YouTube is the second largest search engine in the world with 2.7 billion active daily users creating an enormous demand for content on the platform. Still, turning YouTube into a profitable channel for business and becoming a viable part of the "creator economy" isn't easy. I know this, personally, from scrapping in the digital media market for a decade.
As I work to understand and leverage YouTube, one thing's certain. There's a lot more to unlocking the secrets to finding success on YouTube than you think.
As is typically the case when first developing something new, ask yourself what you want YouTube to do for your business. Further, per Nate Black, YouTube Coach and Trainer, you may want to ask, "What do you want to do with YouTube?"
Of course, the first part makes perfect sense. You definitely need to align business goals with your YouTube Channel Strategy. But the second question is a more difficult decision.
It's also intriguing, and more so with time and after making some initial videos for my new show, The Marketing Mirror. Maybe I shouldn't call it new as it was introduced nearly a year ago with the quickly abandoned 100TV Network. But the point is that after all the videos I've created for the show, it feels like I'm only at square one.
I'm not sure this is necessarily bad, but it does feel a little between exhilarating (at the idea of revamping and up-leveling the show) and frustrating (that I haven't found my stride yet) to downright scary (is it possible to do this successfully or am I nuts?) that I don't have that winning, compelling, lovable to an audience strategy just yet. But, I didn't quit either. Does that count?
🎧 Listen to The Marketing Mirror on Spotify!
So What's Next to Know About YouTube
What you think you want to produce on YouTube doesn't really matter, and that's a rough one to swallow but an important lesson to surrender to and learn from. I've quoted a YouTube employee before and heard it quoted by many big creators, but the truth is the AUDIENCE is the algo. Further, the AI YouTube uses (since 2013 according to Derral Eves) makes the algorithms everyone's so worried about, less relevant than ever. The AI reads the video itself to know exactly what it's all about and where it fits for them to suggest videos.
This is contrary to the thinking that YouTube works from the viewer side alone. From everything I have viewed, read, or heard, here are a few surprising but key takeaways to think about for your channel you may not be thinking about.
1- The best way to approach keywords (and even hashtags) for YouTube is to focus on user intent. Yep, same as when you are SEO writing for a website or blog. By answering the basic questions around your industry/business/topics, you can create core content with keyword value.
2- How you package your videos is everything. Packaging consists of the title, thumbnail, and metadata. If a thumbnail and/or title doesn’t persuade viewers to click, your video won't be seen, no matter how good it is.
So Packaging Your Videos is Everything
Spending more time and effort on these key components is the first missed opportunity for most YouTube hopefuls. Why? I'm glad you asked because it's hard to admit, but you like the thumbnails you create, and don't "get" what's wrong with them. This is where you need to really do your research to emulate what's working. Notice color, font, perspective, copy, size, and style elements on highly viewed channels or videos. Check out what your favorite channels are doing.
Create for the devices your audience most uses to view your videos. But for now, you need to consider the mobile audience so use a clean and simple design for clarity. Your video thumbnail is like the cover of a book on a crowded bookshelf so make it stand out to get noticed and clicked.
Fewer words are suggested for thumbnail copy along with the the advice to not waste your thumbnail copy space by merely repeating the title. Having unique and appealing copy for the thumbnail gives you extra punch and a second "hook" to draw a viewer to click on your video.
3- Determine a workflow for your video content for a comfortable system or process to create consistently for your channel. When you work from a set workflow, you can expend thinking power on the less automatic pieces, checklists, and repeatable components.
A solid workflow saves you tons of time and aggravation while helping you maintain a regular schedule. Many creators like to "batch" tasks to assist in keeping a tight schedule, even allowing them to work ahead on their channel content. Once you have some content done ahead of schedule, you'll instantly take some of the pressure off. Then you can have more fun creating!
Organizing Your Workflow
Embracing systems and processes for an organized workflow makes video creation go smoother and easier. Your workflow also allows you to see the status of projects and helps you recognize any gaps or hiccups you may want to quickly address.
Further, your workflow may lead to helpful insights for your content strategy and can provide a pipeline showing upcoming, in-progress, and projects in promotions/distribution phases at a glance. Sean Cannell of Think Media suggests you break down your video production into these four parts:
Pre-Production
Production
Post-Production
Distribution
Then, reverse engineer the components and steps for each area. By breaking everything down, a workflow often reveals itself. And, of course, the exact workflow you systemize for your business is unique to you.
Things like the size of your team, resources, tools, and software, type of business/services/products, and more impact how effective workflows, systems, and processes are going to work best for you.
Additionally, the kind of videos you make is very relevant and varies widely for how you'll need to proceed in systemizing things. Factors like whether you shoot indoors or out, use a single or multiple cameras, have one or many speakers, and a million other contingencies are important to think through at this stage.
Of course if you're a solo shop, the workflow is different. Still, create the steps at whatever stage you are in, so you have processes in place as you grow your team. Even for yourself, this helps you stay on track, on schedule, and consistent.
Try High-Production and Low-Production Videos
Mixing high-production and low-production videos on your channel is one way to increase the speed of video creation. Testing this mix is also a way to see what an audience prefers, and the results may surprise some creators. This also revisits that first question about what you want to do on YouTube.
If your videos are strictly about expressing your passion and creativity, for example, the production of your videos may not be as flexible. Again, align this with your content strategy and business or personal goals for your YouTube channel. An educator and a filmmaker have completely different, possibly opposite, ideas for what a good video production consists of.
One of the beautiful things about YouTube is the YOU in it that allows you to create whatever you can conjure up (within certain rules and guidelines) for connecting with and reaching out to people. And when you connect with an audience, the magic happens. This audience, is also a key factor in your video production.
Knowing and understanding your audience allows you to create video content they want and love. This is very tricky but so very very essential to finding any success via YouTube. Honing in on and speaking to your target audience directly is imperative.
Contrary to what many believe, finding, appealing to, and gaining your audience on YouTube takes time and work. It's also rarely an overnight kind of thing so you probably need to resign to make the time commitment necessary to work on your channel.
Time to Grow on YouTube
Time constraints are a common problem for creating videos for business owners, busy content creators, and all of us. And this is why creating workflows, understanding who you are creating for, and why, all matter significantly.
Batching is another technique creators use to save time and increase productivity within their favorite workflows. This means scheduling time to do one project, multiple times, to create a group of assets ready for the next steps, or to incorporate. Eventually, this gives you an inventory of content assets.
Pre-planning, doing research, setting business goals, and creating a meaningful content strategy are all ultimately time-savers, even if there's some work upfront. Taking time to investigate competitors* and industry best practices and standards, while you crystalize your approach, pays off in the long run, plus saves time in wasted work, do-overs, and misguided productions.
*via SWOT Analysis or Competitive Research
Audience research is ongoing as your channel and content evolve, while competitive research gives insights into what's working or not in your industry. You may find a gap to capitalize on or use it to differentiate yourself in the marketplace.
Complacency is a channel killer from what I'm learning, so evolving (like all things digital) is a requirement more than an option for most successful YouTube channels. But to evolve, you need to collect, analyze, and extrapolate pertinent data to make adjustments and improvements.
Measuring results suggests you have a plan to track outcomes. Remember the old rule for correlating objectives to KPI's (key performance indicators) using the SMART framework. That is, to create goals that are specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and timely.
Move the Needle Faster With a Strategic Plan for YouTube
Boy, this is starting to seem like a whole plan! But, notice how malleable it is and how many areas you need to pay attention to, research, and analyze.
One thing I hear the big dogs on YouTube say makes me feel a little better. They contend you need to publish 100 videos before you can expect to 1- grow your channel as you begin to hit your stride and 2- start to do videos that are any good. Phew, that's a relief! lol
I'm doing a ton of research right now and possibly more importantly, I'm thinking hard, going deep, and trying to get hyper-focused on a video-centered (for the first time EVER) content plan. Just to get to the point of needing to have a clear and focused content strategy makes me feel more at home. Oh, and a little mad at myself. Why don't I use what I help other's with all the time? Duh!
A content strategy is in my wheelhouse, something I work on with clients continually, something I study and stay on top of for my projects, and love. Content, content strategy, content mix, content marketing, and business/marketing topics— I'm IN!
Your video content strategy requires deep thought, genuine understanding, and realistic goals and objectives that align to the business results you desire. Now things are making sense because a lot of the data my very tiny channel gives me for much of the above-noted research isn't there, frankly.
Of course doing research around similar creators, favorite channels, successful channels, competitors, etc., is helpful, but getting strategic and thoughtful about who you are, who you create for and how, and what you're trying to accomplish with your YouTube channel is the anchor to the whole deal.
Stupidity or Possibility on YouTube?
Now I'm at the point of taking that critical look at things. Yikes. Are you, too?
This next part is hard to type into this piece, but here goes.
The odds are against me in the big picture, based on research and candid remarks from YouTubers I respect like Roberto Blake, and even many "friends" and colleagues. And trust me, I need and want feedback to improve so this is good to know. But I don't think I'm out, just yet.
Instead, take a deeper look at every single point and position, asking and answering the who, what, where, and why's, deciphering the formula, and gathering information, ideas, and research brings me to take a new, different look at The Marketing Mirror. A more critical look. And perhaps, a more hopeful look, even though some logical thinking tells me something else.
Having the goods is one thing. Presenting it in a winning and notable way is another. Content strategy for video production involves a whole lot more than meets the eye. At first, like me, throwing spaghetti is how you learn— how you try to use video at all, maybe. And "experimenting" is more of a description, perhaps, than "a video presentation." Video editing skills are another whole new world.
Landing on the planet YouTube is a LOT, at least if you're anything like me, venturing from behind my comfortable pen or keyboard!
The content format and creative capabilities moving to video production means looking at content differently, and again, it's making me think. It's faster. Fun. It moves and it's visually appealing. It's not what I I thought it is and the kinds of production and formats that are resonating most with people are not what I've been told (by many many folks) and have been trying to produce.
What's Your Take?
Rethinking things to improve my YouTube Channel may be hard, or impossible, but I guess we'll see how it goes. Designing a solid format, a working formula, to have in place to give the content a framework is one of the ideas for remedies to test.
Thinking about what you want (fun, learning, helpful, and insights, valuable engaging content) and don't want (boring, unexceptional, old news, repeat mill) for your channels' shows is also helpful to frame how you will present/produce the content you deliver. Hat tip, Nate Black!
Connecting the dots from your videos to business goals is also key. In his most recent video (a livestream answering viewer questions), Roberto Blake spells out how your income streams and business revenue strategies need to extend well beyond YouTube to guarantee ongoing success.
Success as a business means being a lot more than a YouTuber, he explains. Still, and Roberto agrees, YouTube is one of the most friendly to the Creator Economy and helps drive business to you off of the platform. If you're smart, says Roberto, you'll be using YouTube to do things like grow your email list, share affiliate links, and bring people into your online courses or membership platform.
Join Inside The Marketing Mirror Membership NOW and Let's Grow Together! ✍️💛🎬🎨
More to Do
Roberto also shares his view on how to sell merchandise, emphasizing platforms conducive to YouTube in particular. He explains his view that it's never too soon to start with your merch offers and how you can do it with a few print-to-order services, giving you no up-front costs.
Another suggestion for content creation to make a better impact on your business using YouTube is to narrow your content focus to showcase a core competency before going wider on topics. Hmmm, this one speaks to me, how about you? And again, this makes sense for responding to user intent, and stocking up on TOFU (top of the funnel or introductory, awareness level) content, a must in a content strategy for most businesses.
Your content strategy also extends beyond producing and publishing content assets. Often, the work you do on the promotions, distribution, and amplification level makes all the difference in the world.
GRAB MY SOCIAL MEDIA GUIDE BELOW FOR THE PERFECT FRAMEWORK to distribute and amplify!
Repurposing video content allows you to showcase key clips on a variety of platforms and use them to draw people back to view your channel. For both audio and video translation using AI for everything from transcripts to quotes to social to posts, Castmagic is my (often mentioned) tool of choice!
Many of the big guys on YouTube like Derral Eves and Roberto too, stress the importance of finding other creators who are also concentrating on growing their YouTube channels. They suggest you form accountability partnerships, regular mastermind meetups, or find learning opportunities with feedback to help you share ideas and information to grow. (I'm all set now on two of the three, but working on it.)
YouTube Live: Another Content Type
Create content in one take doing livestreaming videos. But, also go LIVE on a whole bunch of other platforms at the same time. You can still keep your content library on YouTube. But when Roberto reports viewers watching him LIVE at times, the number is exponentially higher multi-streaming than he gets via only YouTube. It's awesome, surprising, and rather inspiring too!
I have a few favorites in the livestreaming space who continue to inspire and impress with everything they do, keep up on, and share with all of us. One is Stephanie Garcia, promoter of "content confetti" and one of the most skilled live spokespersons I watch.
On top of Stephanie's extraordinary interviews, product and software demos, and tons of other edutainment-rich video content she presents LIVE, her fun and bubbly personality and show-running capabilities shine constantly. Her work is exemplary and inspiring. Stephanie knows her stuff!
Leap Into Live is an annual event by E-Camm LIVE and since it's coming up, you can catch more of Stephanie and get the skinny if you're interested in livestreaming. Livestreaming lets you connect directly with your audience and build a community around your brand. Attending one of the first Leap Into Live Events with Stephanie gave me the confidence and info to try livestreaming in the first place.
Another colleague, friend, and mentor who is a livestreaming dynamo with a very accomplished YouTube channel and an impressive presence on Amazon Shopping is Ileane Smith.
Her laid-back inviting style and engagingly authentic approach to teaching you about everything digital media brings her loyal raving fans. Ileane is a sharer and includer. I can't even count the number of tips, tricks, and insights I've learned from her. She's an industry insider!
Here's a fun video to introduce Ileane...
So What's What on YouTube for Your Business?
Geez, I didn't even mention short-form content or get to really dig in on types of content, storytelling, adjacent platforms, video practices, YouTube's role or place in Social Media and so much more. But hey, that's one of the beauties I'm finding around the YouTube Community— there's always more happening and more to learn. I know Ileane is excited about the products tagging and new carousel options for those in the YouTube Partnership Program, for example.
Watching a lot of Roberto Blake's videos including his string of recent LIVES, I think slapped the silly YouTuber as a business thinking out of me. And getting back to reality is good after a solid three month investigation starting with Think Media's 7-Day Challenge, then moving into Derral Eves' 30 day YouTube Challenge, and tons and tons of separate research as well.
I'm seeing YouTube differently than I did 30, 60, or 90 days ago, that's for sure. I'm thinking about it differently, too. I may have gained more questions than answers, overall, but the many new perspectives found are more than compelling. I'd like to think I can master this, but you never know what's in store.
What I do know is arming yourself with knowledge, doing massive research, observing the masters, and other evolving practices to learn a trade is NEVER a bad thing. Getting feedback, not being afraid to put yourself out there, and experimenting to find your way are all commendable attributes.
Thanks for reading, viewing, listening, and for your support, if you can... xo Sue-Ann