How to help a release succeed on YouTube

Once you’ve released your latest banger on YouTube, the hard work doesn’t end there. The steps you take post-release day are just as important as all the prep you did before the big day. If you want to continue to drive engagement on your release and prolong its success for as long as possible, here’s what you can do…

by Randi Zimmerman of Symphonic Blog

Create & Share Additional Content

For the next couple weeks, consider posting Shorts, lyric videos, behind-the-scenes videos, and anything else you can think of to keep the momentum going. Find a consistent posting schedule, and stick to it. Now is the time to connect with your fans, see how they feel about your release, and interact as much as you can on socials to spread awareness across platforms.

According to YouTube, “In a study of the top 1,000 artists on YouTube, the official music video accounted for 87% of views for a song, while other official content earned 13% of the total views.”

UGC (User-Generated Content) is also a great source for content you can interact with and utilize after your release. Try sharing fan videos on the Community tab, reposting fan reactions, Shorts, etc. to amplify your release and reach even more fans. To find the most popular videos and Shorts that include your music on YouTube Analytics for Artists, follow these steps: 

• Most Popular Videos: YouTube Studio > Analytics > Engagement Tab > Top Videos (Turn off the Official Artist Channel switch on top to see all videos coming from other channels.)
• Most Popular Shorts: YouTube Studio > Analytics > Engagement Tab > Top Shorts with your song.

Next, you can add these videos to a channel playlist and thank all the fans who posted by either commenting or doing a shout-out video.

Post-Release Trends

Whether you just released your song or it’s been months since it came out, the opportunity for it to start trending is always possible. If you see a track of yours is starting to trend, there are a couple ways to capitalize on it. Start by engaging with the new content. Next, feature the new content on your channel and shout it out. Then, create your own new content using the song and push it all over again.

It’s important to continue uploading videos that introduce and re-introduce you and your music to new audiences. Remind them of your other songs and cross-promote with other artists in your niche to secure maximum reach.

Pay Attention To Fan Engagement

Your fans are the true test of whether or not your content or working or not. Pay attention to audience demographic shifts, increased listens, views and searches, viewer retention, traffic sources, and additional analytics you can find within your Analytics for Artists section of your YouTube Studio. If you see a video isn’t doing too hot, readjust your strategy and try again. Over time, you’ll start to recognize which types of content work best for your audience.

Experiment

One of the most fun parts about releasing music on YouTube is the ability to let your creative freedom roam and try new types of visual content with your track. Specifically with Shorts, you can post things like Acapella or Dance covers, challenges and more to breathe new life into past releases. Once it’s out there, don’t forget to check in on Shorts Analytics to check the performance of your new videos and see how they’re doing.

Because Shorts are prominently featured on the YouTube homepage and in the Shorts tab, this increased visibility can help attract new viewers to your main content, exposing them to your channel and potentially converting them into subscribers. Not to mention the more you create with your track, the more creative content your fans have to engage with and get inspired by. The key to growth on YouTube is truly consistency. The more you post, the more your community will feed off the energy and thrive.

Never Stop Learning!

YouTube is constantly growing and evolving, and it’s important for you to grow right along with it. In the downtime between now and your next release, learn as much as you can about release strategy, YouTube, and everything in between. As they say, knowledge is power. 😉