo it with the annotations though, as two annotations maximum per minute are plenty.  How to use annotations: http://www.youtube.com/t/annotations_about

9. Linked Videos
Just like bounce rates on websites, help your viewers stick around and watch another video on your channel.  Link your views together so that once your video concludes, a user may easily click on the current video to progress to others on your channel.  Give reasons to entice a user to stick around.  How to link videos: http://www.youtube.com/t/annotations_about

10. Promotion
Even though you have awesome footage, a branded channel, the right keywords in the right places and a growing list of subscribers, you need to spread the word about your videos and your channel.  Use your other social media tools such as Twitter, Facebook, blog and email marketing to spread the word about your recent uploaded videos.  Remember, it should not be all about you, as your videos are offering helpful content that you want to share and grow, so encourage viewer interaction, feedback and involvement within your promotional messaging from the get go.

I must say that limiting this post to ten tips was a little tough, so I would love to hear from you.  What other tips do you have for YouTube success?

-Marija Hamed, mhamed@451marketing.com


Gen Xers use social networking sites for both personal and professional use and therefore are more likely to carry several profiles and utilize multiple social networking outlets.  Overall, 17% or American Gen Xers visit social networking sites on a daily basis. LinkedIn, the Internet’s largest professional network, boasts a median user age of 40 and  according to PEW, 30% of 35-44 year olds have at least one profile on social networks (along with19% of 45-54 year olds).

Interestingly, female Gen Xers seem to be slightly more involved in social media on a regular basis than males.  In fact, females over the age of 40 are statistically more engaged in social media than younger women according to the website SheSpeaks.com.  In fact, females 45 years old and older used Facebook between January and March 2009 at a rate higher than any other category of users (eMarketer.com).

Clearly Gen Xers are becoming increasingly Internet savvy utilizing social media to make more informed purchasing decisions, find employment, engage with particular social groups (i.e. mommy bloggers) and stay in touch with family and friends through these most efficient and immediate methods. A recent eMarketer.com survey also found that social networks (67%) were more popular than email (65%) for mass communication.  Given the above trends in Internet social network use, Gen X’s use of social media is only expected to continue to rise. Keep an eye out for the new social media tools and technologies that spawn over the next few years—it would not be unlikely for them to be targeted to this demographic.

Facebook has introduced verified accounts along with the recent release of vanity URLs –  www.facebook.com/username. The site has reserved a large number of various usernames in a database waiting to be claimed for use. If a business is looking to obtain these restricted business names, and if the name is not already on the list, Facebook will place a hold on it making it no longer available to the general public. Obviously, the point here is that the business will be asked to prove their legal right to that name before they can receive it.

Twitter is also on the same page, but is taking an even more proactive approach. Twitter’s team will actually make contact with the person or entity that the account represents to verify their authenticity. Verified accounts get stamped with a ‘verified account’ sticker on that profile, helping to alleviate the issue of counterfeit accounts and impersonations. Celebrities, musicians, athletes, public officials, and public agencies are welcome to take advantage of Twitter verified accounts, however, unlike Facebook, the service is still not available for businesses.

The important thing to keep in mind here is that while a verified account does validate an account, it does not necessarily mean that that celebrity or organization head is actually the one who is behind all of those Tweets or Facebook updates. As an audience, we remain unable to confirm that a celebrity with a verified account is not simply having their assistant handle the tasks.

Overall, this trend is an important step in the evolution of social media. As social media sites continue to grow, so will the number of businesses and celebrities looking to capitalize and generate additional awareness from these important engagement tools. In order to maintain the social nature that has allowed these tools to spread at unprecedented levels, and avoid spam and piracy, transparency will continue to need to be an integral factor. Expect to see numerous other websites and services following Facebook and Twitter, and creating their own form of a verified account system.

Finally, this Saturday, June 13th, at 12:01 A.M., this will all change. Facebook users will have the opportunity to choose usernames in order to create unique vanity URLs, making profile sharing easier than ever.

One minute after midnight, the site will invite its 200 million users to either choose from a list of suggestions (all of which are a combination of a first and last name), or to create an original name. Social media addicts and those with common names will need to be diligent as usernames will be available on a first-come, first-served basis. Once facebook.com/jsmith has been claimed, all other J. Smiths hoping for that URL will be out of luck.

Users will also need to think carefully and strategically about their vanity URL choice, because once applied, they will not be able to alter their selections. In other words, think twice before rushing to grab “xXRockerJamesXx” first.

Facebook not only blogs about the new vanity URLs, but also provides users with a link to a live countdown.