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"In 2024, Revolutionize Your Audience YouTube Marketing 101"
Revolutionize Your Audience: YouTube Marketing 101
Get More Viewers with Social Media Marketing for YouTube
Richard Bennett
Oct 26, 2023• Proven solutions
After uploading your video on YouTube, you may want to sit back and enjoy the massive uptick of views and subscribers. However, until you have established a big following on YouTube, only a few people are going to see your freshly published video… unless you share on social media.
So don’t relax yet, it’s time to spread the word about your video and channel on social media, such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, and Reddit.
Why is social media the best place to share your YouTube video? Let’s take a quick look at the statistics of some of the biggest social platforms in the world:
- Facebook has over 2.1 billion monthly active users.
- Instagram has approximately 800 million monthly active users.
- Twitter has approximately 330 million monthly active users.
- Reddit has approximately 330 million monthly active users.
- Snapchat has approximately 200 million monthly active users.
While your loyal viewers might watch your videos on YouTube, YouTube might not be the platform they spend the most time on.
Start by understanding your audience. If your YouTube channel is discussing fan theories for a popular television show, then Twitter and Reddit should be where you direct your efforts. If you are creating video content that has a lot of visual appeal, like travel or photography, then Instagram and Snapchat are better for cross-promotional content.
By promoting on the right social platform, there’s a better chance of discoverability. Additionally, branding that is consistent across all social media increases the trust among your viewers. Consistency does not mean simply putting the YouTube video onto Instagram or sharing it on Facebook.
Content is not one-size fits all!
Regardless of what platform your viewers are spending most of their time on, it’s important to understand how the community interacts. Sharing your video content on Facebook is different than on Reddit. What may be okay on one platform may come across as spam in another.
In this post, we will go through the best practices of sharing and engaging with your audience on 5 of the most popular social media channels.
Table of Content:
Part 1: Instagram for YouTube Channel Marketing
There is a lot of content today and therefore, audiences are more selective about how they choose to spend their time.
Take this example: Before you go to the theater to watch a movie, you might see a poster or a trailer first.
A movie poster lets you know this movie is coming to theatres and the trailer gives you a taste of what to expect before you buy the ticket and sit in the theater for two hours. If the promotional materials don’t entice, you wouldn’t go see the movie.
Instagram can work much in the same way for your YouTube channel. Your Instagram account can be a platform for attracting new viewers and hyping up your loyal following.
1. Using Bite-sized Snackable Content on Instagram
Images and one-minute long videos can engage with your users, help them work up an appetite for your videos, and direct them to your YouTube channel for more.
The great thing about Instagram — compared to YouTube — is that it’s easier to produce content for Instagram every day without exhausting your resources.
Be thinking about what you can post on to Instagram while you work on your YouTube video. You want a really attractive image or short video, which can be something you capture as you work on your long-form video: short preview or behind the scenes footage.
2. Share Your Life
Instagram allows you to consistently post content from your life. This allows you to connect with your audience as they discover more about you, so when it comes time for the YouTube video, they feel that have an established relationship with you.
They see your picture or video on their feed every day after all. You and your followers are practically friends.
While Instagram has multiple ways you can post onto the platform, we will talk about two very different strategies:
How YouTubers Should Post on Instagram Feed
When you post an image or a video onto Instagram directly it will be on your timeline and acts as a tile for your whole Instagram feed page. This piece of content will stay on your page forever, or until you delete it.
Like your YouTube videos, the content you post to your Instagram directly should have a cohesive theme that matches your branding. Keep an eye on your: -
- Aesthetic
- Caption
- Filter
As Instagram has grown in popularity, a lot of tools have been developed to help creators like yourself. Here are a few apps that you can include in your kit:
- VSCO: A photo editor app that will allow you to clean up and enhance details to really make your visuals pop.
- UNUM: An Instagram planner app that enables you to visualize and pre-plan your post.
- Later: A scheduling tool you can use to auto-publish to directly to Instagram.
- Planoly: Drag and drop scheduler and planner, allows you to see the whole grid before posting.
Here’s Liza Koshy’s Instagram feed. As you can see, she has a clear style and also a variety of content. If you haven’t heard of Liza Koshy and found her through Instagram, you get curious: “What does she do?” Instagram is fantastic for building intrigue and garnering interest.
Instagram: Liza Koshy
This will be a good place to post a teaser of your latest video, upload an inspiring image, or share an interesting piece of content that shows the world what you are all about.
Have a different type of content lined up. You don’t want someone to end up on your Instagram page and only see selfies or inspiring quotes.
You won’t know which type of content will hook your next fan… so experiment.
When you post onto Instagram directly, you can’t add a are unable to link in the caption. This has been a bane for marketers and creators since the beginning of Instagram.
Instagram: Pointless Blog
While Instagram is a great engagement platform, it hasn’t been the best channel for those who want to have a direct call to action. The old method was to direct the viewer to your Instagram bio where there is the only place to post a link.
However, once you’ve gained a large following (10K) you will be able to attached links in Instagram Story.
2. How YouTubers Should on Post Instagram Story
Instagram Story allows you to post a series of images and videos over the course of 24 hours. After that, the collection of content — or “story” — from that day disappears.
1. Don’t want your Instagram Story to disappear forever?
There is a feature called “Highlight” which archives your stories so that you can view them later, however, they will be kept on your Instagram profile page. This allows visitors to see your best stories and have prepared content even when you go 24 hours without posting something new.
Instagram: Marianna Hewitt
2. Use Instagram Story to Make an Announcement
While you are uploading your latest video to YouTube, go on Instagram Story and let your followers know.
Unlike posting directly to the Instagram timeline, once you reach a certain milestone, Instagram Story allows you to create a link right in the content. The ability to offer something timely and encourage the viewer to swipe up is a fantastic way to catch your audience when they are most interested in your content. By doing so, you redirect them from Instagram to your YouTube video.
Instagram: Jenn Im
Don’t think of Instagram Story as simply a mean for promoting your video, but a chance to give your loyal viewers an exclusive view into your process, allow them to get familiar with your personality and increase the exposure of your brand as a whole, solidifying your relationship.
Part 2: Facebook for YouTube Channel Marketing
Facebook is the world’s most popular social media platform. With that claim, it can help any new YouTuber find and grow their audience. It doesn’t matter if their channel is about fashion or karate, Facebook is an appropriate platform for interacting with the audience, as long as the content you share is relevant and click-worthy.
There are a number of ways to share content on Facebook:
- Sharing on your own personal timeline allows your Friends to see the content.
- Sharing directly to a particular group or person’s feed assures those in the group or that specific person will see the content.
- Sharing via a separate Page you’ve built for your YouTube channel allows those who are following the page to see the content.
1. Improve YouTube Video Thumbnail on Facebook
Facebook doesn’t make it easy for YouTubers to show their video on Facebook’s news feed, especially if it is hosted on YouTube.
When you post your video from YouTube directly to Facebook, it’ll look something like the image above. Unremarkable. While your audience can still view the video on the Facebook timeline, your fans scrolling by wouldn’t even notice it.
This is Facebook’s way of encouraging you to post videos directly to Facebook’s platform. Which is something you should consider as well, but as you are currently working to grow your YouTube channel, it’s good to focus on this task first.
Well, how do you make the post look better? There is a tool calledThumb Tube that gives you full sized image on Facebook:
Thumb Tube takes your YouTube video link and redirects it so it is now hosted on ThumbTube.com. Yet, anyone viewing the video there is watching on YouTube, not Facebook. This allows you to still capture all the views, likes, and comments on YouTube.
1. Managing a Facebook Page for Your YouTube Channel
Know this, Facebook has been around for over a decade, and establishing yourself on the social network in 2018 is not what it was like in the late ‘00s. Hard truths: building a following from scratch is going to be a lot of work.
1. Growing on Facebook is Hard
Before you go and start committing yourself to Facebook, consider your capacity and your audience: are you able to dedicate time and effort on Facebook? Is this the best platform to reach your viewers?
So Facebook is for you. How should you approach it?
2. Setup a Facebook Page for your YouTube Channel
This separates your personal account from your channel, allowing you to still have some autonomy. You don’t necessarily want your fans to be your friends… On top of that, having a separate page for your channel enables you to keep a consistent branding, which is important in getting more likes and subscribers.
To set up a separate Facebook Page:
1. Go to Facebook, and click “Pages” in the right-hand column
- Click “Create Pages”
- Let Facebook know whether your Page will be classified as a “Business or Brand” or a “Community or Public Figure”
- Name your Page, preferably your YouTube channel name
- Add Profile and Cover pictures
- INVITE!
Treat your Facebook Page like another homepage for your channel. Landing on your page might be the first interaction the audience will have with your brand, so it is important that it is similar to your YouTube channel. This means, the logo has to match, the descriptions need to be aligned, and the cover photo should somewhat resemble your YouTube channel art.
Once you are confident that all the Facebook elements are consistent, it’s time to start marketing.
3. Invite Your Facebook Friends to Like Your Page
Your circle of friends will give you your initial burst needed to grow your YouTube channel, as they like and comment on your videos. The more engagement you get, the more impressions your post will earn not just from your friends, but from your friends’ friends. This expands your network.
However, don’t post the same thing over and over again. It’ll come across as spam to your followers, and it’ll also look lazy if someone lands on your page and see the same piece of content repeated on your news feed.
Facebook is best if you are consistently sharing a variety of content related to your channel.
This does not mean you have to be creating them all. If you were to post five times a week, perhaps only one of the post can be originally created by you. Curate content (i.e. blog, infographics, podcasts, images) that matches your audience’s interest. By always having engaging content that your fans are eager to like, share, and comment, this will give your videos more exposure when it is time to share it.
Pro Tip: Save time by scheduling your Facebook content ahead of time. By batching your Facebook content to be uploaded in one sitting, you can have a week to a month of content prepped ahead of time, so you can go back to focusing on YouTube.
Managing Facebook as a channel to build your YouTube audience can be very effective, but it is a lot of work in itself.
Managing Facebook involves:
- Posting content
- Responding to comments
- Engaging with Facebook groups
- Tube Ritual (Video Marketing YouTube Group)
- Beauty and the Vlog (Fashion and Beauty YouTube Group)
- Travel Vloggers United (Travel YouTube Group)
- Evaluating performance repeatedly
Don’t spread yourself too thin. If YouTube is your priority, all other social media communities should be complementary, not an obligation.
Part 3: Twitter for YouTube Channel Marketing
Unlike Facebook or Instagram, Twitter is a platform where you must be ready with a large amount of valuable content to share, otherwise, you will be lost in the noise. Don’t be afraid to tweet similar content throughout a day. As long as it is done well and isn’t misleading viewers, it wouldn’t be considered spam.
Twitter allows you to get in front of some of the most influential people on the Internet and stay on top of global trends. It is not always easy to get noticed on Twitter, but when your content really resonates, it’s also hard to be ignored.
1. Take Advantage of Trending Hashtags
In order to be successful on Twitter, you must be ready to jump onto a relevant trend. If you are talking about something that nobody is interested in, you might not be heard at all. Keep an eye on the most popular hashtags for that day and get involved with a conversation.
While you should definitely tweet and gain engagement for your YouTube videos, you will also need to tweet out other content.
Constantly keeping an eye on what the world is talking about gives you an idea of what is important to discuss. This may even help guide your next YouTube video.
2. Tag Brands and Influencers
Twitter is a great platform if your channel showcases brands, personalities, or influencers because it gives you the ability to get in front of them. Getting a big brand or an influencer to share your video can earn you a lot more Twitter followers as well as a lot more views to your channel.
An effective way for YouTubers to use Twitter is to be active during an event. If you know that the event will get a lot of attention and the content you are producing is relevant to that audience, then use the official hashtag, tag an attendee, and get that crowd who are actively engaged during the duration of the event to view your videos.
Creators sharing their thoughts on #VidCon
Connecting with people with a lot of clouts can increase your credibility on the topic you are covering.
However, in order for these high-influence people to notice your YouTube channel via Twitter, you must commit to building your Twitter account and audience.
If your Twitter account looks amateurish, for example: if you display picture is still an egg, then any attempts at reaching out to these big brands and influencers will be a loss. Stay active and over time you will gain a following to support you.
Part 4: Reddit for YouTube Channel Marketing
Reddit for YouTube creators can be an intimidating place. Reddit users (Redditors) can sniff out marketing material or misleading click-baits.
You can commit this sin on other platform and get away with it, but on Reddit, this type of posting at best will not be ignored and at worst roasted alive in front of the whole platform.
Because of the anonymity of Reddit’s user base, the comments for posts are often unfiltered.
1. Good Content Gets Seen and Discussed On Reddit
If you can tap into the community values of Reddit, contribute to conversations and share interesting and relevant content there might not be a better platform to grow your YouTube audience.
Many media organizations with a significant following are starting to use Reddit to find stories and viral content . The chances of being discovered on Reddit is much higher than on Twitter, as the upvote/downvote system gives your good work a higher platform to stand on while lowering the bad content to Reddit’s cellar.
2. Don’t Promote Yourself
Reddit is not a platform where you enter, drop your content in, and expect people to engage with it. For Redditors, this is intrusive and unappreciated.
Imagine being at a party and talking to your friends, and then someone you don’t know comes in and starts a conversation about the latest movie, singing a song and asking for feedback, or discussing the coolest restaurants in town. That would be annoying, right?
You cannot go into Reddit blasting your content, because it wasn’t welcomed content.
Before you can get people on Reddit to care about your YouTube channel, you must show them that you care about them — the community.
From day one, you need to be a part of the community, and your reason for being a part of the community cannot be because you want to share content. If you have a hidden agenda, you will be discovered.
3. Understand the Reddiquettes
When engaging on Reddit, you must abide by rules which are called “reddiquette.” There are global reddiquettes and then there are individual community reddiquette.
- Search for duplicate content before posting.
- Consume the content before voting.
- Act as you would in real life.
- And more.
3. Community reddiquettes
These are additional rules that the individual Reddit communities enforce. Be sure to read these rules before posting onto these specific communities. Understanding these rules will help you understand the purpose of this community.
Here is an example of reddiquettes for r/Cameras:
You only have so many strikes with Reddit before your account gets banned. But don’t worry about all that. Be your awesome self.
When you are on Reddit, don’t think of yourself as a YouTuber, think of yourself as a redditor, if you do, you’ll have a bright future on the platform.
4. Subreddits Where You Can Post Freely
While there are some subreddits that demand relevant content, some subreddits will allow you post your videos as long as 90% of your content are from another source aside from your YouTube channel, you won’t be considered spammy.
- r/YouTuber: Get critiques for your videos
- r/Videos: Post any video into the masses
- r/YTPL: Share a whole playlist
Because these subreddits are unfocused and loaded with a variety of content, it’s often tricky to find your specific audience there. Then again, you’ll never know.
Part 5: Snapchat for YouTube Channel Marketing
If your audience craves immediacy and exclusivity, then Snapchat is definitely the social media channel that you’d want to explore.
The ephemeral nature of Snapchat makes it a unique way of marketing your content as what you snap will only be available within 24 hours. Because what you post will only be available for a brief moment in time, those who are following you will dedicate their attention to your content knowing that if they miss it, they might never see it again.
This undivided attention cannot be recreated on Twitter, Facebook, or Reddit, as users can easily scroll pass your content.
The key is to get your audience a personalized experience on your Snapchat. What can you offer on Snapchat that they can’t get elsewhere?
1. Don’t Worry About Professionalism
Snapchat is young, fun, and silly. On Snapchat, your personality needs to be the fuel for your content.
Pull the curtains open and welcome your audience through the private window into your life. Treat your Snapchat audience less as a faceless crowd but as your friends and family. Take them on a private tour, show them unseen footage of your video, and don’t be afraid to use the filters, text, and theme to liven up your content.
Start following some popular YouTubers on Snapchat and you can quickly see how they are using it. Don’t use Snapchat as a place to perform, but instead a place for you to be spontaneous. Remember these content don’t last forever, so don’t take forever planning it out, just start doing it.
Promoting your Snapchat account can be hard if you are not a celebrity. Unlike Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram, there is no in-app discovery or suggested users feature in Snapchat. The user will have to search for who they want to follow. Unless someone already knows about you, it’s unlikely that they will be following you on Snapchat. This makes promoting your account to your viewers essential for growth.
YouTuber, Markiplier tweeting his Snapchat username.
Here are a few quick tips for promoting your Snapchat account.
- Make sure your Snapchat handle is present on your YouTube channel and other social media platforms.
- Make yourSnapchat snapcode your profile pic, so people can scan and connect with you.
- Get other Snapchatters to give you a shout-out on their account.
Marketing on social media is essential for not only growing your YouTube channel but your entire brand. If you like more content around social media marketing for your channel, join our community of YouTubers where we are always discussing new tactics and opportunities.
Is there a social media platform that you want to test out but not sure how? Leave a comment below.
Richard Bennett
Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.
Follow @Richard Bennett
Richard Bennett
Oct 26, 2023• Proven solutions
After uploading your video on YouTube, you may want to sit back and enjoy the massive uptick of views and subscribers. However, until you have established a big following on YouTube, only a few people are going to see your freshly published video… unless you share on social media.
So don’t relax yet, it’s time to spread the word about your video and channel on social media, such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, and Reddit.
Why is social media the best place to share your YouTube video? Let’s take a quick look at the statistics of some of the biggest social platforms in the world:
- Facebook has over 2.1 billion monthly active users.
- Instagram has approximately 800 million monthly active users.
- Twitter has approximately 330 million monthly active users.
- Reddit has approximately 330 million monthly active users.
- Snapchat has approximately 200 million monthly active users.
While your loyal viewers might watch your videos on YouTube, YouTube might not be the platform they spend the most time on.
Start by understanding your audience. If your YouTube channel is discussing fan theories for a popular television show, then Twitter and Reddit should be where you direct your efforts. If you are creating video content that has a lot of visual appeal, like travel or photography, then Instagram and Snapchat are better for cross-promotional content.
By promoting on the right social platform, there’s a better chance of discoverability. Additionally, branding that is consistent across all social media increases the trust among your viewers. Consistency does not mean simply putting the YouTube video onto Instagram or sharing it on Facebook.
Content is not one-size fits all!
Regardless of what platform your viewers are spending most of their time on, it’s important to understand how the community interacts. Sharing your video content on Facebook is different than on Reddit. What may be okay on one platform may come across as spam in another.
In this post, we will go through the best practices of sharing and engaging with your audience on 5 of the most popular social media channels.
Table of Content:
Part 1: Instagram for YouTube Channel Marketing
There is a lot of content today and therefore, audiences are more selective about how they choose to spend their time.
Take this example: Before you go to the theater to watch a movie, you might see a poster or a trailer first.
A movie poster lets you know this movie is coming to theatres and the trailer gives you a taste of what to expect before you buy the ticket and sit in the theater for two hours. If the promotional materials don’t entice, you wouldn’t go see the movie.
Instagram can work much in the same way for your YouTube channel. Your Instagram account can be a platform for attracting new viewers and hyping up your loyal following.
1. Using Bite-sized Snackable Content on Instagram
Images and one-minute long videos can engage with your users, help them work up an appetite for your videos, and direct them to your YouTube channel for more.
The great thing about Instagram — compared to YouTube — is that it’s easier to produce content for Instagram every day without exhausting your resources.
Be thinking about what you can post on to Instagram while you work on your YouTube video. You want a really attractive image or short video, which can be something you capture as you work on your long-form video: short preview or behind the scenes footage.
2. Share Your Life
Instagram allows you to consistently post content from your life. This allows you to connect with your audience as they discover more about you, so when it comes time for the YouTube video, they feel that have an established relationship with you.
They see your picture or video on their feed every day after all. You and your followers are practically friends.
While Instagram has multiple ways you can post onto the platform, we will talk about two very different strategies:
How YouTubers Should Post on Instagram Feed
When you post an image or a video onto Instagram directly it will be on your timeline and acts as a tile for your whole Instagram feed page. This piece of content will stay on your page forever, or until you delete it.
Like your YouTube videos, the content you post to your Instagram directly should have a cohesive theme that matches your branding. Keep an eye on your: -
- Aesthetic
- Caption
- Filter
As Instagram has grown in popularity, a lot of tools have been developed to help creators like yourself. Here are a few apps that you can include in your kit:
- VSCO: A photo editor app that will allow you to clean up and enhance details to really make your visuals pop.
- UNUM: An Instagram planner app that enables you to visualize and pre-plan your post.
- Later: A scheduling tool you can use to auto-publish to directly to Instagram.
- Planoly: Drag and drop scheduler and planner, allows you to see the whole grid before posting.
Here’s Liza Koshy’s Instagram feed. As you can see, she has a clear style and also a variety of content. If you haven’t heard of Liza Koshy and found her through Instagram, you get curious: “What does she do?” Instagram is fantastic for building intrigue and garnering interest.
Instagram: Liza Koshy
This will be a good place to post a teaser of your latest video, upload an inspiring image, or share an interesting piece of content that shows the world what you are all about.
Have a different type of content lined up. You don’t want someone to end up on your Instagram page and only see selfies or inspiring quotes.
You won’t know which type of content will hook your next fan… so experiment.
When you post onto Instagram directly, you can’t add a are unable to link in the caption. This has been a bane for marketers and creators since the beginning of Instagram.
Instagram: Pointless Blog
While Instagram is a great engagement platform, it hasn’t been the best channel for those who want to have a direct call to action. The old method was to direct the viewer to your Instagram bio where there is the only place to post a link.
However, once you’ve gained a large following (10K) you will be able to attached links in Instagram Story.
2. How YouTubers Should on Post Instagram Story
Instagram Story allows you to post a series of images and videos over the course of 24 hours. After that, the collection of content — or “story” — from that day disappears.
1. Don’t want your Instagram Story to disappear forever?
There is a feature called “Highlight” which archives your stories so that you can view them later, however, they will be kept on your Instagram profile page. This allows visitors to see your best stories and have prepared content even when you go 24 hours without posting something new.
Instagram: Marianna Hewitt
2. Use Instagram Story to Make an Announcement
While you are uploading your latest video to YouTube, go on Instagram Story and let your followers know.
Unlike posting directly to the Instagram timeline, once you reach a certain milestone, Instagram Story allows you to create a link right in the content. The ability to offer something timely and encourage the viewer to swipe up is a fantastic way to catch your audience when they are most interested in your content. By doing so, you redirect them from Instagram to your YouTube video.
Instagram: Jenn Im
Don’t think of Instagram Story as simply a mean for promoting your video, but a chance to give your loyal viewers an exclusive view into your process, allow them to get familiar with your personality and increase the exposure of your brand as a whole, solidifying your relationship.
Part 2: Facebook for YouTube Channel Marketing
Facebook is the world’s most popular social media platform. With that claim, it can help any new YouTuber find and grow their audience. It doesn’t matter if their channel is about fashion or karate, Facebook is an appropriate platform for interacting with the audience, as long as the content you share is relevant and click-worthy.
There are a number of ways to share content on Facebook:
- Sharing on your own personal timeline allows your Friends to see the content.
- Sharing directly to a particular group or person’s feed assures those in the group or that specific person will see the content.
- Sharing via a separate Page you’ve built for your YouTube channel allows those who are following the page to see the content.
1. Improve YouTube Video Thumbnail on Facebook
Facebook doesn’t make it easy for YouTubers to show their video on Facebook’s news feed, especially if it is hosted on YouTube.
When you post your video from YouTube directly to Facebook, it’ll look something like the image above. Unremarkable. While your audience can still view the video on the Facebook timeline, your fans scrolling by wouldn’t even notice it.
This is Facebook’s way of encouraging you to post videos directly to Facebook’s platform. Which is something you should consider as well, but as you are currently working to grow your YouTube channel, it’s good to focus on this task first.
Well, how do you make the post look better? There is a tool calledThumb Tube that gives you full sized image on Facebook:
Thumb Tube takes your YouTube video link and redirects it so it is now hosted on ThumbTube.com. Yet, anyone viewing the video there is watching on YouTube, not Facebook. This allows you to still capture all the views, likes, and comments on YouTube.
1. Managing a Facebook Page for Your YouTube Channel
Know this, Facebook has been around for over a decade, and establishing yourself on the social network in 2018 is not what it was like in the late ‘00s. Hard truths: building a following from scratch is going to be a lot of work.
1. Growing on Facebook is Hard
Before you go and start committing yourself to Facebook, consider your capacity and your audience: are you able to dedicate time and effort on Facebook? Is this the best platform to reach your viewers?
So Facebook is for you. How should you approach it?
2. Setup a Facebook Page for your YouTube Channel
This separates your personal account from your channel, allowing you to still have some autonomy. You don’t necessarily want your fans to be your friends… On top of that, having a separate page for your channel enables you to keep a consistent branding, which is important in getting more likes and subscribers.
To set up a separate Facebook Page:
1. Go to Facebook, and click “Pages” in the right-hand column
- Click “Create Pages”
- Let Facebook know whether your Page will be classified as a “Business or Brand” or a “Community or Public Figure”
- Name your Page, preferably your YouTube channel name
- Add Profile and Cover pictures
- INVITE!
Treat your Facebook Page like another homepage for your channel. Landing on your page might be the first interaction the audience will have with your brand, so it is important that it is similar to your YouTube channel. This means, the logo has to match, the descriptions need to be aligned, and the cover photo should somewhat resemble your YouTube channel art.
Once you are confident that all the Facebook elements are consistent, it’s time to start marketing.
3. Invite Your Facebook Friends to Like Your Page
Your circle of friends will give you your initial burst needed to grow your YouTube channel, as they like and comment on your videos. The more engagement you get, the more impressions your post will earn not just from your friends, but from your friends’ friends. This expands your network.
However, don’t post the same thing over and over again. It’ll come across as spam to your followers, and it’ll also look lazy if someone lands on your page and see the same piece of content repeated on your news feed.
Facebook is best if you are consistently sharing a variety of content related to your channel.
This does not mean you have to be creating them all. If you were to post five times a week, perhaps only one of the post can be originally created by you. Curate content (i.e. blog, infographics, podcasts, images) that matches your audience’s interest. By always having engaging content that your fans are eager to like, share, and comment, this will give your videos more exposure when it is time to share it.
Pro Tip: Save time by scheduling your Facebook content ahead of time. By batching your Facebook content to be uploaded in one sitting, you can have a week to a month of content prepped ahead of time, so you can go back to focusing on YouTube.
Managing Facebook as a channel to build your YouTube audience can be very effective, but it is a lot of work in itself.
Managing Facebook involves:
- Posting content
- Responding to comments
- Engaging with Facebook groups
- Tube Ritual (Video Marketing YouTube Group)
- Beauty and the Vlog (Fashion and Beauty YouTube Group)
- Travel Vloggers United (Travel YouTube Group)
- Evaluating performance repeatedly
Don’t spread yourself too thin. If YouTube is your priority, all other social media communities should be complementary, not an obligation.
Part 3: Twitter for YouTube Channel Marketing
Unlike Facebook or Instagram, Twitter is a platform where you must be ready with a large amount of valuable content to share, otherwise, you will be lost in the noise. Don’t be afraid to tweet similar content throughout a day. As long as it is done well and isn’t misleading viewers, it wouldn’t be considered spam.
Twitter allows you to get in front of some of the most influential people on the Internet and stay on top of global trends. It is not always easy to get noticed on Twitter, but when your content really resonates, it’s also hard to be ignored.
1. Take Advantage of Trending Hashtags
In order to be successful on Twitter, you must be ready to jump onto a relevant trend. If you are talking about something that nobody is interested in, you might not be heard at all. Keep an eye on the most popular hashtags for that day and get involved with a conversation.
While you should definitely tweet and gain engagement for your YouTube videos, you will also need to tweet out other content.
Constantly keeping an eye on what the world is talking about gives you an idea of what is important to discuss. This may even help guide your next YouTube video.
2. Tag Brands and Influencers
Twitter is a great platform if your channel showcases brands, personalities, or influencers because it gives you the ability to get in front of them. Getting a big brand or an influencer to share your video can earn you a lot more Twitter followers as well as a lot more views to your channel.
An effective way for YouTubers to use Twitter is to be active during an event. If you know that the event will get a lot of attention and the content you are producing is relevant to that audience, then use the official hashtag, tag an attendee, and get that crowd who are actively engaged during the duration of the event to view your videos.
Creators sharing their thoughts on #VidCon
Connecting with people with a lot of clouts can increase your credibility on the topic you are covering.
However, in order for these high-influence people to notice your YouTube channel via Twitter, you must commit to building your Twitter account and audience.
If your Twitter account looks amateurish, for example: if you display picture is still an egg, then any attempts at reaching out to these big brands and influencers will be a loss. Stay active and over time you will gain a following to support you.
Part 4: Reddit for YouTube Channel Marketing
Reddit for YouTube creators can be an intimidating place. Reddit users (Redditors) can sniff out marketing material or misleading click-baits.
You can commit this sin on other platform and get away with it, but on Reddit, this type of posting at best will not be ignored and at worst roasted alive in front of the whole platform.
Because of the anonymity of Reddit’s user base, the comments for posts are often unfiltered.
1. Good Content Gets Seen and Discussed On Reddit
If you can tap into the community values of Reddit, contribute to conversations and share interesting and relevant content there might not be a better platform to grow your YouTube audience.
Many media organizations with a significant following are starting to use Reddit to find stories and viral content . The chances of being discovered on Reddit is much higher than on Twitter, as the upvote/downvote system gives your good work a higher platform to stand on while lowering the bad content to Reddit’s cellar.
2. Don’t Promote Yourself
Reddit is not a platform where you enter, drop your content in, and expect people to engage with it. For Redditors, this is intrusive and unappreciated.
Imagine being at a party and talking to your friends, and then someone you don’t know comes in and starts a conversation about the latest movie, singing a song and asking for feedback, or discussing the coolest restaurants in town. That would be annoying, right?
You cannot go into Reddit blasting your content, because it wasn’t welcomed content.
Before you can get people on Reddit to care about your YouTube channel, you must show them that you care about them — the community.
From day one, you need to be a part of the community, and your reason for being a part of the community cannot be because you want to share content. If you have a hidden agenda, you will be discovered.
3. Understand the Reddiquettes
When engaging on Reddit, you must abide by rules which are called “reddiquette.” There are global reddiquettes and then there are individual community reddiquette.
- Search for duplicate content before posting.
- Consume the content before voting.
- Act as you would in real life.
- And more.
3. Community reddiquettes
These are additional rules that the individual Reddit communities enforce. Be sure to read these rules before posting onto these specific communities. Understanding these rules will help you understand the purpose of this community.
Here is an example of reddiquettes for r/Cameras:
You only have so many strikes with Reddit before your account gets banned. But don’t worry about all that. Be your awesome self.
When you are on Reddit, don’t think of yourself as a YouTuber, think of yourself as a redditor, if you do, you’ll have a bright future on the platform.
4. Subreddits Where You Can Post Freely
While there are some subreddits that demand relevant content, some subreddits will allow you post your videos as long as 90% of your content are from another source aside from your YouTube channel, you won’t be considered spammy.
- r/YouTuber: Get critiques for your videos
- r/Videos: Post any video into the masses
- r/YTPL: Share a whole playlist
Because these subreddits are unfocused and loaded with a variety of content, it’s often tricky to find your specific audience there. Then again, you’ll never know.
Part 5: Snapchat for YouTube Channel Marketing
If your audience craves immediacy and exclusivity, then Snapchat is definitely the social media channel that you’d want to explore.
The ephemeral nature of Snapchat makes it a unique way of marketing your content as what you snap will only be available within 24 hours. Because what you post will only be available for a brief moment in time, those who are following you will dedicate their attention to your content knowing that if they miss it, they might never see it again.
This undivided attention cannot be recreated on Twitter, Facebook, or Reddit, as users can easily scroll pass your content.
The key is to get your audience a personalized experience on your Snapchat. What can you offer on Snapchat that they can’t get elsewhere?
1. Don’t Worry About Professionalism
Snapchat is young, fun, and silly. On Snapchat, your personality needs to be the fuel for your content.
Pull the curtains open and welcome your audience through the private window into your life. Treat your Snapchat audience less as a faceless crowd but as your friends and family. Take them on a private tour, show them unseen footage of your video, and don’t be afraid to use the filters, text, and theme to liven up your content.
Start following some popular YouTubers on Snapchat and you can quickly see how they are using it. Don’t use Snapchat as a place to perform, but instead a place for you to be spontaneous. Remember these content don’t last forever, so don’t take forever planning it out, just start doing it.
Promoting your Snapchat account can be hard if you are not a celebrity. Unlike Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram, there is no in-app discovery or suggested users feature in Snapchat. The user will have to search for who they want to follow. Unless someone already knows about you, it’s unlikely that they will be following you on Snapchat. This makes promoting your account to your viewers essential for growth.
YouTuber, Markiplier tweeting his Snapchat username.
Here are a few quick tips for promoting your Snapchat account.
- Make sure your Snapchat handle is present on your YouTube channel and other social media platforms.
- Make yourSnapchat snapcode your profile pic, so people can scan and connect with you.
- Get other Snapchatters to give you a shout-out on their account.
Marketing on social media is essential for not only growing your YouTube channel but your entire brand. If you like more content around social media marketing for your channel, join our community of YouTubers where we are always discussing new tactics and opportunities.
Is there a social media platform that you want to test out but not sure how? Leave a comment below.
Richard Bennett
Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.
Follow @Richard Bennett
Richard Bennett
Oct 26, 2023• Proven solutions
After uploading your video on YouTube, you may want to sit back and enjoy the massive uptick of views and subscribers. However, until you have established a big following on YouTube, only a few people are going to see your freshly published video… unless you share on social media.
So don’t relax yet, it’s time to spread the word about your video and channel on social media, such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, and Reddit.
Why is social media the best place to share your YouTube video? Let’s take a quick look at the statistics of some of the biggest social platforms in the world:
- Facebook has over 2.1 billion monthly active users.
- Instagram has approximately 800 million monthly active users.
- Twitter has approximately 330 million monthly active users.
- Reddit has approximately 330 million monthly active users.
- Snapchat has approximately 200 million monthly active users.
While your loyal viewers might watch your videos on YouTube, YouTube might not be the platform they spend the most time on.
Start by understanding your audience. If your YouTube channel is discussing fan theories for a popular television show, then Twitter and Reddit should be where you direct your efforts. If you are creating video content that has a lot of visual appeal, like travel or photography, then Instagram and Snapchat are better for cross-promotional content.
By promoting on the right social platform, there’s a better chance of discoverability. Additionally, branding that is consistent across all social media increases the trust among your viewers. Consistency does not mean simply putting the YouTube video onto Instagram or sharing it on Facebook.
Content is not one-size fits all!
Regardless of what platform your viewers are spending most of their time on, it’s important to understand how the community interacts. Sharing your video content on Facebook is different than on Reddit. What may be okay on one platform may come across as spam in another.
In this post, we will go through the best practices of sharing and engaging with your audience on 5 of the most popular social media channels.
Table of Content:
Part 1: Instagram for YouTube Channel Marketing
There is a lot of content today and therefore, audiences are more selective about how they choose to spend their time.
Take this example: Before you go to the theater to watch a movie, you might see a poster or a trailer first.
A movie poster lets you know this movie is coming to theatres and the trailer gives you a taste of what to expect before you buy the ticket and sit in the theater for two hours. If the promotional materials don’t entice, you wouldn’t go see the movie.
Instagram can work much in the same way for your YouTube channel. Your Instagram account can be a platform for attracting new viewers and hyping up your loyal following.
1. Using Bite-sized Snackable Content on Instagram
Images and one-minute long videos can engage with your users, help them work up an appetite for your videos, and direct them to your YouTube channel for more.
The great thing about Instagram — compared to YouTube — is that it’s easier to produce content for Instagram every day without exhausting your resources.
Be thinking about what you can post on to Instagram while you work on your YouTube video. You want a really attractive image or short video, which can be something you capture as you work on your long-form video: short preview or behind the scenes footage.
2. Share Your Life
Instagram allows you to consistently post content from your life. This allows you to connect with your audience as they discover more about you, so when it comes time for the YouTube video, they feel that have an established relationship with you.
They see your picture or video on their feed every day after all. You and your followers are practically friends.
While Instagram has multiple ways you can post onto the platform, we will talk about two very different strategies:
How YouTubers Should Post on Instagram Feed
When you post an image or a video onto Instagram directly it will be on your timeline and acts as a tile for your whole Instagram feed page. This piece of content will stay on your page forever, or until you delete it.
Like your YouTube videos, the content you post to your Instagram directly should have a cohesive theme that matches your branding. Keep an eye on your: -
- Aesthetic
- Caption
- Filter
As Instagram has grown in popularity, a lot of tools have been developed to help creators like yourself. Here are a few apps that you can include in your kit:
- VSCO: A photo editor app that will allow you to clean up and enhance details to really make your visuals pop.
- UNUM: An Instagram planner app that enables you to visualize and pre-plan your post.
- Later: A scheduling tool you can use to auto-publish to directly to Instagram.
- Planoly: Drag and drop scheduler and planner, allows you to see the whole grid before posting.
Here’s Liza Koshy’s Instagram feed. As you can see, she has a clear style and also a variety of content. If you haven’t heard of Liza Koshy and found her through Instagram, you get curious: “What does she do?” Instagram is fantastic for building intrigue and garnering interest.
Instagram: Liza Koshy
This will be a good place to post a teaser of your latest video, upload an inspiring image, or share an interesting piece of content that shows the world what you are all about.
Have a different type of content lined up. You don’t want someone to end up on your Instagram page and only see selfies or inspiring quotes.
You won’t know which type of content will hook your next fan… so experiment.
When you post onto Instagram directly, you can’t add a are unable to link in the caption. This has been a bane for marketers and creators since the beginning of Instagram.
Instagram: Pointless Blog
While Instagram is a great engagement platform, it hasn’t been the best channel for those who want to have a direct call to action. The old method was to direct the viewer to your Instagram bio where there is the only place to post a link.
However, once you’ve gained a large following (10K) you will be able to attached links in Instagram Story.
2. How YouTubers Should on Post Instagram Story
Instagram Story allows you to post a series of images and videos over the course of 24 hours. After that, the collection of content — or “story” — from that day disappears.
1. Don’t want your Instagram Story to disappear forever?
There is a feature called “Highlight” which archives your stories so that you can view them later, however, they will be kept on your Instagram profile page. This allows visitors to see your best stories and have prepared content even when you go 24 hours without posting something new.
Instagram: Marianna Hewitt
2. Use Instagram Story to Make an Announcement
While you are uploading your latest video to YouTube, go on Instagram Story and let your followers know.
Unlike posting directly to the Instagram timeline, once you reach a certain milestone, Instagram Story allows you to create a link right in the content. The ability to offer something timely and encourage the viewer to swipe up is a fantastic way to catch your audience when they are most interested in your content. By doing so, you redirect them from Instagram to your YouTube video.
Instagram: Jenn Im
Don’t think of Instagram Story as simply a mean for promoting your video, but a chance to give your loyal viewers an exclusive view into your process, allow them to get familiar with your personality and increase the exposure of your brand as a whole, solidifying your relationship.
Part 2: Facebook for YouTube Channel Marketing
Facebook is the world’s most popular social media platform. With that claim, it can help any new YouTuber find and grow their audience. It doesn’t matter if their channel is about fashion or karate, Facebook is an appropriate platform for interacting with the audience, as long as the content you share is relevant and click-worthy.
There are a number of ways to share content on Facebook:
- Sharing on your own personal timeline allows your Friends to see the content.
- Sharing directly to a particular group or person’s feed assures those in the group or that specific person will see the content.
- Sharing via a separate Page you’ve built for your YouTube channel allows those who are following the page to see the content.
1. Improve YouTube Video Thumbnail on Facebook
Facebook doesn’t make it easy for YouTubers to show their video on Facebook’s news feed, especially if it is hosted on YouTube.
When you post your video from YouTube directly to Facebook, it’ll look something like the image above. Unremarkable. While your audience can still view the video on the Facebook timeline, your fans scrolling by wouldn’t even notice it.
This is Facebook’s way of encouraging you to post videos directly to Facebook’s platform. Which is something you should consider as well, but as you are currently working to grow your YouTube channel, it’s good to focus on this task first.
Well, how do you make the post look better? There is a tool calledThumb Tube that gives you full sized image on Facebook:
Thumb Tube takes your YouTube video link and redirects it so it is now hosted on ThumbTube.com. Yet, anyone viewing the video there is watching on YouTube, not Facebook. This allows you to still capture all the views, likes, and comments on YouTube.
1. Managing a Facebook Page for Your YouTube Channel
Know this, Facebook has been around for over a decade, and establishing yourself on the social network in 2018 is not what it was like in the late ‘00s. Hard truths: building a following from scratch is going to be a lot of work.
1. Growing on Facebook is Hard
Before you go and start committing yourself to Facebook, consider your capacity and your audience: are you able to dedicate time and effort on Facebook? Is this the best platform to reach your viewers?
So Facebook is for you. How should you approach it?
2. Setup a Facebook Page for your YouTube Channel
This separates your personal account from your channel, allowing you to still have some autonomy. You don’t necessarily want your fans to be your friends… On top of that, having a separate page for your channel enables you to keep a consistent branding, which is important in getting more likes and subscribers.
To set up a separate Facebook Page:
1. Go to Facebook, and click “Pages” in the right-hand column
- Click “Create Pages”
- Let Facebook know whether your Page will be classified as a “Business or Brand” or a “Community or Public Figure”
- Name your Page, preferably your YouTube channel name
- Add Profile and Cover pictures
- INVITE!
Treat your Facebook Page like another homepage for your channel. Landing on your page might be the first interaction the audience will have with your brand, so it is important that it is similar to your YouTube channel. This means, the logo has to match, the descriptions need to be aligned, and the cover photo should somewhat resemble your YouTube channel art.
Once you are confident that all the Facebook elements are consistent, it’s time to start marketing.
3. Invite Your Facebook Friends to Like Your Page
Your circle of friends will give you your initial burst needed to grow your YouTube channel, as they like and comment on your videos. The more engagement you get, the more impressions your post will earn not just from your friends, but from your friends’ friends. This expands your network.
However, don’t post the same thing over and over again. It’ll come across as spam to your followers, and it’ll also look lazy if someone lands on your page and see the same piece of content repeated on your news feed.
Facebook is best if you are consistently sharing a variety of content related to your channel.
This does not mean you have to be creating them all. If you were to post five times a week, perhaps only one of the post can be originally created by you. Curate content (i.e. blog, infographics, podcasts, images) that matches your audience’s interest. By always having engaging content that your fans are eager to like, share, and comment, this will give your videos more exposure when it is time to share it.
Pro Tip: Save time by scheduling your Facebook content ahead of time. By batching your Facebook content to be uploaded in one sitting, you can have a week to a month of content prepped ahead of time, so you can go back to focusing on YouTube.
Managing Facebook as a channel to build your YouTube audience can be very effective, but it is a lot of work in itself.
Managing Facebook involves:
- Posting content
- Responding to comments
- Engaging with Facebook groups
- Tube Ritual (Video Marketing YouTube Group)
- Beauty and the Vlog (Fashion and Beauty YouTube Group)
- Travel Vloggers United (Travel YouTube Group)
- Evaluating performance repeatedly
Don’t spread yourself too thin. If YouTube is your priority, all other social media communities should be complementary, not an obligation.
Part 3: Twitter for YouTube Channel Marketing
Unlike Facebook or Instagram, Twitter is a platform where you must be ready with a large amount of valuable content to share, otherwise, you will be lost in the noise. Don’t be afraid to tweet similar content throughout a day. As long as it is done well and isn’t misleading viewers, it wouldn’t be considered spam.
Twitter allows you to get in front of some of the most influential people on the Internet and stay on top of global trends. It is not always easy to get noticed on Twitter, but when your content really resonates, it’s also hard to be ignored.
1. Take Advantage of Trending Hashtags
In order to be successful on Twitter, you must be ready to jump onto a relevant trend. If you are talking about something that nobody is interested in, you might not be heard at all. Keep an eye on the most popular hashtags for that day and get involved with a conversation.
While you should definitely tweet and gain engagement for your YouTube videos, you will also need to tweet out other content.
Constantly keeping an eye on what the world is talking about gives you an idea of what is important to discuss. This may even help guide your next YouTube video.
2. Tag Brands and Influencers
Twitter is a great platform if your channel showcases brands, personalities, or influencers because it gives you the ability to get in front of them. Getting a big brand or an influencer to share your video can earn you a lot more Twitter followers as well as a lot more views to your channel.
An effective way for YouTubers to use Twitter is to be active during an event. If you know that the event will get a lot of attention and the content you are producing is relevant to that audience, then use the official hashtag, tag an attendee, and get that crowd who are actively engaged during the duration of the event to view your videos.
Creators sharing their thoughts on #VidCon
Connecting with people with a lot of clouts can increase your credibility on the topic you are covering.
However, in order for these high-influence people to notice your YouTube channel via Twitter, you must commit to building your Twitter account and audience.
If your Twitter account looks amateurish, for example: if you display picture is still an egg, then any attempts at reaching out to these big brands and influencers will be a loss. Stay active and over time you will gain a following to support you.
Part 4: Reddit for YouTube Channel Marketing
Reddit for YouTube creators can be an intimidating place. Reddit users (Redditors) can sniff out marketing material or misleading click-baits.
You can commit this sin on other platform and get away with it, but on Reddit, this type of posting at best will not be ignored and at worst roasted alive in front of the whole platform.
Because of the anonymity of Reddit’s user base, the comments for posts are often unfiltered.
1. Good Content Gets Seen and Discussed On Reddit
If you can tap into the community values of Reddit, contribute to conversations and share interesting and relevant content there might not be a better platform to grow your YouTube audience.
Many media organizations with a significant following are starting to use Reddit to find stories and viral content . The chances of being discovered on Reddit is much higher than on Twitter, as the upvote/downvote system gives your good work a higher platform to stand on while lowering the bad content to Reddit’s cellar.
2. Don’t Promote Yourself
Reddit is not a platform where you enter, drop your content in, and expect people to engage with it. For Redditors, this is intrusive and unappreciated.
Imagine being at a party and talking to your friends, and then someone you don’t know comes in and starts a conversation about the latest movie, singing a song and asking for feedback, or discussing the coolest restaurants in town. That would be annoying, right?
You cannot go into Reddit blasting your content, because it wasn’t welcomed content.
Before you can get people on Reddit to care about your YouTube channel, you must show them that you care about them — the community.
From day one, you need to be a part of the community, and your reason for being a part of the community cannot be because you want to share content. If you have a hidden agenda, you will be discovered.
3. Understand the Reddiquettes
When engaging on Reddit, you must abide by rules which are called “reddiquette.” There are global reddiquettes and then there are individual community reddiquette.
- Search for duplicate content before posting.
- Consume the content before voting.
- Act as you would in real life.
- And more.
3. Community reddiquettes
These are additional rules that the individual Reddit communities enforce. Be sure to read these rules before posting onto these specific communities. Understanding these rules will help you understand the purpose of this community.
Here is an example of reddiquettes for r/Cameras:
You only have so many strikes with Reddit before your account gets banned. But don’t worry about all that. Be your awesome self.
When you are on Reddit, don’t think of yourself as a YouTuber, think of yourself as a redditor, if you do, you’ll have a bright future on the platform.
4. Subreddits Where You Can Post Freely
While there are some subreddits that demand relevant content, some subreddits will allow you post your videos as long as 90% of your content are from another source aside from your YouTube channel, you won’t be considered spammy.
- r/YouTuber: Get critiques for your videos
- r/Videos: Post any video into the masses
- r/YTPL: Share a whole playlist
Because these subreddits are unfocused and loaded with a variety of content, it’s often tricky to find your specific audience there. Then again, you’ll never know.
Part 5: Snapchat for YouTube Channel Marketing
If your audience craves immediacy and exclusivity, then Snapchat is definitely the social media channel that you’d want to explore.
The ephemeral nature of Snapchat makes it a unique way of marketing your content as what you snap will only be available within 24 hours. Because what you post will only be available for a brief moment in time, those who are following you will dedicate their attention to your content knowing that if they miss it, they might never see it again.
This undivided attention cannot be recreated on Twitter, Facebook, or Reddit, as users can easily scroll pass your content.
The key is to get your audience a personalized experience on your Snapchat. What can you offer on Snapchat that they can’t get elsewhere?
1. Don’t Worry About Professionalism
Snapchat is young, fun, and silly. On Snapchat, your personality needs to be the fuel for your content.
Pull the curtains open and welcome your audience through the private window into your life. Treat your Snapchat audience less as a faceless crowd but as your friends and family. Take them on a private tour, show them unseen footage of your video, and don’t be afraid to use the filters, text, and theme to liven up your content.
Start following some popular YouTubers on Snapchat and you can quickly see how they are using it. Don’t use Snapchat as a place to perform, but instead a place for you to be spontaneous. Remember these content don’t last forever, so don’t take forever planning it out, just start doing it.
Promoting your Snapchat account can be hard if you are not a celebrity. Unlike Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram, there is no in-app discovery or suggested users feature in Snapchat. The user will have to search for who they want to follow. Unless someone already knows about you, it’s unlikely that they will be following you on Snapchat. This makes promoting your account to your viewers essential for growth.
YouTuber, Markiplier tweeting his Snapchat username.
Here are a few quick tips for promoting your Snapchat account.
- Make sure your Snapchat handle is present on your YouTube channel and other social media platforms.
- Make yourSnapchat snapcode your profile pic, so people can scan and connect with you.
- Get other Snapchatters to give you a shout-out on their account.
Marketing on social media is essential for not only growing your YouTube channel but your entire brand. If you like more content around social media marketing for your channel, join our community of YouTubers where we are always discussing new tactics and opportunities.
Is there a social media platform that you want to test out but not sure how? Leave a comment below.
Richard Bennett
Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.
Follow @Richard Bennett
Richard Bennett
Oct 26, 2023• Proven solutions
After uploading your video on YouTube, you may want to sit back and enjoy the massive uptick of views and subscribers. However, until you have established a big following on YouTube, only a few people are going to see your freshly published video… unless you share on social media.
So don’t relax yet, it’s time to spread the word about your video and channel on social media, such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, and Reddit.
Why is social media the best place to share your YouTube video? Let’s take a quick look at the statistics of some of the biggest social platforms in the world:
- Facebook has over 2.1 billion monthly active users.
- Instagram has approximately 800 million monthly active users.
- Twitter has approximately 330 million monthly active users.
- Reddit has approximately 330 million monthly active users.
- Snapchat has approximately 200 million monthly active users.
While your loyal viewers might watch your videos on YouTube, YouTube might not be the platform they spend the most time on.
Start by understanding your audience. If your YouTube channel is discussing fan theories for a popular television show, then Twitter and Reddit should be where you direct your efforts. If you are creating video content that has a lot of visual appeal, like travel or photography, then Instagram and Snapchat are better for cross-promotional content.
By promoting on the right social platform, there’s a better chance of discoverability. Additionally, branding that is consistent across all social media increases the trust among your viewers. Consistency does not mean simply putting the YouTube video onto Instagram or sharing it on Facebook.
Content is not one-size fits all!
Regardless of what platform your viewers are spending most of their time on, it’s important to understand how the community interacts. Sharing your video content on Facebook is different than on Reddit. What may be okay on one platform may come across as spam in another.
In this post, we will go through the best practices of sharing and engaging with your audience on 5 of the most popular social media channels.
Table of Content:
Part 1: Instagram for YouTube Channel Marketing
There is a lot of content today and therefore, audiences are more selective about how they choose to spend their time.
Take this example: Before you go to the theater to watch a movie, you might see a poster or a trailer first.
A movie poster lets you know this movie is coming to theatres and the trailer gives you a taste of what to expect before you buy the ticket and sit in the theater for two hours. If the promotional materials don’t entice, you wouldn’t go see the movie.
Instagram can work much in the same way for your YouTube channel. Your Instagram account can be a platform for attracting new viewers and hyping up your loyal following.
1. Using Bite-sized Snackable Content on Instagram
Images and one-minute long videos can engage with your users, help them work up an appetite for your videos, and direct them to your YouTube channel for more.
The great thing about Instagram — compared to YouTube — is that it’s easier to produce content for Instagram every day without exhausting your resources.
Be thinking about what you can post on to Instagram while you work on your YouTube video. You want a really attractive image or short video, which can be something you capture as you work on your long-form video: short preview or behind the scenes footage.
2. Share Your Life
Instagram allows you to consistently post content from your life. This allows you to connect with your audience as they discover more about you, so when it comes time for the YouTube video, they feel that have an established relationship with you.
They see your picture or video on their feed every day after all. You and your followers are practically friends.
While Instagram has multiple ways you can post onto the platform, we will talk about two very different strategies:
How YouTubers Should Post on Instagram Feed
When you post an image or a video onto Instagram directly it will be on your timeline and acts as a tile for your whole Instagram feed page. This piece of content will stay on your page forever, or until you delete it.
Like your YouTube videos, the content you post to your Instagram directly should have a cohesive theme that matches your branding. Keep an eye on your: -
- Aesthetic
- Caption
- Filter
As Instagram has grown in popularity, a lot of tools have been developed to help creators like yourself. Here are a few apps that you can include in your kit:
- VSCO: A photo editor app that will allow you to clean up and enhance details to really make your visuals pop.
- UNUM: An Instagram planner app that enables you to visualize and pre-plan your post.
- Later: A scheduling tool you can use to auto-publish to directly to Instagram.
- Planoly: Drag and drop scheduler and planner, allows you to see the whole grid before posting.
Here’s Liza Koshy’s Instagram feed. As you can see, she has a clear style and also a variety of content. If you haven’t heard of Liza Koshy and found her through Instagram, you get curious: “What does she do?” Instagram is fantastic for building intrigue and garnering interest.
Instagram: Liza Koshy
This will be a good place to post a teaser of your latest video, upload an inspiring image, or share an interesting piece of content that shows the world what you are all about.
Have a different type of content lined up. You don’t want someone to end up on your Instagram page and only see selfies or inspiring quotes.
You won’t know which type of content will hook your next fan… so experiment.
When you post onto Instagram directly, you can’t add a are unable to link in the caption. This has been a bane for marketers and creators since the beginning of Instagram.
Instagram: Pointless Blog
While Instagram is a great engagement platform, it hasn’t been the best channel for those who want to have a direct call to action. The old method was to direct the viewer to your Instagram bio where there is the only place to post a link.
However, once you’ve gained a large following (10K) you will be able to attached links in Instagram Story.
2. How YouTubers Should on Post Instagram Story
Instagram Story allows you to post a series of images and videos over the course of 24 hours. After that, the collection of content — or “story” — from that day disappears.
1. Don’t want your Instagram Story to disappear forever?
There is a feature called “Highlight” which archives your stories so that you can view them later, however, they will be kept on your Instagram profile page. This allows visitors to see your best stories and have prepared content even when you go 24 hours without posting something new.
Instagram: Marianna Hewitt
2. Use Instagram Story to Make an Announcement
While you are uploading your latest video to YouTube, go on Instagram Story and let your followers know.
Unlike posting directly to the Instagram timeline, once you reach a certain milestone, Instagram Story allows you to create a link right in the content. The ability to offer something timely and encourage the viewer to swipe up is a fantastic way to catch your audience when they are most interested in your content. By doing so, you redirect them from Instagram to your YouTube video.
Instagram: Jenn Im
Don’t think of Instagram Story as simply a mean for promoting your video, but a chance to give your loyal viewers an exclusive view into your process, allow them to get familiar with your personality and increase the exposure of your brand as a whole, solidifying your relationship.
Part 2: Facebook for YouTube Channel Marketing
Facebook is the world’s most popular social media platform. With that claim, it can help any new YouTuber find and grow their audience. It doesn’t matter if their channel is about fashion or karate, Facebook is an appropriate platform for interacting with the audience, as long as the content you share is relevant and click-worthy.
There are a number of ways to share content on Facebook:
- Sharing on your own personal timeline allows your Friends to see the content.
- Sharing directly to a particular group or person’s feed assures those in the group or that specific person will see the content.
- Sharing via a separate Page you’ve built for your YouTube channel allows those who are following the page to see the content.
1. Improve YouTube Video Thumbnail on Facebook
Facebook doesn’t make it easy for YouTubers to show their video on Facebook’s news feed, especially if it is hosted on YouTube.
When you post your video from YouTube directly to Facebook, it’ll look something like the image above. Unremarkable. While your audience can still view the video on the Facebook timeline, your fans scrolling by wouldn’t even notice it.
This is Facebook’s way of encouraging you to post videos directly to Facebook’s platform. Which is something you should consider as well, but as you are currently working to grow your YouTube channel, it’s good to focus on this task first.
Well, how do you make the post look better? There is a tool calledThumb Tube that gives you full sized image on Facebook:
Thumb Tube takes your YouTube video link and redirects it so it is now hosted on ThumbTube.com. Yet, anyone viewing the video there is watching on YouTube, not Facebook. This allows you to still capture all the views, likes, and comments on YouTube.
1. Managing a Facebook Page for Your YouTube Channel
Know this, Facebook has been around for over a decade, and establishing yourself on the social network in 2018 is not what it was like in the late ‘00s. Hard truths: building a following from scratch is going to be a lot of work.
1. Growing on Facebook is Hard
Before you go and start committing yourself to Facebook, consider your capacity and your audience: are you able to dedicate time and effort on Facebook? Is this the best platform to reach your viewers?
So Facebook is for you. How should you approach it?
2. Setup a Facebook Page for your YouTube Channel
This separates your personal account from your channel, allowing you to still have some autonomy. You don’t necessarily want your fans to be your friends… On top of that, having a separate page for your channel enables you to keep a consistent branding, which is important in getting more likes and subscribers.
To set up a separate Facebook Page:
1. Go to Facebook, and click “Pages” in the right-hand column
- Click “Create Pages”
- Let Facebook know whether your Page will be classified as a “Business or Brand” or a “Community or Public Figure”
- Name your Page, preferably your YouTube channel name
- Add Profile and Cover pictures
- INVITE!
Treat your Facebook Page like another homepage for your channel. Landing on your page might be the first interaction the audience will have with your brand, so it is important that it is similar to your YouTube channel. This means, the logo has to match, the descriptions need to be aligned, and the cover photo should somewhat resemble your YouTube channel art.
Once you are confident that all the Facebook elements are consistent, it’s time to start marketing.
3. Invite Your Facebook Friends to Like Your Page
Your circle of friends will give you your initial burst needed to grow your YouTube channel, as they like and comment on your videos. The more engagement you get, the more impressions your post will earn not just from your friends, but from your friends’ friends. This expands your network.
However, don’t post the same thing over and over again. It’ll come across as spam to your followers, and it’ll also look lazy if someone lands on your page and see the same piece of content repeated on your news feed.
Facebook is best if you are consistently sharing a variety of content related to your channel.
This does not mean you have to be creating them all. If you were to post five times a week, perhaps only one of the post can be originally created by you. Curate content (i.e. blog, infographics, podcasts, images) that matches your audience’s interest. By always having engaging content that your fans are eager to like, share, and comment, this will give your videos more exposure when it is time to share it.
Pro Tip: Save time by scheduling your Facebook content ahead of time. By batching your Facebook content to be uploaded in one sitting, you can have a week to a month of content prepped ahead of time, so you can go back to focusing on YouTube.
Managing Facebook as a channel to build your YouTube audience can be very effective, but it is a lot of work in itself.
Managing Facebook involves:
- Posting content
- Responding to comments
- Engaging with Facebook groups
- Tube Ritual (Video Marketing YouTube Group)
- Beauty and the Vlog (Fashion and Beauty YouTube Group)
- Travel Vloggers United (Travel YouTube Group)
- Evaluating performance repeatedly
Don’t spread yourself too thin. If YouTube is your priority, all other social media communities should be complementary, not an obligation.
Part 3: Twitter for YouTube Channel Marketing
Unlike Facebook or Instagram, Twitter is a platform where you must be ready with a large amount of valuable content to share, otherwise, you will be lost in the noise. Don’t be afraid to tweet similar content throughout a day. As long as it is done well and isn’t misleading viewers, it wouldn’t be considered spam.
Twitter allows you to get in front of some of the most influential people on the Internet and stay on top of global trends. It is not always easy to get noticed on Twitter, but when your content really resonates, it’s also hard to be ignored.
1. Take Advantage of Trending Hashtags
In order to be successful on Twitter, you must be ready to jump onto a relevant trend. If you are talking about something that nobody is interested in, you might not be heard at all. Keep an eye on the most popular hashtags for that day and get involved with a conversation.
While you should definitely tweet and gain engagement for your YouTube videos, you will also need to tweet out other content.
Constantly keeping an eye on what the world is talking about gives you an idea of what is important to discuss. This may even help guide your next YouTube video.
2. Tag Brands and Influencers
Twitter is a great platform if your channel showcases brands, personalities, or influencers because it gives you the ability to get in front of them. Getting a big brand or an influencer to share your video can earn you a lot more Twitter followers as well as a lot more views to your channel.
An effective way for YouTubers to use Twitter is to be active during an event. If you know that the event will get a lot of attention and the content you are producing is relevant to that audience, then use the official hashtag, tag an attendee, and get that crowd who are actively engaged during the duration of the event to view your videos.
Creators sharing their thoughts on #VidCon
Connecting with people with a lot of clouts can increase your credibility on the topic you are covering.
However, in order for these high-influence people to notice your YouTube channel via Twitter, you must commit to building your Twitter account and audience.
If your Twitter account looks amateurish, for example: if you display picture is still an egg, then any attempts at reaching out to these big brands and influencers will be a loss. Stay active and over time you will gain a following to support you.
Part 4: Reddit for YouTube Channel Marketing
Reddit for YouTube creators can be an intimidating place. Reddit users (Redditors) can sniff out marketing material or misleading click-baits.
You can commit this sin on other platform and get away with it, but on Reddit, this type of posting at best will not be ignored and at worst roasted alive in front of the whole platform.
Because of the anonymity of Reddit’s user base, the comments for posts are often unfiltered.
1. Good Content Gets Seen and Discussed On Reddit
If you can tap into the community values of Reddit, contribute to conversations and share interesting and relevant content there might not be a better platform to grow your YouTube audience.
Many media organizations with a significant following are starting to use Reddit to find stories and viral content . The chances of being discovered on Reddit is much higher than on Twitter, as the upvote/downvote system gives your good work a higher platform to stand on while lowering the bad content to Reddit’s cellar.
2. Don’t Promote Yourself
Reddit is not a platform where you enter, drop your content in, and expect people to engage with it. For Redditors, this is intrusive and unappreciated.
Imagine being at a party and talking to your friends, and then someone you don’t know comes in and starts a conversation about the latest movie, singing a song and asking for feedback, or discussing the coolest restaurants in town. That would be annoying, right?
You cannot go into Reddit blasting your content, because it wasn’t welcomed content.
Before you can get people on Reddit to care about your YouTube channel, you must show them that you care about them — the community.
From day one, you need to be a part of the community, and your reason for being a part of the community cannot be because you want to share content. If you have a hidden agenda, you will be discovered.
3. Understand the Reddiquettes
When engaging on Reddit, you must abide by rules which are called “reddiquette.” There are global reddiquettes and then there are individual community reddiquette.
- Search for duplicate content before posting.
- Consume the content before voting.
- Act as you would in real life.
- And more.
3. Community reddiquettes
These are additional rules that the individual Reddit communities enforce. Be sure to read these rules before posting onto these specific communities. Understanding these rules will help you understand the purpose of this community.
Here is an example of reddiquettes for r/Cameras:
You only have so many strikes with Reddit before your account gets banned. But don’t worry about all that. Be your awesome self.
When you are on Reddit, don’t think of yourself as a YouTuber, think of yourself as a redditor, if you do, you’ll have a bright future on the platform.
4. Subreddits Where You Can Post Freely
While there are some subreddits that demand relevant content, some subreddits will allow you post your videos as long as 90% of your content are from another source aside from your YouTube channel, you won’t be considered spammy.
- r/YouTuber: Get critiques for your videos
- r/Videos: Post any video into the masses
- r/YTPL: Share a whole playlist
Because these subreddits are unfocused and loaded with a variety of content, it’s often tricky to find your specific audience there. Then again, you’ll never know.
Part 5: Snapchat for YouTube Channel Marketing
If your audience craves immediacy and exclusivity, then Snapchat is definitely the social media channel that you’d want to explore.
The ephemeral nature of Snapchat makes it a unique way of marketing your content as what you snap will only be available within 24 hours. Because what you post will only be available for a brief moment in time, those who are following you will dedicate their attention to your content knowing that if they miss it, they might never see it again.
This undivided attention cannot be recreated on Twitter, Facebook, or Reddit, as users can easily scroll pass your content.
The key is to get your audience a personalized experience on your Snapchat. What can you offer on Snapchat that they can’t get elsewhere?
1. Don’t Worry About Professionalism
Snapchat is young, fun, and silly. On Snapchat, your personality needs to be the fuel for your content.
Pull the curtains open and welcome your audience through the private window into your life. Treat your Snapchat audience less as a faceless crowd but as your friends and family. Take them on a private tour, show them unseen footage of your video, and don’t be afraid to use the filters, text, and theme to liven up your content.
Start following some popular YouTubers on Snapchat and you can quickly see how they are using it. Don’t use Snapchat as a place to perform, but instead a place for you to be spontaneous. Remember these content don’t last forever, so don’t take forever planning it out, just start doing it.
Promoting your Snapchat account can be hard if you are not a celebrity. Unlike Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram, there is no in-app discovery or suggested users feature in Snapchat. The user will have to search for who they want to follow. Unless someone already knows about you, it’s unlikely that they will be following you on Snapchat. This makes promoting your account to your viewers essential for growth.
YouTuber, Markiplier tweeting his Snapchat username.
Here are a few quick tips for promoting your Snapchat account.
- Make sure your Snapchat handle is present on your YouTube channel and other social media platforms.
- Make yourSnapchat snapcode your profile pic, so people can scan and connect with you.
- Get other Snapchatters to give you a shout-out on their account.
Marketing on social media is essential for not only growing your YouTube channel but your entire brand. If you like more content around social media marketing for your channel, join our community of YouTubers where we are always discussing new tactics and opportunities.
Is there a social media platform that you want to test out but not sure how? Leave a comment below.
Richard Bennett
Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.
Follow @Richard Bennett
The Novice’s Guide to Building a YouTube Studio Setup
YouTube Equipment Starter Guide For Beginners
Sumia Rafique
Feb 19, 2024• Proven solutions
If you want to start creating videos and uploading them onto YouTube, you’ll need to have access to some basic equipment. This guide will go over everything you’ll need to be a YouTuber.
Part 1: YOUTUBE EQUIPMENT: CAMERA
The best camera for beginners is the one you already have. Most smartphones these days already come equipped with a powerful camera that can record HD videos. If you still want to add a camera to your equipment list as a beginner YouTuber, you should look for a camera with the following eight qualities:
What To Look For In A Camera As A YouTuber
1. Fully articulated screen (flip screen)
2. Good continual auto focus while recording video
3. Good focus priority through face recognition
4. Touch to focus
5. Good low-light performance
6. external mic jack, hot/cold shoe bracket
7. optical image stabilization
8. good battery life
Check out my full list of 10 Things To Look For In A Vlogging Camera to understand the importance of these camera features.
Best Cheap Vlogging Cameras
Below are the best cheap vlogging cameras that you can get for under $500. They all record at least 1080p HD video and all but the Sony Alpha a5100 come with optical image stabilization (if you want OIS with the Sony a5100, you’ll have it get it in the lens).
| Camera | Release Date | Camera Type | Flip Screen | 4K | Price | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yi 4KAction Camera |  |
February2017 | Action Camera | No | Yes | $169 (MSRP) |
| NikonCoolpixA900 |  |
February2016 | Compact | Flip Up | Yes | $399 (MSRP) |
| NikonCoolpixB500 |  |
February2016 | SLR-like (bridge) | Tilting | No | $250 (MSRP) |
| PolaroidCube+ |  |
June2015 | Action Camera | No | No | $99 (MSRP) |
| SonyAlphaa5100 |  |
August2014 | Mirrorless | Flip Up | No | $450 (MSRP) |
|
Best cheap vlogging camera under $100: Polaroid Cube+ Even before GoPro released their GoPro Session, Polaroid was the first to come out with a 1.4-inch, cube-shaped action camera, small enough to mount on a bike or a helmet. This camera has built-in magnets so that you can attach them to metal surfaces. This action camera is water-resistant, shock-proof, and weather-proof. It can record full HD 1080p videos at 60 fps with its wide-angle lens. You can connect this camera with your phone to preview and take your shots. |
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Best cheap vlogging camera under $200: Yi 4K At $200, you can record 4K videos with the Yi 4K action camera. Like many other action cameras, this camera is small, durable, and shoots through a wide-angle lens. You won’t be able to take this camera underwater though because it isn’t waterproof. You’ll need to buy the right accessories for that. |
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Best cheap vlogging camera under $300: Nikon B500 The Nikon B500 gives you a non-interchangeable zoom lens so that you have more control over how you compose your shots. This camera records full HD 1080p videos at either 30 or 25 fps. You can only set its ISO as high as 3200, so it’s not going to perform the best in low-light conditions. The tilting LCD screen does not have touchscreen and cannot be fully flipped up or flipped to the side, it only tilts. For a camera in its price range, the Nikon B500 offers a lot of features. |
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Best cheap vlogging camera under $400: Nikon A900 The Nikon A900 not only comes with a non-interchangeable zoom lens, but it can also record videos in UHD 4K quality. Like the Nikon B500, the A900’s ISO goes only up to 3200, making it a weak performer in poorly lit conditions. |
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Best cheap vlogging camera under $500: Sony a5100 Among the cameras listed in our top cheap cameras list, the Sony a5100 is the only one you can interchange lenses with. All Sony E-mount lenses are compatible with this camera. This camera can record up to 1080p videos at 60 fps. Out of all of the above top cheap cameras, this one also auto focuses the best. |
Best Entry-Level and Mid-Range Vlogging Cameras
If you have a bigger budget to work with, the following vlogging cameras are great options:
| Camera | Release Date | Camera Type | Flip Screen | Mic Port | Price | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CanonEOSM50 |  |
February2018 | Mirrorless | Fully Articulated | Yes | $- |
| CanonEOSM100 |  |
August2017 | Mirrorless | Flip Up | No | $ |
| CanonEOS RebelSL2 |  |
June2017 | Compact SLR | Fully Articulated | Yes | $ |
| CanonEOS RebelT7i |  |
February2017 | Mid-size SLR | Fully Articulated | Yes | $- |
| CanonEOS80D |  |
February2016 | Mid-size SLR | Fully Articulated | Yes | $$ |
|
Best entry-level mirrorless camera for vlogging: Canon EOS M100 The Canon M100 is a small and powerful camera that can shoot full HD (1080p) videos up to 60 fps. The touchscreen LCD of this camera flips up so that you can see yourself as you vlog in selfie mode. |
|---|---|
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Best mid-range mirrorless camera for vlogging: Canon EOS M50 The Canon EOS M50 can shoot UHD 4K videos at 23.98 fps. You can also record 120 fps slow-motion videos at 720p. Unlike the M100, which only has a flip up screen, the M50 has a fully articulated screen, so you can use this camera in selfie mode, all while using an on-camera shotgun microphone attached to the camera hot/cold shoe. |
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Best DSLR camera for daily vlogging: Canon EOS T7i The Canon EOS T7i is a great DSLR camera for daily vlogging. It can record full HD 1080p videos at 60 fps, it can create HDR and time-lapse movies, and it also has a fully articulated screen. |
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Best entry-level DSLR camera for vlogging: Canon EOS SL2 The Canon EOS SL2 delivers a lot of power at a low price. This DSLR camera can capture full HD 1080p videos at 60 fps. |
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Best mid-range DSLR camera for vlogging: Canon EOS 80D The Canon 80D is an exceptional mid-range DSLR vlogging camera with many features. Coming with a 45-point all cross phase detection autofocusing and a dual pixel CMOS AF system, the camera is great at finding the right focus while recording video. |
Part 2: YOUTUBE EQUIPMENT: LENS
A lot of compact cameras already come with the lens as a part of the camera body. When it comes to these kinds of cameras, you won’t have to worry about which lens is right for you since the decision has already been made for you!
When you start looking into bigger cameras, though, you’ll have to think about which lens you want to shoot with.
The Wide-Angle Lens
Every YouTuber should have a wide-angle lens. With this kind of lens, you can fit much more of a scene into your camera frame, including your own face when you’re just an arm’s length away from your camera. This is especially important for YouTubers because most YouTubers have to operate their camera on their own, without the assistance of an additional camera person.
Optical Image Stabilization
You should also look for a lens with optical image stabilization if you’re shooting a lot of your YouTube videos handheld.
For more information on camera lenses, check out my Vlogger’s Guide To Camera Lenses .
Part 3: YOUTUBE EQUIPMENT: TRIPOD
 |
Tripod If you plan to film yourself talking in front of the same, unchanging background for an extended period of time, it doesn’t make sense to film yourself handheld the entire time. You’ll just end up tiring your arm out and adding distracting shakiness to your footage. A tripod is a great solution to this problem. You can set up your framing once, press record, and leave your camera in its fixed position while you talk with both hands free. |
|---|---|
 |
Joby GorillaPod With Ballhead When you film yourself handheld, it’s difficult to keep your arm higher up so that your camera shoots down at an ideal angle. You may also notice that a lot of your arm gets into your shot, which you and other viewers might find distracting. Holding your camera up by a GorillaPod, however, can give you the extension you need to get that higher angle shot more easily, all without so much of your arm getting into your shot. |
Part 4: YOUTUBE EQUIPMENT: MICROPHONE
Most vlogging cameras come with a built-in microphone that gets the job done. If you want higher quality audio recordings, though, you should check out the following list of top microphones.
| Top Condenser Mics For Music and Singing | Top Condenser Mics For Voiceovers-Podcasts, Interviews | Top On-Camera Shotgun Mics | Top Shotgun Mics | Top Low-Profile Lavalier Mics |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Audio-Technica AT2035 Rode NT1-A AKG C214 | Apogee Mic 96K Blue Yeti Rode NT-USB Blue Snowball Audio-Technica AT2020 Rode Procaster | Rode VideoMic Go Shure VP83 Rode VideoMic Pro+ Sennheiser MKE 440 | Rode NTG-3 Audio-Technica AT4053B Sennheiser MKH416 | Rode SmartLav+ Audio-Technica ATR3350iS Sennheiser ME2 |
To read more about each of these microphones, check out our post on The 19 Best YouTube Microphones 2018 – Options for Music, Voiceovers, Vlogging, and more!
Part 5: YOUTUBE EQUIPMENT: SMARTPHONE ACCESSORIES
Using your smartphone’s camera to film your YouTube videos is a great idea since it’s light, portable, and most likely always with you. The following six smartphone accessories can help you make better YouTube videos:
- Arkon Tripod Mount
- FLII Selfie Ring Light
- RODE VideoMic Me
- Aukey Optic 3-in-1 Smartphone Lens Set
- iOgrapher Go for Android and iPhone
- Manfrotto TwistGrip System
Read about each one of these items and more in The 9 Best Smartphone Camera Accessories For Vloggers .
Part 6: YOUTUBE EQUIPMENT: LIGHT
Lighting for home living and lighting for filming is very different. If you try to make use of just the lights you have at home, you may find that your footage is too dark, grainy, and orange-tinted.
The solution to this problem is getting additional video lighting equipment with daytime light bulbs.
 |
Daytime Light Bulbs Your home is most likely lit with incandescent light bulbs that illuminate orange-tinted light. You can remove those light bulbs and replace them with daytime light bulbs that illuminate more of a white colored light. |
|---|---|
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On-Camera LED Light If you need more light just in front of the camera and you need this light to be portable, LED lights that attach to your camera’s hot/cold shoe will do the job. |
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LED Ring Light If you need more light just in front of the camera, you don’t have a lot of space, and you don’t need this light to be small and portable, an LED ring light is the best piece of equipment for you. You can position your camera inside the circular space of the ring light. This kind of light also gives your eyes the circular shaped highlight that many people like to see. |
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Softbox Video Light If you need more light and have more space, another piece of lighting equipment good for beginners is a softbox video light. |
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Umbrella Video Light Umbrella video lights are very portable and affordable. The direction of the light from umbrella lights are more difficult to control than the light from softbox video lights. |
If you’re looking for recommendations on which piece of lighting equipment to buy, check out my list of the Top 17 Video Lighting Equipment For YouTubers .
Part 7: YOUTUBE EQUIPMENT: COMPUTER
After you’ve recorded all your footage, you’ll need a computer to edit your video clips together. You can perform basic video editing tasks and upload your video onto YouTube with any computer less than ten years old.
Laptop computers are popular among YouTubers because their portability allows you to work on your videos from anywhere. This way, you can finish and upload your videos more frequently, which is another important part of being a YouTuber.
The following three laptop computers handle video editing very well:
- MacBook Pro With Touch Bar
- Dell XPS 15
- Microsoft Surface Book 2
Read more about these laptop computers for 4K video editing in The Best Laptops for 4K Video Editing .
Part 8: YOUTUBE EQUIPMENT: VIDEO EDITING SOFTWARE
| FREE VIDEO EDITING SOFTWARES | PAID VIDEO EDITING SOFTWARES |
|---|---|
| OpenShot Video Editor (Windows, Mac, Linux) ShotCut (Windows, Mac, Linux) Hitfilm Express (Windows, Mac) VideoPad Video Editor (Windows) Lightworks (Windows, Mac, Linux) VSDC Video Editor (Windows) Machete Video Editor Lite (Windows) Avidemux (Windows, Mac, Linux, BSD) Read more about each of these softwares in our post about The Best Free Video Editing Software for YouTube . | Filmora Video Editor (Windows, Mac) - $40 one year license, $79.99 perpetual license. Free trial Final Cut Pro (Mac) - $299.99, Free trial Vegas Movie Studio (Windows) - $49.99 |
YOUTUBE EQUIPMENT: AUDIO
Music Libraries
Music is an important part of YouTube video creation. Here’s where you can get access to music:
| ROYALTY-FREE MUSIC LIBRARIES | PAID MUSIC LIBRARIES | PAID SUBSCRIPTION MUSIC LIBRARIES |
|---|---|---|
| Audionautix Bensound dig.ccMixter Free Music Archive Free Stock Music Incompetech Josh Woodward Moby Gratis Musopen Purple Planet Music TeknoAXE YouTube Audio Library | Premium Beat Audio Jungle | Audio Network Audio Blocks Epidemic Sound |
Sound Effects
Free Sound Effect Sites
- Filmstock Sound Effects
- Freesound
- PacDV
- Sound Bible
- Sound Gator
- Sounds Crate
- Zapsplat
Sumia Rafique
Sumia Rafique is a writer and a lover of all things video.
Follow @Sumia Rafique
Sumia Rafique
Feb 19, 2024• Proven solutions
If you want to start creating videos and uploading them onto YouTube, you’ll need to have access to some basic equipment. This guide will go over everything you’ll need to be a YouTuber.
Part 1: YOUTUBE EQUIPMENT: CAMERA
The best camera for beginners is the one you already have. Most smartphones these days already come equipped with a powerful camera that can record HD videos. If you still want to add a camera to your equipment list as a beginner YouTuber, you should look for a camera with the following eight qualities:
What To Look For In A Camera As A YouTuber
1. Fully articulated screen (flip screen)
2. Good continual auto focus while recording video
3. Good focus priority through face recognition
4. Touch to focus
5. Good low-light performance
6. external mic jack, hot/cold shoe bracket
7. optical image stabilization
8. good battery life
Check out my full list of 10 Things To Look For In A Vlogging Camera to understand the importance of these camera features.
Best Cheap Vlogging Cameras
Below are the best cheap vlogging cameras that you can get for under $500. They all record at least 1080p HD video and all but the Sony Alpha a5100 come with optical image stabilization (if you want OIS with the Sony a5100, you’ll have it get it in the lens).
| Camera | Release Date | Camera Type | Flip Screen | 4K | Price | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yi 4KAction Camera | |
February2017 | Action Camera | No | Yes | $169 (MSRP) |
| NikonCoolpixA900 | |
February2016 | Compact | Flip Up | Yes | $399 (MSRP) |
| NikonCoolpixB500 | |
February2016 | SLR-like (bridge) | Tilting | No | $250 (MSRP) |
| PolaroidCube+ | |
June2015 | Action Camera | No | No | $99 (MSRP) |
| SonyAlphaa5100 | |
August2014 | Mirrorless | Flip Up | No | $450 (MSRP) |
|
Best cheap vlogging camera under $100: Polaroid Cube+ Even before GoPro released their GoPro Session, Polaroid was the first to come out with a 1.4-inch, cube-shaped action camera, small enough to mount on a bike or a helmet. This camera has built-in magnets so that you can attach them to metal surfaces. This action camera is water-resistant, shock-proof, and weather-proof. It can record full HD 1080p videos at 60 fps with its wide-angle lens. You can connect this camera with your phone to preview and take your shots. |
|---|---|
|
Best cheap vlogging camera under $200: Yi 4K At $200, you can record 4K videos with the Yi 4K action camera. Like many other action cameras, this camera is small, durable, and shoots through a wide-angle lens. You won’t be able to take this camera underwater though because it isn’t waterproof. You’ll need to buy the right accessories for that. |
|
Best cheap vlogging camera under $300: Nikon B500 The Nikon B500 gives you a non-interchangeable zoom lens so that you have more control over how you compose your shots. This camera records full HD 1080p videos at either 30 or 25 fps. You can only set its ISO as high as 3200, so it’s not going to perform the best in low-light conditions. The tilting LCD screen does not have touchscreen and cannot be fully flipped up or flipped to the side, it only tilts. For a camera in its price range, the Nikon B500 offers a lot of features. |
|
Best cheap vlogging camera under $400: Nikon A900 The Nikon A900 not only comes with a non-interchangeable zoom lens, but it can also record videos in UHD 4K quality. Like the Nikon B500, the A900’s ISO goes only up to 3200, making it a weak performer in poorly lit conditions. |
|
Best cheap vlogging camera under $500: Sony a5100 Among the cameras listed in our top cheap cameras list, the Sony a5100 is the only one you can interchange lenses with. All Sony E-mount lenses are compatible with this camera. This camera can record up to 1080p videos at 60 fps. Out of all of the above top cheap cameras, this one also auto focuses the best. |
Best Entry-Level and Mid-Range Vlogging Cameras
If you have a bigger budget to work with, the following vlogging cameras are great options:
| Camera | Release Date | Camera Type | Flip Screen | Mic Port | Price | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CanonEOSM50 | |
February2018 | Mirrorless | Fully Articulated | Yes | $- |
| CanonEOSM100 | |
August2017 | Mirrorless | Flip Up | No | $ |
| CanonEOS RebelSL2 | |
June2017 | Compact SLR | Fully Articulated | Yes | $ |
| CanonEOS RebelT7i | |
February2017 | Mid-size SLR | Fully Articulated | Yes | $- |
| CanonEOS80D | |
February2016 | Mid-size SLR | Fully Articulated | Yes | $$ |
|
Best entry-level mirrorless camera for vlogging: Canon EOS M100 The Canon M100 is a small and powerful camera that can shoot full HD (1080p) videos up to 60 fps. The touchscreen LCD of this camera flips up so that you can see yourself as you vlog in selfie mode. |
|---|---|
|
Best mid-range mirrorless camera for vlogging: Canon EOS M50 The Canon EOS M50 can shoot UHD 4K videos at 23.98 fps. You can also record 120 fps slow-motion videos at 720p. Unlike the M100, which only has a flip up screen, the M50 has a fully articulated screen, so you can use this camera in selfie mode, all while using an on-camera shotgun microphone attached to the camera hot/cold shoe. |
|
Best DSLR camera for daily vlogging: Canon EOS T7i The Canon EOS T7i is a great DSLR camera for daily vlogging. It can record full HD 1080p videos at 60 fps, it can create HDR and time-lapse movies, and it also has a fully articulated screen. |
|
Best entry-level DSLR camera for vlogging: Canon EOS SL2 The Canon EOS SL2 delivers a lot of power at a low price. This DSLR camera can capture full HD 1080p videos at 60 fps. |
|
Best mid-range DSLR camera for vlogging: Canon EOS 80D The Canon 80D is an exceptional mid-range DSLR vlogging camera with many features. Coming with a 45-point all cross phase detection autofocusing and a dual pixel CMOS AF system, the camera is great at finding the right focus while recording video. |
Part 2: YOUTUBE EQUIPMENT: LENS
A lot of compact cameras already come with the lens as a part of the camera body. When it comes to these kinds of cameras, you won’t have to worry about which lens is right for you since the decision has already been made for you!
When you start looking into bigger cameras, though, you’ll have to think about which lens you want to shoot with.
The Wide-Angle Lens
Every YouTuber should have a wide-angle lens. With this kind of lens, you can fit much more of a scene into your camera frame, including your own face when you’re just an arm’s length away from your camera. This is especially important for YouTubers because most YouTubers have to operate their camera on their own, without the assistance of an additional camera person.
Optical Image Stabilization
You should also look for a lens with optical image stabilization if you’re shooting a lot of your YouTube videos handheld.
For more information on camera lenses, check out my Vlogger’s Guide To Camera Lenses .
Part 3: YOUTUBE EQUIPMENT: TRIPOD
|
Tripod If you plan to film yourself talking in front of the same, unchanging background for an extended period of time, it doesn’t make sense to film yourself handheld the entire time. You’ll just end up tiring your arm out and adding distracting shakiness to your footage. A tripod is a great solution to this problem. You can set up your framing once, press record, and leave your camera in its fixed position while you talk with both hands free. |
|---|---|
|
Joby GorillaPod With Ballhead When you film yourself handheld, it’s difficult to keep your arm higher up so that your camera shoots down at an ideal angle. You may also notice that a lot of your arm gets into your shot, which you and other viewers might find distracting. Holding your camera up by a GorillaPod, however, can give you the extension you need to get that higher angle shot more easily, all without so much of your arm getting into your shot. |
Part 4: YOUTUBE EQUIPMENT: MICROPHONE
Most vlogging cameras come with a built-in microphone that gets the job done. If you want higher quality audio recordings, though, you should check out the following list of top microphones.
| Top Condenser Mics For Music and Singing | Top Condenser Mics For Voiceovers-Podcasts, Interviews | Top On-Camera Shotgun Mics | Top Shotgun Mics | Top Low-Profile Lavalier Mics |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Audio-Technica AT2035 Rode NT1-A AKG C214 | Apogee Mic 96K Blue Yeti Rode NT-USB Blue Snowball Audio-Technica AT2020 Rode Procaster | Rode VideoMic Go Shure VP83 Rode VideoMic Pro+ Sennheiser MKE 440 | Rode NTG-3 Audio-Technica AT4053B Sennheiser MKH416 | Rode SmartLav+ Audio-Technica ATR3350iS Sennheiser ME2 |
To read more about each of these microphones, check out our post on The 19 Best YouTube Microphones 2018 – Options for Music, Voiceovers, Vlogging, and more!
Part 5: YOUTUBE EQUIPMENT: SMARTPHONE ACCESSORIES
Using your smartphone’s camera to film your YouTube videos is a great idea since it’s light, portable, and most likely always with you. The following six smartphone accessories can help you make better YouTube videos:
- Arkon Tripod Mount
- FLII Selfie Ring Light
- RODE VideoMic Me
- Aukey Optic 3-in-1 Smartphone Lens Set
- iOgrapher Go for Android and iPhone
- Manfrotto TwistGrip System
Read about each one of these items and more in The 9 Best Smartphone Camera Accessories For Vloggers .
Part 6: YOUTUBE EQUIPMENT: LIGHT
Lighting for home living and lighting for filming is very different. If you try to make use of just the lights you have at home, you may find that your footage is too dark, grainy, and orange-tinted.
The solution to this problem is getting additional video lighting equipment with daytime light bulbs.
|
Daytime Light Bulbs Your home is most likely lit with incandescent light bulbs that illuminate orange-tinted light. You can remove those light bulbs and replace them with daytime light bulbs that illuminate more of a white colored light. |
|---|---|
|
On-Camera LED Light If you need more light just in front of the camera and you need this light to be portable, LED lights that attach to your camera’s hot/cold shoe will do the job. |
|
LED Ring Light If you need more light just in front of the camera, you don’t have a lot of space, and you don’t need this light to be small and portable, an LED ring light is the best piece of equipment for you. You can position your camera inside the circular space of the ring light. This kind of light also gives your eyes the circular shaped highlight that many people like to see. |
|
Softbox Video Light If you need more light and have more space, another piece of lighting equipment good for beginners is a softbox video light. |
|
Umbrella Video Light Umbrella video lights are very portable and affordable. The direction of the light from umbrella lights are more difficult to control than the light from softbox video lights. |
If you’re looking for recommendations on which piece of lighting equipment to buy, check out my list of the Top 17 Video Lighting Equipment For YouTubers .
Part 7: YOUTUBE EQUIPMENT: COMPUTER
After you’ve recorded all your footage, you’ll need a computer to edit your video clips together. You can perform basic video editing tasks and upload your video onto YouTube with any computer less than ten years old.
Laptop computers are popular among YouTubers because their portability allows you to work on your videos from anywhere. This way, you can finish and upload your videos more frequently, which is another important part of being a YouTuber.
The following three laptop computers handle video editing very well:
- MacBook Pro With Touch Bar
- Dell XPS 15
- Microsoft Surface Book 2
Read more about these laptop computers for 4K video editing in The Best Laptops for 4K Video Editing .
Part 8: YOUTUBE EQUIPMENT: VIDEO EDITING SOFTWARE
| FREE VIDEO EDITING SOFTWARES | PAID VIDEO EDITING SOFTWARES |
|---|---|
| OpenShot Video Editor (Windows, Mac, Linux) ShotCut (Windows, Mac, Linux) Hitfilm Express (Windows, Mac) VideoPad Video Editor (Windows) Lightworks (Windows, Mac, Linux) VSDC Video Editor (Windows) Machete Video Editor Lite (Windows) Avidemux (Windows, Mac, Linux, BSD) Read more about each of these softwares in our post about The Best Free Video Editing Software for YouTube . | Filmora Video Editor (Windows, Mac) - $40 one year license, $79.99 perpetual license. Free trial Final Cut Pro (Mac) - $299.99, Free trial Vegas Movie Studio (Windows) - $49.99 |
YOUTUBE EQUIPMENT: AUDIO
Music Libraries
Music is an important part of YouTube video creation. Here’s where you can get access to music:
| ROYALTY-FREE MUSIC LIBRARIES | PAID MUSIC LIBRARIES | PAID SUBSCRIPTION MUSIC LIBRARIES |
|---|---|---|
| Audionautix Bensound dig.ccMixter Free Music Archive Free Stock Music Incompetech Josh Woodward Moby Gratis Musopen Purple Planet Music TeknoAXE YouTube Audio Library | Premium Beat Audio Jungle | Audio Network Audio Blocks Epidemic Sound |
Sound Effects
Free Sound Effect Sites
- Filmstock Sound Effects
- Freesound
- PacDV
- Sound Bible
- Sound Gator
- Sounds Crate
- Zapsplat
Sumia Rafique
Sumia Rafique is a writer and a lover of all things video.
Follow @Sumia Rafique
Sumia Rafique
Feb 19, 2024• Proven solutions
If you want to start creating videos and uploading them onto YouTube, you’ll need to have access to some basic equipment. This guide will go over everything you’ll need to be a YouTuber.
Part 1: YOUTUBE EQUIPMENT: CAMERA
The best camera for beginners is the one you already have. Most smartphones these days already come equipped with a powerful camera that can record HD videos. If you still want to add a camera to your equipment list as a beginner YouTuber, you should look for a camera with the following eight qualities:
What To Look For In A Camera As A YouTuber
1. Fully articulated screen (flip screen)
2. Good continual auto focus while recording video
3. Good focus priority through face recognition
4. Touch to focus
5. Good low-light performance
6. external mic jack, hot/cold shoe bracket
7. optical image stabilization
8. good battery life
Check out my full list of 10 Things To Look For In A Vlogging Camera to understand the importance of these camera features.
Best Cheap Vlogging Cameras
Below are the best cheap vlogging cameras that you can get for under $500. They all record at least 1080p HD video and all but the Sony Alpha a5100 come with optical image stabilization (if you want OIS with the Sony a5100, you’ll have it get it in the lens).
| Camera | Release Date | Camera Type | Flip Screen | 4K | Price | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yi 4KAction Camera | |
February2017 | Action Camera | No | Yes | $169 (MSRP) |
| NikonCoolpixA900 | |
February2016 | Compact | Flip Up | Yes | $399 (MSRP) |
| NikonCoolpixB500 | |
February2016 | SLR-like (bridge) | Tilting | No | $250 (MSRP) |
| PolaroidCube+ | |
June2015 | Action Camera | No | No | $99 (MSRP) |
| SonyAlphaa5100 | |
August2014 | Mirrorless | Flip Up | No | $450 (MSRP) |
|
Best cheap vlogging camera under $100: Polaroid Cube+ Even before GoPro released their GoPro Session, Polaroid was the first to come out with a 1.4-inch, cube-shaped action camera, small enough to mount on a bike or a helmet. This camera has built-in magnets so that you can attach them to metal surfaces. This action camera is water-resistant, shock-proof, and weather-proof. It can record full HD 1080p videos at 60 fps with its wide-angle lens. You can connect this camera with your phone to preview and take your shots. |
|---|---|
|
Best cheap vlogging camera under $200: Yi 4K At $200, you can record 4K videos with the Yi 4K action camera. Like many other action cameras, this camera is small, durable, and shoots through a wide-angle lens. You won’t be able to take this camera underwater though because it isn’t waterproof. You’ll need to buy the right accessories for that. |
|
Best cheap vlogging camera under $300: Nikon B500 The Nikon B500 gives you a non-interchangeable zoom lens so that you have more control over how you compose your shots. This camera records full HD 1080p videos at either 30 or 25 fps. You can only set its ISO as high as 3200, so it’s not going to perform the best in low-light conditions. The tilting LCD screen does not have touchscreen and cannot be fully flipped up or flipped to the side, it only tilts. For a camera in its price range, the Nikon B500 offers a lot of features. |
|
Best cheap vlogging camera under $400: Nikon A900 The Nikon A900 not only comes with a non-interchangeable zoom lens, but it can also record videos in UHD 4K quality. Like the Nikon B500, the A900’s ISO goes only up to 3200, making it a weak performer in poorly lit conditions. |
|
Best cheap vlogging camera under $500: Sony a5100 Among the cameras listed in our top cheap cameras list, the Sony a5100 is the only one you can interchange lenses with. All Sony E-mount lenses are compatible with this camera. This camera can record up to 1080p videos at 60 fps. Out of all of the above top cheap cameras, this one also auto focuses the best. |
Best Entry-Level and Mid-Range Vlogging Cameras
If you have a bigger budget to work with, the following vlogging cameras are great options:
| Camera | Release Date | Camera Type | Flip Screen | Mic Port | Price | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CanonEOSM50 | |
February2018 | Mirrorless | Fully Articulated | Yes | $- |
| CanonEOSM100 | |
August2017 | Mirrorless | Flip Up | No | $ |
| CanonEOS RebelSL2 | |
June2017 | Compact SLR | Fully Articulated | Yes | $ |
| CanonEOS RebelT7i | |
February2017 | Mid-size SLR | Fully Articulated | Yes | $- |
| CanonEOS80D | |
February2016 | Mid-size SLR | Fully Articulated | Yes | $$ |
|
Best entry-level mirrorless camera for vlogging: Canon EOS M100 The Canon M100 is a small and powerful camera that can shoot full HD (1080p) videos up to 60 fps. The touchscreen LCD of this camera flips up so that you can see yourself as you vlog in selfie mode. |
|---|---|
|
Best mid-range mirrorless camera for vlogging: Canon EOS M50 The Canon EOS M50 can shoot UHD 4K videos at 23.98 fps. You can also record 120 fps slow-motion videos at 720p. Unlike the M100, which only has a flip up screen, the M50 has a fully articulated screen, so you can use this camera in selfie mode, all while using an on-camera shotgun microphone attached to the camera hot/cold shoe. |
|
Best DSLR camera for daily vlogging: Canon EOS T7i The Canon EOS T7i is a great DSLR camera for daily vlogging. It can record full HD 1080p videos at 60 fps, it can create HDR and time-lapse movies, and it also has a fully articulated screen. |
|
Best entry-level DSLR camera for vlogging: Canon EOS SL2 The Canon EOS SL2 delivers a lot of power at a low price. This DSLR camera can capture full HD 1080p videos at 60 fps. |
|
Best mid-range DSLR camera for vlogging: Canon EOS 80D The Canon 80D is an exceptional mid-range DSLR vlogging camera with many features. Coming with a 45-point all cross phase detection autofocusing and a dual pixel CMOS AF system, the camera is great at finding the right focus while recording video. |
Part 2: YOUTUBE EQUIPMENT: LENS
A lot of compact cameras already come with the lens as a part of the camera body. When it comes to these kinds of cameras, you won’t have to worry about which lens is right for you since the decision has already been made for you!
When you start looking into bigger cameras, though, you’ll have to think about which lens you want to shoot with.
The Wide-Angle Lens
Every YouTuber should have a wide-angle lens. With this kind of lens, you can fit much more of a scene into your camera frame, including your own face when you’re just an arm’s length away from your camera. This is especially important for YouTubers because most YouTubers have to operate their camera on their own, without the assistance of an additional camera person.
Optical Image Stabilization
You should also look for a lens with optical image stabilization if you’re shooting a lot of your YouTube videos handheld.
For more information on camera lenses, check out my Vlogger’s Guide To Camera Lenses .
Part 3: YOUTUBE EQUIPMENT: TRIPOD
|
Tripod If you plan to film yourself talking in front of the same, unchanging background for an extended period of time, it doesn’t make sense to film yourself handheld the entire time. You’ll just end up tiring your arm out and adding distracting shakiness to your footage. A tripod is a great solution to this problem. You can set up your framing once, press record, and leave your camera in its fixed position while you talk with both hands free. |
|---|---|
|
Joby GorillaPod With Ballhead When you film yourself handheld, it’s difficult to keep your arm higher up so that your camera shoots down at an ideal angle. You may also notice that a lot of your arm gets into your shot, which you and other viewers might find distracting. Holding your camera up by a GorillaPod, however, can give you the extension you need to get that higher angle shot more easily, all without so much of your arm getting into your shot. |
Part 4: YOUTUBE EQUIPMENT: MICROPHONE
Most vlogging cameras come with a built-in microphone that gets the job done. If you want higher quality audio recordings, though, you should check out the following list of top microphones.
| Top Condenser Mics For Music and Singing | Top Condenser Mics For Voiceovers-Podcasts, Interviews | Top On-Camera Shotgun Mics | Top Shotgun Mics | Top Low-Profile Lavalier Mics |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Audio-Technica AT2035 Rode NT1-A AKG C214 | Apogee Mic 96K Blue Yeti Rode NT-USB Blue Snowball Audio-Technica AT2020 Rode Procaster | Rode VideoMic Go Shure VP83 Rode VideoMic Pro+ Sennheiser MKE 440 | Rode NTG-3 Audio-Technica AT4053B Sennheiser MKH416 | Rode SmartLav+ Audio-Technica ATR3350iS Sennheiser ME2 |
To read more about each of these microphones, check out our post on The 19 Best YouTube Microphones 2018 – Options for Music, Voiceovers, Vlogging, and more!
Part 5: YOUTUBE EQUIPMENT: SMARTPHONE ACCESSORIES
Using your smartphone’s camera to film your YouTube videos is a great idea since it’s light, portable, and most likely always with you. The following six smartphone accessories can help you make better YouTube videos:
- Arkon Tripod Mount
- FLII Selfie Ring Light
- RODE VideoMic Me
- Aukey Optic 3-in-1 Smartphone Lens Set
- iOgrapher Go for Android and iPhone
- Manfrotto TwistGrip System
Read about each one of these items and more in The 9 Best Smartphone Camera Accessories For Vloggers .
Part 6: YOUTUBE EQUIPMENT: LIGHT
Lighting for home living and lighting for filming is very different. If you try to make use of just the lights you have at home, you may find that your footage is too dark, grainy, and orange-tinted.
The solution to this problem is getting additional video lighting equipment with daytime light bulbs.
|
Daytime Light Bulbs Your home is most likely lit with incandescent light bulbs that illuminate orange-tinted light. You can remove those light bulbs and replace them with daytime light bulbs that illuminate more of a white colored light. |
|---|---|
|
On-Camera LED Light If you need more light just in front of the camera and you need this light to be portable, LED lights that attach to your camera’s hot/cold shoe will do the job. |
|
LED Ring Light If you need more light just in front of the camera, you don’t have a lot of space, and you don’t need this light to be small and portable, an LED ring light is the best piece of equipment for you. You can position your camera inside the circular space of the ring light. This kind of light also gives your eyes the circular shaped highlight that many people like to see. |
|
Softbox Video Light If you need more light and have more space, another piece of lighting equipment good for beginners is a softbox video light. |
|
Umbrella Video Light Umbrella video lights are very portable and affordable. The direction of the light from umbrella lights are more difficult to control than the light from softbox video lights. |
If you’re looking for recommendations on which piece of lighting equipment to buy, check out my list of the Top 17 Video Lighting Equipment For YouTubers .
Part 7: YOUTUBE EQUIPMENT: COMPUTER
After you’ve recorded all your footage, you’ll need a computer to edit your video clips together. You can perform basic video editing tasks and upload your video onto YouTube with any computer less than ten years old.
Laptop computers are popular among YouTubers because their portability allows you to work on your videos from anywhere. This way, you can finish and upload your videos more frequently, which is another important part of being a YouTuber.
The following three laptop computers handle video editing very well:
- MacBook Pro With Touch Bar
- Dell XPS 15
- Microsoft Surface Book 2
Read more about these laptop computers for 4K video editing in The Best Laptops for 4K Video Editing .
Part 8: YOUTUBE EQUIPMENT: VIDEO EDITING SOFTWARE
| FREE VIDEO EDITING SOFTWARES | PAID VIDEO EDITING SOFTWARES |
|---|---|
| OpenShot Video Editor (Windows, Mac, Linux) ShotCut (Windows, Mac, Linux) Hitfilm Express (Windows, Mac) VideoPad Video Editor (Windows) Lightworks (Windows, Mac, Linux) VSDC Video Editor (Windows) Machete Video Editor Lite (Windows) Avidemux (Windows, Mac, Linux, BSD) Read more about each of these softwares in our post about The Best Free Video Editing Software for YouTube . | Filmora Video Editor (Windows, Mac) - $40 one year license, $79.99 perpetual license. Free trial Final Cut Pro (Mac) - $299.99, Free trial Vegas Movie Studio (Windows) - $49.99 |
YOUTUBE EQUIPMENT: AUDIO
Music Libraries
Music is an important part of YouTube video creation. Here’s where you can get access to music:
| ROYALTY-FREE MUSIC LIBRARIES | PAID MUSIC LIBRARIES | PAID SUBSCRIPTION MUSIC LIBRARIES |
|---|---|---|
| Audionautix Bensound dig.ccMixter Free Music Archive Free Stock Music Incompetech Josh Woodward Moby Gratis Musopen Purple Planet Music TeknoAXE YouTube Audio Library | Premium Beat Audio Jungle | Audio Network Audio Blocks Epidemic Sound |
Sound Effects
Free Sound Effect Sites
- Filmstock Sound Effects
- Freesound
- PacDV
- Sound Bible
- Sound Gator
- Sounds Crate
- Zapsplat
Sumia Rafique
Sumia Rafique is a writer and a lover of all things video.
Follow @Sumia Rafique
Sumia Rafique
Feb 19, 2024• Proven solutions
If you want to start creating videos and uploading them onto YouTube, you’ll need to have access to some basic equipment. This guide will go over everything you’ll need to be a YouTuber.
Part 1: YOUTUBE EQUIPMENT: CAMERA
The best camera for beginners is the one you already have. Most smartphones these days already come equipped with a powerful camera that can record HD videos. If you still want to add a camera to your equipment list as a beginner YouTuber, you should look for a camera with the following eight qualities:
What To Look For In A Camera As A YouTuber
1. Fully articulated screen (flip screen)
2. Good continual auto focus while recording video
3. Good focus priority through face recognition
4. Touch to focus
5. Good low-light performance
6. external mic jack, hot/cold shoe bracket
7. optical image stabilization
8. good battery life
Check out my full list of 10 Things To Look For In A Vlogging Camera to understand the importance of these camera features.
Best Cheap Vlogging Cameras
Below are the best cheap vlogging cameras that you can get for under $500. They all record at least 1080p HD video and all but the Sony Alpha a5100 come with optical image stabilization (if you want OIS with the Sony a5100, you’ll have it get it in the lens).
| Camera | Release Date | Camera Type | Flip Screen | 4K | Price | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yi 4KAction Camera | |
February2017 | Action Camera | No | Yes | $169 (MSRP) |
| NikonCoolpixA900 | |
February2016 | Compact | Flip Up | Yes | $399 (MSRP) |
| NikonCoolpixB500 | |
February2016 | SLR-like (bridge) | Tilting | No | $250 (MSRP) |
| PolaroidCube+ | |
June2015 | Action Camera | No | No | $99 (MSRP) |
| SonyAlphaa5100 | |
August2014 | Mirrorless | Flip Up | No | $450 (MSRP) |
|
Best cheap vlogging camera under $100: Polaroid Cube+ Even before GoPro released their GoPro Session, Polaroid was the first to come out with a 1.4-inch, cube-shaped action camera, small enough to mount on a bike or a helmet. This camera has built-in magnets so that you can attach them to metal surfaces. This action camera is water-resistant, shock-proof, and weather-proof. It can record full HD 1080p videos at 60 fps with its wide-angle lens. You can connect this camera with your phone to preview and take your shots. |
|---|---|
|
Best cheap vlogging camera under $200: Yi 4K At $200, you can record 4K videos with the Yi 4K action camera. Like many other action cameras, this camera is small, durable, and shoots through a wide-angle lens. You won’t be able to take this camera underwater though because it isn’t waterproof. You’ll need to buy the right accessories for that. |
|
Best cheap vlogging camera under $300: Nikon B500 The Nikon B500 gives you a non-interchangeable zoom lens so that you have more control over how you compose your shots. This camera records full HD 1080p videos at either 30 or 25 fps. You can only set its ISO as high as 3200, so it’s not going to perform the best in low-light conditions. The tilting LCD screen does not have touchscreen and cannot be fully flipped up or flipped to the side, it only tilts. For a camera in its price range, the Nikon B500 offers a lot of features. |
|
Best cheap vlogging camera under $400: Nikon A900 The Nikon A900 not only comes with a non-interchangeable zoom lens, but it can also record videos in UHD 4K quality. Like the Nikon B500, the A900’s ISO goes only up to 3200, making it a weak performer in poorly lit conditions. |
|
Best cheap vlogging camera under $500: Sony a5100 Among the cameras listed in our top cheap cameras list, the Sony a5100 is the only one you can interchange lenses with. All Sony E-mount lenses are compatible with this camera. This camera can record up to 1080p videos at 60 fps. Out of all of the above top cheap cameras, this one also auto focuses the best. |
Best Entry-Level and Mid-Range Vlogging Cameras
If you have a bigger budget to work with, the following vlogging cameras are great options:
| Camera | Release Date | Camera Type | Flip Screen | Mic Port | Price | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CanonEOSM50 | |
February2018 | Mirrorless | Fully Articulated | Yes | $- |
| CanonEOSM100 | |
August2017 | Mirrorless | Flip Up | No | $ |
| CanonEOS RebelSL2 | |
June2017 | Compact SLR | Fully Articulated | Yes | $ |
| CanonEOS RebelT7i | |
February2017 | Mid-size SLR | Fully Articulated | Yes | $- |
| CanonEOS80D | |
February2016 | Mid-size SLR | Fully Articulated | Yes | $$ |
|
Best entry-level mirrorless camera for vlogging: Canon EOS M100 The Canon M100 is a small and powerful camera that can shoot full HD (1080p) videos up to 60 fps. The touchscreen LCD of this camera flips up so that you can see yourself as you vlog in selfie mode. |
|---|---|
|
Best mid-range mirrorless camera for vlogging: Canon EOS M50 The Canon EOS M50 can shoot UHD 4K videos at 23.98 fps. You can also record 120 fps slow-motion videos at 720p. Unlike the M100, which only has a flip up screen, the M50 has a fully articulated screen, so you can use this camera in selfie mode, all while using an on-camera shotgun microphone attached to the camera hot/cold shoe. |
|
Best DSLR camera for daily vlogging: Canon EOS T7i The Canon EOS T7i is a great DSLR camera for daily vlogging. It can record full HD 1080p videos at 60 fps, it can create HDR and time-lapse movies, and it also has a fully articulated screen. |
|
Best entry-level DSLR camera for vlogging: Canon EOS SL2 The Canon EOS SL2 delivers a lot of power at a low price. This DSLR camera can capture full HD 1080p videos at 60 fps. |
|
Best mid-range DSLR camera for vlogging: Canon EOS 80D The Canon 80D is an exceptional mid-range DSLR vlogging camera with many features. Coming with a 45-point all cross phase detection autofocusing and a dual pixel CMOS AF system, the camera is great at finding the right focus while recording video. |
Part 2: YOUTUBE EQUIPMENT: LENS
A lot of compact cameras already come with the lens as a part of the camera body. When it comes to these kinds of cameras, you won’t have to worry about which lens is right for you since the decision has already been made for you!
When you start looking into bigger cameras, though, you’ll have to think about which lens you want to shoot with.
The Wide-Angle Lens
Every YouTuber should have a wide-angle lens. With this kind of lens, you can fit much more of a scene into your camera frame, including your own face when you’re just an arm’s length away from your camera. This is especially important for YouTubers because most YouTubers have to operate their camera on their own, without the assistance of an additional camera person.
Optical Image Stabilization
You should also look for a lens with optical image stabilization if you’re shooting a lot of your YouTube videos handheld.
For more information on camera lenses, check out my Vlogger’s Guide To Camera Lenses .
Part 3: YOUTUBE EQUIPMENT: TRIPOD
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Tripod If you plan to film yourself talking in front of the same, unchanging background for an extended period of time, it doesn’t make sense to film yourself handheld the entire time. You’ll just end up tiring your arm out and adding distracting shakiness to your footage. A tripod is a great solution to this problem. You can set up your framing once, press record, and leave your camera in its fixed position while you talk with both hands free. |
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Joby GorillaPod With Ballhead When you film yourself handheld, it’s difficult to keep your arm higher up so that your camera shoots down at an ideal angle. You may also notice that a lot of your arm gets into your shot, which you and other viewers might find distracting. Holding your camera up by a GorillaPod, however, can give you the extension you need to get that higher angle shot more easily, all without so much of your arm getting into your shot. |
Part 4: YOUTUBE EQUIPMENT: MICROPHONE
Most vlogging cameras come with a built-in microphone that gets the job done. If you want higher quality audio recordings, though, you should check out the following list of top microphones.
| Top Condenser Mics For Music and Singing | Top Condenser Mics For Voiceovers-Podcasts, Interviews | Top On-Camera Shotgun Mics | Top Shotgun Mics | Top Low-Profile Lavalier Mics |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Audio-Technica AT2035 Rode NT1-A AKG C214 | Apogee Mic 96K Blue Yeti Rode NT-USB Blue Snowball Audio-Technica AT2020 Rode Procaster | Rode VideoMic Go Shure VP83 Rode VideoMic Pro+ Sennheiser MKE 440 | Rode NTG-3 Audio-Technica AT4053B Sennheiser MKH416 | Rode SmartLav+ Audio-Technica ATR3350iS Sennheiser ME2 |
To read more about each of these microphones, check out our post on The 19 Best YouTube Microphones 2018 – Options for Music, Voiceovers, Vlogging, and more!
Part 5: YOUTUBE EQUIPMENT: SMARTPHONE ACCESSORIES
Using your smartphone’s camera to film your YouTube videos is a great idea since it’s light, portable, and most likely always with you. The following six smartphone accessories can help you make better YouTube videos:
- Arkon Tripod Mount
- FLII Selfie Ring Light
- RODE VideoMic Me
- Aukey Optic 3-in-1 Smartphone Lens Set
- iOgrapher Go for Android and iPhone
- Manfrotto TwistGrip System
Read about each one of these items and more in The 9 Best Smartphone Camera Accessories For Vloggers .
Part 6: YOUTUBE EQUIPMENT: LIGHT
Lighting for home living and lighting for filming is very different. If you try to make use of just the lights you have at home, you may find that your footage is too dark, grainy, and orange-tinted.
The solution to this problem is getting additional video lighting equipment with daytime light bulbs.
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Daytime Light Bulbs Your home is most likely lit with incandescent light bulbs that illuminate orange-tinted light. You can remove those light bulbs and replace them with daytime light bulbs that illuminate more of a white colored light. |
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On-Camera LED Light If you need more light just in front of the camera and you need this light to be portable, LED lights that attach to your camera’s hot/cold shoe will do the job. |
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LED Ring Light If you need more light just in front of the camera, you don’t have a lot of space, and you don’t need this light to be small and portable, an LED ring light is the best piece of equipment for you. You can position your camera inside the circular space of the ring light. This kind of light also gives your eyes the circular shaped highlight that many people like to see. |
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Softbox Video Light If you need more light and have more space, another piece of lighting equipment good for beginners is a softbox video light. |
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Umbrella Video Light Umbrella video lights are very portable and affordable. The direction of the light from umbrella lights are more difficult to control than the light from softbox video lights. |
If you’re looking for recommendations on which piece of lighting equipment to buy, check out my list of the Top 17 Video Lighting Equipment For YouTubers .
Part 7: YOUTUBE EQUIPMENT: COMPUTER
After you’ve recorded all your footage, you’ll need a computer to edit your video clips together. You can perform basic video editing tasks and upload your video onto YouTube with any computer less than ten years old.
Laptop computers are popular among YouTubers because their portability allows you to work on your videos from anywhere. This way, you can finish and upload your videos more frequently, which is another important part of being a YouTuber.
The following three laptop computers handle video editing very well:
- MacBook Pro With Touch Bar
- Dell XPS 15
- Microsoft Surface Book 2
Read more about these laptop computers for 4K video editing in The Best Laptops for 4K Video Editing .
Part 8: YOUTUBE EQUIPMENT: VIDEO EDITING SOFTWARE
| FREE VIDEO EDITING SOFTWARES | PAID VIDEO EDITING SOFTWARES |
|---|---|
| OpenShot Video Editor (Windows, Mac, Linux) ShotCut (Windows, Mac, Linux) Hitfilm Express (Windows, Mac) VideoPad Video Editor (Windows) Lightworks (Windows, Mac, Linux) VSDC Video Editor (Windows) Machete Video Editor Lite (Windows) Avidemux (Windows, Mac, Linux, BSD) Read more about each of these softwares in our post about The Best Free Video Editing Software for YouTube . | Filmora Video Editor (Windows, Mac) - $40 one year license, $79.99 perpetual license. Free trial Final Cut Pro (Mac) - $299.99, Free trial Vegas Movie Studio (Windows) - $49.99 |
YOUTUBE EQUIPMENT: AUDIO
Music Libraries
Music is an important part of YouTube video creation. Here’s where you can get access to music:
| ROYALTY-FREE MUSIC LIBRARIES | PAID MUSIC LIBRARIES | PAID SUBSCRIPTION MUSIC LIBRARIES |
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| Audionautix Bensound dig.ccMixter Free Music Archive Free Stock Music Incompetech Josh Woodward Moby Gratis Musopen Purple Planet Music TeknoAXE YouTube Audio Library | Premium Beat Audio Jungle | Audio Network Audio Blocks Epidemic Sound |
Sound Effects
Free Sound Effect Sites
- Filmstock Sound Effects
- Freesound
- PacDV
- Sound Bible
- Sound Gator
- Sounds Crate
- Zapsplat
Sumia Rafique
Sumia Rafique is a writer and a lover of all things video.
Follow @Sumia Rafique
- Title: "In 2024, Revolutionize Your Audience YouTube Marketing 101"
- Author: Joseph
- Created at : 2024-05-31 13:50:17
- Updated at : 2024-06-01 13:50:17
- Link: https://youtube-stream.techidaily.com/in-2024-revolutionize-your-audience-youtube-marketing-101/
- License: This work is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0.
