Stay-a-home moms are no longer relegated to performing tasks such as cooking dinner or cleaning the house. On the contrary, they are enjoying more personal and financial freedom than ever before. This has inevitably resulted in a growing number of possibilities if they hope to earn an extra income on a daily basis. One very common method is to leverage the exposure and flexibility associated with YouTube. Have you always wanted to promote your own videos while enjoying a loyal base of followers? While this is well within your reach, there are still some basic principles to appreciate in advance. Let’s take a look at how YouTube marketing functions before moving on to examine how you can gain a loyal audience.
YouTube Advertising Options at a Glance
One of the benefits attributed to YouTube is that there are many different ways to earn an income based off of the videos that you post. For the sake of simplicity as well as brevity, we will break these methods down into a handful of subjects. The most common options include:
- Cost-per-view (CPV) advertising.
- Pre-roll advertisements.
- In-search marketing.
- In-display methods.
Cost-per-view advertising is arguably the most profitable method (assuming that you have a solid base of viewers). As the name suggests, this type of marketing is associated with click-based payments. A third-party advertiser will pay a YouTube channel a certain amount of money if a viewer clicks on their associated banner ad. However, the subsequent hyperlink will have to be viewed for a minimum of 30 seconds (or half of the total running time of the advertisement).
Pre-roll ads are seen before the video begins and they normally run for no more than five seconds. Assuming that the viewer clicks on the advertisement, the channel will once again receive a small payment.
In-search techniques are advertisements that will display within YouTube search results. These are often denoted by a yellow box surrounding the associated material. Channels will receive a small sum if a visitor happens to click on the associated link,
In-display advertisements are seen in the right-hand side of the video screen and they will often display phrases such as “suggested video” followed by a link. The principle behind this variant is the same as those mentioned above.
One thing to keep in mind is that none of these methods are associated with pay-per-click (PPC) advertising. They require that the user spends a specific amount of time on the third-party link. Otherwise, the click holds no financial rewards. This is why presenting relevant and engaging content is important if you hope to earn an extra income.
All About the Followers
As you have likely surmised, the main key behind any of these strategies is to gain as many followers and viewers as possible. This is why the top YouTube channels will always take marketing into account. Assuming that you are new to the digital industry, what are some effective techniques to consider?
The first concept to appreciate is known as cross-channel marketing. This essentially involves linking other pages to your YouTube channel. Common examples include social media profiles and a website (if you already have such a portal). The theory involves online exposure. If you market across a handful of different channels, the chances of appealing to a wider audience will increase.
Visitor engagement should also be taken seriously. It has been shown that the most successful YouTube portals can be directly correlated with how often they speak to their followers. Replying to interesting and/or popular comments is a common method. If visitors see that you care about the opinions of others, they are more likely to subscribe to your channel.
Regardless of the suggestions mentioned above, it is an undeniable fact that you will need to offer content that appeals to the audience. Marketing to the incorrect demographic will result in wasted energy and scant hits. Consider the audience that you wish to connect with. What are their interests? What other YouTube channels do they follow? Can you glean any further knowledge based off of their comments? While this will take a bit of time, it is an invaluable method if you hope to direct your efforts in the right direction from the beginning.
There are countless stay-at-home mothers who have already taken the (potentially profitable) leap into the YouTube community. The good news is that it costs nothing to create a channel and you can work at your own pace. This is obviously beneficial if you are also taking care of an infant or toddler. Why not choose to follow this dream? An account takes only minutes to establish and yet, the associated financial rewards can provide you with an amazing source of liquidity.