Hopelessly aiming for more likes on your YouTube videos will have you twiddling your thumbs. Your channel is your brand and no one is able to work as hard to improve your engagement, but you. Sacrificing your time to take advantage of every opportunity you have is key, and will ultimately boost your chances of driving your current and potential viewers to clicking the thumbs up button.
Viewers typically ‘like’ certain videos to express their opinion that they enjoyed the creator’s work or to utilize the button as a saving method. All liked videos within each viewer’s account will curate a ‘Liked Videos’ playlist in which they can refer back to at any point in time.
Unfortunately, there is no comment box that requires viewers to leave an explanation as to why they liked, disliked, or refrained from either option. You can spend your days guessing, but there is no need to waste the time when you can spend it utilizing each and every tactic we have listed below.
Create Quality Content
Fishing for more likes begins with your content. You want to ask yourself these 3 questions:
- Is my content likable?
- Am I receiving dislikes?
- What is my like to dislike ratio?
These three questions will provide you with a clue on if you should revisit the quality of your content, add more content, or switch up the way in which you film and edit your videos. The three questions will most likely arise more questions that you originally had on your list, but when evaluating your content, you want to leave room for all possibilities.
If you have an engaged audience, ask them to leave a comment about what other types of videos they would like to see. If you are in need of likes from real, actively engaged accounts, buy YouTube likes.
If you are posting videos without periodically asking for your audience’s feedback, you will not be able to fully understand how they are feeling. Dishing out consistent content has no value if the audience in which you have is not resonating with the minutes and hours they invest. Devise a ‘Quality Content’ plan where you strategize how to improve every aspect of your work.
Start by looking at your camera and YouTube settings. If you are uploading low-quality content, viewers are less likely to leave a thumbs up. Be sure your sound is audible. Be certain to deliver what best interests your targeted audience. It’s all about trial and error and you might best benefit from uploading several videos containing a new twist to your previous strategy. Once your videos have reached your average amount of views, compare analytics to see which received the most likes.
Nurture A Community
If your brand is broad, meaning you cover and attempt to appeal to several industries, this might be slightly difficult for you. For those whose channels resonate with specific industries, or a narrowed multitude, take the time to develop a strategy in which you can nurture your targeted community.
In doing so, you are breaking down the community, researching all different aspects, and strategizing ways in which you can best utilize your talents to 100% satisfy your viewers. One of Forbes top tips on how to reel in more likes is to understand those who are watching. “In general, viewers want two things: to be entertained and to learn something. I recommend you aim to do both. Keep your videos brief, to the point and entertaining.”
Another important objective on your list should be to hit pain points. Skim through pages, check out titles, and find out which aspect of the industry has not been covered. If they’ve all been covered, ask yourself how you can do it better. Viewers like and subscribe to videos in which fulfills a particular interest, answers a question, better explains a challenge, and more. No industry is too oversaturated for you to break through, you just have to strategize.
Encourage Viewers To Like
As long as you are polite, we suggest encouraging your viewers to like your videos. The worst that can happen is they don’t. There are a number of creative ways to encourage your current and potential viewers to leave a thumbs up.
- Encourage your viewers via your social media posts
- Ask friends & family
- Ask support groups
- Ask your community
- Mention it in your videos
When asking on social media you want it to sound natural and flow within your post. Refrain from outright asking. Here are some examples of what to and not to do:
Wrong:
- “Hurry and like my youtube videos now!”
Right:
- “It’s been a while since I’ve posted, but I wanted to let you all know I am back! Visit the link in my bio, like, & subscribe 🙌”
- “This week’s third video has just gone live. I am so excited to share what I have been up to. If you want more similar videos, like my video and leave a comment letting me know which part you enjoyed most!”
There is no harm in asking for help. In regards to your friends and family, ask those who are supportive of what you do. Whether they genuinely like your content, or just you as an individual, let them know how you as a creator benefit from every thumbs up on the content you publish.
Now, support groups are not always easy to come across, but if you manage to find a support group filled with creatives, they typically operate in a group chat. Support groups are pages or group chats filled with individuals with the same goal in mind— to up their likes.
Most support groups base their group(s) on the assumption that once a creator were to promote their content and ask for engagement, that they will return the favor to the other creators. Although it might be time-consuming, it will be worth it in the end, especially if your support group has a large number of active engagers. Although this particular tactic has been found to deliver results, do keep in mind that they are not guaranteed.
If you are turning to your community, the industry in which your videos best resonate with, you will be likely to recruit likes simply because communities tend to be supportive of their own. With the use of creative, non-competitive hashtags, you have the potential of drawing in more engaged viewers. Such tags can easily be placed in your YouTube video description and your captions on social media.
When mentioning it in your videos, stick to asking a minimum of one time, and max of two. The last thing you want to do is to appear desperate. The best thing you can do is to ask casually, politely, and keep it brief. If you want to ask twice, leave it for the beginning and the end of said video. If you are only looking to ask once, play around with your placement and see which video draws the most likes.
Embed Your Videos on Your Blog or Website
If you run a blog, a website, or a newsletter, embedding your videos into each platform will up your chances at gaining likes. These are your avenues of free advertisement that you are able to conduct yourself. The more people see your content, the more the possibilities raise.
Use Seo Tactics
Search engine optimization, known as SEO is a term used to strategically attract more traffic to your channel by utilizing specific words or hashtags in your title and description to draw in more targeted results. You can use tactics in the optimization of your channel. For example, if you have a channel which caters to individuals who are interested in starting their own landscaping company, refrain from using generic titles such as ‘Landscaping,’ or ‘Landscaping Business.’
Use a strong title similar to ‘How To Start A Landscaping Business,’ and ‘Landscaping Business For Entrepreneurs.’ Adding specific words will help your channel stand above the rest and in turn attract viewers, which ultimately increases your chances of doubling your likes.
Network
No different from other industries, networking within your targeted profession revolves around you getting to know and potentially exchanging information with individuals, groups, or businesses. Networking typically takes place in both organized and unorganized social settings. If you are unable to find the opportunity local to you, the same can occur via social media.
If you are an introvert, that is completely understandable. Similar to how you experimented talking behind a lens until you found a common ground— try branching out of your comfort zone with small steps at a time until you find a method that best works for you.
Message a few creatives familiar and unfamiliar to you. You never know who you might connect with that can possibly inspire you, teach you something, or point you in the direction of someone who may be able to help you.
