The popularity of video content has significantly grown over the past few years. They are easy to go through, convey the message quickly, and have all the bells and whistles to attract viewers.
When we talk about video content, there is no bigger platform than YouTube. With 2.6 billion monthly active users, it is also the preferred video marketing platform of 55% of marketers across industries.
But without engagement, no amount of views will reap the best benefits of YouTube. It’s always better to get 500 views and 150 comments than 1000 views with no engagement.
A good engagement rate grows your subscriber base, builds connections, and sells your services. To help you focus your marketing efforts on the right areas and increase engagement, we have prepared a comprehensive guide.
But first, let’s address the most fundamental question.
What is YouTube engagement rate?
YouTube engagement rate is the measurement of the times users have interacted with your videos and your channel. The calculated result is an important reflection of your brand’s popularity on YouTube.
The primary factors affecting the YouTube engagement rate include views, likes, dislikes, comments, subscribers, unsubscribes, and shares.
Next, you need to understand why your YouTube engagement rate matters.
Why does your YouTube engagement rate matter?
There are several benefits of a good engagement rate. Here are a few:
- Calculating your engagement rate on YouTube gives you perspective on strategically increasing subscribers.
- An enhanced engagement rate gives you social proof and builds brand credibility. It encourages new visitors to interact with your content and establishes trust.
- Focusing on engagement is a cost-effective way of building brand awareness.
- A high engagement rate keeps your brand relevant among the plethora of different channels. It offers a competitive edge over your rival brands on YouTube.
- Prioritizing engagement allows you to examine what your target market needs and expects from your industry.
- The better engagement you have on YouTube, the more visible you are to a new audience.
But what makes for a decent YouTube engagement rate? Let’s find out in the section below.
What is a good YouTube engagement rate?
There is no sure-shot number for a good engagement rate on YouTube. It depends on several factors.
According to reports, 92% of people watch online videos every week. However, certain types of content get more engagement than others. Hence, there is no definite benchmark for the engagement rate. It depends on your brand’s niche, the products you are selling, and the size of your target market.
If we consider the average, you can consider engagement rates starting at 3.5% as good. But brands with larger followings should have a 1.5% and above engagement rate for desired business outcomes.
The next step in this process is to figure out how to calculate your YouTube engagement rate. Read the section below to understand.
How to calculate your YouTube engagement rate?
The most popular method here is calculating YouTube engagement rate by reach (ERR).
To do that, first, you need to calculate the engagement rate of a specific video. Take up your most recent video and apply the following formula:
Engagement rate = (Total engagement / Total impressions) * 100
Here, impressions stand for the number of times your thumbnails were visible to viewers on YouTube. The platform counts impressions if the thumbnail appears to the viewer for more than one second and 50% of the thumbnail should also be visible on the screen.
While calculating the total engagement, take into account the following metrics:
- Likes
- Dislikes
- Views
- Comments
- Shares
- Subscribers
Apply this formula for 5 to 10 videos and calculate the average of all the numbers you have generated.
Still, this could be overwhelming especially if you have a small marketing team. The solution? Keyhole’s YouTube analytics. Our platform allows you to monitor your YouTube engagement rate from a single dashboard.
The above screenshot is only a snippet of what you can access on Keyhole.
Of course, you will also need to follow some key steps to increase your YouTube engagement rate, which we’re addressing in the section below.
7 Tips to increase YouTube engagement rate
When your approach to YouTube engagement is right, you build a sustainable rapport with your audience, which encourages comments and shares. But to achieve that, you need to juggle quite a few aspects consistently.
Here are some tips to show you how:
1. Be consistent
Uploading high-quality and informative videos is not enough to build a dedicated fanbase. There has to be consistency in your YouTube marketing. Whether you post thrice a week or one video daily, it has to be a routine.
To avoid irregularities, you can produce a week’s content in bulk and schedule their postings according to your decided intervals.
However, too much content in a brief span may overwhelm your viewers. First, conduct thorough research and create a clear persona for your ideal audience. Then decide on a frequency that maximizes interaction. Here, competitor analysis can come in handy.
Examine your competitors and see what posting schedule brought them the best possible engagement. Incorporate these insights into your strategy. With regular posting frequency, you will establish your brand’s reliability and build a loyal fanbase.
2. Collaborate with other channels
If your content is entertaining and informative, it will bring engagement. But we all have cognitive biases. People are more likely to trust your brand if they see you alongside another established channel.
Partnering with other channels gives you exposure to a wider viewer base. Find brands that have some relevance to your products. You can also collaborate with your direct competitors for a mutually beneficial marketing arrangement.
In the above screenshot, we can see how Think Media Podcast collaborated with Brendan Kane to drive engagement and build on each other’s expertise to educate their audience.
3. Trendjacking
Hopping on trending topics is the fastest way to blow up on YouTube. It keeps your brand relevant and pushes your content to a wider audience segment.
Whenever a current event or trend gets traction, people search for related content, increasing your chance to reach new viewers. You don’t have to spend hours coming up with new ideas. All you need to do is to find trends relevant to your brand and curate videos accordingly.
As YouTube trends persist longer than other social media platforms, it is the most effective way of quickly increasing engagement.
4. Leverage YouTube shorts
While a relatively recent addition, YouTube shorts are an excellent tool to deliver quick, entertaining and informative content and build curiosity. They offer viewers a scrollable, Instagram-inspired experience and have a better chance of grabbing attention.
Post short videos at regular intervals to encourage the audience to check your longer videos. You can create shorts to show the behind-the-screen stories or as sneak peeks of your longer videos. You can even take a cue from Netflix and share announcements and interviews to gain traction.
5. Include strategic thumbnails
The first thing your audience notices about your content is the visual presentation. On YouTube, this largely depends on the thumbnail of your video.
The thumbnail image should communicate what the video is all about directly. It should show your audience why they should click on the content.
For every video, YouTube generates thumbnails automatically. But these can be blurry or may not convey the essence of the video.
Hence, create eye-catching thumbnails for each video instead of relying on YouTube. Besides creative imagery, the thumbnails must include appropriate but minimal text to communicate the topic. It should be on-brand and convey your unique style.
As we can see on Semrush’s YouTube channel, all the thumbnails are consistent, eye-catching and successfully communicate the topics of each video.
6. Host a contest or giveaway
Every once in a while, hosting giveaways and contests keeps your audience hooked. It incentivizes them to engage with your content and can exponentially grow your subscriber base.
Choose a prize your target audience is interested in. You can ask your viewers to enter the contest by leaving a comment. In fact, MrBeast built his YouTube channel using this strategy.
Another clever way is to insert questions in the middle or the end of the video and ask them to write their answers in the comment box. It increases the watch time on your videos and encourages viewers to leave longer comments.
Moreover, it paints your brand in a positive light and provides you with important insights into your target audience.
7. Keep the video titles brief and smart
One of the first things your audience sees when they come across your content is its title. Hence, you need to be methodical while crafting the title for your video.
These should be catchy and informative. Write directly to the point. Limit the length to 60 characters or fewer to avoid it getting chopped off of direct view.
Remember, the best titles invoke an instant emotional reaction. Make sure you use relevant keywords in the first half of the title to convey the topic of your video.
Amp up your YouTube engagement rate with Keyhole
Turning viewers into subscribers on YouTube is a multilayered process. It needs proactive effort and a well-mapped-out strategy.
Each aspect of YouTube engagement needs innovation, accuracy, and efficiency — which is not always possible with manual processes.
For that, you need to equip yourself with the correct social media marketing methods.
The best way to go about this is to choose a scalable and effective social media management tool — and Keyhole offers all that and beyond.
With industry-best analytics, you can create social media performance benchmarks against your top competitors. With only three steps, you can access all the relevant data and make improvements accordingly. Keyhole saves time and allows you to focus more on creating high-quality videos.
Related Articles:
How To Do YouTube Competitor Analysis
YouTube Analytics: 21 Metrics That You Should Track
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I increase my engagement rate on YouTube?
To increase your engagement rate on YouTube, start with understanding what type of content interests your target audience. Produce high-quality videos and include catchy thumbnails and titles. Collaborate with other channels and take part in trends.
Which video attracts the most viewers?
Music videos and product reviews get the most viewers on YouTube. Other categories include how-to videos, Q&As, best-of lists, product launches, walkthroughs, and educational videos.
Do replays count as views?
Yes, but only if the replays are natural. Replaying a video once will count as a view. However, if a user refreshes the page constantly to increase the view count, YouTube will pinpoint this as a spamming practice.
