How to Get More Subscribers on YouTube? 15 Tactics 

Whether you have started your YouTube channel recently or have an old one, all you need is the audience. No matter how hard you try to create captivating videos, if no one is there to watch that content, it won’t get any good views. Well, you’re here because you want to know how to get more subscribers on YouTube. 

The importance of subscribers is not hidden from anyone. They can help you get views, engagement, and even make money on YouTube. So, if you’re going to make a cake, your subscribers are the sugar that adds taste to it. 

Get ready to gain subscribers on YouTube. 

15 Strategies to Get More Subscribers on YouTube

Like increasing TikTok followers, you will need strategies to gain YouTube subscribers. Without wasting time, let’s see what they are:

#1 Create Engaging Content

The first and most important thing that can affect your subscription is definitely your content. Before getting to know the other strategies on how to get more subscribers on YouTube, stay here to learn more about creating engaging content. 

What is considered engaging content on YouTube? Here are some tips that can help you create better videos for YouTube:

• Add a Strong Hook in First 15 Seconds: Open with a surprising fact, question, or bold statement to grab attention (e.g., “I doubled my income in 30 days—here’s how”). The first 15 seconds determine if viewers stay or click away.
• Solve Problems or Entertain: Create videos that either address pain points (e.g., “How to Fix a Slow PC”) or provide entertainment (e.g., humorous skits). Value-driven content keeps viewers hooked.
• Have a Clear Niche and Storytelling: Focus on a clear topic (e.g., tech reviews, fitness tips, gaming) to attract a dedicated audience.
• Use Conflict or Curiosity: Introduce tension (e.g., “Will this budget camera beat a $2,000 one?”) to maintain interest throughout the video.

The tactics to create engaging videos for YouTube are much more than what I have mentioned here. Focus on learning more about content creation on YouTube. 

Note: it doesn’t mean you should stop here until you can create the perfect video for your channel. Never stop! If you have created your channel, keep in mind that quality content is essential, but consistency is more effective for your growth.

#2 Optimize for YouTube SEO

You want clicks, and that has another trick: learning about YouTube SEO. 

If you want your channel to rank higher in YouTube’s search results and suggested videos feeds, you should follow these rules:

• Do Keyword Research: People search on YouTube, like they search on Google, and they use keywords. You need to find those keywords in your niche. YouTube search suggestions can help you a lot in finding keywords. 
• Write Compelling Titles: After finding the keywords relevant to your content, include them in your title, because that’s where YouTube analyzes to show videos to people.
• Optimize Descriptions: Summarize your video clearly in one to two engaging lines using your main keywords early. The first two sentences appear in search previews, so make them click-worthy.
• Add Transcripts and Subtitles: YouTube and Google index the text within transcripts, allowing your video to rank for keywords spoken in the dialogue, not just those in the title or description.
• Use Correct Hashtags: Like other social media platforms, using hashtags can increase the discoverability of your content in searches.

Even excellent videos may not get views if you don’t use YouTube SEO strategies to help people find and click on them.

#3 Design Eye-Catching Thumbnails

Before playing the video, it’s the thumbnail that grabs the viewers’ attention. 

Let stats talk:

• Videos with optimized thumbnails can see an average CTR between 12% and 15%. 
• Approximately 90% of top-performing YouTube videos use custom thumbnails.
• Thumbnails featuring faces with strong emotions can increase CTR by 20–30%.

As you can see, thumbnails are as important as the video you create. If you fail to create an eye-catching YouTube thumbnail for your videos, your chances of receiving clicks will decrease.

Here are some quick tips for creating YouTube thumbnail:

• Use Bold, Contrasting Colors
• Add Emotional Faces
• Keep Text Short and Bold
• Showcase the Main Subject
• Use Consistent Branding
• Maintain Simplicity

#4 Add Clear CTA (Subscribe Prompt) 

You definitely want your viewers to take an action, don’t you? And that action is to click on the subscribe button and follow your channel. 

Clear CTA is the way to get more subscribers on YouTube. Asking viewers to subscribe at key moments boosts the likelihood they will do so, as many don’t consider subscribing without a prompt.

CTA is not always a prompt to subscribe, you can lead viewers to like or share your video or watch other videos, too. This will keep them on your channel longer, improving watch time and signaling to YouTube that your content is valuable.

#5 Collaborate with Other Creators

Another way to get more subscribers on YouTube is exposing your name in front of more audience who might like your content. Find YouTubers in your niche and co-create a video. It’s possible that their subscribers check your channel and get interested in your video. 

#6 Use Influencer Marketing Tools 

This method is almost like the previous tactic. However, it’s more useful for brands who want to gain subscribers and can pay a lot for it. 

You can find many influencer marketing platforms that can connect you with different type of influencers on social media, like TikTokers, Instagrammers, and YouTubers. These platforms are the bridge to easily find relevant creators for collaboration. 

For example, if you are a designer and give fashion tips on your channel, you can connect with lifestyle influencers to promote your channel. 

#7 Engage with Your Audience

Your viewers may write a comment for your video. That’s what you want, right? 

But that shouldn’t end there. You should create a friendly atmosphere to make them return to your channel and subscribe if haven’t done before. 

Reply to viewer comments within the first 24 hours to build community and signal to YouTube’s algorithm that your content is engaging.

Additionally, you can post polls or questions in the Community Tab to spark interaction and gather feedback for future videos.

#8 Promote Across Platforms

You may wonder how to get more subscribers on YouTube for free. The best part is that you can use other platforms for promotion. For example, if you have many followers on Instagram, or have created a community on Twitter (x), you can easily share one of your videos with your friends and followers and ask them to subscribe.

Here are some tips to promote your YouTube channel on different platforms: 

1. Instagram

• Post short Reels (15–30s) with your best highlights. Write engaging caption to grab your audience’s attention.
  
• Add your YouTube link in bio and mention it in your captions (“Full tutorial on YouTube!”).
  
• Use Stories to share behind-the-scenes or polls like “Should I make a video about this?” to warm up followers before upload. You can also add a link to your YouTube channel.
  
• Engage in niche hashtags and comment on related creators’ posts genuinely.
  

2. TikTok

• Reuse your YouTube Shorts, but edit them natively for TikTok (use TikTok text/fonts/sounds).
  
• Add a short call to action: “Full video link in my YouTube — check it out if you want the full breakdown.”
  
• Collaborate with small TikTok creators in your niche; cross-tagging drives real traffic.
  

3. X (Twitter)

• Post threads summarizing your video insights — people who find value there will want to see the full video.
  
• Tag relevant discussions or trending hashtags.
  
• Embed your video (not just a link) so the preview plays inline.
• Add your channel’s link into your bio.
  

4. Reddit

• Join niche subreddits (e.g., r/VideoEditing, r/Fitness, r/Travel).
  
• Don’t drop links immediately — build trust first. Once you’re active, post your video if it genuinely adds value.
  
• You can also repurpose content as a Reddit post with text + images + your video at the end.
  

5. Facebook Groups

• Share your videos in interest-based groups, but only if they allow self-promotion.
  
• Write a small context caption like “I tried this strategy and filmed my results — here’s what happened.”
  
• Use Facebook Reels too — it’s still underused but gets great reach.
  

#9 Analyze Analytics

Metrics on YouTube analytics can tell a lot about your content and audience. Track metrics like audience retention, CTR, and watch time to identify what keeps viewers engaged. Focus on replicating successful elements.

You can also learn a lot from your competitors. Analyze top channels in your niche to see what makes their videos engaging, then adapt those techniques to your style.

• Check their thumbnail style. 
• What they write in descriptions.
• What hashtags they use.
• Which videos have the most views.
• How they write titles.

Don’t forget to add your creativity in content creation to make everything better than your competitors. 

#10 Run Contests or Giveaways

Running contest is one of the most effective methods on social media to get more engagement. However, it might not be the perfect method on how to get more subscribers on YouTube if you haven’t created a small community yet. 

And you should know that it’s not free. It requires you to have a plan because if you can’t do it right, your subscribers will vanish quickly. 

So, think about what this contest should be about? What action you want your viewers to take? Should they share your video on other platforms? Should they subscribe and ask their friends to subscribe, too? 

Finally, what is the prize? It should be something valuable for your audience. And, it should also be clear how you are going to select the winner. 

There are different giveaway picker tools that can help you with the last step. But for the rest, you should take your time and think strategically. 

#11 Engage with Trends 

If you want your content to viral on social media, you should follow trends, whether it’s popular trends on Instagram or YouTube. 

• Create content in accordance with trending challenges, memes, or events (e.g., a reaction to a new product launch), but tie it to your niche to stay relevant.
• Cover timely topics in your industry (e.g., “What’s New in iOS 19?”) to attract searches. 

You may ask: how to find trends on YouTube? Here are some tips:

• Use Google Trends or X posts to spot what’s hot.
• Keep an eye on your competitors’ content. They may be one step ahead of you. 
• Follow the news in your niche to see what’s going on and what people are talking about the most. 

#12 Buy Subscribers 

One of the easiest ways to get more subscribers on YouTube is buying subscribers. 

Yes, you can get 1K subscribers in 5 minutes. And if you wonder if it’s against YouTube rules, we should say yes if you don’t use an authentic website to buy YouTube subscribers. 

The truth is that buying subscribers is not the organic method to grow, but at least it can help you build trust among new visitors. 

Here is the scenario: 

Generally, people trust channels that have at least a minimum number of followers or subscribers. It shows them there are others who have found this channel valuable to follow. This number has a psychological impact on new visitors. The more subscribers you have, the more subscribers you get! 

Can you buy YouTube subscribers? Definitely yes. 

But you shouldn’t add bots to your channel. That’s why finding a website that sell real subscribers is important.

Bulkoid is one of those social media growth services that guarantee the authenticity of their services, whether it’s selling Instagram followers or YouTube subscribers. They don’t just increase your subscribers, they do that with real accounts so it’s not against any social media rules. 

#13 Upload Videos When Your Audience Is Online 

You should upload your content when your target audience are online, exploring YouTube. Like the best times to post on Instagram, posting at the right time on YouTube can bring you more subscribers and views, too. 

Discover when most of your audience are online. You can get this information by first defining your target audience and also checking out YouTube analytics. 

#14 Create YouTube Shorts 

Shorts are perfect for quick tips, funny moments, or teasers that funnel viewers to your longer videos. Don’t just stick into creating long videos. Sometimes those funny short videos bring more subscribers to your channel. 

Did you know?

• It’s reported that YouTube Shorts hits 70–90 billion views per day globally.
• Compared to long form videos, a study found Shorts tend to get more views and likes per view.

Because Shorts appear in the dedicated Shorts feed, they can be exposed to people who aren’t already subscribed. If one of your Shorts goes “viral” (or gets picked up by the algorithm), you can get many views quickly, giving you a pool of new potential subscribers.

#15 Be Consistent and Patient

YouTube growth is not something that happens over night. Also, there isn’t just one strategy to follow to get more subscribers on YouTube.

But if there is one thing that I can tell you to get successful on any social media, or even any other thing in your life, is consistency. 

It doesn’t require any money, you just need to be patient, create new videos even if the previous ones didn’t get that attention. Whatever you do, don’t stop. 

Analyze your own videos, check other channels, be up-to-date, and continue. 

Bottom Line 

Are you still wondering how to get more subscribers on YouTube? On this blog, we mentioned the most important strategies that can help you bring more subscribers to your channel. Anyhow, subscribers are one of the aspects that help you get paid on YouTube. 

So, create compelling YouTube videos. Blend creativity with strategy. Start small, focus on delivering value, and use analytics to refine your approach. Consistency and audience engagement are key—over time, your efforts will compound, leading to higher views, watch time, and subscribers. Stay patient, keep learning, and adapt to what your audience loves.

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