YouTube is the second largest search engine in the world, after Google. In fact, YouTube users watch over 1 billion hours of video each day. As a key search engine, YouTube can offer substantial traffic generation for your business. But, with so many users it can be difficult to stand out among the crowd. So, how can you sell on YouTube successfully and drive traffic to your business? Keep reading to find out.
The first key step to selling on YouTube is to regularly follow up on algorithm changes. This can make a huge difference to your video views and subsequently your sales. Luckily, YouTube typically posts all changes on their blog, so as long as you regularly check it, it’s not difficult to work with the algorithm changes.
This is the most common way to generate sales from your YouTube videos. However, almost everyone uses this technique so be sure to make it count. For example, on any YouTube video only the first 3 lines of the description automatically shows to viewers. To continue reading, the viewer must click ‘show more.’ Thus, it is imperative that the first three lines contain a brief description and a link. Always include a description with the link so users know what they are clicking on. If they don’t know what it is, they likely will not click through. Where ever possible, try to shorten links to make them easier to read.
As the channel owner, you have the ability to pin comments to the top of the comments section. This ability allows you to leave a comment containing links, then pin it so more viewers see it. Comments are a great way to boost engagement while also adding links to your products.
On your profile, you have a section to add a banner to your profile. With this, YouTube allows you to display up to 5 links on top of your banner image. These links can be a combination of external and internal links. Thus allowing you to link to your store, social media platforms, and more. Social media accounts will show as their relevant icons, and you can select cover text for your store or website. To this simply fill in the ‘Link Title’ option box when adding your link.
Joining the YouTube Partner Program can help with how you sell on Youtube. However, to join you must first have over 100- subscribers, and over 40,000 watched hours. There are some location restrictions, however, new countries continue to get added to the list. Once you hit these checkpoints, you can apply for the program. Once accepted you will now have access to end screens and link cards.
The end screen feature is a great tool to engage your viewers after they finish watching your video. It allows you to not only link to other videos they may be interested in but also allows you to add external links. You can link to any approved site. This includes your own associated website, a merchandise site, or a crowdfunding site. You can add an image, title, and call-to-action to appear on your end screen for up to 20 seconds. This is a great time to link people to any product you have mentioned in your video or to simply direct them to your store.
The link card feature allows you to add links throughout your video. This is perfect to generate traffic to your store as you can add the links where you mention the specific products. Link cards show as a line of text in a grey box, in the top right corner of your video. When a viewer hovers over it, it expands to show more details. Like the end screen, you can customize the image, title, and call-to-action that viewers see.
So, there you have it, multiple strategies for how to sell on YouTube. If you are just starting out and building a following, focus on the first four strategies. Once you become more established, consider joining the partner program and adding those strategies as well as working with influencers. To get the best results, use all of the above strategies.
