The 7 Habits of Highly Effective YouTubers

This week’s topic is about web video production and video-hosting sites. I want to share with our PR folks the effective ways of utilizing social media from Megan O’Nell’s study.

Takeaway 1: Proliferate

One of the common denominators between successful video producers is that they are all productive. They pump out tons of great content on a regular basis. Of course, this doesn’t mean that you need to be uploading multiple videos in a single day—you shouldn’t sacrifice quality for quantity.

Takeaway 2: Schedule

Scheduling is one of the most important keys to YouTube success. Setting a schedule and sticking to it is a great way to keep yourself on task and on target, and your subscribers and fans will appreciate it as well.

Takeaway 3: Promote

Online video promotion falls into three main categories: social media promotion, in-video promotion, and the perfection of metadata. Don’t only focus on YouTube, have a strong presence on other social media platforms such as Twitter and Facebook, which give you the opportunity not only to promote and share each new video that you upload, but also to communicate with your audience.

In-video promotion is also important because the “subscribe” graphic popping up on the screen is an effective way to gain subscribers.

Another part of promotion, which falls by the wayside for many video producers, is metadata. You need to refine your keywords, titles and descriptions to make it search-friendly.

Takeaway 4: Converse

Starting a conversation with your viewers is one of the best ways to increase your fan base and get more views.

Takeaway 5: Collaborate

Another way to increase your popularity and subscriber base is collaboration, particularly with video producers who have a large following. When you collaborate with others you then introduce one another to your respective fan base.

Takeaway 6: Measure

Another important habit of successful video producers and YouTubers is that they test and measure. It means you’ve got to experiment and try out different types of content in order to see what sticks.

Takeaway 7: Have Fun

Building an online following of  fans and getting millions of video views take a lot of time and if you aren’t having fun then it’s just not worth it.