Hook them with your channel trailer

How can you turn viewers into subscribers? The first thing your unsubscribed viewer will see when they come to your channel is your channel trailer and channel description, so use them to hook in your viewers and turn them into subscribers. Remember, subscribers tend to watch more (which boosts watch time) so you want to make an awesome first impression when viewers first discover your channel.

• Produce a captivating trailer

  Your channel trailer is like a movie trailer – use it as a way to offer a preview of your channel so that viewers will want to subscribe. What should go into it? Think about the unique qualities of your channel, your personality and why viewers should feel compelled to return. There are many ways to make a channel trailer, but consider starting with something that hooks your viewers in the first few seconds and then highlighting the best parts of your channel. You want to give your viewers a lasting impression, so end with an explicit ask for viewers to subscribe.

  Guidelines

  • Assume that the viewer has never heard of you. Introduce them to what you have and tell them why they should subscribe.
  • Keep it short. You should be able to pitch the great things about your channel to a new viewer quickly. It should tell your visitors who you are, what your content is like and when they can expect new uploads.
  • Ask viewers to subscribe in your video. Your trailer will automatically have an end card when the video finishes, giving the audience an easy way to subscribe.

  Tips

  • Make sure you enable your channel trailer.

  See it in action

  • 
    What's Up Mom's INTRODUCTION
    The WhatsUpMoms trailer opens with an introduction from the host and then shows highlights from the collection. At the end, she asks viewers to subscribe and includes a subscribe button. Take a look at the channel to see a succinct description too.
  • 
    Welcome to Soul Pancake
    Soul Pancake's trailer opens with a captivating, emotional monologue from their host, Kid President. Colourful imagery and light music help to capture the essence of the channel in their introductory video.
  • 
    Welcome to Food Tube - message from Jamie Oliver
    In this trailer, the host, Jamie Oliver gets right to the point and urges viewers to subscribe. The trailer illustrates the types of foods and personalities that viewers can expect to find on this channel.

• Write an informative channel description

  The channel description is text that conveys key information about your channel – search engines use these words so that people can find you. When an unsubscribed viewer comes to your channel, they will see both your channel trailer and channel description. When viewers read it, they should have a pretty good idea of what your channel is about and know where to go for more information.

  Tips

  • Have the most important information at the beginning of your description, like a tagline.
  • Use unique catch phrases to make your description stand out!
  • Use action words to compel viewers to subscribe or watch a playlist.
  • Include links to your social channels or website.
  • Use link shorteners to keep URLs short and sweet, like goo.gl or bit.ly. They can also help you track how many times people have clicked on that link.
  • Check how your description displays on mobile and other areas of YouTube.

• Lights - camera - action!

  Before you get started, it's important to plan your video. Think about who your audience is, write your script or talking points and plan your creative. Here are some tips for each.

  Set up your audience

  Assume that the viewer doesn't know anything about you and ask yourself:

  • What do viewers need to know about my channel, especially in the first few seconds?
  • How do I want them to feel after they have watched my channel trailer?
  • What should the tone be? What do I want them to listen to? Will it be playful, serious, comedic or informative? What are the colour schemes and fonts?

  Create a script or talking points

  Writing a script or talking points before starting is critical for success. A structure with a clear and captivating message from start to finish can help your trailer get subscribers. Think about the words and images that actually appear on screen, and the sound and music that viewers hear. They should all clearly communicate the message of your channel and match its 'look and feel' (your branding). It's important to tell viewers what to do next – so end with the name of your channel and tell them to watch more videos on your channel!

  Draw in your viewer with graphics and music

  Try creating a simple yet consistent background for all of your graphics, and grab your channel's font and style to create individual graphics based on your script or talking points. Legibility is key.

  When you have the right music, you can emotionally move your viewers. Music keeps viewers engaged and sets the tone and energy. So, pick music that is consistent with your words, graphics and brand. Why do you think Amazing Phil's channel trailer sounds like a video game? Find ready-to-use music in the YouTube Audio Library.

  A successful channel trailer doesn't need to have a montage of clips – you can use just one or two great clips or even an original shoot. If you use a montage of clips, show the variety of material featured on your channel.

Follow-up

• Are viewers watching your channel trailer?

  Decide if your trailer is too long, too short or just right by looking at drop-offs in viewership in the audience retention report. By looking at the average watch time of your channel trailer in YouTube Analytics you can see how much of your channel trailer viewers are watching.

  Try it now

• Has your channel trailer increased the number of subscribers to your channel?

  Use the custom date range in YouTube Analytics to compare the number of subscribers to your channel before you posted your channel trailer to the number of subscribers you gained after posting it.

   

  Try it now