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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
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:
