Does anyone have any ideas on how to attract more people to your channel?
YouTube Question Attracting More People
- Thread starter Wackyimpressionguy
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You just have to make good content that provides value. Thats almost always what it boils down to. If people are watching your content longer and your channel does better, it will be recommended to more people. Ranking on search can help and thats where tubebuddy's seo helps.
YouTube is a search engine, by making content that do well in the search results you will get more views. After that it's of course up to the quality of your content if they stick around and watch more of your videos or if they leave after 30 seconds and never come back.
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The single best thing you can do is to get in front of the most eyes possible and give those eyes something that compels them to click. This requires a couple things:
1. You need to make a video that performs well and is watched thoroughly. This will cause the video to rank in Search as well as make it into the Browse, Home and Suggested feeds. This alone will put you in front of more eyes than you could get from any other source of marketing.
2. Once you have a well-performing video that is getting served out you need to capitalize on that traffic by enticing them to click. You need captivating and compelling titles with curiosity-enducing thumbnails to capture these viewers.
3. Finally you need something that compels them to stick around. Not just for the video; give them a reason to want to stay for another. Give them the resources they need to jump in to more videos; endscreens, cards, links to more videos in pinned comments and your description along with verbal cues and directions for these resources. The best videos don't just cause a viewer to want to see more... they cause the viewer to want to share it with their friends. Once that is achieved you will have uncovered the secret of virality and that is how you ultimately attract the most people to your channel.
1. You need to make a video that performs well and is watched thoroughly. This will cause the video to rank in Search as well as make it into the Browse, Home and Suggested feeds. This alone will put you in front of more eyes than you could get from any other source of marketing.
2. Once you have a well-performing video that is getting served out you need to capitalize on that traffic by enticing them to click. You need captivating and compelling titles with curiosity-enducing thumbnails to capture these viewers.
3. Finally you need something that compels them to stick around. Not just for the video; give them a reason to want to stay for another. Give them the resources they need to jump in to more videos; endscreens, cards, links to more videos in pinned comments and your description along with verbal cues and directions for these resources. The best videos don't just cause a viewer to want to see more... they cause the viewer to want to share it with their friends. Once that is achieved you will have uncovered the secret of virality and that is how you ultimately attract the most people to your channel.
In addition to everything @Stanley OrchardBuddy said...
Another issue is do you have a sufficient number of videos in your channel as entry points? The more videos you have (presumably of reasonably good quality), the greater the chance you will bring in more viewers. Your chances of bringing in more viewers are much better when you have over 100 decent videos vs. 10 videos (no matter how good those 10 videos might be).
Getting people to stick around is the easy part. It's simply a matter of applying proven motion picture methods developed over the past 100 years or so. I tell everyone to start with, "How to Shoot Video That Doesn't Suck," by Steve Stockman.
Thanks @Damon, that was great! I found Steve Stockman's book trailer (video) which gives a great summary of his high points. I like his summary of principles. Excellent. Totally agree with him.
I was surprised that several principles he describes apply just as well to thumbnails. (Paraphrased)
1. Get the whites of their eyes.
2. Best light source behind the camera
3. Get close to capture the eyes and face to tell the story
4. Shoot in short segments
And, the book is written in an almost comic book style. It illustrates each point well and the chapters are short. There are also practical exercises. The sad part is it only takes two weeks to learn everything you need to film a movie, yet the #1 thing people should spend their time on is neglected by 90%+ of every video I see on YouTube. The reality most people either don't know how bad their videos are, or they don't care. They mostly only want subscribers and views.
When I first came to TubeBuddy, I decided to work on the videography. All the other stuff like SEO and thumbnails even were addressed as an after thought. Most people focus everything on the SEO, views, subscribers, yet they neglect the #1 most important thing, make a watchable video.
Most people say, "Make awesome content!" However, most never talk about how to do so. Many have never studied the language of motion picture, yet expect millions of views and hundreds of thousands of subscribers just because they hit the record button, blabbering their mouths off to the camera.
While there have been some who have risen to popularity as mentioned above, the error most people make is copying someone "successful." Yet, the person they ascribe as being successful actually makes horrible videos. This has set a precedent for horrible video across the platform over the years.
I can ascribe the only real reason I have made any inroads on YouTube was because I focused on using proven film making methods in my videos. People watch and see something they don't see anywhere else unless they're watching another filmmaker.
When I first came to TubeBuddy, I decided to work on the videography. All the other stuff like SEO and thumbnails even were addressed as an after thought. Most people focus everything on the SEO, views, subscribers, yet they neglect the #1 most important thing, make a watchable video.
Most people say, "Make awesome content!" However, most never talk about how to do so. Many have never studied the language of motion picture, yet expect millions of views and hundreds of thousands of subscribers just because they hit the record button, blabbering their mouths off to the camera.
While there have been some who have risen to popularity as mentioned above, the error most people make is copying someone "successful." Yet, the person they ascribe as being successful actually makes horrible videos. This has set a precedent for horrible video across the platform over the years.
I can ascribe the only real reason I have made any inroads on YouTube was because I focused on using proven film making methods in my videos. People watch and see something they don't see anywhere else unless they're watching another filmmaker.
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Most of my videos are talking head videos. But the few that are not, (fixing washer, heater, Air system) I instinctively applied some of the principles Steve wrote about and they all seem to be doing fairly well. I used a tripod to keep shots stable and I kept segments short. I learned because I paid attention to visual techniques of how newer TV shows and movies keep people's attention (similar to what you advocate). But also, there was no way I could film everything I want in a single video. So I was forced to chunk down and segment everything in my mind.
The point being, if no one else does, I hear you loud and clear. A lot of Steve's principles are really cheap and easy to implement. He made it really easy to understand in that book trailer video! I think if we share his video, people might be able to take the 3 minutes to listen to the major points of his summary.
I just found an interview with Steve Stockman that talks about his principles and his book. This one is about 53 minutes which I will have to listen to later.
View: https://youtu.be/ZIQ6A0JAFBo
Consider me persuaded! However, the phenomena in which you describe began on the premise that anyone can upload a video to YT. It encourages beginners to get started and jump in even if the videos are "terrible". YT has traditionally catered to amateurs and still does. If YT focused on the pros, it would not be as big as it is today. However, over time, as YT matured, some people like yourself realized you have to raise the bar and standards to stand out and do well. I am all for using every edge you can to get ahead.
Hence, this is why people who refuse to evolve and change with the times on YT will get left behind. They will have declining views. Their style will fall out of favor and it will show in the data. We have to keep improving our YT game and I absolutely agree that incorporating videography and filmmaking principles can only help, not hurt.
Just looking at your conversations here, theres a lot of takeaways that I'm seeing. Where can I find this book? I'd like to take a look at it.
I just bought a used copy from Amazon for $6.45 including tax and shipping. I am absolutely sure I will get more value out of it than what I paid. One good nugget and insight will more than pay for itself.
Yeah, Amazon is where I bought my copy: How to Shoot Video That Doesn't Suck. (not an affiliate link.)
