Boost the participation of your audience by interacting with your community. This will improve your video’s YouTube rankings (meaning more promotion), will improve subscriber loyalty, and will help make your video/channel known to others. Encouraging your viewers to comment, like and share is a great way to enhance their participation!
Some tips to engage your audience…
1. Speak out to your viewers
During your video, speak directly to your viewers – ask them a question whether it be serious or humorous! Even if your video style doesn’t normally enable you to address your audience, add a few minutes at the beginning or the end where you can give your audience a quick message. For example, you could say “Feel free to give me topic ideas for my next video” or “Tell me about your funniest dating experiences” – something that will get them sharing their thoughts.
2. Respond to comments
You can’t necessarily answer all the comments you receive, but taking a little time each day to respond to some of them will help you and your viewers develop a relationship that will encourage them to keep coming back.
3. Interact with other channels/ videos
Posting a comment / giving your opinion on another YouTuber’s video, will show them that you are interested in their channel. This action could lead to the other YouTuber becoming one of your avid followers and some of their subscribers might even become your fans too.
4. Get viewers involved in a conversation
Make a video about an ongoing conversation that you’ve been having with another YouTuber (for example, a video response to something another YouTuber has said). This is intriguing to viewers and is a way to make them feel a part of something important.
5. Thank people who share your videos
Show gratitude towards those who share your videos on Facebook, Google + or Twitter to incite them to become fans. This recognition is important for them.
6. Ask questions
This is the best way to get your audience to participate. You can ask a question relating to an element in your video, about their view on an event going on in the world, or about what they want to see in your next video. Your community will be able to interact which is a great way to engage your followers!
7. Talk about your community to your community
Showing that you value your community of followers is the best way to gain their loyalty. Talk about it in your videos by mentioning some of the comments that you received or by making videos that celebrate/thank them every time you hit a new milestone of subscribers: your first thousand, ten thousand, a hundred thousand, etc! Your subscribers give life to your community so it is important that you show them your appreciation by keeping up a dialogue with them.