Ask any YouTube creator what they
like best about their jobs, and they'll often tell you
the one thing over and over again — connecting
with their audience.
Creators find that the more they give their audience,
the more their audience gives back to them.
Think of it like having a conversation with a friend,
or 1,000 of them.
As you start to connect more with your audience,
remember that building relationships online
takes time and energy just like it does offline.
It might be tough to know where to focus that energy.
But if you study your fan base, you
will begin to figure out the best way to interact with them.
Here are a bunch of built-in tools
with YouTube that can help you interact with your audience
and show them some love.
Use the Comments section.
Conversations are naturally going
to happen in the Comments section of your videos.
Harness their power by promoting quality discussions.
Try to be the first to comment on your videos,
and consider making it a habit to respond
to comments in the first few hours after a video goes up.
Another tactic is to only respond to meaningful comments,
so users don't expect their comments like, "First!"
will get creators to interact.
You can utilize YouTube's Comment Moderation tools
to grow stronger communities and have
more constructive conversations in your Comments sections.
I get like very, very, very valuable information
and great ideas out of working with my community
and utilizing the Comments section.
I made a video about redheads.
There was a lot of information about genetic coding
that I did not know about redheads.
And in the Comments section, in engaging with my viewers,
I learned so much about genetics.
Use the tools on YouTube.
When you heart a comment, a notification
is sent to the commenter so that they
know that you've recognized them for their contribution.
And, well, they're going to love your channel if they feel
like they've been recognized.
Remember, everyone can like a comment
but only creators can show some love by hearting.
Pinning comments allows you to have
more control over your page by setting the tone
of your Comment thread.
If you're able to, choose and showcase the comments
from viewers that you think are most worth highlighting.
It's also a helpful tool for conversation.
For example, if you ask the question in your video
and a viewer was able to nail the answer,
you can pin the comment so that everyone can see that answer.
Did you know that your username looks
different than other usernames in the Comments section?
Your username is surrounded with a pop of color,
so your replies to your viewers' comments
will stand out from the crowd.
So while there might be hundreds of comments on your videos,
your viewers will know when you have responded to them.
And that recognition encourages your viewers
to keep engaging in your channel.
Also, use the Creator Studio mobile app
for comment moderation when you're on the go.
Get your audience involved.
Consider asking your audience for feedback on what
your next video should be.
You can do this in either the video itself
or in the Comments section below.
Everybody does that.
One of the ways I've included my audience in my content
is literally just answering the questions
that they have asked in the Comments section.
Somebody asked, do aliens exist?
And so, we made a whole video about,
do aliens actually exist?
Make sure your audience is in the know.
Viewers can choose their frequency of notifications they
receive, all or occasional.
Ask your audience to subscribe and tap the bell.
To make sure they get notifications
of all new activities that happen on your channel,
all subscribers will see every new video you
upload in the Subscriptions tab and receive some notifications
with the highlights from your channel.
But only those who [INAUDIBLE] will
be notified for every single video uploaded.
Reward your superfans.
Some creators make exclusive content
for their most loyal fans.
Special unlisted videos or hosting
live streams to reward the top community
members are two ways that creators can reward their fans.
On our channel, we certainly have
people that go above and beyond as far as being like superfans.
One thing that we did early, early on in the channel
is we made we made T-shirts.
It's very simple, it's very easy.
And we signed them and we sent them out.
People then would send it to me on my social the picture
of them wearing it, and then we'd call back out to them
on social.
I'm generally really stoked that these people are
that excited about our videos.
Building a community of fans all your own is a powerful thing.
So, what has worked for you in the past?
Let us know in the Comments section below.
And don't forget to subscribe.