Reaching 5,000 subscribers on YouTube is a big milestone for any channel. Why? Most YouTube channels – 84.2% – have fewer than 1,000 subscribers.
Hitting that 5,000 mark is difficult but worth it. Many YouTubers find that once they get their first 5K subs, there’s a snowball effect that leads to more and more subscribers flocking to their channels.
The question is: how do you hit your 5,000-subscriber goal ASAP? In this guide, we’ll share our strategies for getting subscribers quickly on YouTube.
1. Post Content That People Want to See đź‘€
What’s the quickest way to get more subscribers? Post content that people actually want to see.Â
You can post a new video every day of the week, but if the content of those videos isn’t interesting to your audience, they won’t subscribe.
You need to keep a pulse on your audience and niche to know what people want to see, and continue creating content based on their preferences.
Here👇are some tips:
Get Inspiration from Others in Your Niche
Spy on your competitors. What kind of content are they creating? Which videos get the most views and engagement?Â
These are topics that your audience will probably be interested in, too.
Make a list of ideas inspired by top-performing videos from other creators in your niche. When creating your list, make sure that you’re putting your own unique spin on each idea. Don’t copy other creators. Use them as inspiration.
Ask📢Your Audience What They Want to See
Not sure what your audience wants to see? Ask them! Host a livestream event and ask your subscribers for feedback.Â
Most viewers will be happy to share their ideas.Â
When you create content inspired directly by subscriber feedback, they’ll be more likely to share your videos with friends. And those friends may choose to subscribe to your channel, too.
Creating content that people want to see is a quick ticket to getting new subscribers and can help you reach that 5K mark before you know it.
2. Post Consistently to Appease the Algorithm
Posting content people want to see is important, but you also have to be consistent. Unless your content goes viral, posting a video every month or two isn’t going to help you reach 5K subscribers ASAP.
New videos will keep your channel fresh in your subscriber’s minds. And it will also appease the algorithm, which is really the main goal here.Â
How Often Should You Post on YouTube?
How often you post will depend on your niche and audience. But as a general rule of thumb, you should aim to:
- Post at least one long-form video per week
- Post 2-3 Shorts per week
Experiment with your posting schedule to find a rhythm that works well for your audience.
Should You Post on the Same Day Every Time?
Maybe. Many YouTubers say that posting on the same day every week helps them grow their subscriber base more quickly.
Why?
Because people know when to tune in to see your new content. If you stick to your schedule, subscribers – new and old alike – will get accustomed to visiting your channel to watch your new videos.
You become a reliable content creator, and more people will look forward to seeing your new videos.
Posting on the same day will also help you stay consistent. You’ll hold yourself accountable by setting deadlines and goals every week.
3. Master Thumbnails to Get Views and Subscribers
Thumbnails matter more than your content. That’s a bold claim to make, but it’s true. You can have the best video YouTube has ever seen, but if your thumbnail isn’t enticing, no one is going to watch it.
Why do thumbnails matter so much?
- They’re the first thing people see before they even watch your video.
- They give viewers an idea of what your video is all about.
Experts have cracked the code of what makes a great thumbnail. The most popular videos on YouTube typically have thumbnails with:
- Images of a human
- A logo or brand
- Title or explanatory text
- Emotion (sadness, shock, anger, etc.)
If you want to up your thumbnail game, look at other YouTubers in your niche. Analyze their thumbnails to see which designs and formats work best for them. There’s a good chance that the same formula will work well for your channel, too.
Mastering the art of creating compelling thumbnails will give you a quick subscriber boost because more people will be interested in your content.
4. Collaborate🤝with Influencers to Get an Immediate Boost
Influencers have huge audiences. A collaboration can help get your channel in front of more people, and those viewers may come over to your channel to subscribe.
But if you want this strategy to work, you can’t just work with any influencer. The collaboration needs to benefit both of you and be relevant to your audience.
Identify the Right Influencersâś…
First, you need to identify the right influencers. These are people who:
- Share a similar audience
- Share similar values
- Have something of value they can provide your audience
Start with a search on YouTube to find potential creators to work with. You can also use influencer marketing platforms if you’re not having any luck with an organic search.
Reach Out to the Influencer with a Pitch
Once you’ve found some influencers to connect with, start pitching. Your pitch should highlight how your collaboration would benefit them and their audience. In other words, make it all about them.Â
Make sure that you communicate the value you bring to the table, whether it’s your engagement rate, knowledge on a topic or some other unique value proposition.
Leverage Your Network to See if You Know Any Influencers
If you’re struggling to find influencers to collaborate with, turn to your own network. Do you have any contacts who happen to be influencers?
It will be much easier to secure collaborations if you already know and have relationships with influencers.
5. Buy Subscribersđź’µto Get Subscribers
When people visit your channel, they see that you only have a few hundred or a few thousand subscribers. Why should they follow you if no one else is?Â
Buying subscribers can help you overcome this barrier and attract more natural subscribers over the long term.
YouTube users are far more likely to subscribe to your channel if you have 3-4K subscribers than if you have just 2-3 hundred.
Our YouTube subscriber packages are affordable and come from real users. They can give your channel that little boost it needs to get the ball rolling and start attracting new subscribers organically.
6. Create Playlists to Keep Views on Your Channel
Creating playlists can help boost your engagement rates on YouTube, and, in turn, boost your subscriber count.
Playlists help keep more people on your channel and watching your content. If they enjoy your content, they’ll be far more likely to subscribe.Â
Sometimes, people need to watch more than one video from a creator to decide whether or not they want to subscribe.
When creating playlists, don’t focus on the topic – focus on the outcome.
Creating the right type of playlists can skyrocket your subscribers, but for this strategy to work, you need to make sure people know who you are and the topic of your channel.
7. Fill Out Your Profile + Add a Trailer
You should be proud of yourself if you’ve done everything we recommend up until this point. But now it’s time to ask yourself: When someone lands on your channel, do they know:
- Who you are?
- What content to expect from you?
No, they don’t. You need to tell the world about your channel and what it’s all about. YouTube offers two main ways for you to provide this information:
1. Profile. Create a descriptive profile for your channel and even have your friends read it before posting it. You want your profile to be descriptive and tell everyone what you plan on posting and why they should follow you.
2. Trailer. Words are powerful, but you can make a true connection using video. You can add a trailer to your YouTube, and this is an opportunity to get people excited to subscribe and watch your content. Be honest and bold. Let people know your true personality and purpose for your channel.
You can begin going to your favorite YouTuber’s channels and start analyzing their trailers to learn what works and doesn’t work.Â
After you have a greater trailer, you might want to consider adding subtitles or captions to it.
8. Add Subtitles and Captions Because People Want Them
Between 53% and 80% of people use subtitles when viewing your videos. You can easily make them with YouTube, and if you want to have catchy videos, you can use add captions.Â
Why?
People are more likely to watch an entire video when you have subtitles. Accommodating all of your viewers will lead to a higher number of subscribers on your channel.
How can you add subtitles or captions?
- Sign into your YouTube account
- Click on the video you want to edit and put subtitles on
- Tap Add language > Select your language
You can now use YouTube’s machine learning to add subtitles automatically. The subtitles will use automation, so you do want to go through them and edit them.
Certain video editors will also allow you to add captions right in the editor, and this is what you’ll see in most YouTube shorts. You can use an app like CapCut to add captions, but subtitles often work best and are the least distracting for long-form videos.
9. Review Your Analytics to Learn What’s Working and Not Working on Your Channel
Analytics is where you can data mine your way to YouTube success and learn from your failures. If you’re not analyzing your data, you’re missing out on one of the biggest opportunities you have on your channel.
You’ll find your:
- Channel views
- Subscribers
- Growth
These are the stats most people focus on, but you want to go much deeper than vanity metrics and start looking at:
- Top videos
- Worst-performing videos
Now comes the challenging part. You must dissect your videos with 100% honesty to learn:
- What made the top videos popular?
- What made your worst videos so unpopular?
And you want to see where you’re gaining subscribers, too. One thing to keep in mind is that you want to analyze recent videos. If a video performed poorly and was posted five years ago when you started your channel, your content has evolved a lot since then.
10. Use Shorts Sparingly to Get Subscribers Fast, But Funnel Them to Your Long-form Content
Shorts are a “hack” to get more followers, but you won’t make much money from them. For example, 6 million Shorts views will make you just $120. You can make 100 times this with long-form video, so when you use Shorts, you want to:
- Funnel subs to your long-form videos
- Use shorts to get subscribers
You can achieve this goal by using Shorts with the main goal of sending the viewer to the longer video on the same topic. One issue that creators have with these shorter videos is that engagement on their channel drops.
Why?
Shorts are a sort of intro to your channel and people love them because they have a short attention span. So, be sure that the shorts you post are core to your channel’s niche and theme for best results.
11. Optimize Your Video Descriptions and Add Keywords
Alphabet, owner of YouTube and Google, integrates search engine optimization into YouTube extensively. If you type in any query on Google, your video may show up in the search results, and YouTube also acts as its own search engine.
If someone enters your niche or a query similar to one of your video titles, you want your video to show up as high as possible.
SEO can help.
You need to do a few things to optimize your content to make it more searchable:
- Search for the top keywords for your videos, using keyword research tools.
- Create compelling titles and add your keyword where possible.
- Mix keywords naturally into your video description and tags.
If you want to up your SEO game further, feel free to follow these 11 tips. Spending the extra time to optimize your video descriptions will help you get more views and subs.
Once you hit the 5,000-subscriber mark, you can follow the very same steps to get your channel to 10k subs. You can now work on creating great video content that your subscribers will share and can start finding new ways to monetize your channel.
Investing your earnings back into your channel, even if this means just investing in new equipment, will help you reach your next subscriber milestone.
