That’s YouTube’s enormous reach.
In fact, over half the US population in EVERY age bracket watch videos on YouTube.
But this audience, as I’m sure you know, is a hard nut to crack.
Making waves on YouTube is getting harder and harder by the day. With most influential YouTubers already established and new accounts getting lost in the noise.
So, how do you stand out? Is it worth buying YouTube subscribers to kickstart your account?
Let’s take a closer look…
Should you buy YouTube subscribers?
Just like buying Instagram followers or any other social media growth hack, there is a risk when buying YouTube subscribers.
If you inauthentically purchase subscribership and engagement you are “gaming the system” – something that YouTube (and Google) don’t like.
You run the risk of having your account suspended, or worse, banned.
The other thing to consider is YouTube’s algorithm. If you purchase a bunch of bots or fake accounts to follow your channel, they are unlikely to engage with your content. The less engagement (view time) you get, the less likely your video will be found in YouTube searches.
This creates a problem because you are left always “paying to play”, rather than making the most of YouTube’s billions of active users that are searching for your content.
However, while it’s important to recognize these risks, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t buy YouTube subscribers. You just need to do it the right way.
Instead of going from 0 to 100,000 subscribers overnight, which is obviously fake, take it slow.
Start with 1000, produce some great content, then go for another 1000. Slowly work your way up the YouTube tree so that the growth appears organic.
How do you buy YouTube subscribers?
There are four main ways you can buy YouTube subscribers. Each has its pros and cons.
Let’s take a look at them now.
#1. Instant Purchase
The first way to buy YouTube subscribers is via an instant purchase.
Now, this is the riskiest way to grow your following so you need to make sure you research the service you will use.
Basically, there are instant gratification services that have thousands of YouTubers and YouTube accounts in their database ready to follow your channel for a fee.
All you do is go to their website, choose a package, and make payment. It’s like buying a pair of shoes!
Stormviews is one example of this service.
The reason I like Stormviews is that with this service you are buying 100% real subscribers (not bots). You can also increase your engagement with this service, by buying likes and views.
The good thing is, Stormviews do everything they can to stick to YouTube’s terms of service. Unlike many other services that simply have bot farms following your account.
YouTube’s terms suggest that buying promotional services is perfectly legal, as long as those services are generated by genuine users, promoted on legitimate social media and other channels, and – most important of all – are not fake bots.
Stormviews meets all of these criteria.
It’s also super affordable to buy YouTube subscribers with Stormviews. You can get 1,000 subscribers for $119.99 and have them delivered within 2 business days.
#2. Google Ads
The second way to buy YouTube subscribers is with Google Ads.
As you may know, Google owns YouTube, and its ad platform allows you to promote your YouTube channel to millions of people who are actively engaging with other videos in your industry.
You’re not technically “buying YouTube subscribers” using Google Ads, instead, you’re paying for views and engagement that will result in more subscribers.
This approach is more organic than the instant purchase approach above and it can take a lot longer to grow your following. It is also more expensive. But this approach 100% won’t put your account at risk, because you’re working with YouTube’s owner!
One advantage of Google Ads is that you can target a specific audience. Maybe you’re looking to engage with small business owners, for example. Or maybe you want to grow your YouTube subscribers with people that love cats. Google Ads interest-based targeting allows you to do that.
How much does Google Ads cost? You can run video view ads on just about any budget, and depending on your targeting, get video views for as little as $0.02 per view. The challenge is then converting those views into subscribers, which can cost upward of $1-2 per subscriber.
#3. Other Ad Networks
You can also get traffic to your YouTube channel from other advertising networks, such as Facebook ads or native advertising platforms like Outbrain.
Unlike an instant follower purchase or Google Ads strategy, other ad networks have far less user intent. Basically, you are disrupting people on other websites or social networks and asking them to come and view your YouTube videos. Rather than engaging with them while they are already on the platform.
This means that the cost-per-view can be significantly higher – likely to be $0.30 per view or more – and subsequently, the expense for growing your subscribers gets pretty hefty.
In saying that, it also exposes your brand to a wider network of users and can be great for awareness and brand reinforcement purposes. If you have a retargeting audience from website traffic or social media subscribers, this could be a good approach to convert them into YouTube subscribers. But if you’re just looking to buy YouTube subscribers, the other methods are more direct.
#4. Influencer Marketing
The final way to buy YouTube subscribers is to collaborate with influencers on a paid campaign.
Influencer marketing is all the buzz at the moment and influential users with highly engaged followings are all over social media. Including YouTube.
Ideally you would find a small group of influencers who already have large YouTube audiences and are willing to create personalized content for your brand that promotes your channel. This is the quickest and most authentic way to grow your audience without paying for ads or directly purchasing subscribers.
Of course, influencer marketing comes with far more variables than direct advertising. You never really know how well a campaign will perform or if you’ll get a return on investment. It’s risky but can pay off big time.
If you want to go down this path I would check out a tool such as Upfluence where you can search an extensive database of YouTubers to find the right influencers.
Wrapping up
Now that you’ve had a chance to look at the four main ways of buying YouTube subscribers, what is the best path for you?
It really does depend on your budget. If possible, I would test and optimize all of these tactics to find the best mix for your brand. However, if your budget doesn’t allow for that, start from the top down.
Buy YouTube subscribers using a service such as Stormviews and run some video view ads on Google to get your channel humming along. Then, as things pick up, consider branching out onto native ad networks, social media platforms, and influencer collaborations.
YouTube is powerful, but you need to get some skin in the game if you want to make the most of it.
