Today's show is vital listening for anyone trying to grow their YouTube Channel, as Gavin is in discussion with Tom Martin, a YouTube growth specialist and strategist who has worked for the BBC on growing channels for the likes of Top Gear and Masterchef.

Tom's wealth of experience has come through trial-and-error, and began in the young days of YouTube, when the rulebook was still being written. As such, he is most certainly an authority on the subject, and is here today to share with you some of the lessons he's learned, as well as a treasure trove of practical tips to help you grow and maintain your reach on one of the world's most popular platforms.

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KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Despite achieving huge success for his employers throughout his career, Tom realised that he could be achieving more success for himself if he went it alone, and in 2018 realised that ambition.
• The benefit of working on such high-profile channels, was that the audience was instant and vast. This meant that when Tom published something there, he was able to instantly receive feedback from them about what worked and what didn't; a luxury that many smaller channels don't have.
• There is no real barrier to entry when it comes to YouTube. However, Tom does advise investing in higher production values if you are selling or dealing in high-ticket items or services.
• You need to provide value independently of your value or product. If you stripped out all mention of your product, would your video still provide value?
• The ideal length of a YouTube video is 16 minutes, according to studies. People watch intently for around 12 minutes. This will be different for various niches. Tom advises that a video should be as long, as it is interesting.
• Engagement drives up your retention rate, meaning that the audience watched a higher percentage of your video. YouTube themselves will take notice if this happens.
• Releasing content weekly means your audience will grow more accustomed to you, and will build you into their weekly routine. Tom advises that Mondays seem to have the least engagement, whereas Fridays are better days to release more fun, entertainment-driven content, as people are craving it at the end of their work week. 
• Research the keywords people are searching for around your chosen niche. The key terms that people are using to find that content should shape the content you make, and influence your titles, tags and descriptions, so as to target those people.
• Sometimes people will be searching for the product you make, but they will be using a different term or language. You need to remember that YouTube is a global platform.
• The keyword search terms/longer keyword should go in the title of the video. The first line of the description should also be keyword heavy.
• YouTube will generate an auto-caption to overlay your video should anyone require it. Therefore, make sure you mention your keywords vocally in the video itself, ads this will help with SEO and indexing. It's important to remember that these subtitles can be corrected by you, so if they're wrong, make sure you change them.
• When you're growing, the temptation is to send people back to your website. But YouTube like it when users watch more videos, so do all you can to ensure that this happens. 
• You need to innovate in terms of content when your product video ideas run dry. There are always updates or changes to discuss with your audience. What's new in your niche? What does the future look like?
• If you are not technically minded, or have no wish to be involved with the design or marketing, there are companies that can offer editing, marketing and clean-up services. 
• Don't overlook your thumbnail. It's often ignored, but it needs to look good as it represents your brand. It's also responsible for a huge percentage of the clicks you'll get.

BEST MOMENTS

‘Please don't underestimate the potency of the strategies that Tom is sharing'

'The beauty of YouTube is that anyone can pick up a smartphone and jump in'

‘Almost by osmosis, I'm going to get to promote my product'

'Think about the routine of your target audience'

‘YouTube will not be for everyone'

‘Your number one call to action should always be to watch more videos'

‘You could theoretically outsource every part of the process'

VALUABLE RESOURCES

The Business Mastermind Podcast 

VidIQ - https://vidiq.com/

Channel Fuel - http://channelfuel.co

[email protected]

ABOUT THE HOST

Gavin Preston

Gavin is an inspirational Speaker, Business Strategist, Business Growth Mentor, Trainer and

high-performance Coach.  He works with Business Owners and Entrepreneurs and has a strong track record in creating creative strategies to accelerate the growth of their business. He has helped hundreds of SME business owners and leaders improve their performance and that of their business and a comparable number of executives and employees in blue-chip corporates over the last 20 years.

Gavin's energetic, insightful and yet down to earth and practical talks, workshops and coaching is in demand with high growth business between £250,000 and £30 million revenue and with multi-national organisations at all levels from Board to frontline

Managers. He is an expert in Business Growth Strategies, Peak Performance

Mindset, Persuasion & Engagement, Marketing, Productivity, Leadership

Development, Team Development & Motivation, Leading Change, Stakeholder

Management, Personal Effectiveness and Behavioural Change.

CONTACT METHOD

Gavin Preston Website

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