Give the people what they want, right? Well if your a YouTuber whose started racking up a loyal band of followers, then what they probably want is even more of you! So feed their fandom thirst and find creative ways to extend your brand further – like creating branded goods!
Enlist Your Community
Think about your channel’s community as a social army of promoters. They love what you’re doing and are eager to share it with their own networks. Just like other celebrities they follow, your community identifies as a fan of your work and by extension your brand. Think of it like this: how often do you see someone wearing a t-shirt with their favourite band on it? They’re not doing this because they’re getting paid, they’re doing it because they want people to know they’re a fan. So follow this same practice and develop your own branded goods that become community identifiers and turn fans into ambassadors of your work!
Promote Merchandise on Your Channel
Promoting merchandise on YouTube is super simple. If you’re a verified partner in good standing, you are able to link the merch directly in your stuff. Just place a Merch Annotation that links to your products right in the video. Easy as that! So next time you’re wearing that new shirt you had made for your fans, just place a link to where they can purchase their own (most likely an online store), directly in the video.
A final tip for Merch Annotations – as much as you want viewers to buy your goods, you probably also want them to watch your videos, too! YouTube search is optimized for watch time so you are rewarded for the more time your viewers spend watching. Make sure you don’t direct them elsewhere right away, keep them entertained and then send them to the point of purchase.
