Regularly uploading videos builds a routine for your audience, increasing YouTube engagement and getting them excited for more. Posting consistently also boosts your channel’s visibility by signaling to YouTube’s algorithm that you’re active and worth recommending.

So, how do you stay consistent and maintain a healthy work-life balance? Batch film your content and schedule it to publish in advance so you always have videos to post.

This guide will teach you more about the benefits of scheduling YouTube Shorts and how to schedule them using Sprout Social and the native YouTube app.

What are YouTube Shorts?

Launched in 2020, YouTube Shorts are vertical short-form videos, similar to TikTok videos or Instagram Reels. The videos can be up to 60 seconds long and made using the Shorts camera in the YouTube app or uploaded from your computer. Users can find and watch Shorts on the YouTube homepage, in the Shorts tab on YouTube, on a creator’s channel homepage and Google search results.

How to schedule YouTube Shorts in Sprout

The scheduling workflow for a YouTube Short is the same as what you would do to post a YouTube Video. You just need to make sure your video file matches the required specifications for a Short.

Here’s the whole process, broken down step by step.

1. Select the camera icon in the Compose box.

2. Select the video file you want to upload.

Ensure your video follows these specifications:

• File type: .MP4 or .MOV
• Max length: 60 seconds
• Aspect ratio: Square or vertical
• File size: 3 GB

3. Give your video a title.

4. Open the YouTube Video Options section to add key details to your video.

These details include:

• Adding YouTube tags, separated by commas.
• Deciding if you want the video to be Public, Private or Unlisted.
  Selecting a Category for your video and a Playlist to publish your video to (optional).

5. Click Show Advanced Settings to expand and manage other video settings.

These settings include license rights and ownership, allowing embedding and publishing to subscription feeds.

6. Schedule your YouTube Short.

You have the option to:

• Select your desired publishing date and time.
• Create a Draft to save your post and schedule it later.
• Queue the Short to automatically post it at a pre-set time.
• Publish the Short immediately.

Alternatively, selecting the Use Optimal Times feature powered by ViralPost®, will give you options for the best times to post your Short for your unique profile and audience behavior.

How to schedule Shorts on YouTube

Want your YouTube Short to publish at a specific time? Scheduling Shorts on YouTube is pretty straightforward.

Here’s how to do it:

1. Sign in to YouTube Studio.

2. Click Create and choose Upload videos.

3. Pick the file you want to upload and fill in your video details.

Make sure your video meets the specifications for YouTube Shorts.

4. Click the Schedule card and set the date, time and time zone you want your video to go live.

5. Click Schedule and you’re all set.

Changing a scheduled publication time for a YouTube Short

If you change the scheduled publish time, or decide you want to publish your video right away, follow these steps:

• Sign in to YouTube Studio or use the YouTube app.
• From the left Menu, select Content.
• Select the video you want to edit.
• Select Edit Visibility from the dropdown menu.
• To change the scheduled publish time, ensure the visibility is set to Private. Click Edit Draft then choose the new time under Schedule.
  • To publish the video immediately, set the visibility to Public.
• Select Publish.

How to schedule YouTube Shorts on your phone

Follow these steps to schedule a Short via YouTube’s native mobile app. Sprout users can also schedule shorts through the mobile app.

• 1. Open the YouTube app.
• 2. Click the Create button (the plus icon at the bottom center of your screen) and tap Create a Short.
• 3. Record your Short or select the media you want to upload.

There are also options to add music to your video (just make sure it’s non-copyrighted if you want to monetize it), text, voiceovers and filters.

• 4. Click Next and add more video details like titles and captions.

• 5. Select Visibility to choose how you want the video to be published (i.e., Public, Unlisted or Private).
• 6. Tap Schedule to select a publishing date and time for your Short.

• 7. Go back to the Add Details screen.

Under Visibility, you should now see your scheduled date and time.

• 8. Click Upload Short to schedule your YouTube Short.

Why you should schedule your YouTube Shorts

Scheduling your content in advance on the native platform is a good place to start. However, using a social media management platform like Sprout Social will save you time and help you maintain a consistent content calendar.

Here are three reasons why:

• Stay organized and efficient. Instead of trying to keep track of all your content ideas and video clips while posting in real time, a YouTube marketing tool like Sprout enables you to schedule, publish and promote your Shorts content in one place.
• Publish at the right time. Capabilities like our Optimal Send Times™ analyze your audience’s engagement patterns and schedule your posts to publish at the best times automatically. This means you worry less about scheduling and focus more on creating great content.
• Gain insights to optimize your efforts. Sprout Social’s analytics and reporting features offer deep insight into how your audience responds to your content, so you can make smarter decisions and get better results.

Schedule for YouTube Shorts success

Scheduling YouTube Shorts is a great way to stay organized and publish regularly.

There may still be times when you’ll want or need to post in the moment. Still, pre-scheduled content gives you the flexibility to experiment and take advantage of trends or current events without worrying about gaps in your content calendar.

Finding a healthy balance between organization and creativity is the best way to maintain an authentic and meaningful relationship with your audience.

To help you strike the right mix, use our YouTube strategy template to audit your current efforts, analyze competitors and define your goals and audience.

FAQs

The post How to schedule YouTube Shorts [2024 Guide] appeared first on Sprout Social.

Staying relevant and capturing your audience’s attention is a constant challenge for marketers. And now that brands rely on video content more than ever, it’s critical to use the correct social media video specs and advertising video sizes.

To simplify marketers’ efforts, we created a complete guide of every single social media video spec and advertising video dimension.

Before we start, here are some additional resources that keep the information in one place:

• Easily reference our social media video specs in our always up-to-date Google Doc.
• Check out our social media image sizes guide for help on static images.
• Want to get better results with video? Download our social media video content workbook.
• Find more information about Sprout-supported files and sizes in our Help Center.

Social Media Video Specs & Ad Sizes By Network

We’ve gathered data on each social network’s specific video sizes and specs. Simply click the links below to jump to your desired network:

• Facebook
• Instagram
• TikTok
• Twitter
• YouTube
• LinkedIn
• Pinterest
• Snapchat

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Facebook Video Specs

Facebook video is consumed at higher rates each year, so it’s no wonder why so many marketers search for the correct Facebook video specs.

There are simply so many types of videos you can share on Facebook and the platform updates its design frequently. Each video format has different dimensions and specs, which can make it confusing to know whether or not you’re uploading the correct format for organic or paid posts. Follow the specs below to optimize your posts.

In-Feed Shared Post Video (Landscape & Portrait)

The most common type of video on Facebook comes from shared posts. This type of video lives in your Facebook Feed, and can be shared by brands or your friends. While it’s not as easy to get organic reach on Facebook, it’s still a viable way to share video.

You can choose between two video orientations: Landscape and Portrait. Here’s a look at the video specs for both.

Video Guidelines

• Resolution: 1280×720, 720×1280
• Minimum width: 1200 pixels
• Aspect ratio: 16:9, 9:16
• Max file size: 10GB
• Recommended video formats: MP4, MOV
• Video length: 1 second to 240 minutes
• Bitrate: 256kbps
• Frame rate: 30fps

Sprout Guidelines

• Same as above, except:
• Max file size: 3GB max in Sprout
• Video length: 45 minutes max, if uploading in Sprout
• Supported file types: MP4, MOV, AVI

Facebook Reels

The convenience of cross-posting your Instagram Reels to Facebook expands the reach of your videos. This format appears organically in feeds but often gets priority on Facebook feeds.

Video Guidelines

• Resolution: 1080p
• Aspect ratio: 9:16
• Max file size: No file size limit
• Recommended video formats: MP4
• Video length: 3 seconds to 90 seconds
• Frame rate: 24fps – 60fps

Sprout Guidelines

• Same as above, except:
• Video length: 60 seconds max
• Supported file types: MP4, MOV, AVI
• Frame rate: 30fps recommended in Sprout

Facebook Stories

Similar to Instagram Stories, you can post Facebook Stories to extend the reach of your posts. Users who may not follow you on Instagram will be able to view and interact with your Stories.

Video Guidelines

• Resolution: 1080p
• Minimum width: 500 pixels
• Aspect ratio: 9:16 and 4:5 to 1.91:1
• Max file size: 4GB
• Recommended video formats: MP4 or MOV
• Video length: 1 second to 60 seconds

Facebook Video Ad Specs

There are more than 10 million advertisers now on Facebook and having the right specs for your ads can be tricky. Each type of Facebook video ad is different, so let’s break down the specs for each type of video you can produce.

In-Feed Video Ads

These Facebook video ads are the sponsored equivalent of in-feed posts, and they follow similar guidelines to in-feed video posts.

Video guidelines

• Resolution: 1080×1080 minimum
• Minimum width: 120 pixels
• Minimum height: 120 pixels
• Aspect ratio: 1:1 (for desktop or mobile) or 4:5 (for mobile only)
• Max file size: 4GB
• Recommended video formats: MP4, MOV or GIF
• Video length: 1 seconds to 240 minutes
• Frame rate: 30fps

Character limits

• Primary text: 125 characters
• Headline: 27 characters
• Description: 27 characters

Carousel Video Ads

Facebook Carousel Video ads allow brands to showcase multiple videos (or images) and a landing page link within a user’s Facebook feed. It has grown in popularity because its unique scrolling feature allows users to see more content before clicking. In fact, Digiday estimated Carousel Ads to be 10x more effective than standard social media ads.

Video Guidelines

• Resolution: 1080×1080 minimum
• Aspect ratio: 1:1
• Max file size: 4GB
• Recommended video formats: MP4, MOV or GIF
• Video length: 1 seconds to 240 minutes
• Frame rate: 30fps

Character limits

• Primary text: 125 characters
• Headline: 32 characters
• Description: 18 characters
• Landing Page URL: Required

Collection Video Ads (Mobile)

The Facebook Collection ads showcase multiple images and a main video above it. This is perfect for displaying multiple products (or various colors of a single product) plus a video. The ad type has been popular so far with retailers and clothing companies as an instant storefront or lookbook.

Video Guidelines

• Resolution: 1080×1080 minimum
• Aspect ratio: 1:1
• Max file size: 4GB
• Recommended video formats: MP4, MOV or GIF
• Video length: 1 seconds to 240 minutes
• Frame rate: 30fps

Character Limits

• Primary text: 125 characters
• Headline max: 40 characters
• Landing Page URL: Required

Instant Experience Video Ads

Facebook Instant Experience ads open up a full-screen experience after the first click, which can be further customized with a variety of interactive features. This can include multiple video experiences, including features to auto-play on loop.

Video Guidelines

• Minimum width: 720 pixels
• Max file size: 4GB
• Recommended video formats: MP4, MOV
• Video length: Up to 2 minutes
• Frame rate: 30fps

Slideshow Video Ad

Facebook’s Slideshow videos were built for advertisers wanting to reach audiences with slower internet connections. Instead of a regular video, slideshows are just that–a slideshow of images or video in an ad display.

Video Guidelines

• Resolution: 1080×1080
• Aspect ratio: 16:9 or 1:1
• Recommended video formats: MP4 or MPV
• Slideshow duration length: 15 seconds

Facebook Stories Ads

Facebook added the Stories feature – photo or short video posts that are only available for 24 hours. In addition to user-generated organic posts, Stories ads are available to run between sets of posted Stories. While most users will be sharing immediate and organic updates from their phone’s camera, the guidelines for this format are similar for both paid and organic ad posts.

Video Guidelines

• Resolution: 1080×1080
• Minimum width: 500 pixels
• Aspect ratio: 9:16
• Max file size: 4GB
• Recommended video formats: MP4, MPV and GIF
• Video length: 1 second to 2 minutes
• Frame rate: 30fps

Character Limits

• Primary text: 125 characters
• Headline: 40 characters

For more information on the video specs for Facebook, visit the Facebook Help Center.

Instagram Video Specs

Instagram launched video capabilities in 2013 and quickly saw enough success to start advertising on the platform in 2015. Since then, video only continues to grow as an engaging social format. Needless to say, Instagram videos are absolutely worth the investment.

Carousel Video

Since 2015, Instagram crafted its video formats to allow three different styles: landscape, square and vertical. However, like the app, Instagram and how video is presented has evolve. Gone are the days of IGTV and Instagram Video. Video can be natively included as a post or carousel post, or they can be uploaded as Reels, but more on Reels later.

Video Guidelines

• Resolution: 1080×1080, 1080×1350
• Aspect ratio: 9:16
• Max file size: 4GB
• Recommended video formats: MP4, MOV
• Video length: 3 seconds to 60 minutes
• Frame rate: 23-60 fps

Sprout Guidelines

• Same as above, except:
• Max file size: 100MB in Sprout
• Video length: 60 seconds max

Instagram Reels

Introduced in 2020, Instagram Reels are another option for your video strategy on Instagram. These short-form, easily digestible videos are becoming the preferred type of content in Instagram feeds.

Fortunately for social content creators looking to easily generate a lot of content for Instagram, most of the video specs for Instagram Reels are fairly similar to other formats on the platform.

As Instagram has started to add separate tabs for different content types, thumbnails will be cropped differently on each view. If the viewer is on the first tab that has all content types, the thumbnail will be cropped to the traditional square post size of 1:1–center your subjects and plan to avoid undesirable vertical cropping.

Video Guidelines:

• Resolution: 720p minimum
• Frame rate: 30 fps minimum
• Aspect ratio: 1.91:1 and 9:16 recommended
• Max file size: 4GB max
• Recommended video formats: MP4 or MOV
• Video length: 3 seconds to 15 minutes
  • Recording in-app is limited to 90 seconds; users can upload videos up to 15 minutes

Sprout Guidelines

• Same as above, except:
• Max file size: 1GB in Sprout
• Max bitrate: 5 Mbps
• Video length: 60 seconds max

Cover Photo Size:

• Size: 420p x 654p
• Aspect ratio: 1:1.55

Instagram Stories

Instagram Stories are short-form videos that display for 24-hours on your profile. Followers and users can access your Stories directly from your profile; followers have the luxury of accessing your Stories directly from their feed, where Stories for accounts they follow display directly at the top of their screen.

Video Guidelines

• Resolution: 1080×1080
• Minimum width: 500 pixels
• Aspect ratio: 9:16
• Max file size: 4GB
• Recommended video formats: MP4, MOV or GIF
• Video length: 1 second to 90 seconds
• Frame rate: 23-60 fps

Character Limits

• Primary text: 125 characters

Consider leaving roughly 250 pixels of the top of the video free from text to avoid covering them with the profile icon.

Instagram Video Ad Specs

Instagram’s advertising revenue has significantly increased over the last year. In fact, Instagram reportedly earned $43.2 billion in ad revenue in 2022. The push for Instagram advertising is real and marketers have to be ready to take advantage with engaging videos.

Carousel Video Ad

Much like Facebook’s Carousel Ads, Instagram offers a similar feature. Carousel ads allow users to see more of a product or feature than a single image or video. With Instagram, your carousel video ads can have 2-10 cards with a full-width call to action below the ad.

Video Guidelines

• Resolution: 1080×1080
• Aspect ratio: 1:1
• Max file size: 4GB (video) 30MB (image)
• Recommended video formats: MP4, MOV or GIF
• Video length: 1 second to 2 minutes
• Number of Carousel cards: 2 (minimum) to 10 (maximum)
• Frame rate: 23-60 fps

Instagram Stories Ads

It didn’t take long for Instagram Stories to feature ads within users’ story feeds. Brands can seamlessly integrate their video content between other Instagram users’ Stories.

Video Guidelines

• Resolution: 1080×1080
• Minimum width: 500 pixels
• Aspect ratio: 9:16
• Max file size: 4GB
• Recommended video formats: MP4, MOV or GIF
• Video length: 1 second to 60 minutes
• Frame rate: 23-60 fps

Character Limits

• Primary text: 125 characters

Consider leaving roughly 250 pixels of the top of the video free from text to avoid covering them with the profile icon

If you’re looking for further information including images, check out our complete guide to all the Instagram ad sizes.

For more information on the video specs for Instagram, visit the Facebook Help Center.

Find more information about Sprout-supported files and sizes in our Help Center.

TikTok Video Specs

TikTok has quickly gained attention in the social space. Fortunately, TikTok’s focus on easy to create and share videos means it’s not hard to start producing video content for the platform, and there are plenty of trends to inspire TikTok content creation.

TikTok In-Feed Videos

TikTok videos are all about the ease of creation, editing and sharing, so it makes sense that specs are more or less oriented around typical mobile phone dimensions. One key trait to keep in mind if you’re trying to repurpose video content across platforms is that videos uploaded from another file source, rather than recorded on the app, can be longer than 60 seconds.

Video Guidelines

• Resolution: 1080×1920
• Aspect ratio: 9:16
• Max file size: 72MB (Android users) and 278.6MB (iOS users)
• Recommended video formats: MP4 or MOV
• Video length: Up to 3 minutes recorded in-app or 10 minutes when uploaded from another source
• Frame rate: 23-60fps

Sprout Guidelines

• Same as above, except:
• Max file size: 1GB max in Sprout
• Video length: 10 minutes max, if uploading in Sprout
• Supported file types: MP4, MOV, WEBM

TikTok Feed Ads

TikTok ads are a rapidly evolving opportunity for brands. The in-feed option for paid TikTok content is fairly similar to the formatting for existing organic content. To fine-tune paid content for the best performance, be sure to consult TikTok’s business center for the latest tips.

Video Guidelines

• Resolution: 540×960, 640×640 or 960×540
• Aspect ratio: 9:16, 1:1 or 16:9
• Max file size: Up to 500MB
• Recommended video formats: MP4, MOV, MPEG, 3PG or AVI
• Video length: 5 seconds to 60 seconds
• Bitrate: 516 kbps minimum
• Frame rate: 23-60fps

Character Limits

• Ad description: 1-100 Latin alphabet letters and 1-50 Asian characters

Twitter Video Specs

X (formerly Twitter) is a popular space to share and interact with different social media videos. For marketers, it’s all about keeping a user’s attention with enthralling and click-worthy video content. In the sports and entertainment industry, Twitter is often the go-to for sharing video content, so it’s critical to learn the correct Twitter video specs.

Twitter Landscape & Portrait Videos

Twitter provides two formats of in-feed video content to share with your followers: landscape and portrait. These specific formats are only available for uploading video directly to Twitter, rather than sharing YouTube or other links.

Video Guidelines

• Resolution: 1280×720 (landscape), 720×1280 (portrait), 720×720 (square)
• Aspect ratio: 16:9 (landscape or portrait), 1:1 (square)
• Max file size: 512MB*
• Video length: 0.5 seconds to 140 seconds*
• Frame rate: 30fps or 60fps

*Twitter Pro Media users can upload files up to 1GB and videos up to 10 minutes.

Sprout Guidelines

• Same as above, except:
• Max file size: 512MB max in Sprout
• Video length: 140 seconds max, if uploading in Sprout
• Supported file types: MP4, MOV

Character Limits

• Maximum count: 280 characters.

Twitter Videos Ad Specs

Looking to promote your video through paid ads on Twitter? Luckily, you can use the same exact formats from Twitter organic videos. Stick to the same specs for both organic and paid video to ensure maximum visibility.

Video Guidelines

• Resolution: 1280×720 (landscape), 720×1280 (portrait), 720×720 (square)
• Aspect ratio: 16:9 (landscape or portrait), 1:1 (square)
• Max file size: 512MB
• Video length: 0.5 seconds to 140 seconds
• Frame rate: 30fps or 60fps

Character Limits

• Maximum count: 280 characters.

For more information on the video specs for Twitter, visit the Twitter Help Center.

YouTube Video Specs

As the second-largest search engine behind Google, YouTube is an essential network for video content. For marketers, YouTube is a great space to promote, educate and share video content around your brand.

As YouTube continues to grow as a destination for video content, it hosts everything from short-form promotional videos to full-length movies and TV. This means users are streaming content on all sorts of devices, which could have different levels of zoom or overscan.

While there’s no hard and fast rules from the platform on how to approach the video editing concept of “title safe” areas where text like titles and subtitles aren’t cut off, you do want to avoid placing these types of visual elements right at the edges of your video area. Read on for more specifics on each format available on YouTube.

Video Player (Standard YouTube Video)

While YouTube allows users to upload various types of media formats and use plenty of different dimensions, organically, there’s truly only one format for the video player. Organic videos should all follow a 16:9 ratio, but can be uploaded 4:3. However, the smaller ratio will automatically pillarbox the sides to still make it fit in the player.

YouTube has seven recommended dimensions and ratios for standard YouTube videos:

Video Guidelines for Non-Verified Accounts

• Resolution:
  • 4320p (8k): 7680×4320
  • 2160p (4K): 3840×2160
  • 1440p (2k): 2560×1440
  • 1080p (HD): 1920×1080
  • 720p (HD): 1280×720
  • 480p (SD): 854×480
  • 360p (SD): 640×360
  • 240p (SD): 426×240
• Aspect ratio: 16:9 default
• Max file size: 5GB max in Sprout
• Recommended video formats: MOV, MPEG-1, MPEG-2, MPEG4, MP4, MPG, AVI, WMV, MPEGPS, FLV, 3GPP, WebM, DNxHR, ProRes, CineForm, HEVC (h265)
• Video length: Up to 15 minutes
• Frame rate: 24, 25 or 30fps

Sprout Guidelines

• Same as above, except:
• Max file size: 5GB max in Sprout
• Video length: 15 minutes max, if uploading in Sprout
• Supported file types: MP4, MOV

Video Guidelines for Verified Accounts

• Resolution:
  • 4320p (8k): 7680×4320
  • 2160p (4K): 3840×2160
  • 1440p (2k): 2560×1440
  • 1080p (HD): 1920×1080
  • 720p (HD): 1280×720
  • 480p (SD): 854×480
  • 360p (SD): 640×360
  • 240p (SD): 426×240
• Aspect ratio: 16:9 default
• Max file size: 256GB or 12 hours, whichever is less
• Recommended video formats: MOV, MPEG-1, MPEG-2, MPEG4, MP4, MPG, AVI, WMV, MPEGPS, FLV, 3GPP, WebM, DNxHR, ProRes, CineForm, HEVC (h265)
• Video length: Up to 12 hours, dependent on file size
• Frame rate: 24, 25 or 30fps

Sprout Guidelines

• Same as above, except:
• Max file size: 128GB max in Sprout
• Video length: 12 hours max, if uploading in Sprout
• Supported file types: MP4, MOV

YouTube Shorts

Introduced late 2020, YouTube Shorts have recently made its debut as another short-form video feature. These videos are a new way to watch, create and discover short-form content. Because people are watching more short-form videos globally, using Shorts is a new way to reach wider audiences to entertain or educate.

Video Guidelines

• Resolution:
  • 4320p (8k): 4320×7680
  • 2160p (4K): 2160×3840
  • 1440p (2k): 1440×2560
  • 1080p (HD): 1080×1920
  • 720p (HD): 720×1280
  • 480p (SD): 480×854
  • 360p (SD): 360×640
  • 240p (SD): 240×426
• Aspect ratio: 9:16 or 1:1
• Recommended video formats: MOV, MPEG-1, MPEG-2, MPEG4, MP4, MPG, AVI, WMV, MPEGPS, FLV, 3GPP, WebM, DNxHR, ProRes, CineForm, HEVC (h265)
• Video length: Up to 60 seconds

For more information on the video specs for YouTube, visit the Google Help Center.

YouTube Video Ad Specs

Standard YouTube videos are pretty straightforward, but there are a few video ad formats to learn if you want to advertise on the network. According to data from Google, brands advertising on YouTube with Discovery ads see incremental conversions.

Skippable, Non-Skippable, Mid-Roll, Bumper Video, In-Feed Display Ads

We’ve put these five YouTube video ads specs together because in the end, they all play through the standard YouTube video player. That means all of these ad types follow the same dimensions as the non-ad videos, but only differ in video length. Let’s look at each ad type:

• Skippable Video Ad: This YouTube ad type is played before, during or after the content and becomes skippable after 5 seconds. This ad format is the only one allowing advertisers to monetize views from any viewing device.
• Non-Skippable Video Ad: This YouTube ad type is played before the content and users must watch the full 15 seconds maximum ad (can also be added during or after video).
• Mid-roll Video Ad: This YouTube ad type is played mid-view (like TV commercials) and is only available for videos 8 minutes or longer. Ads are added either manually or automatically. Mid-rolls can be skippable, but users must watch 30 seconds or the entire ad (whichever is shorter).
• Bumper Video Ads: This YouTube ad type is played before the content. This short 6-second max video cannot be skipped and is usually optimized for mobile views.
• Display Ads: These ads are shown in users’ search queries and sometimes appear in the right video column when watching a video. These ads are static, which means they don’t automatically play. However, once the video is clicked, the type of content displayed can simply follow the standard video player guidelines.

Video Guidelines

• Resolution: 1920 x 1080 (horizontal), 1080 x 1920 (vertical), 1080 x 1080 (square)
• Aspect ratio: 16:9 (horizontal), 9:16 (vertical), 1:1 (square)
• Max file size: 256GB
• Recommended video formats: MPG
• Video length:
  • Skippable Video Ad: No maximum, but recommended 15 – 20 seconds for awareness, 2 – 3 minutes for consideration, and 15 – 20 seconds for action.
  • Non-Skippable Video Ad: 15 or 20 seconds, depending on marketing
  • Mid-roll Video Ad: 30 seconds minimum
  • Bumper Video Ad: 6 seconds maximum
  • In-Feed (Display) Video Ad: 15-20 seconds for awareness, 2-3 minutes for consideration

For more information on the video specs for YouTube, visit the Google Help Center.

LinkedIn Video Specs

With 66% of consumers finding short-form video the most engaging type of in-feed social content, LinkedIn adopted the use of video on the platform. If you’re looking to incorporate video into your LinkedIn marketing strategy, then it’s important to do it with the right specs. While some technical requirements may match other networks, there are some specs that are specific to LinkedIn.

LinkedIn In-Feed Video

While before the only video format you were able to upload was a shared video, LinkedIn has expanded its capabilities to upload your own videos into the platform.

LinkedIn video sizes

• Resolution: 256×144 (min) and 4096×2304 (max)
• Aspect ratio: 1:2.4, 2.4:1
• Max file size: 5GB
• Recommended video formats: AAC, ASF, FLV, MP3, MP4, MPEG-1, MPEG-4, MKV, WebM, H264/AVC, Vorbis, VP8, VP9, WMV2, WMV3
• Video length: Up to 10 minutes
• Frame rate: 60fps
• Bitrate: Up to 30mbps

Sprout Guidelines

• Same as above, except:
• Max file size: 5GB max in Sprout for Company and Personal Pages
• Video length: 10 minutes max, if uploading in Sprout
• Supported file types: ASF, AVI, MP4, FLV, MKV, WEBM, Quicktime

For more information on the video specs for LinkedIn, visit the LinkedIn Help Center.

LinkedIn Video Ads

As of 2018, LinkedIn now offers video ads. The requirements are a little bit different than in-feed video, so be sure to consider them when developing ads for your paid campaign.

Video Guidelines

• Recommended dimensions and resolutions:
  • Vertical (4:5): Min 360 x 450 pixels, Max 1536 x 1920 pixels
  • Vertical (9:16): Min 360 x 640 pixels, Max 1080 x 1920 pixels
  • Landscape (16:9): Min 640 x 360 pixels, Max 1920 x 1080 pixels
  • Square (1:1): Min 360 x 360 pixels, Max 1920 x 1920 pixels
• Aspect ratio:
  • Vertical: 4:5, 9:16
  • Landscape: 16:9
  • Square: 1:1
• Max file size: 200MB
• Recommended video formats: MP4
• Video length: 3 seconds to 30 minutes
• Frame rate: 30fps

Character Limits

• Ad name: 255 characters
• Headline: 70 characters recommended; 200 characters maximum
• Introductory text: 150 characters recommended; 600 characters maximum

For more information on the video specs for LinkedIn ads, visit LinkedIn Marketing Solutions Help.

Pinterest Promoted Video Specs

Pinterest allows video upload for business accounts only, so they have specs designed for brands to get the most out of the highly visual and inspirational lifestyle content frequently shared on the platform.

Shared Video Pins and Standard Width Video Ads

In addition to ads, Pinterest Business Accounts can upload organic video content. There are two formats: standard and max width video. Below are the dimensions for standard width video ads and standard Pins.

Video Guidelines

• Aspect ratio: 1:1, 2:3, 4:5, 9:16
• Max file size: 2GB
• Recommended video formats: MP4, MOV or M4V
• Video length: 4 seconds to 15 minutes

Character Limits

• Title: Up to 100 characters
• Description: Up to 500 characters

Max Width Video Ads

Pinterest allows you to publish standard width and maximum width video ads. Maximum width videos expand across mobile users’ entire screens. These specs apply only to maximum width video ads; standard video ad specs can be found above. Note that maximum width video ads are only paid ads.

Video Guidelines

• Aspect ratio: 1:1
• Max file size: 2GB
• Recommended video formats: MP4, MOV or M4V
• Video length: 4 seconds to 15 minutes

Character Limits

• Title: Up to 100 characters
• Description: Up to 500 characters

For more information on the video specs for Pinterest ads, visit Pinterest Business Help.

Snapchat Video Specs

Snapchat is still an active network for younger generations to share video content. Whether it’s through FOMO-inducing filters, Snapchat is a hotbed for video sharing.

Single Videos and Single Video Ad

This video format is the most common across the channel and is the main way users communicate back and forth through the app. However, your business can post videos to its story so others can see what your business is up to. Just follow these specs:

Video Guidelines

• Resolution: 1080×1920
• Aspect ratio: 9:16
• Max file size: 1GB
• Recommended video formats: MP4 or MOV
• Video length: 3 seconds to 180 seconds

Character Limits

• Brand: 25 characters
• Headline: 34 characters

Long-Form Story Video Ad

Snapchat currently offers one main video format for ads, which is known as the Story Ad. However, the Snapchat Story Video Ad is what users see in between viewing users’ Stories.

Video Guidelines

• Resolution: 1080×1920
• Aspect ratio: 9:16
• Max file size: 1GB
• Recommended video formats: MP4 or MOV
• Video length: 3 seconds to 180 seconds

Character Limits

• Brand: 25 characters
• Headline: 34 characters

For more information on the video specs for Snapchat, visit the Snapchat Ads Help Center.

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The post Always Up-to-Date Guide to Social Media Video Specs [Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, X, YouTube, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Snapchat] appeared first on Sprout Social.

While there are dozens of factors that affect your visibility on the platform, the most important one is the number of views you get on your videos and channel.

In this article, we’ll explore proven tactics to grow your YouTube channel and maximize your viewership. Whether you’re just getting started or want to see your numbers tick further upward, these tips will help you achieve your YouTube marketing goals.

Bonus: We created a template that will help you develop a channel and content strategy that drives engagement organically. Download it and start optimizing your YouTube strategy today.

Get the template

How to grow your YouTube channel in 2024

Growing a YouTube channel today requires a shift in focus. While your subscriber count still matters, the real growth comes from the performance of your individual videos.

When your videos consistently attract views and engagement, YouTube’s algorithm takes notice. It starts to see your content as valuable and pushes it to more viewers. This creates a powerful cycle: more views = more engagement = more visibility = channel growth.

That’s why creating videos that people want to watch and interact with is the foundation of a successful YouTube strategy. Just as important is to promote your videos effectively so they get the love and attention they deserve.

But before we get into the ways to drive more views on your videos, let’s clarify what counts as a view.

What counts as a view on YouTube?

Views refer to the total number of times your video or channel has been watched. Each time a viewer plays a video and watches it for at least 30 seconds, YouTube counts it as a view. If someone watches your video several times, each time is counted as a new view.

This applies across all devices whether a person watches via smartphone or desktop. It also applies to embeds and videos shared on other social media platforms like Facebook.

Additionally, when someone visits your YouTube channel, you receive a view. If you use YouTube Analytics, you can go to the Overview tab to see how many views your YouTube channel received over the last 28 days.

Why are views important on YouTube?

Views are critical to the growth of your YouTube channel. When your videos get more views, YouTube’s algorithm recommends your content to more people. This increased visibility often leads to more subscribers and faster channel growth.

Views are also part of how you can make money on YouTube. More views mean more ad revenue and better opportunities for brand partnerships. And the more you earn on the platform, the more you’re able to reinvest in your channel and create even better content.

Finally, views help expand your brand’s reach. In fact, each view is your chance to connect with a potential customer or fan. Over time, higher view counts can boost brand awareness and build brand affinity, helping you reach larger business goals in the long run.

How to grow your YouTube channel: 18 tips and tricks

This article covers 18 tips to grow your YouTube channel and attract more views. In the video below, Jamia walks through 10 ways to promote your YouTube channel for more views and subscribers.

1. Write engaging, must-see titles

YouTube marketing is all about presentation.

Titles are make-or-break when it comes to your video’s performance. Ask yourself: are you presenting your content as “must-see” or “meh?”

The key to crafting killer titles is grabbing your audience’s attention without resorting to clickbait headlines. People crave content that’s entertaining, and they likewise want to know what your video is about from the word “go.”

For example, you can take a page out of the playbooks of YouTube giants like BuzzFeed and WhatCulture. Such videos often rely on listicles, question-based titles or hyperbole (“insane,” “…of all time”) to rack up views.

Athlean X’s fitness-based videos are another good example. The channel’s content manages to sneak in relevant keywords in its titles while also coming across as conversational.

“Best-of” lists and “how-to” titles are always a safe bet, too. Food channel Tasty uses click-worthy titles like this:

The takeaway here is that you should definitely spend time mulling over engaging titles rather than sticking with the first idea that pops into your head.

In terms of specifics, many have observed that the optimal YouTube video title length should be around 70 characters. Meanwhile, tools such as CoSchedule’s headline analyzer recommends 55 characters for an engaging headline. CoSchedule’s tool isn’t specifically meant for video titles but is awesome for brainstorming YouTube-friendly titles to help promote your YouTube channel.

2. Optimize your videos for visibility

Here’s some food for thought: YouTube videos show up in 70% of the top 100 Google search results.

Heck, see for yourself. Any given product or “how-to” query on Google will return something from YouTube.

In fact, YouTube results sometimes even pop up before traditional blog posts or websites. Listen: YouTube is the second-largest search engine in the world. Just like people search for products and need problems solved via Google, the same rings true on YouTube.

Think of your YouTube videos like any other piece of content that needs to be optimized in terms of keywords, tags and so on.

In order to increase your chances of showing up, you’ll want to follow some of the best practices for YouTube SEO:

• Titles and description: Include target keywords in your titles and descriptions. You can use a tool like Keywordtool.io to help you find keyword ideas.
• Mention keywords in your video: According to Brian Dean of Backlinko, saying your target keywords in your video can help YouTube better understand what your video is about.
• Engagement: YouTube uses engagement (likes, comments, views) to help determine where videos rank in its search results.
• Categories: Use categories to help YouTube get a better understanding of who to show your videos to.
• Tags: In addition to categories, you can also add tags to your videos to give YouTube more context about your content. You can use quite a few tags, so add as many as you can think of.

Just like with SEO for your website, don’t keyword stuff. Use keywords when it makes sense, not just for the sake of having them.

3. Figure out what your audience wants

With any type of content you produce, you want to make sure it’s aligned with what your audience wants. Whether you’re writing a blog post or creating a video, start by getting to know your audience and what type of content they want to see from you.

If you’re just starting to promote your YouTube channel, take a look at your competitors or other video creators in your industry. Look at which of their videos get the most views and engagement. This will give you an idea of what topics your audience wants to learn about and what style of videos they prefer.

Use Sprout Social’s competitive analysis tools to keep an eye on your competitors. Track key YouTube metrics like views, engagement and followers, and set realistic benchmarks for your own performance. You can also use Sprout’s listening features to monitor keywords and mentions as well as track audience sentiment around specific topics and brands.

Another solution is to look at your YouTube Analytics if you’ve already uploaded videos. YouTube gives you detailed information on audience demographics, location, engagement and other helpful stats. You can also take your strategy a step further with YouTube reporting in Sprout Social and see how your content stacks up to other social videos you’ve produced.

Want to better understand your YouTube metrics? Download our video metrics cheat sheet to learn the most important metrics to track and get ideas for video content tailored to your marketing goals.

Download our Social Media Video Metrics Cheat Sheet

4. Increase engagement by asking viewers to comment and like

Sometimes simply asking for engagement is the best way to get your videos noticed, especially when you consider the immediacy and connection that video content can create.

Not everyone who enjoys one of your videos is going to remember to drop a like or become your subscriber, so it’s common to put these reminders in the description or in the video itself.

Especially if you’re an up-and-coming channel, there’s no shame in asking for some love directly. In fact, asking visitors a question to answer in the comments suggestion or to check out another video are perfect ways to keep the engagement rolling. You can likewise link to other videos or drop an external link to your site to serve as a sort of CTA.

5. Schedule live streams for faster growth

Live video is one of the biggest social media trends and it isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. With apps like Facebook, Periscope and Instagram making it easier than ever to stream live video, more and more brands are getting on board.

YouTube has been offering live videos for years but has only recently started picking up steam. You can take a look at some popular YouTube Live videos to get a sense of how other brands are using the platform.

Some examples of how you can use YouTube Live are:

• Webinars
• Live tutorials
• Q&A sessions
• Product demonstrations

Don’t worry if your streams don’t go as smoothly as you’d like. Part of the fun (and risk) of live video is you never know what’s going to happen. The unpolished, organic nature of live video is exactly what makes it compelling. For more tips on how to get started with YouTube Live, check out Google’s introduction to live streaming.

6. Maximize views with YouTube Shorts

Shorts tap into that addictive, quick-hit vertical video format that’s dominating social media (think TikTok and Instagram Reels.) They’re perfect for capturing the attention of viewers who are used to scrolling through endless streams of videos on their phones.

YouTube Shorts aren’t just a trend—they’re powerful tools for growing on the platform. Here’s how you can integrate Shorts into your brand’s content mix:

• Share quick tips and mini tutorials
• Create funny memes or comedy skits
• Respond to viral news or challenges
• Highlight product features and benefits
• Answer customer questions
• Create before and after videos
• Take your audience behind the scenes

Here’s how we do it at Sprout Social:

Source: YouTube

You can also repurpose your longer videos into bite-sized Shorts content to increase reach and brand awareness. Add a CTA for viewers to watch the full video on your channel to drive more views there as well.

7. Engage with the YouTube community

Although you might not think of YouTube as a social network per se, the platform does represent a thriving community where users are engaging via content, profiles, “likes” and comments.

Sounds pretty “social” if you ask us.

As noted earlier, any sort of interaction with your viewers is seen as a positive signal to YouTube. If nothing else, engaging with your subscribers can help you foster a stronger connection with your audience. “Liking” comments only takes a few seconds, as does pinning a top comment as a sort of personal note to your subscribers.

For example, music channel Artists Of Morality regularly likes and responds to comments on its recent uploads. The channel’s creator regularly engages with subscribers to show appreciation and answer questions, too. She even posts a call to action or challenges in her pinned comments like in the one below:

Just as you’d respond to comments and engage with your followers on any other social network, YouTube is no different.

8. Customize your thumbnails

One of the simplest yet effective tactics to promote your YouTube channel is creating custom thumbnails. Think of your title and thumbnail as a sort of one-two punch to grab a viewer’s attention.

By default, YouTube snags a screenshot from any given video and uses it for the thumbnail. Unfortunately, sometimes the image it grabs will be a blurry shot of you adjusting the camera or a transition.

Not a good look, right?

Creating thumbnails yourself not only makes your videos look more appealing at a glance but also signals a certain sense of professionalism.

Thumbnails don’t have to be rocket science, either. You can even create a template with a particular font and style to make it more consistent and on-brand. This is made especially easy with the help of image creation tools such as Canva. Here’s a good example from Binging with Babish:

If you’re looking for simple social media templates to get started with Creator Studio, check out our free YouTube banners that you can download today!

9. Cross-promote your own videos on YouTube

Chances are you’re covering similar topics on YouTube that overlap with each other. To squeeze more out of your older content, make a point to cross-promote your videos when it makes sense.

For example, you can put links in the description of a video and ask viewers to check them out as a kind of call-to-action. Some people might be disappointed that YouTube removed its annotation system. But linking in your description encourages viewers to watch your videos all the way throughout without clicking away.

10. Target Google search results

As noted, YouTube is totally killing it when it comes to SEO.

And while you shouldn’t totally create content for search engines versus people, you should promote your YouTube channel with SEO in mind.

Specifically, product reviews, how-to’s and long-form (10+ minutes) videos covering keyword-specific topics tend to rank well in search engine results pages (SERPs). If you’re strapped for content ideas or want to capitalize on a trending buzzword in your industry, consider how you can do so through your YouTube channel marketing.

11. Run a contest or giveaway

If there’s one thing YouTube users love, it’s a giveaway. Host a YouTube contest or giveaway to encourage people to subscribe to your channel and engage.

To keep your contests simple, have people like your video, leave a comment and subscribe to your channel to enter.

Follow some of our best practices for running any social media contest:

• Make sure you’re following YouTube’s policies.
• Give away a gift that’s related to your brand: you want to attract more than just freebie-seekers.
• Get creative by incorporating user-generated content and other non-traditional entry requirements.

Be careful with hosting frequent YouTube contests, though. You want to make sure you’re getting results from your efforts: otherwise, you’ll end up wasting time, money and resources. After doing one contest, wait a while and look at your subscriber drop-off rate and engagement numbers. If you aren’t bringing in engaged subscribers, you could just be attracting people who want free prizes.

12. Encourage viewers to follow your series

A smart way to promote your YouTube channel is by creating a specific video series that covers a recurring theme or topic. For example, Sprout Social’s YouTube channel has a variety of different series that make up our YouTube presence, like our “Always On” videos.

Series are a win-win for creators and viewers alike. For creators, you hold yourself accountable for creating fresh YouTube content and don’t have to rack your brain for ideas. For your audience, they have something to look forward to and likewise a reason to keep returning to your channel.

13. Embed your YouTube videos

Some of the best places to promote your YouTube channel are beyond YouTube itself.

Case in point, video content is proven to improve conversion rates and lower bounce rate on-site. If you want visitors to stick around a product page or blog post longer, embed a video (like we did below).

Remember: any opportunity you have to funnel your on site (or social!) traffic to YouTube is a plus.

14. Create playlists to organize your YouTube content

The more videos you create, the more difficult it becomes for people to navigate through your channel.

That’s why playlists are so important. Not only do playlists allow you to group your videos into categories to organize your channel, but also appeal to your viewers’ desire to binge.

For example, Beardbrand’s grooming channel has amassed hundreds of videos covering tons of topics. The channel’s various playlists help guide subscribers to relevant content without having to dig for it.

15. Collaborate with other creators and brands

A tactic some of the biggest YouTube stars used to grow their following is collaborating with other users. Each collaboration gives you exposure to a new audience. And the best part is those new viewers are more likely to subscribe to your channel since you’re working with a content creator they already know, like and trust.

The key to a successful YouTube collaboration is finding the right partner. You want to collaborate with content creators that share similar passions with your brand so your video comes off as authentic. This now-classic collaboration between BuzzFeed and Purina is a prime example of a thoughtful collaboration that doesn’t feel overly promotional.

Use a tool like Sprout Social Influencer Marketing (formerly Tagger) to easily find top influencers in your niche. Its smart Affinity Engine digs deep into audience interests and behaviors, not just surface-level stats. This means you can pinpoint creators whose followers truly align with your brand’s vibe and campaign goals.

16. Run a paid YouTube ad campaign

With marketing in general becoming more pay-to-play, you always have the option to get more visibility through paid YouTube ads. YouTube offers a variety of ad formats to choose from:

• Display ads: These ads show up on the right-hand sidebar of videos, and are only available on desktop.
• Overlay ads: These are semi-transparent ads that are displayed on the bottom part of a video. They’re only available on desktop.
• Skippable and non-skippable video ads: These ads show up before, during or after a video. Skippable ads can be skipped after five seconds, but non-skippable ads have to be watched all the way through before the viewer can watch their video.
• Bumper ads: These are non-skippable ads that have to be watched before the viewer can watch their video. They can be a maximum of six seconds.
• Sponsored cards: These are cards that get displayed within relevant videos. You can use them to promote your products or other content.

For your ad creatives, you can either use an existing video or create something new for a specific campaign. The advantage of using an existing video is you can choose a clip you know has been effective in the past. If a video has already gotten a lot of views and engagement organically, running paid ads can amplify your results.

On the flip side, creating a new video for your ads will allow you to create a more targeted piece of content that you have more control over. For instance, you can create an ad with a specific call-to-action at the end to direct viewers to a landing page or another video. You can learn more about YouTube’s video ad formats here.

17. Regularly publish your YouTube content to social media

It’s no secret that video content crushes it on social media in terms of engagement and performance.

As a result, you should regularly promote your YouTube channel to your social followers to encourage them to become subscribers. As soon as a video goes live, make a point to let your followers on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn know about it. You can likewise create snippets or previews for each social platform that also link to your latest production.

With the help of Sprout Social, you can schedule your content and cross-promote it without having to jump from platform to platform. Features such as ViralPost® can also help ensure that your content goes live based on when your social audiences are engaged.

18. Incorporate pre-production best practices

Put your producer hat on and incorporate some pre-production best practices. There’s a lot that goes into creating video before the camera records, but using these methods will streamline your content production.

• Create a contingency plan. What will you do if there’s an issue with your shooting location? What if your talent becomes sick? Proactively plan so you’ll be prepared for the worst.
• Plan the video concept from start to finish. Use a storyboard to outline each part of the video. Use this outline to mark visual jokes, animations, call to actions, etc.
• Create a shot list. A shot list will help you consider important details like lighting, location and camera angles. Once your script and storyboard is complete, make a list of every scene and note the action and dialogue required for each. Mark the type of setup you want (e.g. wide angle vs. a close up).

Streamlining your content production means you’ll likely be able to produce more video because your process is a well-oiled machine versus one that is always in need of repair. Having a set process will also help ensure each video is striking the right cord because you’ve taken the time to think through important visual details and logistics that will add value to viewers.

Since you’ll be able to create more relevant videos, you’ll get more views and grow your YouTube channel over time.

4 resources for growing your YouTube channel

In addition to the 17 tips above, make sure you’re up on all things YouTube. Maximize your efforts with these guides:

• How to create a YouTube channel for your brand in 5 steps – Simplify setting up and perfecting your business channel.
• 11 Tips for writing YouTube descriptions – Differentiate your videos and ensure they’re super findable with optimized descriptions.
• YouTube SEO: How to boost your videos’ rankings – YouTube has become one of the world’s biggest search engines. Follow these tips to make sure you’re meeting audience needs.
• YouTube hashtags: How to use hashtags to increase video views – Demystify how hashtags work on YouTube and get more eyes on your videos.

And with that, we wrap up our guide to how to get more views on YouTube!

How do you promote your YouTube channel?

Growing a YouTube audience doesn’t happen by accident. And yes, it can certainly feel like a grind if your space is crowded with competition.

That’s exactly why it pays to have a variety of promotional tactics in your back pocket. Although some of the tips above require more effort than others, each one can help you get more eyes on your channel and more subscribers as a result.

If you’re ready to ramp up your YouTube presence and start seeing real business results, Sprout Social’s YouTube integration has capabilities to help you seamlessly schedule and publish content. Plus, with our integration, you can dive even deeper into analytics to improve your video strategy.

The post How to get more views on YouTube: 18 ways to promote your channel appeared first on Sprout Social.

There are tons of YouTube analytics tools that can give you comprehensive insights into your performance. These insights can then inform your content production and promotion strategies. As such, they’ll ultimately help you grow your channel. We’ve put together a list of the best YouTube analytics tools that can give you an inside look into your YouTube performance.

What are YouTube analytics tools?

YouTube analytics tools are platforms or features provided either by YouTube or third-party services that offer insights and data about the performance of your YouTube channel and videos. They track various metrics such as views, watch time, audience demographics, engagement rates and more. YouTube analytics tools help creators understand their audience better, optimize their content strategy and make data-driven decisions to grow their channel.

Use these 11 YouTube analytics tools to boost your marketing

With the abundance of options out there, you may be wondering which YouTube analytics tools can best support your needs. Here are eleven of the best options in the market:

1. 1. Sprout Social
   2. YouTube Analytics
   3. Unbox Social
   4. Vidooly
   5. Quintly
   6. ChannelMeter
   7. ViralStat
   8. TubeBuddy
   9. Tubular Intelligence
   10. Unmetric
   11. VidIQ

1. Sprout Social

Our very own YouTube analytics tool gives you a detailed look at how your individual videos are performing. Using the YouTube Videos Report, you can track several video-specific performance metrics. This includes metrics such as the number of video views and estimated minutes watched. It also calculates the average video time watched and engagements for each video.

The grid view makes it easy to see which video you’re analyzing. This also helps you quickly compare the thumbnails of different videos and see which ones need improving.

You can customize the report by sorting videos based on their performance-specific metrics. For example, you can sort the videos in order of video views or engagements.

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2. YouTube Analytics

YouTube’s native analytics offers a detailed look into how your channel is performing in terms of watch time, views and subscriber growth. The overview section provides you with a graph where you can see how your channel performance is changing over time.

Using this tool, you can see how your impressions led to watch time and how viewers found you. This gives you a better understanding of your video visibility, so you can decide if it needs improvement.

YouTube Analytics also helps you understand your audience better. It reveals when your audience is active on YouTube and what other channels they watch. From the research tab, you can even explore what keywords your viewers are searching for, so you know what they’re interested in.

3. Unbox Social

Unbox Social gives you a complete look into your YouTube performance. You can get post-level performance insights to see which ones appeal to your audience and which ones don’t.

It lets you monitor the number of subscribers gained and lost to better understand your channel growth. It also gives you an in-depth analysis of your audience demographics, so you can optimize your strategy accordingly.

Using this YouTube analytics tool, you can see how your video views are changing over time. That way, you can pinpoint when your views spiked and whether a specific video contributed to this spike.

4. Vidooly

Vidooly is a powerful video analytics tool for measuring your video performance. Its analytics function works across YouTube and other major social networks. The brand lift study lets you measure the success of your campaign in terms of impressions and ad recall lift.

The audience insights can reveal the viewing habits of your audience across different platforms. That way, you can adjust your campaigns and promotion strategies to better resonate with them.

This YouTube analytics tool also helps you discover influential YouTube creators to partner with. So, it’s a great tool to have if you plan on launching an influencer marketing campaign involving YouTubers.

5. Quintly

Quintly is one of the most robust YouTube analytics tools in the market. It offers hundreds of metrics that you can track to get a comprehensive look into your performance. This includes channel subscribed status and traffic source. It also shows you the playback location and card metrics for your channel.

The tool lets you dig deeper into surface-level metrics and gives you a breakdown of views coming from premium members and private videos. It also gives you a better understanding of how your channel has performed since the very beginning. For this, you can look at the historic subscriber count and lifetime metrics.

6. ChannelMeter

ChannelMeter lets you track all the basic performance metrics. This includes views, audience size and estimated minutes watched. But the major focus of the platform is YouTube creator management and performance tracking.

You can view who your top performers are along with a breakdown of what each creator is contributing. This includes view counts, monetized playbacks, engagements, subscribers and top videos.

7. ViralStat

ViralStat lets you track your video performance across major social networks. It allows you to monitor all the key performance indicators from a single dashboard. This helps to simplify your campaign measurement.

The tool gives you a better understanding of your audience by seeing what they engage with on other social media platforms. This will help you discover YouTube video ideas and create content that resonates with them. You can even see which creators they follow and trust, which could then inform your influencer marketing strategy.

8. TubeBuddy

TubeBuddy gives you a comprehensive dashboard where you can view your channel analytics insights. It comes with a comparison graph where you can visualize how your views for the past 30 days compare with the views of your competitors.

The Competitor Scorecard lets you make a detailed comparison on other metrics such as subscribers, views and uploads. You can also use “Videolytics” to research your competitors and see what’s working for them and what’s not.

9. Tubular Intelligence

Tubular Intelligence is an AI-powered video analytics platform. It provides suggestions on content categories and trending hashtags. This can inspire you to create videos that your viewers are excited to watch. That way, you stand a better chance of creating videos that the YouTube algorithm will love and display to more viewers.

The platform provides you with detailed insights into your audience demographics. It even lets you add measures on ecommerce purchase and engagement. This will help you understand the impact on audience behaviors. The best part is you can do the same with your competitors’ channels.

10. Unmetric

Unmetric offers one of the most powerful solutions in YouTube competitor analytics. It gives you a detailed list to see how your channel compares with the competition. You can make comparisons on metrics such as views, views growth and average views. It also lets you compare metrics such as subscriber growth, average duration and uploads.

You can quickly analyze viewer sentiment on your competitor videos to see what’s working. Additionally, the report on your most engaging video tags will show you what resonates with your viewers.

11. VidIQ

VidIQ allows users to compare their channel’s performance with that of competitors. Creators can analyze metrics such as subscriber growth, views, and engagement to gain insights into their competitive landscape and identify areas for improvement.

VidIQ provides an SEO score for each video, indicating how well it’s optimized for search. Creators receive recommendations for improving their SEO based on factors like keyword usage, title length and metadata optimization.

Measure and grow your YouTube channel

Monitoring and measuring analytics for your existing strategy is essential if you want to grow your channel. Additionally, you have to stay informed about changes in viewer preferences. This will help you adapt your strategy accordingly for a bigger impact.

Download the latest Sprout Social Index™ to learn more about the changes in consumer preferences. You’ll then understand how your business can adapt to these trends for your YouTube strategy.

The post 11 YouTube analytics tools to improve your marketing in 2024 appeared first on Sprout Social.

We put together some of the most vital social media statistics for YouTube to help you understand the platform better. Let’s take a look.

• YouTube data and channel statistics
• YouTube usage statistics
• YouTube audience and demographics statistics
• YouTube advertising statistics
• YouTube video and marketing statistics
• YouTube influencer statistics

YouTube data and channel statistics

Before getting into general YouTube stats, let’s get personal. If you currently manage a presence on the platform, you can check your channel statistics using YouTube analytics. (Also, if you don’t have a brand account on YouTube, now’s a great time to create a channel.)

Access the YouTube analytics tool by going to studio.youtube.com or by clicking your profile icon and selecting “YouTube Studio.”

Once you’re in YouTube Studio, you can click on “Analytics” in the left hand panel to access your YouTube performance analytics. There are several reports available but if you’re just looking for a general overview of channel performance, check out the Channel Overview Report.

The Channel Overview Report will provide you with a graph measuring how your views, watch time and subscriber count are trending over time. On social media, consistency is key. If you’re updating your channel at a regular cadence, you should see gains in channel growth over time.

If you’re noticing a dip, check out these creative approaches to promoting your YouTube channel.

YouTube usage statistics

Understanding how people use YouTube will help you assess whether it’s a worthy investment. Things like how many people use the platform and how much time they spend can give you an idea of its standing among social media users.

1. YouTube has 2.49 billion monthly active users

According to the Digital 2024 Global Overview Report, YouTube’s potential ad reach totals 2.49 billion users. That’s half of the 5.04 billion social media users worldwide, making it the second most used social platform. This speaks volumes about the platform’s popularity among social media users.

2. YouTube now has 100 million paying subscribers

An increasing number of people are paying for the platform’s Music and Premium services. Based on the latest YouTube user stats, there are now 100 million paying subscribers on the platform.

3. People spend 48.7 minutes on YouTube each day

With a daily time spent of 48.7 minutes, people are spending more time watching YouTube videos in 2024. This indicates a growth in YouTube engagement, making the platform ideal for engaging your target audience.

4. Viewers watch 1 billion hours of YouTube videos per day on their TVs

On that same note, internal YouTube data shows that YouTube viewers are watching an average of 1 billion hours of content each day on their TVs. So there’s a need to focus on creating high-resolution videos suitable for TV viewing.

5. The average user spends over 28 hours on the YouTube app

Based on the Digital 2024 report, worldwide users spend an average of 28 hours and 5 minutes on the YouTube mobile app. While this data is only for Android users, it speaks volumes about the growing use of YouTube among mobile users.

YouTube audience and demographics statistics

Looking into YouTube stats on audience and demographics can help you understand who is using the platform. This gives you an idea whether the platform is ideal for reaching your target audience.

6. YouTube users skew male

Roughly 54.4% of YouTube users are men and 45.6% are women. (There’s no data on other genders available at this time.)

7. The largest age group using YouTube is between ages 25 and 34

Users aged between 25 and 34 account for 21.3% of YouTube’s user base, making them the largest age group to use the platform. The second largest age group is between ages 35 and 44. Additionally, YouTube is popular among young adults aged between 18 and 24, with this group making up 15.5% of the platform’s user base.

8. India has the largest YouTube audience, followed by the United States and Brazil

There are approximately 462 million active YouTube users in India, making it the network’s largest audience by country. The United States comes next with 239 million users while 144 million users are from Brazil.

9. The United States drives the most YouTube traffic

A high user count doesn’t necessarily translate to higher traffic. In fact, the U.S. contributes the most YouTube traffic (21.93%) compared to other countries. In comparison, India, in second position, contributes to just 8.11% of the platform’s traffic.

YouTube advertising statistics

If you’re planning to run YouTube ads, you need to gauge the platform’s advertising performance. Whether this involves looking into the ad revenue or the best ad formats, it’s essential to study a few vital YouTube advertising stats.

10. YouTube’s ad revenue crossed $30 billion in 2023

The platform’s annual ad revenue for 2023 amounted to $31 billion–up from the previous year’s $29.2 billion. This makes up 10.25% of Google’s global revenues.

11. Consumers find YouTube ads to be more relevant than linear TV advertising

YouTube ad targeting capabilities create a highly tailored experience for the end user. According to a 2022 study, 59% of respondents agree that YouTube ads are more relevant than ads on linear TV or other streaming apps.

12. Vertical video can increase conversions per dollar

Vertical video—meaning video filmed and viewed in portrait mode, rather than landscape—has exploded in popularity on the platform since the launch of YouTube Shorts. People have been watching YouTube on a variety of screen sizes for quite some time. Now, marketers have the tools they need to optimize for mobile viewing.

Tailoring YouTube ads to adhere to content consumption preferences can drive a noticeable lift in ROI. Vertical creative assets delivered 10% to 20% more conversions per dollar on YouTube Shorts when compared to landscape assets.

13. Skippable ads perform better than non-skippable ads

Consumers like having a choice, even when it comes to the ads they view. So it’s no surprise that giving viewers the option to skip an ad translates to better-performing ads.

Twenty-nine percent of marketers agree that pre-roll skippable ads are the most effective YouTube ad format. In comparison, only 7% believe that non-skippable ads are effective.

14. YouTube Shorts is quickly becoming a top video advertising platform

Advertisers are increasingly turning to video platforms for short-form video advertising. And YouTube Shorts is quickly gaining ground as one of the leading platforms for short-form video ads. In a survey of ad buyers, 43% say that their largest clients are advertising on YouTube Shorts.

So it’s time to reassess your YouTube ad campaigns to focus on short-form ads and stay ahead of the curve.

YouTube video and marketing statistics

You can learn a lot about YouTube marketing by looking at how other marketers are using the platform. Similarly, the types of videos people watch on YouTube will give you an idea of how to market on the platform. So let’s take a look at some key YouTube video stats in addition to the platform’s marketing statistics.

15. Marketers plan to increase their use of YouTube videos in marketing

Marketers are reassessing YouTube’s place in their marketing mix. About 66% of marketers intend to increase their use of YouTube videos. Additionally, 59% plan to increase their organic activities on the platform.

16. YouTube is the second most effective platform for B2C content marketing

The number of marketers using YouTube for organic content marketing increased from 55% to 67% between 2022 and 2023. This growing usage is a result of the platform’s effectiveness.

In fact, YouTube is the second most effective social platform for content marketing after LinkedIn. Eighty-six percent of content marketers consider it at least somewhat effective.

17. YouTube is the number one platform for viewing live content

Among social video viewers in the U.S., 52% use YouTube to watch live content. This makes it the most popular platform for watching live content, putting it ahead of Facebook and Instagram. So if live video is a part of your marketing strategy, YouTube Live is the perfect place to execute it.

18. YouTube Shorts averages 70 billion views per day

Speaking of the popularity of short-form videos, YouTube Shorts now gets an average of 70 billion views each day. Marketers can ride on this wave by creating more videos for YouTube Shorts to engage their audience.

19. YouTube Shorts is the top short-form video platform for discovery

With so many views each day, it comes as no surprise that YouTube Shorts is the #1 short-form video platform for discovering new products and brands. All the more reason to add YouTube Shorts to your video marketing strategy.

20. The most viewed YouTube video of all time is “Baby Shark Dance”

Parents, this one is probably more than familiar. The viral hit took off in 2016 and shot to the top of the list of most viewed YouTube videos of all time.

The video has almost 14 billion views, as of January 2024.

YouTube influencer statistics

Knowing the top influencers on YouTube helps you understand which influencers have an impact on the platform’s user base. This can then inform how you work with influencers on the platform. Additionally, it gives you an idea of the types of content that are popular on the platform. Let’s look at a few YouTube statistics on the platform’s top users.

21.  T-Series – 261 million subscribers

The most popular YouTube channel is T-Series with 261 million subscribers. According to the latest YouTube channel stats, T-Series has amassed more than 249 billion views for 20,000+ videos.

22.  MrBeast – 244 million subscribers

MrBeast ranks second overall with 244 million subscribers. His channel has amassed more than 44 billion views for just 780 videos.

23.  CoCoMelon – Nursery Rhymes – 173 million subscribers

Coming up next is the nursery rhymes channel, CoCoMelon with 173 million subscribers. Interestingly, the channel has more views than MrBeast at over 179 billion views. With the channel having uploaded 1,000+ videos, it could be an indicator that video posting frequency impacts your YouTube views stats.

24.  SET India – 169 million subscribers

Another Indian channel to make it to the list, SET India is the fourth most popular channel with 169 million subscribers. The latest numbers show that the channel has 160 billion views with 131,000+ uploads.

25.  Kids Diana Show – 120 million subscribers

Kids Diana Show ranks fifth with 120 million subscribers. The channel has a total of more than 100 billion views with 1,100+ videos.

Turning these YouTube stats into action

These key YouTube statistics give you insights into the platform and its marketing landscape. Transform these insights into action by downloading our useful YouTube strategy template.

The post 25 YouTube stats marketers should know in 2024 [Updated] appeared first on Sprout Social.

The term “influencer” might be synonymous with Instagram and TikTok these days. Thing is, YouTube creators predate both and are the blueprint for what an “influencer” is today.

And YouTubers have consistently built full-blown brands, media careers and product lines.

These aren’t just one-off success stories, either. From beauty and fitness to gaming and beyond, YouTube creators drive billions of views from any audience you can imagine.

And this speaks to the power of YouTube influencer marketing and sponsored content for brands.

This post digs into the top YouTube influencers of all shapes and sizes and why they’re notable.

Table of contents:

• Who are YouTube influencers?
• Top YouTube influencers overall
• Top YouTube fitness influencers
• Top YouTube makeup and beauty influencers

Who are YouTube influencers?

YouTube Influencers are creators with substantial followings and engaged communities. These creators’ personal brands are recognizable among their audiences and businesses.

While there’s no one-size-definition of what a YouTube influencer is, our criteria for this list includes:

• A sizable audience (100,000s or millions of subscribers)
• Videos that regularly earn 1+ million views
• Content that’s brand and collab-friendly

Brands primarily partner with YouTube influencers through sponsored videos and brand ambassadorships. Beyond paid partnerships, many creators will serve as affiliates for brands.

Consider that many YouTube influencers’ level of engagement dwarfs that of traditional ad channels. The platform’s largest creators drive millions of views in a matter of days.

These viewers are engaging with long-form content (hint: not 15-second ad spots). With so much content on YouTube, brands are spoiled for choice when it comes to finding the right influencers.

Top YouTube influencers overall

Below is our breakdown of some of the top YouTube influencers overall.

Bear in mind that subscriber count isn’t everything! While many of these channels represent some of the biggest YouTube influencers, we also share a few up-and-coming creators as well.

1. MrBeast

With over 240 million subscribers, MrBeast is officially the biggest individual YouTube influencer.

His elaborate stunts and philanthropic videos are among the platform’s most viral content. The channel has inspired platform-wide trends including over-the-top thumbnails and “challenge”-style videos.

Inspiring so many copycat channels, MrBeast’s ability to establish trends and drive millions of views in minutes is what makes him the top YouTube influencer by a wide margin.

2. Lily Singh

Lilly Singh is a shining example of how to go from being a YouTube influencer to launching a legit media career and personal brand. With over 1,000 videos and 13 years on the platform, Singh highlights how far both YouTube and creators have come.

Over the years, her content evolved from cultural comedy skits to vlogs featuring Zendaya and The Rock. While Singh doesn’t publish as much long-form content these days, she posts plenty of YouTube shorts of her behind-the-scenes life as a celeb.

3. Marques Brownlee

Marques Brownlee is the mastermind behind MKBHD, breaking down cutting edge tech with super in-depth reviews. Brownlee’s 18+ million subscribers speak for themselves, as does the fact that his new review of the Apple Vision Pro has already amassed 26+ million views in a month.

His channel is the go-to place for the YouTube community to learn about the latest gadgets, phones, tech accessories, gaming consoles and more. What makes Brownlee notable is his welcoming presentation, making his content accessible to casual viewers and tech junkies alike.

4. Dude Perfect

Five YouTube influencers, one channel.

Despite being simply presented as five guys making videos, Dude Perfect is the blueprint for a successful comedy channel on YouTube. Their sketches and outlandish “trick shot” videos consistently go viral across social media, not to mention YouTube itself.

Getting hundreds of millions of views for flipping water bottles and making ping pong trick shots might seem impossible. That said, the personality of the Dude Perfect team is what really hooks viewers from the start.

5. Emma Chamberlain

Emma Chamberlain proves the power of day-in-the-life style content. Amassing 14+ million subscribers for her vlogs and lifestyle videos, Chamberlain presents her “real” self to viewers whether she’s filming her daily fits or exploring a new county.

Like all of the YouTube influencers on our list, her channel is a reminder that building an audience boils down to creating a legit emotional connection with your audience. Needless to say, Chamberlain has nailed it there.

6. Markiplier

Markiplier is a pioneer as a YouTube influencer in the gaming space. His channel blew up in the wake of horror game jump-scares and reaction videos taking off over a decade ago. 5,500+ videos later, Markiplier continues to create similar content with the occasional vlog or charity announcement in-between.

7. KallMerkis

KallMerkis’ channel is a perfect storm of what tends to trend across YouTube. That includes reaction videos, reviewing weird products and outlandish thumbnails. Her consistency and content variety has netted her nearly 11 million subscribers to date with no signs of slowing down.

8. Jacksepticeye

Jacksepticeye is another example of a gaming YouTube influencer who got in early on reaction content and playthroughs. While many of his earliest and most popular videos also featured original animations, Jack has also branched out into meme reviews, reaction videos and everything in-between.

9. Morgan Drinks Coffee

Morgan Drinks Coffee’s Morgan Eckroth is a barista champion turned YouTube influencer who regularly publishes super creative branded content. Unsurprisingly, most of her content is coffee-themed. This includes long-form educational videos, recipes and product reviews.

Given that Morgan is also popular on TikTok (6.3 million followers), she makes a point to regularly crosspost her videos to YouTube Shorts where they likewise earn impressive engagement.

10. JaidenAnimation

JaidenAnimations is unique as the only animated YouTube influencer on our list. Many of her recent videos focus on video games and nerd culture along with her personal experiences. Combining humorous “storytimes” with stunning cartoons, her distinct style has earned her 12.4 million subscribers to date.

11. Davie 504

David504’s content is equal parts bizarre and mind-blowing. Combining memes with creative bass guitar solos and challenges, Davie’s channel is one of the biggest independent music YouTube influencers with an impressive 13+ million subscribers.

12. Adam Neely

Another music YouTube influencer, Adam Neely has one of the oldest channels of anyone on this list (with his first video published way back in 2006). Since then, Neely has consistently published deep-dives into music theory alongside live performances and vlogs detailing his life as a gigging musician.

13. SB Mowing

SB Mowings’ before-and-after mowing videos are also a perfect example of “oddly satisfying” content that tends to go viral on YouTube. Transforming untenable lawns into something with curb appeal definitely falls under that category as millions of viewers regularly tune in to see it happen.

Even more impressive is how the channel boasts its fair share of sponsored content. SB Mowing is a shining example of just how successful niche YouTube influencers can be.

Top YouTube fitness influencers

While there’s no shortage of them, here are a few notable YouTube fitness influencers to watch.

14. Yoga With Adriene

Yoga with Adriene is YouTube’s one-stop-shop for all things yoga. Her calm presentation and the fact that she has tutorials for all skill levels have only helped her viewership grow since. From bite-sized routines and full-blown classes to in-depth yoga pose tutorials, Adrienne has covered all of the above in detail in 700+ videos and counting.

15. Jeff Nippard

Jeff Nippard is different from many of the biggest YouTube influencers in the fitness space because of his background in chemistry. His recommendations go beyond anecdotal fitness advice with a focus on science and peer-reviewed data. Nippard’s videos combine practical muscle-building and diet recs with serious educational value that doesn’t skimp on the details.

16. Athlean X

Like Nippard, Athlean X’s Jeff Cavaliere takes pride in his “no BS” and science-backed approach to fitness advice. Serving as a celebrity trainer with decades of experience, Athlean X goes to great lengths to dispel common YouTube fitness myths. Much of the channel is dedicated to addressing weightlifting trends with the potential to cause injury.

17. Blogilates

Another example of how creators turn content into careers and products, Blogilates is an “OG” fitness YouTuber who also has a thriving activewear brand to her name. Her channel primarily consists of bodyweight exercise tutorials and ~15 minute workout routines for busy viewers.

18. Carla Rowena

Carla Rowena’s channel is a notable mix of both fitness and lifestyle content. Beyond traditional workout routines, she also uses her channel as a place to document her journey as a parent. She’s recently published a series of postpartum workout videos which highlights how creators can seamlessly reach multiple audiences at the same time.

Top YouTube makeup and beauty influencers

19. Michelle Phan

While Michelle Phan’s channel initially popped off thanks to her copycat celebrity makeup tutorials, the channel primarily focuses on product reviews and routine breakdowns. Not to mention founding EM Cosmetics along the way.

Her videos are seriously in-depth and border on ASMR with a soft and calm presentation. Phan sometimes publishes lifestyle videos and personal vlogs for the sake of variety.

20. Jackie Aina

Jackie Aina’s self-proclaimed goal is to change “the standard of beauty” and she delivers with her routine videos, vlogs and self-care videos. While Aina initially built her brand on beauty reviews, self-care has become the primary focus of the channel with makeup playing a supporting role.

Some of her more recent videos are sponsored by brands like CashApp, highlighting how YouTube beauty influencers are creating content powered by paid partnerships.

21. Taylor Wynn

Taylor Wynn has been posting beauty tutorials and reviews for over a decade. She continues to consistently post routine videos and recommendations alongside long-form vlogs. With many of her videos clocking at over 30+ minutes, she’s yet another example of a beauty vlogger who dives deep into her favorite finds at Ulta, Sephora and beyond.

22. NikkieTutorials

NikkieTutorials’ content is much more in-your-face than other beauty YouTubers but that’s 100% on-brand. Her 14.5m subscribers don’t lie!

Quick edits, memes and a great sense of humor help Nikkie’s content stand out from the crowd. Testing viral hacks and bizarre routines provides serious entertainment value while also showing off her skill as a makeup artist.

While Nikkie doesn’t post as many long-form videos these days, she’s still actively publishing bite-sized makeup applications and reaction videos.

23. Huda Beauty

Like many YouTube beauty influencers, Huda Beauty went from creating makeup tutorials to building her own cosmetics empire. Huda’s 4 million YouTube subs and ever-growing brand highlight her impact as both a beauty influencer and entrepreneur.

24. Christen Dominique

With 4+ million subscribers, Christen Dominique has mastered the art of creating long-form beauty videos. Most of her videos are ~20 minutes long with the occasional unedited videos that can last for over an hour.

Routines, hacks and GRWM videos are cornerstones of her content which gets seriously in-depth. The fact that Dominique continues to publish multiple videos per month is impressive for a creator of her size. Bonus points for keeping up that sort of volume and high production value.

Ready to start working with YouTube influencers?

The list above provides a taste of what YouTube has to offer in terms of creative talent. The amount of talented influencers on YouTube across industries and genres is staggering.

And this is great news for both creators and the brands that want to partner with them.

Especially as YouTubers continue to find super creative ways to feature brands in their content. Still, simply finding the right influencers is one of the toughest parts of getting started.

If you haven’t already, check out Sprout Social’s suite of influencer marketing features to see how the platform can help you reach your target audience with creators faster.

The post 24 Top YouTube influencers to check out in 2024 appeared first on Sprout Social.

Do viewers love your videos? Is your channel growing? Where do your views come from?

These are all questions that directly impact your content and approach to YouTube marketing.

And one of the best places to get answers to these questions is through social media analytics — specifically YouTube analytics.

YouTube’s native analytics provides heaps of data to uncover everything you need to know about your channel and content performance. However, it can all be overwhelming if you’re new to it.

Check out this complete guide to navigate YouTube analytics and use it to your advantage.

• What are YouTube analytics?
• Benefits of tracking YouTube analytics
• How to find YouTube analytics
• YouTube channel analytics and metrics to track
• YouTube video analytics and metrics to track
• YouTube ads earnings analytics and metrics to track
• How to see YouTube analytics for other channels
• YouTube analytics tools to level up your strategy
• Grow your channel with YouTube analytics

What are YouTube analytics?

YouTube analytics refer to the data and performance metrics of your channel. To name a few, these metrics include views, subscribers, watch-time, and comments. Understanding all YouTube metrics is crucial to understand how much you’re engaging your audience and whether your content is performing well.

Your performance data can be broken down by either channel-wide or video-specific metrics.

Benefits of tracking YouTube analytics

You can’t grow your channel if you don’t know how your audience engages with your videos.

And so the benefits of having a pulse on your YouTube analytics can’t be overstated.

1. Spot audience performance trends

Creators should be wary of blanket advice regarding what’s “optimal” on YouTube.

If you want to know what your specific audience does or doesn’t want, look no further than your YouTube analytics data to uncover insights. For example, do your viewers tend to prefer 10+ minute videos or YouTube Shorts? Do you notice an uptick in subscriber engagement when you upload less?

YouTube analytics can provide valuable information so you can create content with more confidence.

2. Learn what content resonates with your YouTube audience

While the YouTube algorithm feels like a mystery, one thing’s for sure: content formats have a massive impact on your videos’ engagement. Not to mention, it influences your ability to build an audience.

For example, you might notice that reaction videos get way more views than your explainer videos. “Create relevant content” isn’t actionable advice until you have benchmark video data.

3. Assess how assets affect performance

Remember that your actual YouTube content is only one piece of your video marketing strategy.

Consider how assets and publishing details can likewise impact your channel’s performance:

• Thumbnails
• Captions
• Hashtags and keywords
• Channel branding
• External links

To understand how these elements impact your content, simply check your dashboard. For deeper insights, use our YouTube strategy template. It’s designed to help you optimize your YouTube content creation process and refine your strategy continuously.

Get the template

How to find YouTube analytics

Let’s start with the basics: accessing your YouTube analytics. While YouTube itself offers native analytics, we’ll kick things off with Sprout Social. Not only does Sprout provide in-depth YouTube insights, but it also allows you to easily compare your YouTube performance with other social channels—a key advantage for understanding your overall social strategy.

How to access YouTube analytics in Sprout Social

Step 1: If you don’t already have a Sprout Social account, sign up for a free trial using your business email. You don’t even need a credit card.

Step 2: Once logged in, go to “Account and settings > Connect a Profile”. You can also connect a profile by clicking + Connect a profile from Groups & Social Profiles in Settings.

Step 3: Select Group and Platform. Select the Group the profile belongs to from the “In Group” dropdown. Then click “Connect” on YouTube.

Step 4: Authorize your YouTube profile. Click “Go to YouTube” and follow the prompts to authorize your YouTube profile and connect it to Sprout.

To access your YouTube Video Analytics Report in Sprout Social

Step 5: Navigate to the Reports tab.

Step 6: Click YouTube Videos under the YouTube Reports dropdown.

Understanding YouTube Video Analytics Data

With the YouTube Videos report, you can easily understand your YouTube videos’ immediate and long-term impact and success. Quickly review your top-performing videos or examine your YouTube performance data to uncover engagement metrics for each video. You can:

• Track progress over time
• Make adjustments to your strategy
• Measure the success of campaigns to track the ROI of YouTube marketing efforts.

Unlocking Video Performance with Sprout Social

This breakdown explores the essential data points in your video performance report, highlighting their strategic importance for optimizing your content and achieving your goals.

Video Views: While a fundamental metric, the total number of views your video receives is a powerful indicator of reach and potential brand awareness. Aim to maximize views by promoting your videos across multiple channels, using relevant keywords and engaging thumbnails.

Average View Duration: This metric goes beyond simple views to reveal how long viewers are actually watching your videos. A longer average view duration signals higher engagement and suggests your content is resonating. To boost view duration, experiment with storytelling techniques, incorporate compelling visuals, and ensure your videos deliver value upfront.

Engagements: This metric tracks the total number of likes, comments and shares your video receives, providing valuable insight into audience interaction and interest. High engagement shows that viewers aren’t just passively consuming your content; they’re actively participating. Encourage engagement by posing questions, responding to comments and fostering a sense of community around your videos.

Published Date: Analyzing video performance in relation to its publish date can reveal important trends. This information helps you understand how the timing of your releases impacts viewership and engagement. Experiment with different posting times and days to identify what works best for your audience.

Visibility Status: Understanding whether a video is public, private, or unlisted is crucial for assessing its reach and targeting. Public videos are accessible to everyone, while private videos are restricted to specific viewers. Unlisted videos can be shared via a direct link but won’t appear in search results. Utilize these settings strategically to control access and tailor your content to specific audiences.

By carefully tracking and analyzing these data points, you can gain a deeper understanding of your video performance, identify areas for improvement, and develop a content strategy that drives meaningful results.

It is also possible to access YouTube analytics natively on a desktop or within the app.

How to access YouTube analytics on desktop

To access the YouTube analytics tool, you can log in directly from studio.youtube.com. You can also click on your profile icon from your YouTube account and select “YouTube Studio.”

From your YouTube Studio dashboard, click on “Analytics” in the left-hand panel. Simple enough, this will open your YouTube analytics! Here you get an overview of your channel’s performance.

You can navigate further with the Content, Audience and Research tabs for more granular metrics, too. Click “See More” to get more detailed YouTube channel analytics for each.

How to access YouTube analytics on mobile

From the YouTube mobile app, select your profile picture and tap “Your Channel.” Then select the graph icon (next to “Manage videos”).

Alternatively, you can download the full YouTube Studio app which offers many of the same metric breakdowns as the desktop version. You can find a prompt to download the app at the bottom of your mobile YouTube analytics page.

YouTube channel analytics and metrics to track

In YouTube Studio, select the “Analytics” in the left-hand menu for your channel-wide data.

Below is a breakdown of the YouTube metrics you can see for your entire channel via Studio.

Channel overview and content metrics

Channel views. The number of total views your channel has received (defaults to the previous 28 days).

Channel watch time (hours). The amount of time viewers have spent watching your videos.

Channel subscribers. The number of subscribers gained within the past 28 days.

Realtime report. A live report of your subscriber and viewer count.

Top Content. A preview of your top three videos within the past 48 hours (you can also click to see an expanded list).

Impressions. The total number of impressions your channel has received in the previous 28 days.

Impressions click-through rate. The percentage impressions that resulted in a video view.

Average view duration. The average amount of time (in minutes/seconds) that viewers spend watching your videos.

Key moments for audience retention. A percentage breakdown of how many viewers are still watching specific videos at the 0:30 mark.

How viewers find your videos. A percentage breakdown of how people discover your content organized by suggested videos, browse features, playlists, YouTube search, channel pages and other sources.

Audience metrics

Returning viewers. The number of repeat viewers of your content within the past 28 days.

Unique viewers. The total number of unique (individual viewers) of your content within the past 28 days.

Videos growing your audience. A breakdown of videos that resulted in repeat views.

When your viewers are on YouTube. A breakdown of the times and days of the week that your audience is most engaged on YouTube.

Top geographies. The origin countries of your audience.

Age and gender. A breakdown of the age and gender of your YouTube audience.

YouTube video analytics and metrics to track

In YouTube Studio, select “Content” in the left-hand menu to see a list of all your videos.

Then, tap the Analytics icon next to the thumbnail for a breakdown of metrics for a specific video.

Engagement metrics

Views: The total number of views your channel (or video) received

Watch time: The total number of time (in hours) people watched your videos

Subscribers: How many new subscribers you’ve gained within a given timeframe

Average view duration: The average length (in seconds) of video playback

Average percentage viewed: The average percentage of a video watched during playback

Impressions: The number of times your video thumbnails or previews were presented to viewers

Impressions click-through rate: How often viewers clicked to view a video after seeing a preview or video suggestion for it

Likes (vs dislikes): The ratio of “thumbs up” versus “thumbs down” ratings on a video

End screen element click rate: How often viewers clicked your end screen following a video

Awareness metrics

How viewers find this video: Percentage of viewers from sources such as suggested videos, YouTube search, playlists, browse features and more

Impressions and how they led to watch time: A visual representation of how many thumbnail impressions a video received and the number of views that resulted from it

External sites or apps: Percentage of viewers that come from off-site source such as Reddit or Discord

Bell notifications sent: How many times your subscribers were sent notifications for your new videos

YouTube search terms: Which terms that viewers searched in YouTube to land on your videos

Content suggesting this video: The percentage of impressions received from content suggesting your video

Playlists featuring this video: The number of YouTube playlists featuring your content

Other metrics to track

Returning viewers: How many viewers of your videos have previously watched your content

Unique viewers: The number of individual viewers of a video or channel (not counting repeat viewers or loops)

Age and gender: The demographic breakdown of your viewership based on age and gender

Watch time from subscribers: The amount of time spent on your videos from viewers subscribed to your channel

Top geographies: A breakdown of the locations where your videos are viewed the most

Top subtitle / CC languages: The most common languages that appear in subtitles for your videos

YouTube ads earnings analytics and metrics to track

Unsurprisingly, you can also find heaps of data on your YouTube ads within the platform as well.

For the sake of your budget and performance, keeping a close eye on your paid YouTube analytics is crucial to make the most of your ad spend. Especially as Google continues to experiment with new ad types and formats.

Ad earnings: The total estimated earnings (net revenue) from all Google-sold advertising sources for the selected date range and region

Earnings: The total estimated earnings (net revenue) from all Google-sold advertising sources as well as from non-advertising sources for the selected date range and region

Red partner revenue: The total estimated revenue earned from YouTube Red subscriptions for the selected report dimensions. It reflects earnings from both music and non-music content

Ad type: The format of the ad in question and its buying platform

Ad impressions: The number of verified ad impressions served

Monetized playbacks: The number of instances when a viewer plays your video and sees at least one ad impression. A monetized playback is counted if a viewer is shown a pre-roll ad but quits watching the ad before your video ever starts.

Playback-based CPM: The estimated gross revenue per thousand playbacks

How to see YouTube analytics for other channels

Without using a third-party YouTube analytics or a competitive analysis tool, there’s limited data you can gather on competitors or creators in your space.

Natively, you can see limited data for other channels under the “Audience” through in your main YouTube Analytics dashboard. Here you get a snapshot of the activity and content preferences of your viewers.

• Channels your audience watches
• What your audience watches
• Formats your viewers watch on YouTube (videos, Shorts and Live)

Note that this data may be incomplete until you have a larger viewership to populate each field.

YouTube analytics tools to level up your strategy

Video marketers are spoiled for choice when it comes to YouTube analytics tools.

Although YouTube’s native data is pretty robust, third-party tools can fill in the gaps and uncover new opportunities to grow your YouTube channel. Many of these opportunities can stem from your social marketing efforts.

Sprout Social

Sprout offers powerful tools to analyze your YouTube performance. The platform lets you easily visualize your content performance across channels to see exactly where you stand. You can also gain video-specific insights to understand how to improve your publishing and engagement efforts.

Google Analytics

Google Analytics can give you a more detailed look into your channel performance as it pertains to your website. You’ll be able to track how people are interacting with your channel page and how they’re converting on the page. You can also track the traffic coming from your YouTube videos to your website.

Grow your channel with Youtube analytics

We get it: there’s a lot to take in!

But YouTube analytics can inform your strategy and amplify your marketing efforts. Consider using a tool like Sprout Social to help you step up your YouTube marketing. From cross-publishing and asset management and beyond, our platform allows you to seamlessly combine your YouTube presence with your social campaigns.

And if you haven’t already, you can take the first step by checking out our YouTube strategy template!

The post YouTube analytics: How to analyze your YouTube data appeared first on Sprout Social.

Earning billions of daily views and video searches, YouTube’s popularity speaks for itself.

And like any other type of social media engagement, competition on YouTube is fierce.

For brands big and small, growing a channel and dedicated audience is no small feat. Especially when performance is tied to the ever-changing YouTube algorithm.

The good news is that there are ways to increase your reach and move your video metrics in the right direction.

Below we explain how YouTube engagement is calculated, plus we provide 10 ways to increase your YouTube engagement rate.

• What is YouTube engagement?
• How to calculate your YouTube engagement rate
• 10 tips to improve your YouTube engagement rate
• Are you taking steps to increase your YouTube engagement rate?

What is YouTube engagement?

YouTube engagement refers to the level of activity associated with your channel and videos. This activity includes views, shares, “Likes,” comments and new subscribers. 

YouTube’s native analytics provide metrics to help channels understand how engaged your audience is. From there, you can draw insights to boost engagement. For example, increasing YouTube engagement starts by identifying trends such as the following:

• Which videos are retaining the most viewers?
• Where do most of a video’s views come from (ex: YouTube search vs. suggested videos)?
• Which videos yield the most subscribers?
• Which videos have the longest video duration?
• Which videos earning the most comments or likes?

Leveraging insights from YouTube analytics can uncover ways to optimize your content and channel’s for further engaging your target audience.  Below is a snapshot of how the platform analyzes unique viewer and engagement for any given video:

You can gather insights around YouTube engagement on both a video and channel-wide basis. You can keep a pulse on your top-performing content on your YouTube Studio dashboard.

Meanwhile, individual videos can be analyzed further via “Reach, “Engagement” and “Audience.”

Both big-picture and granular data points can clue you in on what videos are doing well. Also, which fell flat and the sorts of content your audience actually wants to see.

What factors impact your YouTube engagement rate?

Like any social algorithm, YouTube’s algorithm ranks content based on a variety of factors. One of these factors is the level of engagement of a video. A video with a higher YouTube engagement rate will likely rank higher on YouTube compared to other videos targeting the same demographic or audience with a lower engagement rate.

Some factors that contribute to a YouTube video’s level of engagement are more impactful than others. Here is a strong list for starters:

• Account activity. This includes how often you publish videos, respond to comments and engage with other YouTube accounts. Off-platform activity such as traffic from search engines or social networks can help you here, too.
• Video duration. This includes how long your videos are. Conventional wisdom says that “longer” videos (8-10+ minutes) earn more engagement. That’s because longer watch times result in more time spent on YouTube. There’s obviously exceptions to this, though.
• Video titles, descriptions and formats. These details help YouTube understand what your content actually is. Likewise, these details help ensure that your videos get suggested across other YouTube channels that serve a similar demographic or audience. This would make it more likely to attract a more highly engaged audience to your videos.
• Topics and target audience. Simply put, your YouTube engagement is largely dependent on your audience and industry. A SaaS company or niche channel will likely have a lower ceiling of potential viewership. That said, sticking to consistent themes and topics for a specific target audience will set you up for more engagement than making your channel a dumping ground for clips.

This list isn’t the be-all, end-all of YouTube engagement. How users engage with YouTube content formatting will be ever-evolving as the platform changes over time. That said, these are all factors that channels (mostly) have control over at the time of writing.

How to calculate your YouTube engagement rate

Here’s a simplified formula to figure out your engagement rate:

Total interactions / total impressions x 100 = engagement rate percentage

To calculate your YouTube engagement rate, start with your total video interactions. Interactions include views, shares, “Dislikes,” “Likes,” comments, new subscribers, and lost subscribers. If those are too many metrics to count to be relevant to the goals of your YouTube channel, it’s customary to narrow down your interactions to just “Likes,” comments, and shares. These three metrics are considered to be the most valuable metrics to determine engagement on YouTube.

Second, you’ll want to take your total number of interactions and divide it by your total impressions. Google tells us that “Impressions are counted if the thumbnail is shown for more than 1 second and at least 50% of the thumbnail is visible on the screen.”

You can find impressions in the “Reach” tab in YouTube analytics. Lastly, take the total video interactions divided by the total impressions and multiply that total by 100 to get your engagement rate percentage.

10 tips to improve your YouTube engagement rate

Let’s be super clear: there is no secret to succeeding on YouTube.

That said, there are common qualities between the top-performing channels and videos. While you can’t control the algorithm, you can tailor your content for more reach and views.

Below we dig into actionable ways to improve your YouTube engagement rate. These tips are based on recent trends, YouTube’s own best practices and what we’ve seen firsthand.

Pro tip: If you’re looking for something a bit more tactical, try our YouTube strategy template. It will help you conduct brand and channel audits that support a more engaging YouTube presence.

Get the template

1. Prioritize platform and community engagement

Marketers love to debate YouTube’s status as a social network.

But the platforms’ ongoing Community features signal how the platform is getting more “social.”

Like any social app, interactions go hand in hand with reach and engagement. This includes:

• Responding to comments
• Engaging with other channels and users (via comments and “Likes”)
• Asking questions of your audience (in your video descriptions or content itself)

Consider that YouTube puts recent comments front-and-center in your analytics dashboard. The platform explicitly encourages timely responses and interactions. In YouTube Studio, you can actually reply to all of your unacknowledged comments without leaving the page.

If nothing else, posting updates via the Community tab ensures that more people see your videos. These posts can serve as a friendly nudge to your subscribers who’d otherwise miss your latest upload.

2. Promote your YouTube content across multiple channels

Content distribution is all the rage right now.

And rightfully so given the legwork it takes to create a YouTube video.

Reposting and cross-promoting your YouTube presence is a smart move. You might be surprised at which social networks or marketing channels result in more eyes on your content.

For example, consider the following ways to funnel more YouTube engagement to your channel:

• Embed videos on your website (via your homepage, landing pages or blog)
• Include a link to your YouTube channel in your Linktree or social bios
• Cross-posting YouTube links on platforms like Reddit, LinkedIn or Pinterest

YouTube actually keeps track of your off-platform traffic in the “External sites or apps” report in every video. Think of this as a sort of stripped down version of a Google Analytics report.

This report can highlight opportunities to drive YouTube engagement through other channels. Likewise, you can assess whether your YouTube SEO is on point (but more on that later).

3. Create more YouTube Shorts content

The fact that YouTube Shorts is amassing tens of billions of views daily on their own is staggering.

Likewise, it’s all the more reason to experiment with short-form content. Shorts represent YouTube’s response to TikTok and the popularity of “the endless scroll” when it comes to content.

Beyond the potential for engagement, Shorts serve as a way to organize your channel. That is, you can separate your long-form content on your main channel and bite-sized clips.

While this doesn’t guarantee YouTube engagement by default, it does provide more chances to get picked up by the algorithm. Especially YouTube really seems to be favoring Shorts right now.

If you’re new to Shorts, consider the following to kickstart your presence there:

• Recut long-form videos into short-form content
• Cross-post vertical video content such as TikToks or Instagram Reels
• Experiment with smartphone-only video ideas with Shorts

And hey, that last point leads us to our next tip.

4. Experiment with new video ideas

You’ll never know what actually drives engagement on YouTube until you test for yourself.

There’s no shortage of video ideas to fill your content calendar. If you’re in a creative rut or realize that your current video formats aren’t working, try something new. For example:

• “Versus” content (ex: comparing products, methods to do a task)
• How-to content and tutorials
• Review and reaction-style content

All of the above are proven formats that offer a lot of creative freedom. Not to mention they’re like candy to both the YouTube algorithm and Google.

Channels like Pianote publish a wide variety of content that fits into a few specific buckets. For example, they create a combination of lesson videos and gear videos targeting beginner pianists. Needless to say, they’ve found a winning formula primarily through educational content.

You may naturally want to avoid YouTube cliches or anything that borders on clickbait. That said, there’s a reason why many of the most popular channels follow similar formula that includes:

• Videos geared toward a specific audience (that still has appeal to general views)
• “Edutainment” that answers questions or piques viewers’ curiosity
• Longer-form videos that cover topics comprehensively

The takeaway here is to be open-minded to new ideas and test formats for yourself.

5. Create a consistent publishing schedule

Rarely do channels grow when they post at random.

Feeding the YouTube algorithm means sticking to a consistent content calendar. This doesn’t mean sacrificing quality for quantity with your content. YouTube specifically recommends creating Shorts because of their lower time commitment and potential for scale.

For example, you might find a balance posting one “long” video alongside three Shorts weekly. What matters most is sticking to a social media content calendar that’s reasonable long-term.

While there’s a link between YouTube engagement and timing, much data is anecdotal. YouTube Studio actually provides a breakdown of when your specific viewing audience is more active on the app. This can help provide context to the best time to post based on your channel.

6. Hook viewers with creative thumbnails

Food for thought: 90% of the top-performing videos on YouTube have custom thumbnails.

Creating an “optimal” thumbnail depends largely on your content and audience. That said, there are best practices that are likewise recommended by YouTube themselves:

• Make use of colors to catch viewers’ eyes (“dynamic colors” in Google’s words)
• Use clear text that’s easy to read across multiple devices
• Feature actual people in your thumbnails to make an emotional connection with viewers

Think of your thumbnail as part of your video’s hook. Random screengrabs are rarely going to excite viewers, especially people who’ve never seen you before.

7. Be strategic with YouTube ads

This is a straightforward tip that may or may not make sense depending on your goals.

That said, running YouTube ads can be an eye-opener for the sake of getting fast data about your audience. For example, you can test different formats, messaging and keyword phrases to see what hits. This serves as a faster way to gather audience data versus waiting for it organically.

8. Take action to improve your YouTube SEO

Paying attention to your YouTube SEO is a low-hanging way to improve your engagement rate.

The platform’s status as a search engine is well-documented, especially as more and more videos pop up in Google results. The goal of YouTube SEO isn’t to spam viewers. Instead, it’s to make small tweaks to your videos to make them more viewer-friendly and easier to find.

There’s a lot that goes into YouTube SEO, but here are starters to consider:

• Your video titles (think: “How-to” content pops up in the SERPs all the time)
• Including keywords in your video descriptions
• Making use of relevant YouTube hashtags
• Pointing traffic to your video content from external sources

Like everything else related to YouTube engagement, there’s no silver bullet here. Focus on taking small steps to optimize your content and channel to see what works.

9. Use timestamps to hold your viewers’ attention

If you spend much time in YouTube Studio, you’ll notice how much viewer retention is mentioned.

This metric is key to both YouTube and its algorithm. The more time people spend watching your videos, the more you signal your content as recommend-worthy.

Increasing viewer retention doesn’t require making long-form the only part of your video marketing strategy. Small steps like adding timestamps (which in turn create “Chapters”) on your videos can do the trick.

Timestamps can help viewers zero in on the exact information that they’re looking for. Most viewers would prefer to skip lengthy intros and get straight to the “meat” of your videos. That’s how timestamps create a better viewer experience and keep viewers from bouncing early.

10. Use the right YouTube management tools

YouTube’s native tools are a treasure trove of insight about your content.

That said, consider that there are other tools that can also elevate your channel faster.

For example, Sprout’s social media management tools can help boost your YouTube presence. Here are just a handful of ways which tie back to the tips above:

• Easy cross-promote your new YouTube videos across social networks in one platform
• Discover threads and trends between top-performing videos via in-depth analytics
• Align your YouTube content with audience conversations via social listening

Are you taking steps to increase your YouTube engagement rate?

Getting consistent engagement on YouTube doesn’t happen by accident.

Doing so requires a strategy and attention to detail.

Following all of the tips above might seem daunting. The reality, though? These best practices become second nature once you see just how much they impact your engagement rate.

Looking for more insights and tips on taking your video marketing presence to the next level?

If you haven’t already, check out our YouTube strategy template to grow your channel faster!

The post Increase YouTube engagement: 10 ways that actually work appeared first on Sprout Social.

This YouTube strategy template will show you how to: 

• Conduct brand and channel audits 
• Perform a competitor analysis 
• Define your goals and audience
• Conduct keyword research and performance analysis 
• Optimize your videos with YouTube SEO best practices

Not sure where to get started or looking to iterate your current YouTube strategy? Use this resource as a guide from pre-production to post-production and launch. 

The post YouTube Strategy Template: Optimize and Grow Your Presence appeared first on Sprout Social.