Back in October 2020, I shared a YouTube video on our Stephanie Kase account that generated 3,000 new email subscribers in just a few months once the video was live. At the time, I only had about 5,000 subscribers on YouTube so to see that much email growth was crazy! While not every video we create helps bring in that many subscribers, I still want to analyze the strategy we used and implemented with this video to help you! We’ve seen some great results and we typically see 400+ new email subscribers each month using these same techniques. If you want to view the video I’m talking about, you can see it here. Otherwise, let’s talk about how I gained email list subscribers from YouTube with this video! 

What Worked with this Video

The video we’re discussing today was all about creating custom Instagram Reel cover photos. Reels came out in July 2020, and this was October of that year. At the time, custom Reel covers were a pretty new concept. It was a super searchable concept and people wanted answers to the question. There also weren’t a lot of other videos out there that I had to compete with on the topic, either. Finally, the title itself was very searchable. People were going to type “how to create Instagram Reel covers” into search engines. All of those things are really important to understand when it comes to why this video performed so well.

In the video itself, I jumped right into the tutorial with my Canva templates. I have a link to my templates in the video but also listed as the first link in our description, too. If people wanted to follow along, they had to download my template. That worked super well for us and was really organic. I’m not trying to sell anything to them – they just had to do the free download. So, again, they HAD to get onto my email list to be able to follow the video. 

Something else that I think worked really well about this video itself was that it was a visual tutorial. They actually got to watch me and follow along as I went through the steps. Given the nature of the video and needing the download, we definitely got a lot of signups in a short amount of time. This was one of the first videos to pop up when people searched for tips about cover photos and all of that helped me with signups. Again, I made that link to sign up super accessible and easy to see from the start, too. 

YouTube Followers 

One thing I wanted to note is that we didn’t have a ton of YouTube subscribers when this video launched. In fact, most of our email subscribers from this video didn’t wind up subscribing to me on YouTube, nor were they already subscribed either. When I uploaded this video, I was pretty new in growing my channel in terms of the social media content I was sharing. I’d been a pretty small photography channel up to that point. A lot of these new subscribers to my email list came from people finding me on YouTube then signing up for the emails. I personally think that’s a really awesome thing about YouTube. You don’t need a bunch of subscribers to see big results or grow your email list either and gain organic leads for your business.

Using YouTube Strategically

When you create content, it needs to be with a purpose. I do think there’s times where you’re creating content for your following and not necessarily to be found in a search. But, when you’re using YouTube to grow your brand, you need to figure out how to be strategic.  Think about what people are searching for in your niche. What can you help with? And what can you offer that will organically tie to your freebies so that you can push them onto your email list… which is where you’ll eventually pitch your product to them. YouTube is still one of the top apps for searching content. 

Tips for Growing Your Email List from YouTube

YouTube is really about the long game, too. We uploaded this video in October 2020 and we still get email subscribers from it. It’s just incredible. So, as a tip, when you’re creating content – think about what freebies you have. Can you create content around those topics? Make sure you mention your template or whatever it is in your video. Your video topic also still has to relate to what your ideal client needs for it to be valuable, so just keep that in mind. If something is valuable to your ideal client, they’ll sign up for it. 

Another thing to mention is that the freebie and video topic need to connect. Like this video was about how to create a Reel cover and my freebie was a template. It wouldn’t make sense for me to share about My Formula to Making Money on YouTube freebie in that video, right? It’s not a natural connection, it’s not organic and the people who I’m trying to reach won’t see it. 

Finally, make sure that you mention the freebie signup in the beginning of the video. Most YouTube viewers won’t watch until the end of the video – so offering that freebie up front means that you’re more likely to have people hear about it. You also need to be sure the freebie link is easy to find. Put it right at the top of your description. You can also add the URL in the video itself, too. One of my other favorite hacks is to place it in a comment and pin it on YouTube so it’s always at the top of the section, too. 

The best part of a video like this is that it’s evergreen and will continue to bring us leads. We apply these concepts to our channel regularly and have gained email list subscribers from YouTube every month. I hope that these tips help you on YouTube, too! 

f you’re interested in my strategy around YouTube videos – more information about picking topics, filming and more – make sure to check out My Formula to Making Money on YouTube. This freebie will help you understand how I’m turning these videos into money in the bank!