Your Guide to Vlogging on YouTube
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A vlog or a video blog allows content creators to use the medium of video to discuss things that they would otherwise do through a blog post. Vlogs may be in the style of a:
- Talking head – where you talk about something with your camera steady on a tripod.
- Follow me around – where you record yourself as you go about your daily tasks or activities.
Vlogging has become extremely popular today, and you can make use of it to boost business growth and get more YouTube subscribers to your channel. Here are some reasons you should want to invest in vlogging as part of your YouTube marketing strategy:
More people are taking an interest in it
Vlogging has grown over time as vlogs receive more YouTube views and have been found to engage viewers. YouTube has over 2 billion monthly logged in users who watch more than 1 billion hours of video content on a daily basis. As the 2nd largest search engine in the world, there’s no denying that people are on this platform. Visual content in the form of vlogs can increase your channel’s engagement rate through the dedication of your real YouTube subscribers.
It helps people connect at a personal level
Vlogs come off as more natural than structured and scripted content, making it possible for your YouTube subscribers to connect with your brand personally and get to know more about it. You can showcase the fun side of your brand and establish a strong brand personality to gain more real YouTube subscribers.
You can build loyalty for your brand
By posting vlogs consistently and letting your YouTube subscribers in on aspects of your brand and its functioning, you improve the business-customer relationship, which only increases customer loyalty towards your brand.
You can earn from it
You can even monetize your channel to be able to make money through your vlogs, which we’ll get to a little later in this article.
The benefits that vlogging offers are unique and unlikely to be experienced in the same way through other content, making it important for you to learn about vlogging and apply it to boost business growth.
Getting started with vlogging on YouTube
There’s more to vlogging than just picking up a camera and saying whatever comes to your mind. If you want your vlogs to truly stand out and make your YouTube subscribers come back for more, you need to plan them properly. Here’s a guide on how you can do that successfully.
Check out other vloggers
Before getting started, you want to do your research on popular vloggers and what they’re doing right. Evaluate the content of their vlogs and see what you can take away from it. Review the topics they discuss, the length of their vlogs, frequency of posts, and viewer interactions. See if you can identify a pattern or trend in their vlogs. You should also pay attention to the comments section to understand exactly what viewers are saying about the vlog so that you have an idea of what’s popular.
If you want to post educational content, check our vlogs to cover such content so that you don’t make a vlog that will put your viewers to sleep. After all, educational content doesn’t need to be boring and your vlogs should be a clear reflection of this.
Find your topic, theme, and style
Not all vlogs are focused on a particular topic. Some vloggers just end up vlogging about their daily lives. You should have a plan for your vlog, though. If vlogging about business events is your forte, go for it and do it well. You can also decide to make tutorials in the form of vlogs or vlog about product reviews. Establishing a consistent theme and style for your vlogs while deciding on a topic will give your vlogs structure. A unique theme or style can also help to create a brand identity for you and help your YouTube subscribers recognize your videos more easily.
Make sure you have the right equipment
You can’t hope to post high quality vlogs if you don’t invest in the right equipment. You don’t have to blow up all your money on equipment you can’t afford, but getting equipment that you know how to operate will help you make vlogs that are of high quality.
For vlogging, you’ll need:
- A good camera
- Camera stabilizer or gimbal
- Microphone – whether you choose to get a USB microphone, shotgun microphone, or lavalier microphone
- A portable audio recorder
- Quality lighting equipment
- The right editing software
There are many options for each of the equipment requirements, so be sure to research them thoroughly before investing in the right one for you. You must keep your budget in mind and take the features of each into consideration. The equipment best suited for your use will depend on the type of content you want to shoot.
Editing what you record will help you add the finishing touches you want to your vlog and attend to the finer details of it. You don’t have to go overboard with the editing. Simple editing can help do the trick.
Plan for the right setup
You need to give your YouTube subscribers a visually appealing setup, so plan ahead for your setup. If you’re recording indoors, you need to make sure you’ve got a distraction free background and good lighting to create a high quality video. If you’re recording outdoors, select a location that is well lit and free from noise. You don’t want an unappealing background or noise to distract your viewers and affect the number of YouTube views you get.
Practice
Working on your camera presence is important if you want to be a successful vlogger on YouTube. If you’re featuring someone else in your videos, you still need to make sure that they have good camera presence so that they can capture the attention of the audience. Being confident in front of the camera is a big selling point when it comes to popularizing your vlogs. Engaging your audience is crucial to get more YouTube views and working on your camera presence can help you engage your YouTube subscribers better.
Stick to a schedule
Once you’ve decided on creating vlogs for your YouTube channel, you need to establish a schedule so that your YouTube subscribers can know what to expect from you. While it is possible for you to post vlogs whenever you want, creating a schedule can create anticipation for your vlogs and become a part of a series.
Promote your vlog
You may be creating great vlogs, but if your audience doesn’t know about them, you’re not likely to get the YouTube views you need to achieve business growth. You need to promote your vlogs by posting about them on your brand’s other social media accounts. Reach out to your followers on as many platforms as you can – whether on Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, or Google+. Let them know about your vlogs and encourage them to engage with your content. Promoting your vlogs on different platforms can help you popularize them among your target audience across different platforms.
Monetize your vlogs
Once you get over 1000 YouTube subscribers and have over 4000 watch hours on your videos in the past 12 months, you’ll be able to apply for the YouTube Partnership Program and make money from ads on your content. This way, you can even add to your earnings through the vlogs that you post and give your YouTube subscribers content that they will value.
Tips for successful vlogging on YouTube
You can follow everything described above and create a high quality vlog, but if you really want it to impact your YouTube subscribers, you have to be passionate about what you’re presenting in the vlog. The energy you carry can be infectious and your audience will either be captivated by it or put off because of it. When you’re passionate about what you’re presenting in the vlog, it’ll come through in the vlog and your audience will be able to pick up on it.
With vlogging, you can also incorporate latest trends and other hot topics in your industry to make your videos relate to the industry’s latest. This will help you get popular as it relates to recent trends.
Vlogs are different from regular videos you post to your channel because they appear to be more natural than scripted videos. The art of storytelling in general is important for YouTube marketing and this becomes even more important when it comes to vlogging. Without this aspect, its’ going to be difficult for you to establish that personal connection with your audience and get more YouTube subscribers.
Conclusion
The massive popularity of vlogs has made it possible for brands to connect with their audience on YouTube in a more personal manner. Setting up and posting vlogs requires commitment and a solid plan to succeed. With the right equipment, you can post high quality vlogs and boost business growth on YouTube.
