How do we get the word out?

[Alex]

Hey everyone! My friend and I just made our first music video and put it on YouTube, but we aren't sure how to get the word out. Any suggestions? Thanks! Here's the link to our video by the way: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZArXTIvNQo0

[Ron]

Your video is terrific!

Here are some tips about how to promote your music video:

A big part of promoting your video comes before the first viewer watches your clip, and that part is optimizing your metadata. It’s important to optimize your tags, titles and text in order to boost your traffic. Make sure to include tags and keywords that people will search for in order to discover your video. If you don’t pay attention to these tiny details when you upload your video then nobody will find it in search results.

Share your videos on any social bookmarking sites you are a member of as well, such as Stumble Upon. Ask your friends and contacts to share your video with their friends if they like it, and do the same for them when they share links with you.

When you post videos on Facebook and Twitter you start building your base of views. Your friends will watch the videos because they know you and, if they enjoy your content, they might even share it with their own networks. Just keep in mind that you don’t want to take a spammy approach to your friends. Posting a link to your newest video on your own Facebook wall is fine, but when you start posting your video to all your friends’ walls or tagging all your friends in your videos it can get real old real fast, and could lose you some friends. However, share subtly and your personal social networks can be a great beginning to spreading your videos online.

When you look at your profile on YouTube or Vimeo or whichever online video site you are using, if you see that you’ve got zero friends or contacts then you are going about things in the wrong way. One of the best places to promote your videos is on the video sites themselves, through your fellow video creators. If you don’t have a network in place on your video site yet then get started.

This will take a little bit more time than sharing links on Facebook and Twitter, but is definitely worth it in the long run. You also don’t have to do it all in one sitting. As you see other online videos that you like, add the creators to your contacts. Comment on their posts, send them messages telling them you like their work and start building relationships. You will quickly discover that these creators will start watching your videos as well, commenting, “liking” and sharing with their own friends. This can lead to a boost in your video views, not to mention the fact that it will lead to creative inspiration as well as help you to grow and thrive as part of the online video community.

On YouTube you can also promote your videos through video responses. Find a popular video that is about a similar topic and post your video as a response in the comments field. Your video will appear directly below the popular video clip, and viewers can click to check it out.