If you have a YouTube channel, there’s a good chance you’ve heard of something called an Instant Premiere.
When creators upload videos to YouTube, they have four main publishing options under the Visibility Tab.
- Publish their video immediately
- Publish their video immediately with an Instant Premiere
- Schedule their video for a later date
- Schedule it for a later date with a Premiere
And these options can sometimes be a tad confusing for a newbie YouTuber.
In this article, I’ll be breaking down all of the details on YouTube Premieres and Instant Premieres. I will show you what they look like and how they work. I will also talk about whether or not you should be using them.
How to create an Instant Premiere on YouTube
- Open YouTube on your computer
- At the top of the page, click Create, then click on Upload Videos
- Select your video to upload and enter video details
- To immediately premiere the video, click Save or Publish, then Public, then Set as Instant Premiere.
- Click Done.
The video will premiere when the video finishes processing. You can also create a Premiere when uploading a video from the YouTube app from the Set Visibility page
What does Instant Premiere on YouTube mean?
When you select the Instant Premiere button on YouTube and click on your video’s live link, you’ll be taken to a premiere watch page. The premiere watch page will feature a 2-minute countdown clock (by default) and a chat box. You will also hear some audio in the form of music during the countdown.
Accounts with over 1000 subscribers are allowed to change their countdown theme, music and countdown duration. These larger accounts are also able to set a video trailer.
The aesthetics are reminiscent of an old-school music video or movie premiere.
If your subscribers have push notifications enabled and have turned on the notification bell for your channel, they will also receive an alert on their mobile device that a new video is about to premiere. Triggering this push notification is a great way of getting more eyeballs on your latest video content.
When the 2-minute countdown clock strikes zero, your new video will begin.
You will be able to interact with the live chat feature for the duration until the video finishes. It’s almost like throwing your own virtual watch party.
Normal scheduled YouTube Premieres work the same way, only they are scheduled for a later date or time in the future.
Both types of Premieres will produce an instant URL that you can use to promote your YouTube video on social media. If you’re using Scheduled Premieres rather than Instant, you can even encourage your followers to set reminders for the big debut.
And here’s the best news – there is no minimum number of subscribers needed to use this functionality and you can set an Instant Premiere either on a desktop browser or the YouTube App.
To see exactly what an Instant Premiere looks like by default, check out my brief video overview below.
What is the difference between Premiere and Upload?
The difference between a normal upload and a Premiere is that a normal upload won’t include a live chat box or a countdown clock.
It also won’t send a push notification unless you specifically select the “publish to subscriptions feed and notify subscribers” option under the Advanced Tab.
Essentially, video Premieres come with all the extra bells and whistles, while traditional YouTube video uploads do not.
Should you set an Instant Premiere on YouTube?
Yes, I believe Instant Premieres can be a great asset to creators because they are a great way to alert your subscribers when new content is published. They can be helpful in a pinch when you’ve forgotten to schedule your video beforehand. They are also helpful for unplanned, impromptu videos and announcements.
But with that said, I prefer Scheduled Premieres for automation, consistency and promotion. Nothing beats having a URL that I can use to direct users to the soon-to-be Premiere page where they can preview my custom thumbnail and set a reminder to watch the video at a later date.
Have you ever used Instant Premieres to promote an upcoming video? What do you think of the functionality? Let me know in the comments below and don’t forget to connect with me on social media.
I want to try it but unsure if my baby and toddler channel offers this.
Unsure if the advice is good for childrens content?
This works for all channels and all niches!
The author does an excellent job of breaking down the features of Instant Premiere, making it easy for readers to understand how to use this tool effectively. I particularly appreciated the real-life examples and step-by-step instructions provided, which will undoubtedly be helpful for content creators looking to take advantage of this feature.
Thanks Morgan Overholt