All too often, marketers place videos on YouTube or even build channels and then walk away from them to view from afar the viewership they generate.  I read this interesting study that confirms what we have learned from YouTube marketing in recent years- that using the community building tools of YouTube plays a significant role in the ranking your video receives and in its ability to be found by your audiences on YouTube.  If you don’t engage, your YouTube success will certainly be more limited.

In the study in the article, Glenn Gabe reviews the top three videos related to a search on YouTube for “Golf Swing Instruction”. What he found is that there are a wide combination of factors at work that contribute not only to the rank of the video but its viewership as well:

• title
• description
• tags
• views
• ratings
• playlist additions
• flagging
• embeds
• shares
• comments
• age of video
• channel views
• subscribers
• inbound links (links from outside of YouTube pointing to your videos).

What I find most interesting about this is how many of the factors listed above can be impacted by the degree to which you make use of the social tools on YouTube to reach out and engage with your audience. Views, ratings, playlist additions, embeds, shares, comments, channel views, subscribers and inbound links can all be impacted by consistent efforts to reach out to your audience on the site.  Yet many marketers stop after the first three bullets listed above and hope for results.

What are some ideas of ways to engage your audience on YouTube?  Here are a few thoughts but I encourage you to help me grow this list with your own ideas:

• search for related videos and reach out to the channel operator
• post your video as video response to other related videos
• participate in the comments to other related videos
• look to see where related videos have been embedded and reach out to those sites
• respond to comments that are posted on your own videos to create a more active dialogue and encourage additional comments
• view where your own videos have been embedded and reach out to those sites to notify them when other content is available
• outside of YouTube, post links to your videos in relevant discussions and on related blogs
• include links to your videos in any email marketing you do to your own email database  (This one may seem obvious to some but I am surprised by how often companies overlook this tactic)

No social media strategy works well with a “launch and leave” approach.  YouTube is no different.  Strive to make outreach and engagement an integral part of your YouTube efforts and share your successes with the rest of us.