YouTube Stories is a cool Instagram and Facebook Stories-like feature for your YouTube Channel.
In this article, we’re going to cover a completely updated tutorial from how to enable YouTube Stories on your Channel right through to how to make and maximize your views and results using YouTube Stories.
YouTube Stories is a very powerful tool and a great way for you to reach more of your Subscribers than a typical video might, though it’s a complete rip-off of Instagram and Facebook Stories, even though the interfaces are identical.
The feature set for YouTube Stories has changed quite a bit over the years, with a few things added and a few things removed and some things were readded again.
As of the time of writing this article, YouTube Stories has hit a level of maturity, so we’re gonna dive into a little bit of background first and then a quick tutorial to get you up and running.
YouTube Stories: Features
Just like Instagram Stories, YouTube Stories are also 15-second clips but unlike Instagram Stories which stick around for only 24 hours, YouTube Stories have a lifespan of 7 days or so. You can remove them earlier if you like.
The story is a feature that’s only available on Mobile, if you want to upload or even view stories, you can only do that on your Mobile Device.
Upload Limit
YouTube allows creators to shoot stories directly in the app and you can upload prerecorded videos as stories too.
But unlike Snapchat or Instagram, where you can record for more than 15 seconds, or even upload a video that is longer than 15 seconds, where it Automatically creates multiple 15 seconds clips for you that flow together, YouTube Stories doesn’t have that capability.
This means that you’re currently limited to just 15 Seconds per YouTube Stories upload.
YouTube Stories does have a trim feature that enables you to trim longer videos into 15 Second clips inside of the app itself.
More Features
With the YouTube Stories themselves, you can add stickers, you can add emojis, and text, and you can also tag and mention your channel or other creator channels.
The best YouTube Stories feature for me is that you can directly link to one of your Videos or even the Creator’s Video.
If you wish to link off to one of your Videos, you can only do one per week but there’s no limit to mentioning or tagging other videos in your stories.
For anyone who is watching your stories and isn’t Subscribed to your Channel, there is a red Subscribe button right at the bottom of the page, this goes to prove that stories are a great and short way to gain more Subscribers…
Your viewers can leave comments on your Stories as well, and while you can’t reply directly with text, you can reply with a story post and you can give the comment a heart or you can give it a thumbs up or a thumbs down.
YouTube Stories Eligibility
According to the Official YouTube Stories for Creators page, you need to have at least 10,000 Subscribers to get access to YouTube Stories, this doesn’t mean that there are Creators out there who are well under that threshold and are still able to upload and record Stories.
If you’ve recently hit the 10,000 Subscriber mark, they also revealed that you may need to wait up to 6 weeks so that the feature will be rolled out to you. And you also have to use a Compatible phone so that the YouTube app can display the feature.
Where do you find YouTube Stories?
YouTube Stories are now featured in a lot more places in the YouTube app, you can see them on the Main front page of the app after scrolling down just a little bit and you can also view the analytics of some of the stories you’ve posted in there as well.
There’s also a deductible for YouTube Stories on The Subscription page when you scroll down a little bit.
The fact that your Stories can be pushed to viewers who aren’t Subscribed to your channel means that YouTube Stories is a viable way to increase your Subscriber Base, take advantage of it!
How do you Make YouTube Stories?
You should open the YouTube Mobile app first, then on the Main front page scroll down a bit, you should now see where the stories are featured.
The first story has a plus button and is followed by your life story, then stories from other YouTube Creators.
Clicking on the First Story which bears the ‘+’ button will enable you to create or make YouTube Stories.
That’s just one way to do it, another comfortable way to upload or make YouTube Stories is to use the ‘+’ button at the bottom center part of the app.
You simply click on the button, then Select Add Story, that is also how you can be able to check if you’ve got access to the YouTube Stories to feature ASAP.
FAQs
Can YouTube Stories be Monetized?
While Ads cannot be displayed on YouTube Stories, as a creator, you can use the feature to send viewers to your new or trending video which has monetization enabled.
How Long can YouTube Stories be?
YouTube Stories can only last as long as 15 Seconds, if it’s necessary that you’ll make Stories longer than that, you have to chop your video into different 15 Second Clips and upload them one after the other.
How Long do YouTube Stories last?
Unlike Instagram Stories, YouTube Stories have a lifespan of 7 days. Within those 7 days, your Story will be reaching your Subscribers and people who’ve engaged with your content.
Conclusion
As you should have known by now, YouTube Stories are a great medium for you to reach a wider audience, get more views on your videos, and most certainly get more Subscribers…
YouTube is trying hard to beat both Instagram and Facebook to the Stories feature so the algorithm will no doubt be promoting Stories now more than ever.
Upload long-form videos and shorts consistently, when you get up to 10,000 Subscribers, the YouTube Stories feature will now be accessible to you, all you now need to do is to leverage it and scale to 100,000 Subscribers and more.
Have any questions on YouTube Stories? Feel Free to ask me in the comments section below…
