15 YouTube community-building hacks you must know

YouTube is a mainstream social media platform with over 2.7 billion monthly active users worldwide. It’s also considered the second most used search engine after Google.

It’s still a social media platform despite its overarching credentials as an essential search engine, which adds the community-building factor to the equation.

It’s no surprise that the YouTube community plays a pivotal role in the channel’s growth, enabling creators to interact, engage, and respond directly to followers.

Anyway, let’s try to understand what a YouTube community is, where to access it, and how to utilize it to our advantage.

What is a YouTube community?

The YouTube community (Posts) refers to the platform that provides YouTubers and their followers with a space to communicate, build connections, and exchange ideas. A community is a forum where loyal fans are born and get the attention of their favorite creators.

Keep in mind that the term “community” is also used to refer to the community tab available on YouTube channels, which serves as a discussion board between the creator and their followers.

Related Read: 15 benefits of creating a social media community

Generally, a YouTube community refers to the level of interaction between the audience and the creator on the channel, which can be observed in the comments section, through likes and shares, and under community posts.

However, many YouTubers utilize the YouTube community tab (now known as ‘Posts’ in a recent update) to post the latest news or updates about their products or brands. Here’s an example:

Huw Richards is a famous gardening YouTuber from the United Kingdom. Like other YouTube influencers, he also utilizes the community section to share news and updates about his brand.

The importance of the community tab (also known as Posts) for engagement

The community tab, now known as ‘Posts,’ is a vital communication feature on YouTube, enabling YouTube channels to engage with subscribers directly within the platform.

Many top-tier YouTube channels utilize the community tab to publish posts and polls, allowing them to interact with subscribers and update the audience on recent developments. 

It signifies the importance of the community tab (Posts) from the engagement and attention standpoints.

There are four ways to capitalize the community tab on YouTube:

1. Share milestones and achievements

One of the best ways to utilize the community tab (Posts) on YouTube is to share recent milestones and achievements with subscribers. This not only provides an opportunity for interaction but also informs the YouTube algorithm about activity on the channel.

Example: Vox is aware of this strategy. Take a look at their community post:

2. Announce live sessions beforehand

YouTube creators use the community (Posts) tab for various reasons. One important one is to send an update on the channel’s upcoming live sessions. It’s an excellent way to start a conversation even without putting out a video on the channel.

Example: Ramiz Raja is a Pakistani former international cricketer and commentator. He uses the YouTube community section to announce his upcoming live sessions:

Related Read: How to live stream on YouTube in 2025

3. Reveal behind-the-scenes videos

YouTube channels post various updates through community posts. One reason for using the community tab (Posts) for engagement is to reveal behind-the-scenes and sneak peek videos to followers. Some YouTube channels have been doing this for quite some time now.

Example: Architectural Digest is a popular lifestyle brand that covers all aspects of architecture, interior design, and home decor. They shared a behind-the-scenes video link on their community post section. Here’s the screenshot:

4. Drive viewers to the published videos

The community (Posts) tab is popular because it can drive viewership to existing or newly published videos. In fact, YouTube creators can also share others’ videos. This tab can drive viewers to the videos and increase engagement metrics, such as views, likes, and comments.

Example: Charles Dowding is a legendary British gardener and market grower who has over 40 years of experience in gardening. He uses community posts to drive viewers to the published videos:

Key features of the YouTube community tab

Let’s take a quick look at some of the main features of the YouTube community tab (Posts) and try to understand how to capitalize it:

• Post publishing/scheduling

The main feature of the community (Posts) tab is publishing posts for subscribers. The posts can be about channel updates, breaking news, or a greeting. Moreover, YouTube channels can also schedule posts in advance using the default scheduling feature.

• Multiple post types

The community (Posts) tab is an incredible engagement hub for YouTube creators to interact with subscribers without creating a video. Users can post or schedule different types of content on the community tab, including images, image polls, text polls, quizzes, and videos. So, the ability to post different types of content on the community tab is pretty helpful.

• Engagement signals

The YouTube community (Posts) tab doesn’t have an analytics section. However, underneath every community tab post, there are engagement buttons, such as likes, dislikes, comments, and shares, that send out engagement signals to the viewers. So, that’s a useful feature of this section.

• Separate tabs as per post status

One of the key features of the YouTube community (Posts) tab is that it has separate tabs for published, scheduled, and archived posts. The best part is that the user doesn’t have to categorize the posts; YouTube does it automatically.

• Post-editing and deletion 

An important feature of the YouTube community (Posts) tab is that it allows users to edit or delete community posts. So, don’t worry if you have a typo in the post or feel that your post doesn’t seem appropriate. You can always edit or delete the post.

So, these are features of the YouTube community section.

15 effective hacks for leveraging the community (Posts) tab

The community (Posts) tab is no joke. The community posts can bring in some serious numbers for the channel depending on the engagement, click-through rate, and subscriber base. Let’s take a look at 15 hacks for leveraging the community tab:

1. Schedule community posts in advance

You must have heard about scheduling social media posts, but scheduling community posts might surprise many. 

YouTube provides a feature to schedule community posts instead of publishing them immediately. All you have to do is click on the drop-down arrow on the post button and select the schedule option. One doesn’t necessarily need a third-party tool to schedule community posts in advance.

On the other hand, ContentStudio is an excellent choice for scheduling social media posts across multiple social media platforms. It lets users publish, schedule, manage, and analyze social media content under the same umbrella. Sign up for a 14-day free trial.

2. Drive viewers to other social media profiles

One of the hacks for leveraging the community (Posts) tab is that one can drive YouTube audience to other social media profiles, such as Facebook page, Instagram account, TikTok profile, etc. All they have to do is to provide the respective link in the community post.

The link can be to a relevant post or the profile depending on the requirement. However, make sure that the link matches the context of the community post. Otherwise, the audience might not bother clicking on the social media profile’s link.

Optimum is a tech YouTuber who knows the power of driving YouTube subscribers to other social media platforms. This channel often drives viewers to its Twitch channel:

3. Publish community posts more often

Just try to publish posts consistently to maximize your community posts on YouTube. Most YouTube channels that fail to capitalize on the community (Posts) tab don’t publish community posts more often.

So, you can choose different types of posts or schedule community posts in advance to put out more content through the community (Posts) tab.

Pakwheels is the number one automobile classified ads website in Pakistan. This company aggressively publishes on their community section, and it works for them:

4. Ask questions via polls

One of the hacks for leveraging the YouTube community (Posts) tab is to ask questions by selecting any type of poll post. There are text poll and image poll options available in the community tab.

The benefit of posting a poll is that the audience doesn’t have to brainstorm much. Instead, all they have to do is choose the best answer and click on it. The action is quick, easier, and effective – no wonder asking questions via a poll on the community (Posts) tab is beneficial.

Entertainment Tonight also known as ET asks questions as polls on their YouTube community section:

5. Don’t repeat posts aggressively

Nobody likes to see the same social media post over and over again. So, bear in mind when repeating the same community posts.

You might want to republish a post once or twice after an interval, but try to make a few changes here and there to push the subscribers to pay attention to it. However, try not to repeat community posts aggressively, anyway.

Epic Gardening understands this better than anyone else. This YouTube channel publishes different type of community posts every time. Take a look:

Also Read: How to schedule repeat posts on YouTube

6. Share other content creators’ videos

Every YouTube channel that utilizes the community section loves to promote its videos through community posts. However, promoting others’ YouTube channels’ videos can also get their attention from those YouTube channels.

Ensure you share the relevant YouTube channels and send a decent, polite message through your community posts. Not only can it spark a conversation with those channels, but it can also be a new beginning. So, sometimes, sharing a little video of other creators can go a long way.

Team 121 Creators shared a video of another channel, revealing that it helped him reshare the perspective. It validates the idea of sharing others’ videos in the community section:

7. Tag other creators in the post descriptions

YouTube allows creators to tag (or mention) other creators in the video titles, descriptions, comments, and community posts. Don’t let this opportunity slip away from your hands.

Always tag a channel or creator whenever you can to increase your channel’s visibility, views, and impressions. Some creators will reciprocate the favor, which can benefit your channel immensely.

Paul ET knows the importance of tagging other YouTube channels. Take a look at this example:

8. Announce the release of the new videos

A superb hack for leveraging the community (Posts) tab is to announce the release of new videos. Plus, to add more curiosity, schedule a series of community posts to entice subscribers by sharing a few sneak peeks in short clips or GIF format.

Alternatively, you can write simple text posts to announce the date and time and make similar follow-up text posts explaining the context of the video.

Paul ET often shares the release of new videos across all of his social platforms, including the community section on the YouTube channel:

9. Post channel updates regularly

One way to maximize your YouTube channel’s community (Posts) section is to consistently post channel updates. You can share what you have been up to, what video to expect, who you’re meeting with on the channel, and when the upcoming video is going live.

It allows you to publish community posts regularly and increases the YouTube channel’s visibility on the platform.

Joris Hermans shares the channel updates regularly. He knows that it’s vital to stay connected with the subscribers. Check out the screenshot:

10. Don’t push subscribers to watch your videos

Your subscribers have plenty of chances to watch your videos, especially when you share a couple of times on your community (Posts) tab or social media platforms.

Don’t push them too hard to watch your videos. Instead, find the best time to post on all major social media platforms and publish posts accordingly. Don’t shy away from sharing your videos on the community (Posts) tab at least a couple of times, but don’t aggressively promote your videos repeatedly.

Ali Raja Bagan Bari UK is a gardening YouTube channel where the son-father duo shares its vegetable-growing journey. Instead of pushing subscribers to watch their recent video, they shared their pictures. Check it out:

11. Share a useful hack or tip once in a while

Have you ever come across “pro tip” “-type posts on social media? Well, such small, text-based posts are designed to deliver value upfront without any catch. The purpose is to grasp the attention and increase engagement.

One can utilize the same hack on the community (Posts) tab section. Find simple yet attractive pro tips in your niche and share them occasionally to spice things up. However, it doesn’t necessarily mean you have to publish a “pro tip” only. Instead, you can publish a simple hack or precaution to help the subscribers.

Breanna Quan is a pharmacy student and YouTuber from Canada. She shared her secret hack for preparing for exams. Here’s the screenshot:

12. Reply to the comments on the community posts

Replying to comments works on social media regardless of the platform. One of the best ways to increase engagement on your YouTube channel is to start replying to the comments on the community posts. This will allow the algorithm to notice the user activity on the channel.

It’ll also train the subscribers to comment and expect your replies afterward. This is a surefire way to increase engagement on any social media platform.

Jason Zhao is a YouTube creator who does this very smartly. He replies to the comments in the community section of his channel:

Also Read: How to positively handle negative comments on social media?

13. Include images to grasp the attention

Images are essential on social media platforms. So, don’t rely on text-based community posts. Instead, try to incorporate images into your community posts regularly.

The image-based community posts show up in the feed on the YouTube mobile app for both iOS and Android. To read the complete post, the audience can click through the snippet and open the description.

Pinkhat Photography is a YouTube channel around photography tips and tricks. This YouTube channel often uses pictures in its community posts, which helps them get the audience attention:

14. Use branding on the community posts

One of the hacks for leveraging community posts is to include your branding on the images and videos you share in the community section.

Many YouTube channels always include their logo or a watermark on the images they share on the community (Posts) tab. This is far better than sharing the images without any logo or watermark, which lacks branding.

Read Up: 10 social media branding tips for brands in 2025

ESPNCricinfo does this quite well. It’s a well-known cricket news and updates website that uses its branding on the pictures they share via YouTube community posts. Take a look at the example:

15. Update subscribers about the video delays

Upload delays are normal in the YouTube world. Sometimes, the internet connection causes issues, and the creators fail to upload on time.

It’s best to send a message on the channel to inform subscribers about the video delay, especially if you follow a strict upload schedule. This way, the subscribers will get used to your uploading schedule and show up to watch the video on the given day and time. Use the YouTube community (Posts) tab to update subscribers about the video delays.

Clearview Driving is a British YouTube channel sharing videos about UK driving. This channel updates the subscribers about the video delays through community posts. Here’s the example:

These are some of the best hacks for leveraging the community post section on YouTube.

Conclusion

The YouTube community (Posts) tab is more than just a source of driving viewers to your fresh videos. It can be a fantastic engagement and community-building hub for YouTube channels that lack interaction, communication, and engagement.

I’m sharing several hacks for the community (Posts) tab to help YouTube channels and creators leverage this feature on YouTube without much hassle.

The ultimate goal of a YouTube channel is to grow in numbers, generate income, and create a powerful community – it all begins when the audience likes to interact with the creator.

The community (Posts) tab is another medium through which YouTube channels can converse and interact with the audience.

The above-mentioned hacks for leveraging the community tab provide a bundle of YouTube community post ideas. Handpick the most relevant and suitable ideas for community posts and improve your YouTube channel’s visibility, click-through rate, and engagement.

FAQs about the YouTube community(Posts) tab

Let’s answer some of the common questions about the YouTube community tab:

How many subscribers do you need for the YouTube community? 

YouTube no longer requires a channel to reach a specific subscriber threshold before enabling the community tab. However, the channel must go through the initial verification process through a phone number to get verified to activate several basic features including the community tab.

What are the benefits of the YouTube community?

There are various benefits of the YouTube community section. You can start conversations, increase engagement, improve click-through rate, drive visitors, and share video URLs, etc.

Are YouTube community posts monetized?

No, the YouTube community posts aren’t monetized. However, they can be used to drive the audience to the monetized videos.

How do you find the community posts? 

The subscribers can easily find the community posts from their subscribed channels on the YouTube home feed on mobile devices.

What are the types of community posts?

YouTube channels can post different types of community posts, such as images, image polls, text polls, quizzes, and videos.