Facebook is the biggest social media platform on the Internet today. With over 1 billion registered users, there is a limitless amount of potential for attracting viewers to your YouTube channel.
Boosting a YouTube video on Facebook usually requires the creation of a Facebook page, if you don’t already have one, building up an audience by creating engaging content, and then promoting your YouTube channel and videos through your page. Facebook advertising can also be utilized for the same purpose.
Let’s look at how you can use the Facebook algorithm and workings to boost your YouTube videos.
Videos on Facebook
The first thing to note is that you should know how Facebook prioritizes how content is shown on people’s newsfeed. The order of the highest priority is always videos first, followed by pictures, then written content. So when promoting videos on Facebook, it’s always better to use videos, but images and written content also have their place as these options are better used on Facebook rather than Youtube.
Create your own Facebook Page
Firstly, create your own Facebook page. You can use your Facebook page as an avenue to connect with and promote your YouTube videos to an audience on Facebook.
The good thing about Facebook pages is that you are not exclusively limited to videos, unlike YouTube. The best way to promote your Facebook page is by posting engaging content that will get people to share, comment, and like. This will lead to very organic growth on the platform, and from there, you can start to lead them to your YouTube channel.
Engaging content can be anything from short videos, images, and written content that are relevant to hot topics. Treat Facebook as an opportunity to work on things or talk about things that you normally wouldn’t with your Youtube channel.
An example of this would be gamers talking about their personal lives, sharing content they enjoy, or expressing their opinions on specific topics. Instead of talking solely about video games, they talk about things that a broader audience can relate to and allow people to interact with them.
You might also enjoy my article on “Is a Facebook Page or Group Better for Business?”
Content
Now that you’ve got a Facebook page, you’re going to have to post engaging content. There are two ways you can go about this. You can use either source the content from your current YouTube channel by getting the highlights of your videos and posting it on Facebook.
Specifically highlights, because according to recent studies, the shorter the video, the more likely your audience will watch it because, after a certain amount of minutes, viewership tends to start dropping on Facebook.
Use the highlights and create a call of action for your audience to watch the full content on your YouTube channel. The best thing type of highlights is the ones without context because, in doing so, you’re generating interest for people to find out what’s going on and want to watch more.
Another good highlight is something that is entertaining by itself so that people can share it on the newsfeed without needing context.
Facebook advertisements
Facebook advertisements are not efficient if you are trying to get more YouTube views. The reason for this is because Facebook will always prioritize native content creators over those from YouTube.
If you want to use Facebook advertisements, the best use for it would be to promote your brand. Usually, advertisements are best when you’re trying to sell a product to an audience, but since you were trying to promote your YouTube channel, it would be better to just promote your brand with your YouTube video as a showcase of your brand.
Remember that advertising costs money, and it would be difficult, or near impossible, for the views from Facebook advertisements to create enough revenue to pay for those advertisements.
You might also enjoy my article on “How to Target Facebook Ads to Specific Users: 10 Tricks That Work.”
Going viral
If you’re going to think, might as well think big. Going viral is the best way to gain good traction on Facebook. You’re going to need to aspire to create content that would get millions of views within the span of a few days.
There is no guaranteed way to go viral on any social media platform. However, there are certain common factors between viral videos that you could apply to your own.
The most important aspect of any viral video is the number of people that would find the content entertaining and the shareability of the content. The majority of viral videos also elicit certain emotions, whether it be humor, amazement, sadness, awareness, etc. It’s entirely up to you how you apply this to your content.
An example of something going viral on social media would be the #ALSIcebucketchallenge. It provided both entertainment and action towards a good cause by raising awareness through celebrities pouring ice-cold water over their heads to replicate the feeling of having ALS.
The challenge could also be easily done at home, which led to even more engagement with the campaign because a broader audience was also able to be a part of it.
Youtube content and a Facebook audience
The audiences on Youtube and the audiences on Facebook are different. Earlier in the article, I mentioned that using highlights from Youtube videos should be utilized on Facebook to increase Youtube viewership. The key metric for a sustainable and growing Youtube channel will be consistent viewers, subscribers, and engagement.
At this point, let’s assume that you’ve now gotten Facebook users to click on your link and are now watching your Youtube videos. It’s at this point you’ll have the opportunity to introduce yourself to that audience.
An example of this introduction would usually be at the end of Youtube videos. Usually what Youtubers do is show and link clips to their other videos. These clips also show highlights so they can generate interest and also serve as a call to action.
Another way that Youtubers turn viewers from Facebook into regular viewers is by adding a call to action such as a “Like and Subscribe if you agree/ if you wanna see more content.” This works because such calls to action already assume that the Facebook user is also a Youtube user and thus gain more engagement on your Youtube channel.
Conclusion
If utilized correctly, Facebook can be a powerful tool to create a bigger audience for your Youtube channel. It’s essential to be knowledgeable about how both platforms work and how you can market your channel and business to both audiences.
