YouTube Resources The BEST Ways to Take Advantage of your Community Tab RIGHT NOW!

[Stanley | Team TB]

Recently YouTube announced that they would be providing the Community Tab feature to all creators. Once hidden behind the task of becoming monetized (later access was provided for anyone who amassed 500 subscribers) the Community Tab is a portion of your Channel's home page that allows the opportunity to interact and engage with viewers who stop by your channel and/or see you in their Subscriptions feed. It adds an element of social media to the platform and in the right hands it can be a very effective tool for converting viewers into subscribers and subscribers into super-fans. It can even be utilized to increase revenue, particularly for channels who are not yet even monetized. Here are some next-level tips and tricks that you can use to take full advantage of your channel's Community Tab!

Showing Off Your Friends
One of the great things about the Community Tab is that it provides a perfect opportunity to give a quick and easy shout-out to your friends. Do you have friends with other channels? Shout them out and let your audience know they exist! They can do the same for you and you can form a cooperative environment that adds a layer of depth to the content that both of you provide simply by giving your viewers some background insight into your channel by introducing them to your friends!

Sharing Special Moments
In much the same way you should be showing off your friends you should also be sharing special moments. The Community Tab is not just a means of introducing updates and announcements to your viewers; it also serves as a journal of sorts for your channel. Keep track of the special memories, unique collaborations and your achievements/milestones along the way using your Community Tab so that you can always go back and enjoy them again. And give your viewers the chance to experience these moments as well!

Double-Down On Upcoming Videos/Livestreams
Because Community Tab posts get shared via your notifications/subscription feed this is an added opportunity to provide a little more promotion for your upcoming videos. This works really well when you are collaborating with other channels as your viewers may not be aware that you are going to be available on a different channel, but it can also be used when you have a really special video coming out and you want to make sure to capitalize on the amount of marketing you have available. Beware though; spammy creators who use this tactic for every single video are going to turn off more viewers than they gain and will end up losing subscribers in the process. When using the Community Tab as a means of promotion remember that this is also a journal to keep track of your channel's history and curate that timeline accordingly.

Promoting Affiliate Links
You need to be careful when trying to utilize your Community Tab for the purposes of making a few bucks. Viewers may see this and may be turned off to your capitalistic attempts to make a few bucks. Savvy creators however will use this opportunity to find a reason for their affiliate links to provide value. If you find a deal or a special good/service that is going to actually help your viewers then you are doing them a favor. And you can post a favor in your Community Tab (so long as you provide your affiliate disclosure). This can be a controversial use of the tab and you need to be mindful that this is again a journal of your channel's history. You can make affiliate posts here but do so respectfully and honor the viewers who are returning to dig through your history in the future.

Simply Engaging
The single most important aspect of the Community Tab is it's ability to let you communicate and engage with your audience. It allows you to share behind the scenes photos and videos, polls, you can tag fellow creators and you can provide off-platform links. It's all the best parts of your social media accounts without needing to drive traffic to them. Use this as a chance to be the human being behind the videos that your audience wants to interact with. This is your opportunity to convert a fan into a super-fan... and believe me when I say one super-fan is worth 1,000 subscribers. A subscriber may watch some videos. A super-fan shares them out, buys the shirt, engages on all your posts and lets the ads roll. They promote you, they support you and they deserve an opportunity to communicate and be heard in return and this is their place to do that.

For more information and insight into the things that you need to know about your Community Tab I suggest checking out this video by Nick Nimmin over at the TubeSpanner channel:

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cbMRl87hFrk

 

[MattCommand1]

Stanley,

Great post as always. I wanted to read what you had to say about Community Posts. Slowly, I have been using Community Posts to put out content and updates that don't necessarily require an entire video or even a Shorts video.

As you said, I will probably share some personal stuff occasionally to "enhance" my channel. I see Community Posts as a way to keep in touch with your community without the commitment of creating a video.

I hear a lot of people have a lot of success with polls and I am still having a tough time conceptualizing something that would be useful to viewers. I have stopped posting and sharing anything on FB for many months because I think it is uninspiring and pointless for me to do it there.

But on YT, I have different feelings about posting updates and short content. Because I have seen some great posts from other creators who want to share something quick to keep in touch and I like that.

However, one thing I am unclear about Community Posts is how does YT who to share it with? Is it only your subscribers? I think CP's go beyond your own subscribers because I think I have seen CP's from channels I don't subscribe to. I am hoping that our CP's go beyond just our subscribers. Any info or insights on that?

 

[Damon]

Hmm, I don't know if YT share your community posts beyond your subscriber base. It would seem that since it the Community Tab tat it's really for your immediate community. Sometimes with a poll, I do a separate but identical over on Twitter. The results on YouTube are far more engaging because they are from your best fans. Do the same poll on Twitter, no one really cares.

 

[MattCommand1]

Hmm, I don't know if YT share your community posts beyond your subscriber base. It would seem that since it the Community Tab tat it's really for your immediate community. Sometimes with a poll, I do a separate but identical over on Twitter. The results on YouTube are far more engaging because they are from your best fans. Do the same poll on Twitter, no one really cares.

I don't see many CP's on my feed. However, I definitely see them from time to time. I googled to find out if non-subscribers can see CP's and someone on reddit claimed they are shared with non-subscribers. I seem to remember a fringe discussion some time ago who allegedly built up their subscriber based based on multiple daily CPs. He was food polling people.

I am looking for official confirmation that CP's are shared to non-subscribers but anecdotally, I think they do. The downside of CP's is that I don't think I've ever seen any notifications for posted CP's. You have to be on the YT feed to come across them.

I definitely want to incorporate a couple of CP's per week to supplement my videos to better keep in touch with my subscribers especially those weeks when I just can't get a video out.

 

[Prince Prodigal]

I'm an Instagram transplant so I'm really hoping to utilize this resource.

 

[Weird Nashville]

However, one thing I am unclear about Community Posts is how does YT who to share it with? Is it only your subscribers? I think CP's go beyond your own subscribers because I think I have seen CP's from channels I don't subscribe to. I am hoping that our CP's go beyond just our subscribers. Any info or insights on that?

Hi Matt,

I've been using my tab to engage my viewers for several months now. And I actually have asked them several times this year about how they end up seeing my community posts.

As it turns out, YT will show these posts to the entire YT audience and not just your subscribers. Ironically, only about 30% of the community interactions comes from my Subscriber base. The rest comes unsubscribed people. Also, I have found that the community page gives me a unique opportunity to speak to my "returning users", those who watch regularly but chose not to subscribe.

I run polls, post personal messages, and post "essay" questions that really draw your viewer in to you in a fantastic way. Now that may vary from niche to niche; but I've found it the single most useful tool other than posting videos.

Also, your analytics will show you the number of impressions and how many of them clicked to go to your tab. It's very much like the normal video analytics in that you can try to fine tune it into your niche core audience for better performance.

Jim

 

[MattCommand1]

Hi Matt,

I've been using my tab to engage my viewers for several months now. And I actually have asked them several times this year about how they end up seeing my community posts.

As it turns out, YT will show these posts to the entire YT audience and not just your subscribers. Ironically, only about 30% of the community interactions comes from my Subscriber base. The rest comes unsubscribed people. Also, I have found that the community page gives me a unique opportunity to speak to my "returning users", those who watch regularly but chose not to subscribe.

I run polls, post personal messages, and post "essay" questions that really draw your viewer in to you in a fantastic way. Now that may vary from niche to niche; but I've found it the single most useful tool other than posting videos.

Also, your analytics will show you the number of impressions and how many of them clicked to go to your tab. It's very much like the normal video analytics in that you can try to fine tune it into your niche core audience for better performance.

Jim

Awesome! Good stuff you are doing! Thanks for sharing! I will certainly take your comments to heart and do a better job on my own channel.

 

[rcampa]

Hi everyone.

Do you know if Youtube provide us some kind of data about Community Posts?

 

[Mauro's Mission]

I feel it has tons of benefits for us creatures and smaller channels

 

[bakerbrewz]

Thanks so much for putting this post together. I have been wondering about the community page and this answers all my questions and then some! Now I just need to hit that 500 subs so I can put into practice your tips and tricks.

 

[MediaMan]

Now I just need to hit that 500 subs so I can put into practice your tips and tricks.

All channels are getting the community tab regardless of subs, just as incase you didn't know. I do believe your channel has to be verified by either phone number, id, or have enough history on youtube.

 

[Xavier De Buck]

Stanley,

Great post as always. I wanted to read what you had to say about Community Posts. Slowly, I have been using Community Posts to put out content and updates that don't necessarily require an entire video or even a Shorts video.

As you said, I will probably share some personal stuff occasionally to "enhance" my channel. I see Community Posts as a way to keep in touch with your community without the commitment of creating a video.

I hear a lot of people have a lot of success with polls and I am still having a tough time conceptualizing something that would be useful to viewers. I have stopped posting and sharing anything on FB for many months because I think it is uninspiring and pointless for me to do it there.

But on YT, I have different feelings about posting updates and short content. Because I have seen some great posts from other creators who want to share something quick to keep in touch and I like that.

However, one thing I am unclear about Community Posts is how does YT who to share it with? Is it only your subscribers? I think CP's go beyond your own subscribers because I think I have seen CP's from channels I don't subscribe to. I am hoping that our CP's go beyond just our subscribers. Any info or insights on that?

Hi Matt,

First of all, I've been enjoying reading your updates on this forum (I've been a lurker for too long, so decided to finally grow a pair and join!).

Since you've posted this msg, has your sentiment wrt CP changed? It seemed you were somewhat hesitant toward its upside.

Regardless of whether non-subscribers are seeing my CP's, I am just focusing on keeping my 'hardcore subscribers' engaged by putting up a daily CP. There's ALWAYS something you can put up (per Stanley's original post above - to which I have a number of other suggestions), but I definitely think POLLS -- text and image ones -- are always a winner!

Why's that? Two-fold:

(1) Entertainment & engagement with your personal community which never hurts;
(2) Many of those polls can actually be 'surveys' on how you're doing, what you're providing, whether people are enjoying the updates, etc. so you know whether or not you're doing stuff the community likes!

My 2 cents.

Cheers,

Xavier

P.S. This was my very first post on TB - no idea how the (quote) format will look, so pls bare with me!

 

[Xavier De Buck]

Hi everyone.

Do you know if Youtube provide us some kind of data about Community Posts?

Hey Rcampa,

Not sure if anyone has addressed your question - or whether you've found the answer elsewhere on this forum, but have a look at the screenshot I attached.

I'm LOVING community posts as it really gives you chance to connect / engage with your tighter community peeps AND I'm making a concerted effort in posting a daily CP.

As you can see from the data YT provides via Studio that it'll break down which were your top posts for image, poll, text, and video. Always nice to see the impressions/likes, which I don't really care about for CP's as it's a rather smaller % of my overall activity on my channel, nor do I really care about the number of subscribers who came on board via the CP's as it's minimal as well.

Nonetheless, rather nice to know WHICH TYPES of CP are catching people's attention! And of course, which ones don't get any traction/views/engagement, so you know which CP's content to leave aside.

My 2 cents.

Xavier

 

[MattCommand1]

Hi Matt,

First of all, I've been enjoying reading your updates on this forum (I've been a lurker for too long, so decided to finally grow a pair and join!).

Since you've posted this msg, has your sentiment wrt CP changed? It seemed you were somewhat hesitant toward its upside.

Regardless of whether non-subscribers are seeing my CP's, I am just focusing on keeping my 'hardcore subscribers' engaged by putting up a daily CP. There's ALWAYS something you can put up (per Stanley's original post above - to which I have a number of other suggestions), but I definitely think POLLS -- text and image ones -- are always a winner!

Why's that? Two-fold:

(1) Entertainment & engagement with your personal community which never hurts;
(2) Many of those polls can actually be 'surveys' on how you're doing, what you're providing, whether people are enjoying the updates, etc. so you know whether or not you're doing stuff the community likes!

My 2 cents.

Cheers,

Xavier

P.S. This was my very first post on TB - no idea how the (quote) format will look, so pls bare with me!

Hi Xavier,

Since my post, I have indeed gotten more experience and insights with CP's (Community Posts). I actually lost subscribers a few weeks ago because there was a lot going during a particular week and I had a CP once per day for 4-5 days straight. I think it was too much for some lightly-committed subscribers.

I don't regret putting out the content I did and I did trying to space it out but if I think it is relevant, I will still put it out but try to put a couple days in between. At the same time, I can't get into the whims of a few unsubscribes. Subscribers come and go and it is part of the process.

Videos are, by far, the most important content to put out. CP's are good for quick bullets and nuggets. They definitely reach some or many of my subscribers. I don't think I've ever gained one subscriber from any CP's despite my experiments. I've come to the conclusion that, for me, I won't be gaining subscribers from CP's. Anecdotally, CP's are used to keep in touch with your subscribers and that is it.

Too many CP's might annoy a few people to unsubscribe. Perhaps no more than twice a week is what I am thinking now.

 

[MattCommand1]

Hey Rcampa,

Not sure if anyone has addressed your question - or whether you've found the answer elsewhere on this forum, but have a look at the screenshot I attached.

I'm LOVING community posts as it really gives you chance to connect / engage with your tighter community peeps AND I'm making a concerted effort in posting a daily CP.

As you can see from the data YT provides via Studio that it'll break down which were your top posts for image, poll, text, and video. Always nice to see the impressions/likes, which I don't really care about for CP's as it's a rather smaller % of my overall activity on my channel, nor do I really care about the number of subscribers who came on board via the CP's as it's minimal as well.

Nonetheless, rather nice to know WHICH TYPES of CP are catching people's attention! And of course, which ones don't get any traction/views/engagement, so you know which CP's content to leave aside.

My 2 cents.

Xavier

Clearly, you are doing a much better job than I am with CP's. You have some great stats there! Mine are pretty nichey. It is what it is.

 

[Xavier De Buck]

Hi Xavier,

Since my post, I have indeed gotten more experience and insights with CP's (Community Posts). I actually lost subscribers a few weeks ago because there was a lot going during a particular week and I had a CP once per day for 4-5 days straight. I think it was too much for some lightly-committed subscribers.

I don't regret putting out the content I did and I did trying to space it out but if I think it is relevant, I will still put it out but try to put a couple days in between. At the same time, I can't get into the whims of a few unsubscribes. Subscribers come and go and it is part of the process.

Videos are, by far, the most important content to put out. CP's are good for quick bullets and nuggets. They definitely reach some or many of my subscribers. I don't think I've ever gained one subscriber from any CP's despite my experiments. I've come to the conclusion that, for me, I won't be gaining subscribers from CP's. Anecdotally, CP's are used to keep in touch with your subscribers and that is it.

Too many CP's might annoy a few people to unsubscribe. Perhaps no more than twice a week is what I am thinking now.

Hi Matt,

Thanks for your detailed response.

I hear you - "too many CP's" might scare the lightly-committed subscribers away, but isn't that a good thing? Rather have a tighter group of people genuinely wanting to follow you vs those who unsubscribe as soon as you post a couple of uninteresting ones?

As I mentioned, it's definitely not for the subs I'm doing it (my recent stats indicate one new sub per day), but to keep the community involved.

Given we are in the same industry, there are so many questions/polls/images you can share with the subscribers that'll definitely keep them engaged! Not sure this is the forum, but you're more than welcome to DM via Instagram @LuxuryHomesJohannesburg and I'll happily share ideas with you there.

Have a great week ahead.

Xavier

 

[MattCommand1]

Hi Matt,

Thanks for your detailed response.

I hear you - "too many CP's" might scare the lightly-committed subscribers away, but isn't that a good thing? Rather have a tighter group of people genuinely wanting to follow you vs those who unsubscribe as soon as you post a couple of uninteresting ones?

As I mentioned, it's definitely not for the subs I'm doing it (my recent stats indicate one new sub per day), but to keep the community involved.

Given we are in the same industry, there are so many questions/polls/images you can share with the subscribers that'll definitely keep them engaged! Not sure this is the forum, but you're more than welcome to DM via Instagram @LuxuryHomesJohannesburg and I'll happily share ideas with you there.

Have a great week ahead.

Xavier

Thank you for the thoughtful response.

As a consumer myself, there is a balance between keeping in touch and being outright abusive/intrusive with any contact. I voluntarily email subscribe (or get put on email lists) to different products and services. For example, I am on TB's email list because I am a customer. And they send out updates, announcements, promotions, etc. However, if TB or any company for that matter started sending out daily notices, reminders, updates, promos, it becomes too much and downright abusive of the relationship and I promptly unsubscribe for excessive emails.

It is sort of like giving someone your phone number out to someone or company. Then they constantly text you or call you to the point you have to tell them to stop altogether and you don't want to hear from them anymore. Some businesses get your mailing address and suddenly they bombard you with crap. What was once interesting suddenly becomes junk. We don't even bother opening it. It goes immediately to the trash bin.

And regarding polls and surveys, a lot of companies abuse that privilege. I used to participate more but I participate a lot less now. I don't feel I need to give feedback on every transaction I make or every time I go the store. At first, it is flattering but eventually it becomes excessive and annoying. Some companies expect people to take a 15-minute poll with so many questions. My time and mental bandwidth is valuable. I don't owe any company so much of my time to let them know how they are doing. They need to be smart enough to figure some of it out and not wear out the consumer.

Having all that as it relates to CP's, you are correct that I don't want to cater to the lowest common denominator. If they unsubscribe, so be it. At the same time, I am not interested in pushing the boundaries of people's tolerance by hitting people with CP's every day unless I feel it is of sufficient quality and substance. Clearly, you have a great job on CP's. I am more of a CP dabbler.

I think CP's are a cool feature but at the end of the day, it is a flavor enhancer. The meat and potatoes are still about videos.

Last thing, while my channel name does say "Real Estate" I want to make clear that I am not in the sales business to earn commissions or prospecting in the traditional sense. I have little interest in doing that at this time. I consider myself more of an asset owner, asset manager, asset guardian, and financial educator. I don't showcase properties, take photos of properties, tour properties, or any of that because it isn't my area of interest. I leave that to other people who love doing it.

 

[Xavier De Buck]

Thank you for the thoughtful response.

As a consumer myself, there is a balance between keeping in touch and being outright abusive/intrusive with any contact. I voluntarily email subscribe (or get put on email lists) to different products and services. For example, I am on TB's email list because I am a customer. And they send out updates, announcements, promotions, etc. However, if TB or any company for that matter started sending out daily notices, reminders, updates, promos, it becomes too much and downright abusive of the relationship and I promptly unsubscribe for excessive emails.

It is sort of like giving someone your phone number out to someone or company. Then they constantly text you or call you to the point you have to tell them to stop altogether and you don't want to hear from them anymore. Some businesses get your mailing address and suddenly they bombard you with crap. What was once interesting suddenly becomes junk. We don't even bother opening it. It goes immediately to the trash bin.

And regarding polls and surveys, a lot of companies abuse that privilege. I used to participate more but I participate a lot less now. I don't feel I need to give feedback on every transaction I make or every time I go the store. At first, it is flattering but eventually it becomes excessive and annoying. Some companies expect people to take a 15-minute poll with so many questions. My time and mental bandwidth is valuable. I don't owe any company so much of my time to let them know how they are doing. They need to be smart enough to figure some of it out and not wear out the consumer.

Having all that as it relates to CP's, you are correct that I don't want to cater to the lowest common denominator. If they unsubscribe, so be it. At the same time, I am not interested in pushing the boundaries of people's tolerance by hitting people with CP's every day unless I feel it is of sufficient quality and substance. Clearly, you have a great job on CP's. I am more of a CP dabbler.

I think CP's are a cool feature but at the end of the day, it is a flavor enhancer. The meat and potatoes are still about videos.

Last thing, while my channel name does say "Real Estate" I want to make clear that I am not in the sales business to earn commissions or prospecting in the traditional sense. I have little interest in doing that at this time. I consider myself more of an asset owner, asset manager, asset guardian, and financial educator. I don't showcase properties, take photos of properties, tour properties, or any of that because it isn't my area of interest. I leave that to other people who love doing it.

Hi Matt,

I like how you put it - a CP is a 'flavor enhancer' - personal preference whether you'd like it dabbed, sprinkled, or poured on

One small note wrt polls which I may have miscommunicated as you gave a few examples.

I'm talking about polls like:
- where would you rather live? Countryside, suburb, penthouse etc
- which would be your fave room in your luxury home? Lounge, man cave, bedroom suite etc
- how much would a bespoke kitchen cost in luxury mansion? $50k, $100k, $150k etc
- show image polls of gorgeous homes and have them pick their preference

You get the drift - it's all meant for entertaining & hearing people's opinions rather than me trying to ascertain which services/goods I provided were helpful, etc. (heck, as I'm working on a new video, I throw a few thumbnails in front of them in an "image poll" and ask which I ought to use as main pic - entertaining for all, yet very helpful for me as well)...

Have a great week ahead.

Chat soon,

Xavier

 

[MattCommand1]

Hi Matt,

I like how you put it - a CP is a 'flavor enhancer' - personal preference whether you'd like it dabbed, sprinkled, or poured on

One small note wrt polls which I may have miscommunicated as you gave a few examples.

I'm talking about polls like:
- where would you rather live? Countryside, suburb, penthouse etc
- which would be your fave room in your luxury home? Lounge, man cave, bedroom suite etc
- how much would a bespoke kitchen cost in luxury mansion? $50k, $100k, $150k etc
- show image polls of gorgeous homes and have them pick their preference

You get the drift - it's all meant for entertaining & hearing people's opinions rather than me trying to ascertain which services/goods I provided were helpful, etc. (heck, as I'm working on a new video, I throw a few thumbnails in front of them in an "image poll" and ask which I ought to use as main pic - entertaining for all, yet very helpful for me as well)...

Have a great week ahead.

Chat soon,

Xavier

I think I am the one who threw things for a loop by fussing about outside polls/surveys vs. the YT polls/surveys which are very short. You are correct, there are many people who use the polls (as you do) to great effect. It in my brain but I guess I have not shown much interest on that part.

I am admittedly a bit of a stiff so certain things take longer to sink in.

ON a side note, I am exploring trying out a series of one to two minute videos as fill-ins. It is video content that is quick and easily digestible without having to conform to the limitations and unpredictability of the whole Shorts video thing. After all, I think that what CP's are about. Allowing creators to produce short content/messages to our community.

 

[Xavier De Buck]

I think I am the one who threw things for a loop by fussing about outside polls/surveys vs. the YT polls/surveys which are very short. You are correct, there are many people who use the polls (as you do) to great effect. It in my brain but I guess I have not shown much interest on that part.

I am admittedly a bit of a stiff so certain things take longer to sink in.

ON a side note, I am exploring trying out a series of one to two minute videos as fill-ins. It is video content that is quick and easily digestible without having to conform to the limitations and unpredictability of the whole Shorts video thing. After all, I think that what CP's are about. Allowing creators to produce short content/messages to our community.

100%, Matt.

Wrt those 1-to-2-minute video series, be all over it as it'll definitely take off - I've been contemplating doing something similar. Teaching / educating people. Too many things we take for granted in our fields, yet we lost tooooo many people from the onset basics at times!

Plus, you'll be able to use those on your Instagram & Tiktok accounts as well! It's a win-win-win