• Guest - Earn a FREE TubeBuddy Upgrade for being active on the forums! Click Here to learn how you earn free upgrades for TubeBuddy!
  • Guest - TubeBuddy has a discord! Click Here to join in the conversation!

YouTube Opinion The Video Essays Phenomena (Super long-form content)

MattCommand1

On sabbatical
TubeBuddy Pro
Trusted User
1,020
25
Subscriber Goal
5000
I've been hearing seemingly conflicting views to grow your channel. Of course, as all things YT, context matters.

On one hand, there is the generally accepted idea that we need to produce more content to have a bigger library. On the other hand, there are some people like FilmBooth and Mark Rober who espouse the ideas of posting LESS videos but UP the quality a lot.

There is also the growing acceptance that short-form content is no fad and here to stay. Long-form creators and content have to co-exist with short-form creators and their content.

Taking it a step further, there are variations of long-form content. I think people generally accept long-form content as somewhere between 5-15 minutes. Long-form can certainly go much longer but there is the issue and concern that many viewers will not go 15-minutes or longer.

However, in this article (along with other anecdotal things I have seen), super long-form content (60+ minutes) like Video Essays has its place and the viewers who engage in such content are supposedly more devoted and committed viewers.


I have dipped my toes into the water last year with a 20-minute "audio only" video and it is the 2nd largest revenue maker for me so far (partially due to $28 CTR) even though it is definitely not the most viewed-video.

That "video" is primarily an "audio-only" project took a lot more work in the writing. It required me to read a lot of text in a precise manner. Improvising was not a good option. Because there was so much prep work, I took the pressure off myself by foregoing my normal talking-head format.

The point being is that I am intrigued in doing some deep-dive projects such as video essays. @Damon does his videos documentary style and in many ways have adopted many elements of "video essays". It isn't always about "going fast".

I like the idea of attracting more committed and loyal viewers and not grind so much. Getting Tiktok viewers who can only cope with 1-minute videos is not really my audience.

The VOX article is a long one. I am not going to attempt to paraphrase it. But it is a good read for people who are interested in going even longer with their content via Video Essays. Keep in mind, with longer content, there are many more ads that are presented. And with committed long-form viewers you are likely to make more money because they stay around longer and get to know you better.

The point of pursuing video essays is going deeper and longer into a topic or viewpoint.
 
Last edited:
  • Love
Reactions: Damon