If there's one thing creators of all tiers struggle with, it is finding means to keep their viewers engaged beyond their content and keep the conversation going. 

 are the obvious choice here but reaching people who genuinely want to connect with your videos never gets easier! 

So, we figured it's a good time to talk about one of the most underused features on YouTube: the community tab. The YouTube community tab is still an overlooked feature that can boost engagement. With options like quizzes, image polls, videos, and text posts, it offers many ways to start conversations with viewers. For growing channels, this tool is a must for keeping viewers interested between uploads.

YouTube's Community Tab Is Your Super Secret Weapon for Channel Growth

The YouTube community tab is located on the homepage of your channel, between the playlists and membership sections. 

YouTube Community Tab location on a channel homepage between playlists and membership sections

It's a bite-sized social media network where viewers can see all of your interactive posts, such as quizzes and polls. 

Various types of YouTube Community Tab posts including polls, quizzes and text updates

So, if you don't have any videos planned, you can use this tab to promote yourself on YouTube and engage with your audience in the meantime!

The community tab used to be a locked feature, but earlier this year, 

YouTube's official documentation on community posts

, mentioned how the barrier to entry has. Previously, a creator needed 10,000 subscribers. But now, you can simply 

Accessing YouTube Studio to manage community tab posts and analytics

YouTube Studio Settings menu for enabling community tab features

. At the bottom, turn on advanced features.

Alt Text:  YouTube's feature eligibility page showing how to enable advanced features for community tab access

Posting on the community tab is quick and easy. Everything you need is in the YouTube Studio, and there are plenty of features to customize your content.

 icon at the top of your YouTube homepage. Select 

Creating a community post using the Create button on YouTube homepage

2. Type a message to create a short text post. You can also add a gif, poll, image, video, etc.

YouTube community post creation interface with text, poll, and media options

In a recent update, YouTube has introduced a new feature that lets viewers post on your community tab. The new feature, simply called "Communities" is YouTube's way of trying to improve audience interaction and form a more vibrant community. 

YouTube Communities: Connect with Creators

You can monitor the performance of your community posts as well. This can help you improve your future posts and also give you a taste of what your community wants from you.

2. Find the left navigation menu and click 

Accessing Content section in YouTube Studio to monitor community post-performance

On the next page, you'll see some tabs at the top. Click on the one called 

 to see all the community posts you've published on your channel.

YouTube community tab analytics showing post-performance metrics like views, likes and comments

The posts are in chronological order by default, but the columns are sortable. If you want to know something specific, such as which community posts have the most comments or likes, you can easily shuffle through the data.

Tips for Navigating Your Community Posts   

You can post various types of content on the community tab, including images, videos, polls, plain text messages, quizzes, and animated GIFs.

When browsing the community posts page, these content types will appear in different ways. Plain text posts display an alphabet symbol, ‘Aa’, to quickly represent non-media messages. Any post with an image or video will be shown with the image it comes with, while voting polls are displayed with three blue horizontal lines.

If you mouse over each community post, you’ll notice a drop-down menu with more options for managing the feature. The first one lets you edit a post directly from the YouTube Studio, which is pretty cool. You can also manage and respond to comments or click a link to take you to the original community post on YouTube.

One thing to keep in mind, however, is that you can’t edit polls.

 This is probably a safeguard to stop creators from changing the answer choices once voting begins.

Lastly, there’s an option to filter community posts. This lets you view only the posts you want to see, such as plain text or animated GIFs. You can even filter the posts to see which ones have been published or scheduled for future publication.

Best Practices for Community Tab Engagement

The community tab on YouTube is more than just a space for updates. It is a great spot to connect with viewers between video uploads. Use it to start friendly chats and build bonds.

Think about when you are posting on the Community. Check your channel stats to see when viewers are most active. Many find that late afternoon or early evening works best.

Mix up your content. Try polls one day, behind-the-scenes photos the next, and ask a simple question later. This keeps the YouTube community tab lively and fun. If you create a poll, ask a question like, "Which topic should I do next?" This makes your viewers feel important. Use your posts to test new video ideas too.

Lastly, be present. Reply to comments and keep the conversation going. A chatty creator makes for a stronger community.

As your audience grows, keeping the chat clear is very important. YouTube offers several controls to help manage your YouTube community post. These controls ensure healthy discussions.

YouTube handles some housekeeping on its own. But you also have extra options:

Set filters to hold posts that might be off

Make a list of blocked words to keep harmful comments away

Invite trusted people to help moderate posts

Regularly check held comments in YouTube Studio

Posts that break YouTube rules can be taken down. Repeated issues may even limit your features. If your channel is flagged as 'Made for Kids', your posts will not go public. This rule helps protect children.

For years, the community tab has helped creators stay in touch with their audience, especially when only publishing one or two videos each week.

So, if you haven’t already, start using the community tab! Challenge yourself to post something every day for the next three to six months — polls, animated GIFs, or anything that brings you closer to your audience. And, as you keep growing through this content creation journey, 

don’t forget to avoid these mistakes as well.

Heart icon hovering over a man's open palm

Person holding phone with glowing heart icon hovering above hand, symbolizing social media likes

YouTube has a dedicated dashboard for managing community tab posts, and trust us — you'll want to use this feature! Learn how below.

How to Use the YouTube Community Tab and Engage with Viewers

Have you ever checked your analytics and realized that most of your views don't come from subscribers? If so, you probably saw what YouTube calls the 

The percentage of subscribers versus non-subscribers on a youtube channel

This image is from the vidIQ channel, so even large creators face this question. In our case, only 33% of viewers are subscribed. But why?

Subscribing Isn't a Viewer's Number One Priority

The short answer is that no one needs to hit "subscribe" to have fun on YouTube. The platform has a recommendation system, and it's 

at serving up videos to the right viewers. So even if you aren't subscribed to your favorite creator, YouTube will place their videos on your homepage like a personal assistant. 

If nothing else, this proves that subscribers aren't the most important metric on YouTube.

And yet, you still need subs to crack the biggest benefits of being a creator: 

 subscribers to access fan-funding tools and 

, turning silent viewers into subscribers is worthwhile. Here's how to do it!

On YouTube, a call to action (or CTA) is any request a creator makes to their viewers. Some people ask for more video likes, and others ask for various forms of engagement, such as leaving a comment.

But the trickiest of all? Getting people to subscribe! And viewers will only do it if they have a good reason to.

So the first step is understanding their journey on YouTube. You should know why they open the app, 

 they take that step. But you don't have to reinvent the wheel here; most viewers follow the same path on YouTube:

Problem > solution > satisfaction > subscription

Start by identifying the main problem your audience faces. After that, spend some time finding a valuable solution, then share that knowledge in a series of compelling, irresistible YouTube videos. If that goes well, viewers will subscribe as they become satisfied with your content.

If you're still figuring out what your audience wants, 

use this guide to build a persona representing their habits and desires

Imagine that you've just watched a video about monetizing a YouTube channel, and the creator wants you to hit subscribe. If they're careful, they won't ask you to do that without saying 

Instead, they'll say something like this:

"Want to monetize your channel in six months or less? Subscribe for more YouTube tips and tricks, and I'll show you how to shorten the journey!"

Promises more value, which builds upon the value they just received (monetization tips)

As you can see, it doesn't take much to drive the point home. Stay on topic, and everything will be fine. Promise more value, and everything will be more than fine!

While CTAs are simple to write, they can be challenging to execute. It's not just 

 you say in those moments but how you say it, when you say it, and why you say it!

So if you want people to subscribe to your channel (when you ask them), here are some best practices:

. Create a good video title and thumbnail to tease the video. Then get straight to the point in your video's introduction. Hook the viewer's attention!

Instead, keep giving viewers what they want. Make good points, bring the entertainment, and answer important questions about your topic.

Put your CTA near the end of the video. 

By now, viewers got what they came for. Remind them that they can get even more value by subscribing.

Be clear and specific. What unique value does your channel offer? Spell it out so viewers know what to expect!

 viewers to build an audience, anything beyond 1,000 subscribers is a vanity count. By then, you have everything you need to monetize your content, from advertising revenue to fan-funding tools.

So if you're wondering how your channel is 

The number of viewers returning to your channel

The average number of views each visitor gives you

These are better indicators of overall growth. They represent how well you can bring viewers back to your channel and make them watch multiple videos — not just one or two.

Want to learn more about these metrics? Click the links above to expand your knowledge and grow your views!

Young woman recording video holding a sign that says Like and Subscribe for channel growth

Getting viewers to hit subscribe doesn’t have to be complicated. Sometimes, you just have to ask them nicely. Here are a few pointers!

How to Turn Silent Viewers into YouTube Subscribers

Getting monetized on YouTube is a joyous occasion — truly. You get to upload videos and monetize them in the YouTube Studio, making as much money as possible with video ads. What could be better than that?

As wonderful as it sounds, you might be thinking of how long it takes to reach that goal. After all, you have to join the 

 to collect advertising revenue, and that requires 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 watch hours. 

Technically, you can make money a bit earlier using fan-funding tools like 

. In that case, you'd need 500 subscribers, three public videos, and 3,000 public watch hours. But you can't have it all — fan funding plus advertising revenue — without achieving 

In 2023, there’s more than one way to fund your YouTube channel. Keep reading to learn the best tips and strategies!

An affiliate marketer makes money by persuading others to buy products online. That includes physical items like furniture, clothing, books, video games, or even gardening tools. It could also be something digital, like a web browser extension or an online course.

The custom URLs where these products can be found are called 

. On YouTube, creators paste these links into the description of relevant videos.

When someone makes a purchase using those links, the creator earns a commission.

The commission on an affiliate sale could be 1%, 5%, or even 50% of the original purchase. It all depends on type of program you decide to join.

 affiliate programs, but here are some of the best worldwide:

When you find the right program for you, start adding affiliate links to your YouTube videos. Remind viewers that they can scroll to the description and purchase any featured or discussed products in the video.

Getting sponsored on YouTube means a brand or company pays you to advertise products within your videos.

Maybe it’s an in-video advertisement, where you spend a minute or two “selling” a product to viewers before returning to the video’s main topic. Or perhaps the entire video is an “ad,” but it’s creative and entertaining to watch.

Here’s an example of a sponsored video. In it, lifestyle creator 

 prepares a dish from HelloFresh, the delivery meal-kit service.

As you can see, a sponsored video introduces a product, explains its benefits, and offers an incentive for viewers to buy it.

Depending on your channel's size and engagement, you could earn 

 in the first place? Here are a few ideas:

. Explain what you do on YouTube, share your channel stats, and pitch valuable ideas for the brand and your audience.

 You never know when you’ll bump into a public relations manager who oversees brand campaigns.

. Do you have an unpaid product review that performed well on YouTube? Let brands know you’ve already done the hard part.

YouTube has a channel Memberships feature, but only creators in the YouTube Partner Program can access it. That means you’d need at least 500 subscribers to make money with exclusive video content.

Can’t wait that long? Try your hand at launching a membership site instead. 

 is a popular membership site that summarizes the benefits pretty well:

, have everything you need to get started, from video hosting to monetization tools to the very website viewers will visit. So luckily, you don’t have to start from scratch.

Here are more websites that are great for building online memberships:

Do you post tutorials and how-to videos on YouTube? If your audience loves them, why not build a video course around 

? Walk your viewers through the finer points of starting an online business, investing in stocks, fixing cars – anything at all.

But before you start building a course, make sure your audience wants one. They should care about the topic while also believing your lessons will solve a problem in their lives.

You can gauge viewers’ interest in two ways:

Start building your course by writing down the questions people always ask you, plus the answers. That will give you a rough content outline that you can turn into chapters, lessons, and quizzes.

By the way, you can host video courses on a membership site, too. But sometimes it's better to use a service built for education, like Udemy, Skillshare, Kajabi, or Thinkific.

In 2022, there are many benefits to selling digital products.

And guess what? Even with a small YouTube audience, you can sell assets that generate passive income. It only takes 10 subscribers-turned-customers to get the ball rolling. Then you can slowly increase that number to 20, 30, or 40 customers as you grow on YouTube.

It doesn’t cost much to make a digital asset, either. 

Here's an example: If you want to sell an ebook, you have to come up with an idea, create chapters, write the words, and edit your work. Then you might design the book’s cover for free using Canva. At that point, you've spent more time than financial resources.

As always, make products that solve a real problem for viewers. Imagine what their needs might be, then double-check your ideas by asking viewers directly.

When you’re ready to launch, sell your product on one of the best marketplaces on the internet: Shopify, Amazon, Etsy, etc.

So, now you know: There are many ways to monetize YouTube videos without becoming a partner. You don't 

 need the almighty YouTube ad, and that's a good thing!

Still want to join the YouTube Partner Program? Here’s how to monetize your channel the traditional way.

A phone laying on a pile of money and displaying the YouTube logo

Smartphone displaying YouTube logo on a pile of US dollar bills, symbolizing earnings.

Monetizing your channel outside of YouTube doesn’t have to be complicated. In this guide, we’ll share five methods that don’t require 1,000 subscribers or 4,000 watch hours.

How to Monetize on YouTube Without the Partner Program

Imagine that, right now, life is a bit chaotic. You've lost your job, your newborn needs medical attention, and you've just moved to a new place, so you're fresh out of money.

Of all the solutions you could try — looking for a new job, starting a business, creating a side hustle — you're pretty sure that going live on YouTube isn't the answer. No one makes real money doing that, right?

, a gaming creator, faced these same challenges and still monetized his way to a full-time income. Starting with just 10,000 subscribers, CGE used a combination of regular videos and livestreams to make money on YouTube (and livestreams currently pay his rent!). Now he has over 70,000 subs who enjoy his 

So, what's the secret to CGE's success, and how did he turn his circumstances around? We'll explore his story, plus highlight the best strategy for monetizing YouTube livestreams.

First, Build an Audience for Your Streams

Before you can even think about monetizing your content, you need to build a loyal audience. Interestingly, CGE says that live streamers should build a community 

"And that was always my focus, not millions and millions of views," CGE says. "It was always a dedicated, tightly-knit community. If you have a community backing you up, that helps with numerous things on YouTube."

Once you're part of a community, you have a built-in audience for your topic of choice. So before you start steaming, CGE recommends three things:

Build a niche community to grow your influence.

Finding your passion is the best way to kick off a YouTube channel because it helps you connect with the right viewers. So, what's your thing? Is it Zelda gaming? Peanut farming? Ballet dancing? No matter what you're doing, it helps if you're 

Once you've identified your passion, look for communities of people interested in the same thing. You can check spaces like Discord, Twitter, and even different Facebook groups to find your tribe. But once you're there, CGE says to engage with others genuinely and make real connections.

"Don't even think about your channel," he says. "Be involved in the community for the sake of being involved."

Once you're well-known in a community, it's time to build something of your own. Create an online group that aligns with your passion and YouTube channel, preferably somewhere outside of YouTube. That could be Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, or another platform. 

Nurture that audience, and soon enough, you'll begin to stand out for your niche. 

This creates one more place for people to discover your channel.

For example, CGE created "Spyro Community Day" on Twitter to meet new people and expand the topic beyond YouTube.

"We talked about the community and spent all day retweeting stuff, talking to people, and just speaking about the franchise," he says. "If that builds the community [you're streaming for], inevitably, your channel's going to grow."

If you've made it this far, you've found your passion, plus a community of people who share your interests. Now it's time for the fun part!

When you're ready to stream, CGE suggests you

and not daily. After all, you have to let people miss you. This builds anticipation for your content and keeps the spark alive on your channel.

"People then realize, 'Hey, I want to tune into that because it's not like he streams every day. He only streams on Thursdays and Fridays, and I want to catch him live,' " CGE explains.

In each livestream, CGE says you should advertise other communities you've built online. Tell people to follow your Twitch, TikTok, or Twitter, especially if that content aligns with your streams. 

It's a fantastic way to boost engagement.

For example, imagine what would happen if:

People from YouTube come to visit your Twitter.

Those same people engage with your tweets and 

Twitter blasts those tweets to more people, helping new viewers discover your channel.

Most likely, some of those people will find your livestreams, and another portion will decide to watch them. When this cycle repeats a few times, 

Phone showing the YouTube logo and sitting on paper money

If you have a healthy viewership, now's a good time to monetize your streams. Here's how to approach it from a genuine place, according to CGE.

6. Set a Donation Goal for Each Livestream

, you're more likely to achieve them? CGE does this by setting a monetary goal for each stream. He uses a donation progress bar

that everyone can see, which motivates more people to give! This typically happens through 

, which viewers purchase for $1-$500 and display a message of their choice at the top of the live chat.

"I have a donation bar on the bottom that tells everybody what it's for: monthly rent. It's set to $1,800. Nine times out of 10, the bar gets filled every month," CGE says.

 to earn Super Chats, so work on achieving that goal first!

7. Be Transparent About Where the Money Is Going

Once you've set a donation goal, tell viewers how you'll spend the money. Are you buying new camera equipment? Do you need help moving to a new city? Be as transparent as possible, and viewers will respect your request.

"For example, when my son was born, the donation bar said rent, and in brackets, it also said, 'And diapers,' " CGE says. "Because diapers are expensive, right?"

Let's say your viewers are highly engaged, and they reach your donation goal before the original deadline. What happens next? Should you stop accepting donations, or should you set a new goal?

"When the bar is filled, and let's say there's still two streams left, I just call it the Bonus Bar," CGE says. "I've been streaming for five years, and there were only three or four times the bar didn't get filled."

Your Blueprint Summarized: How to Monetize Live Streams

To quickly wrap up, here's the game plan if you want to make decent money as a YouTube live streamer:

Be transparent about where the money is going.

These are simple steps, but they require dedication, patience, and a strong focus on community building. Remember, it's about more than views or making money; you're building a community to support your journey.

If you want to see what that looks like, learn more about CGE's journey as a full-time creator below.

And if you're new to streaming, here's what to do before your first livestream.

Smiling gamer playing online video game with headphones and live chat on screen at night

Unlock the secret to making real money from YouTube livestreaming, just like gaming creator Canadian Guy Eh.

Going Live on YouTube: 8 Genius Hacks for Monetizing Your Streams

Getting YouTube views is always challenging, but it’s a lot easier when you speak to a viewer’s heart. What are their fears? Which memories transport them to a simpler time? How do other people affect their decisions?

, and YouTube viewers are no exception. Depending on the content you show them, emotions like anger, fear, and curiosity simmer in their minds.

But why is this important? Research shows that 

emotionally-charged videos are twice as likely to be shared

 than those with weak emotional cues. So, if you want more views on YouTube, start crafting 

How to Use Emotional Triggers for More YouTube Views

Using emotional triggers well takes planning and care. Start by listing the emotions that fit your niche. For example, gaming videos might spark curiosity and surprise, while self-improvement channels can focus on social proof and urgency. Check your stats to see which videos got the best reactions.

When you create your titles and thumbnails, use language that stokes the right feelings. For curiosity, try phrases like 

What's the secret to gaining more YouTube views? According to science (and plain old observation), these emotional triggers provide a major boost.

Lydia Sweatt

Posts Written By Lydia Sweatt

How to Use the YouTube Community Tab and Engage with Viewers

How to Turn Silent Viewers into YouTube Subscribers

How to Monetize on YouTube Without the Partner Program

Going Live on YouTube: 8 Genius Hacks for Monetizing Your Streams

6 Emotional Triggers That Unlock Massive YouTube Views

ChatGPT for YouTubers Is Here: How to Use vidIQ’s AI Coach

YouTube Shorts Not Paying the Bills? 4 Solutions to Boost Your Revenue

Understanding YouTube Viewers: 6 Steps to Build an Audience Persona

7 Types of YouTube Video Titles That Get Massive Clicks

Everything You Need to Know About Starting a YouTube Podcast

YouTube Monetization: Which Videos Count Toward 4,000 Hours of Watch Time?

The Secret Formula for Gaining and Retaining YouTube Subscribers