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As an artist, you put a ton of work and energy into your new music and content so it's important it gets the exposure it deserves. That's why tools on Shorts, live streams, long-form videos, and more are important for maximizing your reach in a world where content is evolving quickly and daily. I'm Brittany, a Strategic Partner Manager in artist development here at YouTube. From setup to post-release promotions, I'll share a few helpful tools on YouTube that will help you win new fans from every angle. Here are some steps you can take to lay the foundations and get your fans engaged.
Start teasing the upcoming track through both Shorts and long-form videos for the most exposure. YouTube is a destination for all fans including fans that like all types of content. Take it a step further and set up a preview for you and your fans to use audio before it's officially released. Collaborated with another artist? Tease it with a full-length video trailer from the video shoot. Have some footage from the recording studio? Give fans a behind-the-scenes look at your process on Shorts.
Get creative and build anticipation from both old and new fans by consistently posting different kinds of Shorts in the days or weeks leading up to your release. Next, upload and schedule your video as a Premiere. Premieres give you an early watch page for your video so fans can set a reminder in the days leading up to the release. You can also customize the watch page so it matches your brand or release creative by adding a custom thumbnail or trailer.
Set up a Live Redirect to talk to fans directly in a live stream before the Premiere After this pre-show viewers will automatically be redirected to your Premiere. Use Live Redirect as a personal moment to connect with fans. Let them know what you're about to Premiere host a Q&A and share your own excitement for the release. Promote the Live Redirect link on your social media prior to boost views. Finally, you can also set up a merch store in YouTube Studio.
Your fans can see your merch on a designated merch shelf or you can call it out on a live stream add merch end cards on your videos and promote it on your Community tab. This all leads up to the moment you've been working towards: the Premiere. Engage with fans in the chats and comments. Give shout-outs and make sure to thank your fans for showing up. Post a series of Shorts using the official audio once the video's out. Shorts tools like Green Screen and Remix can help make your content creative and engaging.
Finally, update your channel to help fans find the new release. Set it as your featured video add it to channel playlists update cards and end cards on your existing videos and link to the release in your channel's About section. Update your channel banner and channel icon to match the branding of your new release and let new audiences know about your latest drop. Now, let's go through some steps you can take after the release to keep your momentum going. After the release upload different types of Shorts or long-form videos. to boost the total views for your song.
When fans like a song, they'll watch it in multiple video formats which can increase your reach for tracks for instance, live performances lyric videos remixes choreography videos sharing the meaning behind a song and also incorporating your song into a current trend. Finally, make sure you're sharing the love your fans are showing you. Spotlight fan videos in a compilation video in separate Shorts with appropriate credit or channel playlists and featuring at the top of your channel.
Using this multi-format approach you can set yourself up for the best release and best results possible. For the latest updates on what you should do from pre-release, release day, and onwards check out the YouTube for Artists site at artists.youtube.com. Thanks for watching!
