How To Get a Million Subscribers on YouTube?

Keynote

Reaching a million subscribers on YouTube might take a while, but it’s very achievable. Begin by breaking your target into smaller goals, then stick to a niche, upload consistently, use end screens, and add a subscribe watermark. You can also jump on trends in your niche to attract new subscribers.

Every YouTube creator has likely thought of how to get a million subscribers on YouTube. Of course, many benefits come with this achievement—recognition, more money, a stronger community, and let’s not forget the famous gold plaque—the Gold Creator Award—from YouTube to celebrate the milestone.  

Truly, hitting a million subscribers is not a walk in the park, but it’s also not an impossible feat. 

In this post, I simplify how to get 1 million subscribers on YouTube using 11 proven techniques that are founded on my experience. Are you ready? Let’s dive in.  

How To Get a Million Subscribers on YouTube Following Expert Steps 

Before you get weary of growing your page to your desired level, there are a few techniques you need to try first. In the section below, I’ll show you how to get a million subscribers on your YouTube channel. 

1.     Pick a Niche and Stick with It 

One of the first steps on your journey to a million subscribers is picking a niche and sticking with it. Users subscribe to channels that focus on what they find interesting. Think about it. If you stumble on a channel while looking for a recipe and the next video on the channel is about sports, will you subscribe to the channel? I doubt it—especially if you are not interested in sports.  

Even if you subscribe, you will quickly lose interest when you can’t find videos that are related to what you subscribed for. This is why your channel must have a consistent direction. Aside from that, sticking to a niche helps you display expertise and establish authority in that field, encouraging users to subscribe.  

Take Neil Patel, for example. He is a digital marketing coach whose channel has over a thousand videos, and guess what? All his videos talk about various topics in the digital marketing niche.  

We suggest that you decide on your niche as soon as possible. The earlier you do, the earlier your target audience can find you, and you can also prove your expertise in that area.  

2.    Focus on Serving Your Audience  

Once you’ve picked your niche, focus on serving your audience with quality and relatable content. The more value your channel dishes out, the more subscribers it’ll get.  

So, ask yourself, “What specific value am I providing my viewers?” “What problem am I helping them solve?” If you can provide straightforward answers to these questions, you’re well on your way to hitting the million subscribers mark.  

Remember, you’re not making content for yourself. If you can address a specific pain point for people, e.g., helping them grow their digital marketing skills or killing boredom, you can get them to subscribe. 

3.    Upload Consistently  

Posting consistently is key to building a strong social media presence. The more you put your content out there, the easier it is to get subscribers.  

You must have a posting schedule that consistently keeps your subscribers engaged with new content. This will help you retain them, even as you try to build it to 1 million.  

Draw up an upload schedule, depending on how often you can post, and stick to it. Posting inconsistently or being inactive for long periods will force your subscribers to look to another creator for the value you provide. You don’t want that, do you? 

4.    Retain Viewers by Keeping Them Engaged for As Long as Possible  

You want to create content that your viewers will watch, if not to the end, at least to a significant percentage.  

You can track this using the YouTube audience retention metric. For every video, you will see the average percentage of people who watch your video and how long they watch it.  

Compare this value for different videos on your channel, and then use that information to tweak your next videos.  

Observe the audience retention at different points:  

1. How many people are still watching after the first 30 seconds? This will tell you if your introduction is engaging enough.  

2. As you move from chapter to chapter (or scene to scene), does your audience retention drop at an alarming rate? If your answer to this is yes, it means your video is not engaging enough to keep your viewers engaged, and you need to work on the chapters of your video. 

3. Lastly, look at the percentage of people that make it to the outro. Do they stay long enough to watch your outro and click on your end screen? 
    
   Note that it’s not only about the length of your video. The solution to increasing your average view duration isn’t necessarily to make your videos shorter. Instead, focus on making your videos more entertaining and engaging.   
   PS: YouTube’s algorithm favors videos with high retention and often suggests them to new users.  

5.    Leverage Live Streams 

Live streams are excellent for boosting viewer engagement and getting new subscribers. You could even involve them in the journey when you are a few subscribers away from your 1 million target. 

You can also leverage live streams to get new subscribers by collaborating with other creators in your niche. 

6.    Properly Optimize Your Thumbnail and Title  

What’s the point of having great, engaging content if no one ever discovers or watches it? This is where the right thumbnails and headings come into play.  

The right title and thumbnails make your video stand out even before viewers have a chance to watch it. Think of it as making a good first impression.  

Here’s how to maximize this hack: 

Firstly, use the right titles—titles that are keyword-optimized—to make it easier for subscribers to find your videos. Secondly, make your video titles emotionally intriguing and use power words that trigger emotional responses.  

Lastly, make your thumbnails attractive. Your thumbnails should entice users to click and see what your video is about. You can use the Views4You Thumbnail Downloader to extract unique ones from your video. 

Remember, your title and thumbnails are your chance to make a first impression; they ultimately decide whether the user clicks on your channel or not. Make it count!  

7.    Promote Your Videos with YouTube End Screens  

End Screens are those cards that appear at the end of your video, suggesting other videos for your viewer to watch. This addition, though small, can help you get more views and attract subscribers to your channel.

When an end screen appears at the end of your video, it prompts the user to watch another video of yours. If your videos are engaging enough, the user might end up watching two or more videos. This gives you a chance to establish your authority in that niche and convince them to subscribe to your channel for more value.  

Bonus Tip: Don’t recommend too many videos on your end screen. In fact, one video is enough. You want to encourage them to watch your video, not paralyze them with too many choices. Instead of multiple videos, recommend one and explicitly explain to them why they should click on it.  

8.    Add a Subscribe Button to Your Videos  

Another thing you should add to the end of your videos is the subscribe button. This is usually a watermark that displays “Subscribe” on all your videos. Adding a “Subscribe” button makes it easier for viewers to click and become subscribers. 

Best of all, adding this to your videos is extremely easy. Simply get an image you’d like to use as your subscribe button and upload it to the branding section of your video. We’ll teach you how to do that in a minute, but first, note that your YouTube watermark must be: 

• 150 x 150 pixels in size 
• In PNG, JPEG, GIF, or BMP format  
• Unanimated  
• At most, 1 MB large  

 To upload your subscribe button watermark to your YouTube channel, follow these simple steps: 

1. OpenYouTube studio
2. Click on Customization in the left menu 
3. Click on the Branding tab near the top of the page and scroll to the Video Watermark section  
4. Upload your Watermark image and select when you’d like it to appear in your videos. You can choose a particular timestamp, the end of your video, or throughout the video.  

9.    Outsource Work You Can’t Handle 

As you grow in subscribers, you want to start outsourcing some parts of your channel production to capable hands. This will allow you more time to brainstorm and come up with creative ideas on how to get a million subscribers.  

You see, as your subscribers increase, the level of quality that they expect from you also goes up. Keeping up with that can be difficult without outsourcing some tasks.  

Ask yourself: What parts of the video creation process do I struggle the most with? Consider freeing it up to be more productive. Some tasks you can outsource include video editing, script writing, and thumbnail creation.

10.  Jump on Trending YouTube Topics  

One effective way to get your content before new subscribers is to jump on trending YouTube topics. The hack here is to leverage topics that are within your niche and relevant to your target audience. You also want to pick topics that will interest your current subscribers even as they attract new subscribers who are excited or following the trend.  

For example, if you’re a food blogger wondering how to get a million subscribers, you can jump on a recipe creation trend. This could go a long way towards bringing in new subscribers who are interested in cooking and recipes. Since your channel is filled with content that interests them, they’ll be more inclined to become subscribers.  

For extra visibility, optimize your video with high-volume keywords that aren’t overly competitive.  

11.  Explore New Video Ideas 

Don’t be scared to experiment with video ideas. Subscribers can easily get tired when your videos follow only one pattern. Also, there’s so much more to your target audience you’re yet to tap into.  

The videos that attract your first 10,000 subscribers might not attract your next 50,000 subscribers.  

To stay relevant enough to keep your old subscribers interested and attract new subscribers, you must be willing to switch things up a little and explore new video ideas.  

Final Thoughts 

Although I’ve successfully shown you how to get a million subscribers on YouTube, it’s not unusual for it to still seem like a lot. To make your goal of getting a million subscribers more realistic, break it down into mini goals that are easier to process and look more feasible.  

For example, if you’re a new creator, instead of jumping to the 1 million marks, start by aiming for your first 100 subscribers. Once you’ve hit that goal, you can focus on reaching 500, 1,000, 10,000, and so on. Breaking it down eases the pressure and makes it easier for you to focus.  

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