There are opportunities everywhere for content marketers.
Different channels, different types of content, and different websites.
One that’s still underused by many brands is a little site you might have heard of:
YouTube.
It’s the largest video platform and the web’s second-largest search engine—nothing else comes close.
Get this: YouTube has over 2.7 billion users.
Those billions of users generate billions of views every day across long-form videos, YouTube Shorts, and livestreams.
You can find virtually any audience on YouTube, which means just about any business can benefit from marketing on it.
Yes, it’s competitive—but it’s not “full.” Niche topics, helpful tutorials, and Shorts still break out daily if you deliver real value and strong hooks.
In truth, few businesses actually invest in YouTube marketing consistently.
Why?
Because it seems difficult. If you compare a high-quality video to a blog post on the same topic, the video often takes more time and resources.
Smart businesses also know the payoff can be worth it—and the barrier is lower than ever thanks to great phone cameras, inexpensive lighting, built-in captions, and beginner-friendly editors.
If you’ve been considering YouTube—or you’ve started but haven’t found your stride—this post is for you.
Want to build a successful YouTube channel? Organize ideas, scripts, thumbnails, and publishing checklists in one place across the document apps you use.
We’ll show you the key components of a YouTube channel that actually grows. Your videos will earn views, those views will convert to subscribers, and subscribers will drive traffic, leads, and sales for your business.
Video is still content, so you need to start with an audience
Treat a YouTube content strategy just like you would any other channel.
Create for a specific audience you want to reach—ideally the same people who buy your product or hire your service.
The tighter your niche, the more your content will resonate and the faster YouTube’s algorithm will understand who to show it to.
At this stage, define three things:
Aspect #1 – The type of person: Identify the type of person who buys from you. Build one or two simple personas so every script speaks to real pains and goals.
For example, if we created a channel from scratch today, we’d target business owners and marketers because they’re the ones who buy our training and hire us as consultants.
Get even more specific, like:
- beginner marketers
- expert marketers
- marketers in North America
You can narrow by experience, industry, company size, or geography. The narrower your audience, the more precise your examples, language, and calls to action can be.
Remember: you can’t create content for beginners and experts simultaneously. Pick one for a series or playlist; create separate series for the other.
Aspect #2 – What do they want to do? Clarify their main goals or “jobs to be done.”
Are they trying to make more money? Improve their home? Learn to cook? Get in shape? Earn a promotion? Your topics should map to the outcomes they care about most.
Ideally those goals relate to your product or service, but awareness topics that attract the right people are valuable too.
Example: “expert marketers who want to get in better shape.” The content isn’t directly product-related, but it brings your exact buyer into your world so you can later introduce your core offers.
The point of content marketing—including YouTube—is to earn attention from the right people and keep it with consistent value.
If you spot an unmet need for your audience, fill it—even if it’s one step removed from your product.
Aspect #3 – How do they want to consume it? Confirm your audience prefers video for this topic—and which format: Shorts (snackable), standard 16:9 videos (deep dives), or livestreams (community & Q&A).
Video is perfect for:
- tutorials
- overviews of strategies
- education on a specific topic
- demonstrations
- product reviews
It also shines for screen shares, case studies, behind-the-scenes, and FAQs. Fitness, crafts, cooking, dev, and marketing are all great fits because you can show and tell.
For content like long resource lists, consider a companion blog post or downloadable guide you can link beneath the video so viewers can scan and save.
Once you’ve got a clear audience and a specific need that video can solve, move to creation.
3 steps to videos that attract views
Marketing on YouTube shares a lot with SEO—but most views now come from Home and Suggested, not just Search. Your job: earn the click, keep attention, and satisfy the viewer.
To get views, you want to rank in YouTube search and get recommended. Aim to create “suggestible” videos: strong hook, clear payoff, and steady retention.
Could you try black-hat tactics? Sure—but they don’t last and often hurt your channel.
Instead, make videos people want to watch and finish. Here are three steps.
Step #1 – Accomplish or entertain, pick one: Viewers watch to learn something or be entertained—ideally both (“edutainment”).
Open fast with a concrete outcome in the first 5–8 seconds. Ditch long theme songs and history lessons. Show the payoff, then teach step-by-step.
Deliver solutions concisely and visually. Use on-screen text, chapters, and B-roll to keep momentum.
Step #2 – Quality always comes first: Popular channels win on quality—especially audio. Clear sound, good lighting, stable framing, and readable text matter more than 4K.
Two common high-quality formats you’ll likely produce:
High quality means professional-looking: well-lit, sharp, and clearly edited so viewers always know what’s happening.
The classic clean background (or green screen) keeps focus on you and your message.
It looks professional and avoids distracting backgrounds. A simple phone + lapel mic + soft light can look great.
Whiteboard/illustrated explainer pairs narration with drawings or on-screen sketching. It’s an engaging way to explain complex ideas.
How do you make videos like these? The clean-background route is straightforward. Set up lighting, frame your shot, and record on a modern smartphone or camera.
Entry-level gear is affordable and lasts a long time. Prioritize audio (clip-on mic) and lighting over chasing new cameras.
Here’s a solid walkthrough of a simple setup:
Whiteboard videos take more planning. If you don’t illustrate, hire it out or use digital whiteboard tools. Focus on scripting tight, visual explanations.
Create a job post on major freelance sites to find whiteboard or explainer video pros:
Plan time for editing. Clean cuts, pacing, text callouts, and music shape retention. Editors like CapCut, iMovie, DaVinci Resolve, Premiere Pro, or Final Cut make this easier.
Step #3 – You need to make a name for yourself: A channel is like a show. One great video won’t build a business. Consistency and a recognizable style will.
Commit to a publishing cadence (e.g., one long-form video weekly + several Shorts). Organize into playlists, use consistent thumbnails, and nurture viewers with Community posts.
As your library grows, subscribers compound discovery. Each release triggers views, shares, and recommendations—momentum that snowballs over time.
Give it several months of consistent, high-quality publishing. Breakouts can happen earlier, but the reliable path is steady improvement.
Start with basic video SEO
Next, optimize your videos so they’re discoverable in Search and suggestible on Home and Suggested.
Ranking in YouTube helps you get steady views; many videos also surface in Google, which can add a nice boost.
You can’t control when Google shows videos, but you can improve your odds by targeting search-friendly phrases like:
- tutorial
- review
- test
- what is ____
- video
- explanation
- how to ____
- walkthrough
Also think “versus,” “best,” “review + year,” and problem statements your audience searches on YouTube.
Part #1 – Your video information: YouTube checks whether your video is relevant to the query. It leans on your title and description, lightly on tags, and it can interpret your spoken words via captions/transcripts.
It’s a fairly simple search engine; it looks for keywords in three areas of your video—prioritize title and description. Add accurate captions and chapters with descriptive titles.
- the title
- the description
- the tags (minor signal)
Don’t keyword-stuff.
Put your primary keyword early in the title and within the first 200 characters of the description, then naturally include related terms. Use a few relevant hashtags if appropriate.
Here’s an example of the description from Brian Dean’s “advanced SEO” video that ranks well:
He mentions the keyword at the start and end, but more importantly, the description thoroughly explains the content, which helps YouTube understand relevance.
Because titles are short and tags are limited, your description is prime real estate. Include context, key steps, and links to helpful resources or playlists. Add timestamps (chapters) with descriptive labels.
Part #2 – User engagement and feedback: Like Google Search, YouTube prioritizes what viewers love. Signals include click-through rate (CTR), watch time, average view duration, average percentage viewed, retention curves, likes, comments, shares, end-screen/cardiactions, and how often your videos get chosen from Home/Suggested.
If viewers bail in the first few seconds, that’s a bad sign. If half or more watch to the end—and come back for more—that’s fantastic.
You can review retention and CTR in YouTube Analytics to find drop-offs and fix your hooks or pacing.
Other engagement signals to improve:
- CTR from impressions – compelling titles and custom thumbnails earn clicks and feed the recommendation engine.
- Views to subscribers – strong videos convert casual viewers into subscribers who watch future uploads and Shorts.
- Likes, shares, and saves – lightweight signals of satisfaction that help YouTube broaden distribution.
- Comments – volume and quality of discussion matter less than retention, but thoughtful comments often correlate with strong satisfaction.
Make genuinely useful, watchable videos. Then iterate: improve hooks, pacing, visuals, and thumbnails to raise CTR and retention.
We’ll share a few more levers you can pull in a moment.
Views rule YouTube rankings
Many factors influence rankings, but quality views—views that lead to strong watch time and satisfaction—matter most.
For almost any term, top results share a pattern: meaningful view counts combined with above-average retention.
Important: you don’t need hundreds of thousands of views to rank. You do need an initial base of real viewers so YouTube can compare your retention and CTR to similar videos.
Once you have a few hundred to a few thousand views, the algorithm can judge engagement accurately—and recommend you more broadly if you outperform peers.
The takeaway:
You don’t need to go viral. You need to kick-start each upload with enough qualified viewers to prove your video earns the click and keeps attention.
As your subscriber base grows, you rely less on heavy promotion. New uploads get instant, high-retention views from fans, which further improves rankings and recommendations.
When you’re starting out, jump-start discovery with smart promotion. Here are four reliable options.
Option #1 – Cross-promotion: Collaborate with established creators in your niche—guest segments, collab tutorials, live Q&As, or Shorts remixes. Ask hosts to link your channel in the description and pin a comment.
Find relevant channels by searching your core keywords and noting subscriber counts and average views. Pitch 20–30 creators with a specific video idea that benefits their audience.
Option #2 – Promote to your email list: If you’re producing high-quality videos, email them to subscribers. Consider writing a companion blog post and embedding the video so readers can watch on-site—it still counts as a view.
Even a modest list can accelerate a channel if a solid portion watches each upload in the first 24–48 hours.
Option #3 – Email outreach: Treat videos like any content asset. Build a list of bloggers, newsletters, and community owners in your niche. Send a brief, value-first note explaining why their audience will care and where the video fills a gap.
Option #4 – Advertising: Use YouTube ads (via Google Ads) to seed initial, targeted viewers. Test skippable in-stream, in-feed, and Shorts placements. Start with small daily budgets, optimize for view quality (30-second views/engagement) or conversions, and use remarketing to re-reach site visitors and channel viewers.
Don’t waste those views! Here’s how to make them count
By now, you have a plan to make videos and get those crucial early views.
Solid videos will begin earning steady organic traffic from YouTube itself.
But the real goal isn’t views—it’s sales and pipeline. YouTube sits at the top of your funnel, so move viewers to owned channels (email, site, product).
Part #1 – include a call to action to get subscribers on YouTube: Ask viewers to subscribe and turn on notifications. Add end screens and cards that point to your “Start Here” playlist or next logical video. Use a channel watermark and a pinned comment as secondary CTAs.
You can also end with a clean “Subscribe” moment on-screen alongside your next recommended video.
Here’s a walkthrough (older interface shown) of adding clickable end-of-video elements:
Your next option is to use built-in cards and end screens (modern replacements for old annotations) configured during upload or in YouTube Studio.
Finally, verbally ask for the subscribe at the end—many viewers won’t leave until you sign off, and a clear ask lifts conversions.
Part #2 – put a link to a landing page in the description to capture email addresses: Add a compelling lead magnet (template, checklist, bonus lesson) and link to a focused landing page near the top of your description. Pin that same link in a top comment. Use UTM parameters so you can track signups from YouTube.
Blog post links are fine for education, but dedicated landing pages convert far better when your goal is email capture or trials.
3 Simple but crucial tips about YouTube marketing
You now have the core playbook for building a YouTube channel that grows.
Three final tips can make a big difference:
1) Consistency beats intensity. Publish on a schedule, iterate from Analytics, and improve one element each video (hook, pacing, thumbnail, CTA). Repurpose long videos into multiple Shorts to test hooks and drive viewers to the full version.
2) Expect some negative comments. Ignore trolls. Consider legitimate criticism as free UX research—tighten your intros, clarify steps, or improve audio/lighting accordingly.
3) Don’t build your business on rented land. YouTube is a distribution channel, not your HQ. Always pull viewers to owned assets—your site, email list, or product—so changes to algorithms or policies don’t derail revenue.
Conclusion
YouTube remains a fantastic opportunity for brands and creators who publish helpful, human-first content.
Your audience is already on YouTube, and there’s still room to win with clear value, smart SEO, satisfying editing, and consistent publishing.
We covered the types of videos to make, how to earn discovery, how to turn views into subscribers and customers, and the simple systems that compound growth.
Now it’s your move. Create your plan, hit record, and publish your first video this week. Then come back and do it again.