Build your community

Learn tips to help you foster a community on YouTube and have meaningful interactions with your
audience.

Be authentic with your audience

Building a community on YouTube lets you have a deeper connection with your audience and can lead to
long-term channel growth. If your viewers love what they see and have positive interactions, they’re
more likely to share your videos and recommend them. When creators take the time to interact
authentically with their loyal community, it can encourage audience participation and ultimately result in
a larger fanbase.

Community building on YouTube is an evolutionary process -- it doesn’t always happen overnight -- so

stay positive and keep moving forward even if you don’t see the kind of numbers or conversation you
hoped for right away.

Remember, your online presence should reflect who you are and what you want to be known for -- on
and off YouTube. Even if you’re playing a character on YouTube, this persona could get associated with
you in the real world. Make channel decisions and foster a community on YouTube that reflects you and
your long-term goals.

Share your creation story and creed

Your “creation story” is the unique journey that led you to YouTube. Sharing this can be a powerful way
for viewers to relate to you and develop connections that run deeper than other topics or channels.

A creed is a mission statement that can help define what sets your channel apart from the rest. What are
you inspired by or trying to accomplish? Narrate your creed and give viewers something to believe in.
Whether you’re all about empowering Smart Girls, or just want to make people laugh, communicate
what motivates you to create.

Tips
Try producing a video that tells the story of your journey leading up to YouTube or summarizes your
creed. Make it your channel trailer.

Update the About section on your channel with your creed (or a summary of it).

See it in action

Be inspirational

Use your mission to give viewers something bigger to believe in and make them feel good about coming
back to YouTube. (Video in English)

Be genuine

Shay Carl let his audience in on his struggle to lose weight. Many viewers could relate and followed him
to his weight-loss channel. Think about how your creation story can help viewers relate to you. (Video in
English)

Develop rituals specific to your channel

Rituals are repeated activities, such as your video formats or special lingo, that viewers can expect and
look forward to over time. Being consistent is key to creating viewer habits a community can form
around -- like a weekly upload or special activities built into the format of your videos. What moments
during your videos does your community anticipate?

Just like a secret handshake, using fun or unique language can help make your community feel like
insiders. Whether it’s an acronym (like Vsauce’s D.O.N.G.), or a completely invented word (Moosh,
anyone?), code words can help your community identify with each other. Try reviewing comments to see
if people in your community are referring to themselves in a special way that designates them as fans of
your channel. If not, consider naming your viewers or introducing a few special phrases. Try looking back
at your videos to see if you’ve unknowingly been using a catchphrase and, if so, play it up!

Tips

Communicate rituals -- like when you’ll answer comments or upload new videos. Does it work with your
channel aesthetic to illustrate your upload schedule in the channel banner?

Consider adding a consistent intro or outro to your videos.

Ask what does your audience look forward to in your videos? How can you capitalize on this?
Lingo and iconography often go hand in hand. If you designed a t-shirt for your viewers to wear, what
words or icons would it have?

See it in action

Have a weekly special

Grace Helbig uploads a “Fridiary” episode to her channel each Friday, which her viewers look forward to
every week.

Consistency is key

Whether it’s a weekly special or a jingle at the end of each video, be as consistent as possible when
incorporating rituals into your programming.

Cool kids club

Olga Kay refers to her community as her “Moosh Army” which makes them feel like they’re not alone
when watching her videos.

Be a (savvy and responsible) leader

Chances are, people subscribe to your channel because they like YOU! When you’re passionate about a
topic, and it shows, inspiration can transform into leadership. Think of ways you can showcase leadership
or authority on a topic.

As you build your community, keep in mind how others may perceive you and your replies. Pause before
you post to consider if what you’re about to upload or respond to adheres to your channel’s voice. While
you can always delete videos and comments, you never know if someone has taken a screenshot or
recorded part of it on their own. Consider long-term consequences of sensitive videos and comments. If
seen by unintended audiences, could your posts be misunderstood?

You may find that not everyone responds positively to your channel. It’s important to respect others’
opinions, even if they’re different from your own. Here are some tips for smart community moderation.

Tips
Help viewers find the “real” you. Update social media accounts to match your YouTube channel so
viewers can identify you across the web.

Keep your online (and offline) presence in mind when posting anything.

See it in action

The obvious hero

If you’re the sole talent in your videos, like Michael from Vsauce, this is easy -- you’re the leader. Think of
yourself as a ship captain, or a teacher. Your community trusts you to guide their experience.

Be conversational

Being a leader doesn’t mean you need to sound preachy. As we’ve seen with other creators, the more
casual and conversational you are when talking to viewers, the more likely they are to feel close to you.

Try it

Select or create a video that shares your creation story or creed. Then designate it as your channel trailer
so that new viewers can really get to know you and understand why you’re passionate about making
YouTube videos.

Check your knowledge

Which of these terms for viewers is likely part of special lingo that makes everyone feel like part of a
special club?

New subscribers.

Awesome viewers.

Good eggs.

Connect with your community

There are more ways than ever to engage with your audience on YouTube and express creativity.
4 ways to interact with your community in the comments

Conversation among your audience is bound to happen with or without your involvement in the
Comments section on YouTube. When you jump in, it shows your audience that you’re committed to
them and interested in what they have to say. Promote quality discussions around your channel and
videos, express yourself, and help make your community feel loved.

Reply to comments (even on the go!)

Try to be the first to comment on each video you upload.

Consider making a habit of responding to comments in the first few hours after uploading a new video.

Share links to relevant videos and photos to boost engagement.

If you’re not in front of a desktop computer, you can use the YouTube Studio app on your mobile device
to provide timely responses.

Pin comments at the top of the feed. Select what your audience sees first and help set the tone of the
conversation. You can pin comments you’ve written or to highlight a comment from your audience.

Reward excellent commenters -- viewers will get notified if you pin their comment (and they’re opted in
to notifications). This can encourage fan contributions.

Highlight the answer to a common question.

Show some love by giving hearts to your favorite comments. A heart icon will display next to comments
you’ve acknowledged with a heart.

Adding a heart will send a notification to the viewer who wrote the comment (if they’ve opted in to
receive notifications from activity on their comments.) In addition to showing appreciation, this can
bring viewers back to your channel. We’ve found that viewers who have received a heart on their
comment are three times more likely to click on the notification (than with other types of notifications),
potentially leading more viewers back to your channel.

Note: Hearts are different from ‘Likes’. Only YouTube creators have access to hearts, whereas, viewers
and creators can click like or dislike next to a comment.

Bonus! Users can find your comments with a highlighted username. It can sometimes be tricky to
identify which comments are from the channel owner. With highlighted usernames it’s easier than ever
to see your replies because the channel creator’s username will be highlighted.

Viewers see you’re present and care.

If you have issues with someone trying to impersonate you on YouTube, check out the Help center and
our lesson on protecting your identity on the platform.

5 tips for engaging with your community

As a YouTube creator, your audience looks forward to opportunities to engage with you. Try out some of
these tips to encourage communication and reward your viewers.

Plug your community into initiatives, projects, or topics you’re interested in and promote them with
hashtags. Share the #hashtag in your videos and consider asking your audience to create content around
these topics.

Make videos about your community. Fans love to see when a channel they’re dedicated to makes a video
for them.

Consider producing a thank you video for your audience or to celebrate milestones. Recognize your most
loyal viewers, and show them how much you appreciate them!

If you ask your viewers to submit comments or answer questions, consider featuring their replies in your
next video. Seeing their comments or usernames can inspire your community to interact even more.

Listen to your audience and respond. What do your viewers want to know about you that you haven’t
told them already?

Try reaching out for ideas and dedicate your next videos to answering them.

Connect with your fans to build loyalty. Some creators make exclusive content for their super fans or
watch new content along with their community in real-time.

Consider hosting live streams to reward top community members.

Try scheduling a Premiere and joining your fans on a live chat when they tune in.

Keep your audience in the know. Subscribers can stay up to date in real time with your channel by
tapping the bell icon, which opts them in to receive all notifications from your channel (on mobile they
can tap the bell icon next to ‘Subscribed’.) If they haven’t opted in, subscribers will still see your new
videos in the Subscriptions feed. Learn more here. Consider verbally asking viewers to subscribe and tap
the bell in your videos.

Check YouTube Analytics for estimated views in the last 48 hours. Consider uploading videos when your
viewers watch the most.

Notifications get sent to your audience when you pin their comments, when you heart, and when you
reply if they’re opted in for notifications about activity on their comments.
See it in action

Produce with input from your audience

Epic Rap Battles of History not only asks for viewer requests but features viewers whose request was
answered with the episode. (Video in English)

Pull back the curtain

Jamie Oliver records short mobile videos for his channel, FoodTube, to give his loyal audience a glimpse
of his daily life. (Video in English)

Understanding your community with YouTube Analytics

Building relationships takes time and dedication, and deciding where to focus your energy can be
daunting. Every community is different -- identifying and understanding what makes your audience
unique can help you determine the best way to engage them.

YouTube Analytics reveals the sources and geographic locale of your subscribers. For a handy summary
of ways you can build and engage with your community, click here.

Try it

Read through your comments from the past 30 days. Are there ones you have not responded to?
Consider continuing the conversation or write down the reasons why you have not yet replied.

Check your knowledge

You have a French cuisine cooking channel. How could you best engage with your audience on YouTube
in a creative way to obtain new recipe ideas?

Comment on your viewers’ videos and ask them individually to email you their favorite French recipes.

Add a new French cooking channel on your list Featured channels.

Give a call to action in your next video challenging your audience to share their own video with you
where they cook their favorite French dish. Then feature your favorite videos on your channel.

Search other cooking channels to find recipes you can copy.