- If you wanna convert more of the viewers
that you're getting into subscribers,
then a very helpful tool is a channel trailer.
And today I wanna walk you through an exact outline
that you should follow that we've used with our clients
that has really helped our channels and our clients grow.
I'm gonna give you guys that exact formula coming up
in this video.
(glitching)
Hey guys, welcome to Video Creators,
My name is Tim Schmoyer.
I am a YouTube certified consultant
that has worked with literally over 1000 creators.
We've helped our clients grow over 14 billion views,
61 million subscribers.
And so what I'm gonna teach you guys here today
about using channel trailers has been tested,
it's been used by thousands of people,
and it's gonna help you get a lot of the same results
that they've gotten.
Before we get into some of the tactics
about how to use a channel trailer,
let's first make sure that we understand what it is,
and that is that it's a video
that appears right on the front of your channel
that only non-subscribed viewers are going to see.
Once someone clicks that subscribe button
and they come back to your channel,
there's a different video there now,
that they're recommending for them.
So when we craft this channel trailer
it is exactly, specifically only for non-subscribed viewers
and the whole point is to get someone
who hasn't yet clicked that red subscribe button,
go ahead and click it.
Because they saw the channel art at the top
and now they watch the trailer and they're like,
I'm in, I'm on board.
But how do you get someone to feel that way
in the first place?
Great question, let me give you an outline,
a process, a formula whatever you wanna call it
that you should follow for your channel trailer.
Number one, first thing your channel trailer should do
is hook your audience's attention.
And the best way that we found to do this
is to simply call them out.
Identify them, make them feel like oh,
they're talking to me right now,
you're not talking about yourself,
you're not talking about some generic thing
that they don't know if they're interested in yet or not.
You start talking about them.
And then number two, it's best that when you are talking
about the viewer, you quickly transition
into telling your own story.
Telling them your back story.
Who are you, where'd come from,
how did you get into this.
But not in a way that's like,
hey guys you need to know all about me,
but in a way that makes the viewer think,
oh yeah, me too, I have that problem,
or I feel like that's my story.
They're connecting with you, they're identifying with you,
because the story you're telling about yourself
is ultimately their story, the viewer story,
but it's absolutely still true, it's your story as well.
Then number three, you tell that story
in order to transition
into your channel's value proposition,
that is what value does your channel propose
to deliver to that audience?
By the time you've told your story
and it culminates in this value proposition,
people should be like oh yeah I get it,
obviously that's what this channel's about.
And then these next few points all happen very quickly,
very rapidly, it only takes a few seconds
to do the rest of this,
which is to make sure that you just tell them
a little bit about what to expect on the channel.
That could be quickly showing a few examples
of how you deliver.
So if you have a couple different series,
you could mention that,
very quickly, they don't really care about the series
as much as they wanna know,
will you deliver on what you say you deliver
and this is your opportunity to say how you deliver it.
And then next you should tell them
when they can expect new content from you on your channel.
So very quickly just say every Thursday
or Monday/Wednesday/Friday or Sunday,
I publish new videos designed to help you do exactly that.
And then you wrap it up with a clear call to action
to subscribe and then you just end it.
Don't add any end screens onto the end your channel trailer
because on YouTube, as soon as that video is done playing,
boom, that subscribe button just pops up
right in front of them.
So don't delay to get to that button,
just as soon as you say,
"and I'll see you guys in the next one", just end it.
Also avoid adding a lot of other call to actions here
like, make sure that you follow us on Instagram
and Facebook, like don't do, they're not gonna do anything,
the whole goal of the channel trailer is just to get someone
to click the red button and subscribe.
Let's walk through a few examples of channel trailers
that our clients have put together,
I'll add some commentary to 'em,
and then I wanna tell you exactly what the main elements are
of a channel trailer that actually is the reason
why your channel will grow.
This first channel trailer is from Trevor Jones
and I don't need to introduce him
because his trailer does the perfect job.
- What's up real estate agents,
my name's Trevor Jones, I had a great job in Hollywood
as an editor, helping the markets of huge movies.
- I've got to say that's awesome.
- But it was no longer fulfilling being on the clock.
And I pretty much capped out my earning potential.
So I left the industry
and became a full-time real estate agent.
(upbeat music)
I use what I learned as an editor
to quickly grow my real estate business.
I doubled my Hollywood income my first full-time year.
- Wow.
- I did it with video.
And zero cold calling.
The future of real estate is video
and on this channel, I teach you to create
better marketing videos so you can sell more houses
and live that real estate life
that everybody thinks you already live.
(upbeat music)
I post new videos every week,
so go ahead and hit that subscribe button
so you too can learn to dominate with video.
- I'm a big fan.
- A couple things to notice about Trevor's channel trailer
other than all the other principles
that we've already talked about.
Number one is that it's relatively short.
It feels tempting to talk about yourself a lot,
but what the viewer ultimately cares about
is why do I care about this content?
This channel, your material?
That's the question that Trevor is answering.
Number two, he's able to do it short
because he's thought through a lot
of how to articulate this.
If you don't really know how to communicate your value
very clearly, it's gonna very hard
for a first-time viewer to figure that out on their own,
so most of the work in his channel trailer
went into the front end of crafting the actual language
and the words specifically that he's going to use
to clearly communicate what he's all about.
And then number three, you notice that's highly edited.
Now, Trevor has those skills because,
as you know, he's a former Hollywood editor.
That doesn't mean yours needs to be as professional
and polished as his,
but one of the principles that he does use
that we can take is that there's a lot going on.
It's not just a one camera angle clip for a five minutes
of him talking about himself, right?
There's a lot going on, and that helps hold the attention
of a first-time viewer
who may or may not be as invested into you
as someone who is a more ongoing subscriber would be.
So he put a lot more effort and energy
into making this feel, look credible,
and having it,
like there's cuts every one, two, three seconds
it's switching to something else.
Let's look at another example,
this one is Christine of the channel Zested Foods.
- Are you a busy, tired, over-worked mom
who values time with your family,
but feel like it's falling through the cracks?
My name is Christine Chai and I a culinary graduate
and a mother of four children.
My goal for this channel
is to teach you better cooking skills,
give you new recipes and to help you strengthen your family
one meal at a time.
I know life can be busy for all of us,
but my family is the most important thing for me,
and I realized that meal time is a time
that we can connect together and build better relationships.
If you wanna be successful in the kitchen,
please consider subscribing to my channel,
so together we can strengthen our families
one meal at a time.
- You notice how Christine also uses a lot of visuals
and B roll to compliment the story
that she's using and there's things happening on screen.
It's not as produced as Trevor,
but it doesn't need to be, right?
It's still communicating her story,
and by the end of that it's only 38 seconds long?
You know who Christine is,
what her channel's about,
why she's doing it, what value you're gonna get,
and when you should get it.
Now this next example from Groove Life
does a lot of these same things
but in a different order and with a different style.
- You wanna know what's really crazy?
Shark diving without cages.
(rock and roll music)
Welcome to Project Adventure, I'm your host Peter Goodwin.
For the last 20 years
I've been an adventure and hunting guide in Alaska.
Here's the one thing that I've learned:
adventure is essential for a full life.
But most people think they are too broke
or too busy to do anything about it.
Wrong.
This channel is for people who want more
than the 9-5 corporate grind but don't know where to start.
Here at Groove Life we take one subscriber per month
just like you on the most epic adventures of their life.
From noodling for catfish to even riding bulls.
Swimming with sharks to racing stock cars.
Project Adventure breaks down the whole experience.
From where to go, who to go with and even how much it cost.
(rock and roll music)
If you wanna be the star of our next YouTube adventure,
simply apply by subscribing to our YouTube channel,
and clicking the link in the description.
Watch our adventures and go live yours.
- One thing that all these channel trailers have in common
that I haven't really pointed out yet
and it's pretty subliminal
and maybe you didn't even notice it,
is that they all revolve around a belief.
Whether it's about freedom and real estate
or that your family is important and valuable
or that you need to get out of your comfort zone
and so something.
These are all beliefs that these creators hold
and that is deeply entwined into their story
and to what they're doing on their channel.
And this is important because the strongest communities
online and offline don't revolve around common interests
like real estate and food and hiking.
They actually revolve around shared beliefs.
And so when you share, not just what your channel is doing
and what you're about,
but why it matters.
That's gonna make that target audience be like
oh they share that belief with you,
they're gonna be far more likely to subscribe.
Now, just because you make a channel trailer
and publish it on your channel,
I wanna tell you guys,
just doing this is not going to grow your channel.
I know it sounds like I'm contradicting yourself,
but trust me, you've probably maybe even heard
other creators talking about this,
like hey I made a channel trailer, published it
and didn't really see any benefit, any result.
And on one level that is correct.
Just by following everything I already told you,
making that video, publishing it to your channel,
setting it up as the channel trailer,
just doing that alone is not actually going to
make your channel grow.
But, it is a very important process
that we recommend that creators go through
with our clients.
Because the goal here isn't necessarily
to come out at the other end with a channel trailer
that converts really high,
although the likely hood of that happening is higher
than not having a trailer.
But instead, going through this process forces you
to figure out how to articulate who you are,
who you're for, and why someone else should care
and learn how to concisely package that
and pitch that in a way that's actually going to impact
all the future videos that you now make.
Once you've figured out how to quickly communicate
what your channel's all about
and put that into a packaged channel trailer
then you probably wanna know
all right how do I get more views?
Well we put together a short playlist for you guys
that you can see right here,
and that's all about the secrets that are going on
behind big channels and what they're doing to grow fast.
So click that playlist, really short,
but put together just for you,
and I'll see you guys over in that next video.