YouTube has even added tools that make it a crucial platform for self-promoting artists and musicians, such as YouTube music video promotion for Artists, a built-in analytics section, and customizable profile settings. So, why wouldn’t a musician want to take advantage of such exposure? You’d be a fool if you didn’t. And if you’re reading this, we’re guessing you’re not one of those people.
There are 12 different ways to promote music on YouTube
Why is it so crucial to have videos to promote your music?
The capacity of film and graphics to generate a faster and more meaningful connection between a song and its listeners explains a lot of the dependence on them. You can also get paid for every person who watches your music video.
1.Make your profile more appealing
It is important to make a good first impression. Big-time. Start off on the right foot by making sure your YouTube channel is well-presented and appealing to the eye. Here’s a handy checklist to get you started.https://www.realitypapers.co/
2.Get the word out
You shouldn’t neglect your social media approach just because you’re attempting to build an audience on YouTube. Instead, you should use online organizations and forums to communicate with people from various backgrounds, subjects, and interests. On sites like Sound Cloud and Reddit, musicians have formed some of the most popular online community groups. You can join subedits that are specialized to your music genre or style, as well as more generic ones like ‘r/listen to this’ on Reddit.
Consider how you might be able to contribute value to these group dynamics. Is your film dealing with any particular subjects or themes that are important to this group or community? If it does, that’s fantastic! Please share your thoughts. This also entails being active on all of the major social media sites in order to broaden your reach, generate buzz for new projects or advancements, post your music videos, and create other forms of interesting content. You can also produce teaser content for your music video, such as a 15-second Instagram story or a 30-second Facebook post, to use as teaser content across your social media channels.
3.Interact with other channels that are similar to yours
Engaging and interacting with other channels that are similar to yours is one of the most effective strategies to increase channel engagement. To be productive, you can’t advertise yourself all day, every day. You require others – people with whom you may collaborate to enhance your own product. Target similar channels because if they’re uploading similar music to yours and people are subscribing, you’ve essentially found your target audience! So, identify channels that play your style of music and take their content seriously to create a network with other musicians on the internet.
You can achieve this by browsing YouTube for similar artists or music with a similar mood. Then you can start like and commenting on YouTube videos by related artists. Curate some truly unique remarks that will catch the attention of both other artists and YouTube visitors. And if your remark goes viral, it may be pinned to the top of the video, placing your channel in front of a lot of eyes! But don’t go to bed alone! You must cover every inch of ground. This entails starting debates in the comments section of your own videos. There’s always a conversation to be had, whether it’s about old or new videos.
4. Make a video schedule
Create a consistent and regular upload schedule for your videos so that your followers and subscribers know when to expect new content from you. This isn’t about slamming videos all over the place — quite the reverse. It is preferable to over deliver rather than under deliver. So don’t set yourself the goal of posting three videos every week, only to miss two due to a tour, and leave your audience angry and dissatisfied because you missed a deadline. It’s entirely up to you how frequently you post videos. However, it’s a good idea to upload at least once a month so that people don’t lose interest while waiting for your new video or wonder if your channel is still alive.
Posting around the busiest periods of the day is a good rule of thumb to ensure that your videos reach the widest potential audience – especially if you have listeners in multiple time zones. You can’t blame fans for not watching your latest video if it was posted in the middle of the night or on a Friday night while they’re out partying!
But, if you truly want to tailor your release schedule to your audience, go to the ‘Analytics’ tab on your channel. You’ll be able to see a breakdown of when the majority of your viewers watch your videos from there. You may then use this information to determine the days and timings for your videos. Isn’t it convenient?
5.Produce interesting video material
Your YouTube account shouldn’t just be a repository for your music. It should be able to do more than that. Other stuff that will add value to your music and your fans’ viewing experience, especially content that allows them to interact with you on a deeper level, should be included. Prepare some content ideas ahead of time to aid in the organization of your channel’s material and the types of videos you’ll promote. If you’re stuck for inspiration, consider the following analogy: numerous videos, one song.
What exactly do we mean when we say this?
By just repurposing the original content, you can get at least 2-4 videos out of each of your songs. Consider the following scenarios: official song release, lyric video, collaborations, acoustic/acapella/remix versions, and so on. Ed Sheeran, the pop music superstar, is a good example of repurposing comparable content to extend it further — in the shape of remixes and acoustic sessions of his songs…
6.Identify your target audience (or use someone else’s!)
It’s doubtful that you’ll have a large enough subscription or fan base when you’re just starting out to achieve the degree of exposure you desire. As a result, you’ll have to construct one. Discovering your audience, also known as finding your niche, entails determining where people who enjoy and listen to your type of music congregate, whether online or offline. Consider social media sites, online and offline communities, and so on. Directly approach these folks, or email them a link to your channel with a nice note encouraging them to check out your content! And pinching someone else’s isn’t in any way unethical. The majority of the time, growing an audience comes through tapping into an already existing following of popular music. Making a cover video of a well-known song by an artist who already has a large subscriber base is one of the most popular ways musicians have done this in the past. Boyce Avenue is an example of a band that became renowned through posting covers of popular 90s bands and musicians including Oasis, The Goo Goo Dolls, and Avril Laving.
7.Make use of YouTube SEO
Simply said, SEO, or “Search Engine Optimization,” is the process of incorporating phrases and keywords that people search for into your video material. You may almost certainly raise the amount of views and fans by tapping into what people are looking for.
Begin by using Ahrefs’ free keyword explorer.
You may use keywords to your advantage on YouTube by…
Incorporating keywords and search terms into the video’s title
In the video description, use keywords and search phrases
Using tags to indicate what your video is about, such as “indie music” or “indie film”
When deciding which keywords to target, keep in mind that while certain phrases have a large search volume, they may also have a lot of competition. It’s ideal to go for less competitive keywords so that your video has a chance of being viewed! If you’ve already decided on a song title, you might want to consider changing it when you upload it to YouTube, even if the lyrics remain the same (it’s legal, we guarantee!).
TubeBuddy, in addition to Ahrefs, includes a slew of free SEO services, including a summary of what your videos are missing to be properly optimised.
8.Find out what’s popular on Twitter
Take advantage of current trends that correspond to your musical style and values. Just one extremely popular video could result in a massive increase in fan base. So the next time anything interesting happens, make a music video about it. You’d be surprised how much creative freedom you can retain while capitalising on a trend. You may use Google Trends to see what’s garnering the most attention online, or you can use YouTube Trends to see what’s trending on the site specifically.
Perhaps you’re cashing in on a new crocs craze (nice). That isn’t to say you have to literally write lyrics about a pair of crocs. You could, for example, write a song about what they signify in terms of nostalgia and childhood recollections. Another example is the use of short-lived dancing trends into music videos, such as Gangman Style, Single Ladies, and Vogue. Trends and fads come and go, but the instant attention you can obtain by capitalising on a passing fad can have a long-term influence.
9.Keep an eye on your data
Find out who is watching your video, from where they are seeing it, and for how long they are watching it. You may then utilise these numbers to determine which of your films is the most popular, and create material that is similar to that. YouTube has its own built-in analytics component, which you may access through your YouTube profile’s ‘YouTube Studio’ area. There are numerous reports available that can give you with all of the data you require to make tactical video marketing decisions. Included are details on:
10.Include call-to-actions (CTAs) in your videos
A ‘Call To Action,’ often known as a CTA, is a technique of asking viewers to do anything before, during, or after watching your video. Whether it’s urging them to subscribe to your channel so they don’t miss a new video, directing them to another video similar to this one, or directing them to your official website.
11.Collaborate with other YouTubers and influencers
Collaborating with YouTubers who aren’t necessarily artists in their own profession, but are instead significant music influencers in the creative video industry, is a terrific concept, just like networking with other musicians on YouTube. Look for reaction videos on YouTube or TikTok creatives who review other people’s music or video output. See if they’re interested in posting a link to your channel, hosting one of your videos, or reviewing one of your videos. If it’s a well-known channel, that’s a lot of exposure. And if they enjoy your music, they’ll probably do it for no charge! One such example is @bakuriftu, a TikTok creator who posts a combination of new artists, music highlights, and sample breakdowns on a daily basis. Influencers like this person are now the modern music tastemakers, with over 92K followers and 2.2M likes. So, for little or no money, connecting with the proper people is a terrific method to trade traffic with these huge creatives!
12.Paid YouTube Ads
Until now, all of the approaches we’ve discussed have been organic — that is, ways to expand your audience naturally (all hard work, 0 dollar bills).While organic tactics have shown to be quite effective, we can’t ignore the potential of YouTube paid advertising as a tool for promoting yourself on the site. YouTube gives you a lot of great targeting choices, and you can make the most of the cash you set up for this function.
You can get started by creating a Google Ads account if you haven’t already. Begin by experimenting with a low-budget approach. See what kind of response you get, and use that information to develop a basic marketing strategy for increasing your presence on the platform. It’s all about trying out various formats to see which ones perform best for advertising your music.