How to Use YouTube Cards to Drive Traffic and Sales

Your brand has its own YouTube channel, and it may be doing great with views and engagement through high-quality content. But how well does your YouTube channel do with driving traffic and garnering sales?

If you wonder if YouTube can do that for you, then we are here to tell you that it can. Social media business cards like the YouTube card are a simple, yet effective way to drive traffic and link your viewers to your brand’s landing page, website, or any place on the internet.

With the use of these info cards on YouTube, you assure your brand that you not only get views and engagement but also convert them into concrete results.

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What Are YouTube Cards?

YouTube cards or YouTube business cards are little calls to action that appear on-screen as a YouTube video plays. These info cards on YouTube are clickable and will redirect your viewers to a corner of the internet you want them to visit.

Your YouTube video might contain a verbal call to action and links to click on in the video description. But these can seem like a lot of work for your viewers most of the time, and only the most determined or diligent viewers will give you the results you need.

Calls to action in the form of verbal reminders on your YouTube video may or may not be heeded by viewers. Cards, on the other hand, make the click-through experience for your viewers easier and more convenient.

YouTube cards that appear on-screen on your YouTube video are very hard to miss. And your call to action will be a clickable link that viewers can tap and click. Now, results in the form of sales and click-throughs are just a tap or click away!

Types of YouTube Cards

There are 4 types of YouTube cards:

Video YouTube cards – These types of cards are links to other YouTube videos. Video creators usually use these video cards for relevant videos you might want to watch. This kind of YouTube card is available for all YouTube channel owners.

Channel YouTube cards – These YouTube cards link viewers to another channel you might want to highlight. If you have a second channel or want to help out another creator, use this YouTube card. These channel cards can be used by all channel owners and creators.

Playlist YouTube cards – This YouTube card lets you link to related YouTube playlists or video series you might have. This enables your viewers to binge on more of your content and rack up views on your playlists and videos. Such cards can be used by all channel owners as well.

Link YouTube cards – This YouTube card enables you to put external links on your popular videos. These cards are good to drive traffic to the website you might have, a landing page you want your viewers to visit, or even an online shopping platform where you sell merchandise. These YouTube cards are only available for YouTube creators who are already in the YouTube Partner Program.

The YouTube Partner Program

This YouTube program enables creators access to monetization options and ad revenue-sharing features. To be part of this program, you will have to hit a few milestones and apply for it on YouTube.

Here are the milestones you have to hit to be able to apply and get approved for the YouTube Partner Program:

1,000 Subscribers – Your channel must have at least 1,000 subscribers to be eligible.
4,000 valid public watch hours of video views on YouTube videos or 10 million public views of YouTube shorts.

How to Join the YouTube Partner Program:

You should be able to follow all of YouTube’s monetization rules and policies.
You should be based in a country where the YouTube Partner Program is available.
Your channel should have no community guideline strikes on your YouTube channel.
Have the 2-step verification turned on in your Google account.
Have the advanced features enabled on your YouTube channel.
Create an active AdSense account.

How to Use YouTube Cards to Drive Traffic and Sales?

Wondering how to drive traffic to your website?
A great social media marketing strategy on the YouTube social network is to use YouTube cards to drive traffic and sales to your website. Here are some tips on how to use YouTube cards:

Be strategic – Strategically place your YouTube cards. Make your YouTube strategically appear whenever your product or service of your brand comes up. This way your target audience will have the idea of clicking through to your brand’s landing page or website to avail of your brand’s service or product.

Add YouTube cards to older videos – You should add YouTube cards to older videos too! Your old videos will garner views. Take advantage of this fact and have all your videos have YouTube cards. Maximizing the resources available to you, like link cards, will be key to your YouTube growth.

Multiple cards per video – Have a couple of well-placed cards throughout your video to increase the chances of your viewers clicking through to your website or landing page. Remember to not go overboard. One or two is enough, and three or four make it a bit annoying for your viewers and subscribers.

Use a compelling tease message on the card – Come up with a brief and catchy message to use on your YouTube cards. This increases the chances of your audience clicking through because of how witty your cards are.

Steps on Adding a YouTube Card to Your Video

If you are still asking yourself: Should I make business cards for my YouTube channel? The answer is a resounding yes! Here are the steps you can follow to add YouTube cards to your YouTube videos:

Access YouTube on an internet browser like Chrome.
Click on your channel’s profile picture and select ‘YouTube Studio’ on the subsequent drop-down menu.
Click on the ‘Content’ tab to access the video you want to add a card to.
To the right of the video to which you wish to add a card, click ‘Add card’ and click ‘Create.’
Provide the necessary info YouTube will ask from you, like your channel objective, channel username, channel URL, and teaser message.
After adding the card, you should decide when the card appears when the video is played. Drag and drop the card on the time marker to determine when the card will appear.
You can upload up to 4 cards per video but we recommend the use of up to 2 cards only.
You now have added a YouTube card to your video. Rewatch the video and make sure the cards appear at the correct time you want them to.

Success Is in the Cards

YouTube cards are a great opportunity for you to streamline your YouTube marketing strategy. Make it easier for your viewers to find your product or service through the use of YouTube cards. With YouTube cards, converting views to sales is now easier than ever.