7 Mistakes That Will Not Grow Your YouTube Channel

Before you upload another video, you cannot just be throwing videos on YouTube and expecting the leads to just come raining down upon you, okay?

This happens all the time and I think I need to be the one to talk about it! I know every marketing guru, even myself needs to start repurposing content and some of y'all (not going to say who!) take and repurpose the crap out of everything!

YouTube Channel Growth Tips

YouTube is not like all these other social media channels, right? They're not just going to let you repurpose something easily and expect to rank. No honey. That's not how it works but I'm going to show you how to make sure you're doing everything so you can have the highest ROI on what you invest into YouTube.

Okay, so let's get into these mistakes, honey, because, oh, my God, all seven of these. I cannot believe it!

How YouTube Ranks Your Content

The first mistake I am seeing happening is that you don't understand how YouTube works and it’s getting you every single time. You think that YouTube is just like some other video-based platform or you can just do the same things that you do on Instagram and Facebook and all these other things, right? Nope. Stop!

YouTube is a search engine. It is the second largest search engine and it's owned by the first largest search engine, which is Google! The purpose behind search engines is to deliver the right piece of content to the person searching for this thing. So, how can we give YouTube everything that they need to make sure they are going to deliver our video to the person who is searching for a similar and relevant topic?

We need to make sure that we are doing that first. People searching on YouTube are intent-based and problem-aware. They're searching for their issues and answers, honey and we need to be there!

The way that we do that is to ensure we are providing as much information and data to YouTube for them to categorize our videos appropriately whenever someone is searching for that type of content. A search engine base is not a social media base so we have to be very intentional about the type of content that we're putting on YouTube.

How To Brand Your YouTube Channel

The second mistake that people are making when they're trying to add YouTube to their marketing strategy is that their branding is not consistent. Even though I said that YouTube is not like the other social media sites, girl you still got to have an aesthetic!

The two ways to make this super easy is to make sure you have an on-brand banner. If you go to someone's YouTube channel, it's going to have a nice little banner design and it has a few things: your face, the theme of your channel, and the frequency of video posts. Those are the three components that I recommend having in your channel banner. To make sure that people know what they're getting. Think of your channel as an actual TV show. TV shows come on at the same time every week so, I want you to treat it that way too!

YouTube Banner Example

We want people to know when they can expect a video from us. We don't want them to think that we're just some dead channel with these old videos or constantly always in production. We need them to know that, oh no, we have new content coming up. So, you're going to want to stick around. Making sure that you have your specialty, what you do. For example, mine right now has my beautiful face. It shows "business and social media advice for coaches and consultants" and then it has "new videos uploaded every Monday". So, that gives people the idea to let them know "hey, I'm in the right place".

Now, the second way that we need to start making your branding consistent is through your thumbnails. The only graphic that videos have individually is your thumbnail and we need to make sure the thumbnail is consistent with your brand and you're using the same designs across all your other videos.

YouTube Thumbnail Example

We want people to know this video is your video even if it's in a sea of other videos because the name of the game is you are competing for attention when someone is searching for something. After someone searches for a topic and your videos pop up, we are competing with the other search results. But if you have a consistent brand and they may be already picked out and watched your video before, they're going to know, "okay, I want to go see Jamar's video because last time he did help me. So, I know that this is going to be a good video".

It helps the viewer discern what is going to be a quality video and what is not. So, that's just an easy way for people to find out and when you're doing the thumbnail, there are a few things that I want you to also include. In your thumbnail, I want to make sure that you have, not only your brand colors but your face in there because your click-through rates are higher when you have a picture of you in there. Then, we have the words of what your video is about. What are the main things that people need to know about the video?

What is going to be the thing that makes them want to say, "Oh, shoot, I need to watch that video". So, making sure that you have those elements in your thumbnail is going to be good for your branding and your consistency.

How Many Times To Upload On YouTube

Next, you're not posting consistently! This is the issue and it's a separate issue from what we're talking about when it comes to understanding your channel banner and branding. We need to be consistent because we need to be giving the YouTube algorithm fresh content all the time. The standard is one video a week, so we need to make sure we are creating content for YouTube and giving them a video every single week. That's going to be how we stay consistent. If you have any issues, the way I do it is I like to batch record. I like to plan out my videos a month in advance. So, I come up with four video ideas. I do my keyword research and all that good stuff. I outline a video and then I pick a day on the calendar and set aside a max of three to four hours.

Most times it takes me two and a half hours, or maybe even two hours. Then, I just start shooting and going. Afterward, I pass it on to my video team so that they can start getting it edited and things like that. Next, I just start scheduling the videos once a week. Making sure that we are consistent is going to help us a lot. Not only will that help us with the YouTube algorithm, but that also helps us with our viewers. So, they are always knowing whenever we're going to be uploading a video. That's going to help us always get that first 24-hour traffic in there from our own community a little bit easier. Because that's one of the ranking factors whenever it comes to YouTube videos.

How many people can we get to this video and within the first 24 hours? Because that's going to tell YouTube, "Oh, this video is very helpful. People are watching it and they're watching it all the way through. Okay, let's go ahead and serve it to more people”. If we keep it consistent, people know they should be looking for that video. They're going to be ready to expect it on that day. If it's a very inconsistent time like maybe you do it on a Wednesday, then maybe you do it on a Thursday, you're going to start falling into their schedule. Also, you're not going to have the same type of effect on them showing up for you and giving you as much traffic as you need within the first 24 hours.

What YouTube Content To Post

The fourth mistake that people are making with the YouTube strategy is we start with vlogs! You cannot start your channel with vlogs. If you are a coaching consultant or expert and you're looking to get more leads or add this whole thing into your marketing strategy, starting with a vlog is not going to be the thing you do. Okay?

We cannot do that. Especially if you're just starting and the reason why I say this is because no one is searching for your vlog. They are not interested in it yet. I always recommend education content first! People are searching for the content. We need to be solving problems first to get them to care about us. They don't care about us yet. They don't care about our office tour, our home tour, or our apartment tour. They just want their questions answered and if you can answer their questions then that's going to be how you hook them in. It's going to give you the most return on your investment whenever you're thinking about adding YouTube to your strategy than any other type of content.

If you provide a service for people, let's go ahead and educate them through tutorials, things like that. Let's build that interest and start attracting people because most other things that people are searching for is to solve their problem. Educational first, vlogging later!

Use YouTube Channel Features

Now the fifth mistake that you're making in your YouTube strategy is that you're not using all of YouTube features! You're just throwing a video on YouTube and then just saying, "Whew, I'm done. I wonder when I'm going to go viral, or I wonder when I'm going to rank on YouTube search." Is this how it's done? Is this how the influencers do it? No, it's not how the influencers do it!

We need to start using all the features so that we're giving YouTube all the data that they need to categorize and rank our video in what we need it for. Here's what I want you to do. I want you to upload the video, start creating better titles, use the thumbnails, use the info cards, link your other relating videos to the same video and use the end card. Also, I want you to start using playlists and tags as well. When you are uploading your video and YouTube is showing you everything that you need to be filled out, fill it out! Leave nothing blank!

That's going to be how YouTube is going to say, "Okay, your video is appropriate for these people. Now, we know where to send your video to". If you're not doing that, you're not going to rank and now you're just wasting your time on YouTube! You're not going to get a return on your investment.

We are busy people! Every piece of content needs to matter. Every piece of content needs to go forward and go with our mission of getting more clients, getting more customers. You're not doing that whenever you're just posting a video on YouTube without optimizing it. So, make sure that you're using all the features.

Better YouTube Repurposing Strategy by Using YouTube Video Format

Now, the sixth mistake in your YouTube strategy is the repurposing strategy! Most people are just repurposing and just using YouTube as a video dump or they're just using it as a place to link to their sales pages and things like that.

So, if you have been here for a minute, you've already known that I talked about podcasts. So, most people start with a podcast, they stop it after six months because it's very hard to get traffic to it and one of the ways that I recommend repurposing this type of content is to also film your podcast and then repurpose it with little clips that you could rank differently on YouTube. Now, repurposing also goes into if you're going live on Instagram. Don't be afraid to just pull up another camera, even if it is another phone camera, and just record your Live so that you can reuse it for Instagram!

You don't have to be looking at the camera all the time. You can still look at the people in your Live, but this is going to allow you to have a better quality visual when you repurpose this video up on YouTube. So, just think about different ways how you can repurpose your content. What are you currently doing and how can you repurpose it in a way that is more appropriate for YouTube?

Another thing about YouTube is there are certain formats that you have to follow for people to watch your video all the way through. It's very different than Instagram Live. So, if you're thinking about repurposing your Live, you may want to take clips out from the Live to relate to a certain topic that you want to rank for on YouTube. Then use those clips when recording an intro and an outro.

So, record the intro talk about what this video is going to be about, and then plug in the Live there and then have the outro as well. That’s what people are used to when it comes to YouTube videos. They're used to being hooked in, warmed up and getting the meat and potatoes, and then closing out. Think about how you can repurpose your content but repurpose it in the way that works for YouTube.

How to End YouTube Videos

The seventh YouTube strategy mistake is you are not having a call to action in your videos. This is the issue with most channels where people don't talk about their call to action as much. They just think that people should know, and that's the issue here. Whatever offer that you have and whatever you want people to go to after they watch your video, I need you to talk about it in the video. I need you to put it in the description of your video. Talk about it more because people are just going to be like, "Oh my God, that was so helpful." And then they go about their day!

They're going to start doing what you had educated them on but what if you had more information to share with them like your podcast, email lists, or booking a strategy call with you? People are not thinking they could work with you unless you talk about it in your YouTube video. Think about these things as you make your videos. What is going to be the call to action? What do you want these people to do? They're not going to just do it because they can read your mind. People are busy! You need to tell them what you want them to do! I always recommend that because that's going to help you make sure that your video is pushing them along in their journey and they don't just stop at watching that video.

Final Thoughts

I know I hit a ton of things here, and I hope that you guys understand that it was out of love if you made any of those mistakes, I still love you, but we have got to do better. Your YouTube strategy can be one of the most important marketing and lead generation strategies that you have in your business. I just want to make sure that you are doing it correctly, honey!

If you are looking for help on making a money-making YouTube strategy, then maybe my YouTube strategy consulting is a good solution for you.