To interest users and attract more participants to your YouTube channel, then you will need a content plan, which you are about to learn about.
How to create an effective content plan for your YouTube channel
When we talk about a YouTube channel, it’s important to know that there are two directions to make real money from it. Here you are either a blogger or a YouTube user for business, each with different goals.
The most important things for a blogger are:
- traffic;
- number of views;
- number of subscribers.
Because the blogger earns directly from monetizing the channel by showing video ads. And the business, in turn, can buy advertising on his channel, pursuing slightly different goals.
Any business needs traffic. And YouTube can be just such a traffic tool. It will provide transitions to your website or social networks. Well, customers who are interested in buying the goods/services you offer will subscribe to the channel. SMM promotion services on social networks – https://doctorsmm.com/en/
Some will make a purchase immediately, others will postpone it indefinitely, others will simply lose interest in the product. It is impossible to determine which of them will perform a certain action. Because when a user watches a video ad, we don’t understand what stage of the sales funnel they are at.
So we need to warm up the user through the content funnel, build a subscription base, and continue to warm him up not only with content on the YouTube channel, but also by sending out videos. Doing this is a must. After all, this is the only way YouTube for business works effectively.
Content for your YouTube channel
The main problem of users going on YouTube is selecting the right content. This is the biggest pain point for many businesses. Because at the initial stage, they have a poor idea of what exactly to film. As a result, when we look at the channels of most commercial companies, we see very few views and subscribers. Agree – not a good story. Looking to Real likes, followers and views in social networks? Place an order with us and you’ll be pleasantly surprised by the quality of our services – https://lowcostsmm.com/
Therefore, YouTube should initially be approached as the second largest search engine in the world. And first of all, we need to see what our target audience is interested in. Search for what we need in the search and only after getting the results should we start creating content.
Semantic core of the channel
Based on the work with search there is a need to create a semantic core of the channel. This kernel is a set of keywords for shooting or optimizing videos, and is also used as a tool to systematize the work of the channel. It can also be used to determine the topics of video materials, the schedule of their publication, apply the latest trends and re-shoot successful solutions of other authors.
Semantic core of the channel is essentially:
- video title, description, video tags;
- hashtags;
- channel keywords;
- the name of the channel itself;
- and playlist titles and descriptions.
All of this builds a single set of metadata for the video and the channel as a whole, where we use the right keywords in a coherent text without breaking the rules.
Step-by-step instructions for creating a content plan for your YouTube channel
The first thing we do is take 20 (or less) keywords that our customers use to find us. We have a kind of brainstorming session.
Then we go to Google Trends, type in these keywords and look at their search demand. Our task in this case is to identify 10 main words with high search volume. Out of the 10, we in turn have to identify 5 topics that are currently growing. These 5 topics will be the playlists of our channel.
Next, we go to KeyWordtool.io service (there are both paid and free versions). We type in the keyword that is the topic of the playlist and see what people search for this word in this or that country. The main questions and requests of users will end up being our topics for the videos included in the playlists.
We can insert several keywords in any video title. Therefore, it is advisable to additionally use the search engine Yandex Wordstat or SERPSTAT, which allow you to determine the frequency of HF, HF, and LF queries in Runet. Orient when creating a name is best to focus on medium-frequency queries. Because to get through the high-frequency is very difficult, and low-frequency are suitable only limited topics.
At the end of the previous step, we have a playlist title and 5-7 titles for videos. It’s time to move on to VidIQ or TubeBuddy services. They exist in the format of applications that can be installed directly into your browser. Then you have to type this or that title into YouTube search and see the frequency and competitiveness of these search queries. Our task in this case is to identify the main topic from the videos within one playlist.
In regional promotion is also useful to use Google Key Planner or SERPSTAT, which can give us the exact frequency in Ukraine and specifically by city.
And in the end it remains only to check the presence of our videos in the Google search results.
YouTube-oriented query frequency
It is not quite in the classic form, suitable for SEO or context. It is best to use it exactly for work on a YouTube channel:
- low-frequency queries – up to 5,000;
- medium-frequency queries – from 5,000 to 10,000;
- high-frequency queries – over 10,000 queries.
A few facts about YouTube
Since 2015, Google has completely removed videos from other video hosting sites (such as Vimeo) from its search results.
According to statistics, modern users prefer to watch more rather than read. Therefore, all videos are prioritized.
In order for a YouTube channel to be successful, it is necessary to post interesting, useful content for users.
The most popular are videos, the name of which begins with the words: how, why, why, why, how much, with their own hands, product review, educational content, etc. All the things that are now interested in the vast majority of users. And if a video is in the top 3 on YouTube itself, it’s very likely to appear in Google searches as well.
Hero-Hub-Help-Hype-Action Content Strategy
Back in 2015, Google recommended the Hero-Hub-Help strategy for brands that go on YouTube. This strategy involves identifying prioritized as well as unwanted content for the channel.
So, Help content is search query-oriented content. One video – one search query. Such materials are designed to attract the audience to the channel. As part of the business, it is recommended to include frequently asked questions in Help content. And even though these videos will not gather a large number of views, they will help your sales team to close objections of customers.
The next type of content is Hub content. The main mass of videos for the sake of which users subscribe to the channel. Most often such content is presented as situational, relevant in a fairly short period of time.
Hero content is content that is primarily aimed at the widest possible target audience (viral content). The next slide just perfectly illustrates the criticality of using SEO queries in one type of video content or another. Note, Hygiene in this case is the same Help, just in a different interpretation.
In 2019-2020, new formats began to emerge and the strategy changed. It became more expansive and was called Hero-Hub-Help-Hype-Action.
Where Action content is specifically promotional video. Today, it is a mandatory attribute on any YouTube channel. After all, commercial activity on the Internet is rapidly developing, entrepreneurs sell more and more goods and services online (as well as offline). Therefore, they are increasingly advertising their offers through YouTube channels.
In addition, the updated strategy includes the Hype content format. These are well-known short videos, which are a great tool for any business.
Now let’s talk about each type of content in more detail.
Hero content
In the creation of this type of content you have to put the most effort and ideas. Its main purpose is to capture the maximum attention of the target audience. Without useful and entertaining Hero content, it will be extremely difficult for any YouTube channel to grow and develop.
Subscribers watch quality Hero content with great pleasure. This includes all formats that gain maximum views.
For example:
- reviews and comparisons,
- tops and picks,
- experiments,
- shows and mini-series.
As an example, you can consider Ruslan Usachev’s channel and his rubric “It’s time to get out”. In this rubric, the video blogger posts videos on the topic of traveling. Creating such material takes a lot of time. But it is this content that gains the most views compared to other formats.
If you look at Hero content for a product brand, its purpose is to attract potential customers by realizing a creative approach. This approach can be used when launching a new product or advertising campaign that will build brand loyalty and awareness.
Such as, for example, Hero content on the channel of the gadget selling company Citrus. Complex thematic videos and reviews of trending products are gaining the most popularity on this channel.
Help-content
This type of content is shot in two directions: answers to subscribers’ questions, a series of videos about yourself or the company. Such materials increase the loyalty of subscribers and familiarize them with the blogger’s activities (his philosophy, goals, etc.).
To illustrate this, you can pay attention to Daria Kaplan’s channel. Her Help content is represented by answers to subscribers’ questions and stories about herself.
Help content for product brands is also used in the form of answers to the most frequently asked questions. In addition, here it is represented by tutorial videos on product usage, recommendations, etc. Such content does not require promotion, it is simply posted on online store pages or lendings.
Let’s take the channel of cosmetologist Tatiana Kushnerenko as an example. She posts reviews of cosmetology procedures, talks about their effects and benefits. And also answers various popular questions of subscribers in her videos.
Hype content
Essentially, this is situational content that has a short lifespan. However, due to the large amount of search demand and increased interest of the target audience, videos of this type are able to attract a lot of new users (in a relatively short period of time).
What is remarkable is that Hype content can close all other types of content. Which is where its main advantage lies:
- in Hero – viral videos aimed at a wide audience with a clickbait title;
- in Hub – materials aimed at retaining old and attracting new audiences;
- in Help – situational search queries with a high volume of demand.
Recommendations for working with Hype content
It is quite difficult for large and medium-sized businesses to use this type of content in systematic work. Most of the difficulties arise due to the need for the fastest possible response. However, if the channel’s goal is rapid growth, the use of Hype content is essential.
For small businesses as well as personal brands, Hype content acts as a great tool for channel growth and development. As it is a good alternative that partially replaces Hero content.
The easiest and most effective way for a YouTube channel author to use Hype content is to shoot videos in YouTube Shorts format or live broadcasts.
However, if the channel creator is aiming for intensive growth, they should prioritize shooting full content videos.
How to track Hype content
- Study videos on competitors’ channels. See what’s most popular with them.
- Use Google Trends to determine search demand.
- Pay attention to thematic news sites.
- Subscribe to popular newsletters.
- Google Alert, which when set up properly will give you topics directly.
- Subscribe to thematic Telegram channels, chats, forums.
- Use the excellent VidIQ tool, which has a “daily recommendations” function and tells you which topics currently have the highest viewing potential.
Action content
Represents directly promotional videos that are filmed to redirect the target audience and have them take a specific targeted action that the YouTube channel author needs.
Loyal subscribers react quite adequately to this type of content. They readily support the author in the target action that he calls for. Because they understand perfectly well that the creation of the material itself requires considerable costs. To date, users no longer need to explain that it is advertising that allows the owner of a YouTube channel to create high-quality content and earn money.
YouTube video funnel with warming up
- A part of the target audience (those who watched the videos and subscribed or not) is gathered around the YouTube channel.
- Next, you need to pique the interest of potential customers. This is done with the help of expert videos.
- When the target audience is interested, it’s time to move to action. Short sales videos appear on the channel, demonstrating the advantages of the product (goods/services).
- This is followed by action content that redirects to the page of the promoted product. At this stage, our goal is to catch up with the potential client with the help of the promotional video.
- The final stage is “follow-up” via sms, chatbots, emails, etc.
Strategy for Bite-Snack-Meal promotional videos
Also, if you have some sort of product, YouTube recommends a strategy called Bite-Snack-Meal, which includes several formats.
Bite are the shortest videos under 6 seconds. Their goal is to captivate the user in the time they are willing to spend watching the material and hook them with an ad. That is, 6 seconds should contain something very interesting, intriguing, plus a hint about the product.
Snack – videos lasting from 10 to 30 seconds. They are designed for users who are ready to devote more time to the brand/good/service after watching the 6-second version. These videos give a more in-depth story and detailed information about the product.
Meal – the longest videos are from 1 minute. They already fully tell about the product and brand to a prepared user (potential customer).
