Just about everybody whose growth has slowed down, stopped, or reversed asks this question.
Why isn’t my channel growing?
I know I asked it many a time whenever I stagnated, and after 2 years of making videos with minimal growth and over a year of not making videos to look back on it with fresh eyes, I’ll answer that question for myself. Hopefully, you can apply what I’ve learned to your own channels after reading this!
I made Let’s Play videos
There’s nothing wrong with the Let’s Play video format – they’re easy to make, entertaining to watch, and great for regular uploads.
The problem with the great things about it is that tens of thousands of people also make Let’s Plays. It’s a red ocean market – you’re competing with other people. Unless you’re already internet famous, regular Let’s Plays likely won’t get you anywhere – by regular I mean playing a game, talking while doing so, and not doing much in the way of editing. These videos are usually entertaining, but there’s nothing unique about them aside from the person playing them. Your take on a game has to be more interesting and unique to your audience than other people, and unless you have rapport online already, that’s incredibly unlikely.
Additionally, episode numbers dissuade viewers because they imply that the current video requires previous videos for context. Notice how the first video in a series usually has about 4-5 times as many views as episode #23. Only loyal viewers stay for episodic series, and if you have that audience, go you. For the rest of us, we need to be different.
Unique takes on the Let’s Play can lead to growth, (such as through heavy edits, challenges, playing indie games before their release, or many other options), but most people don’t take that route in favor of what’s easy. With college, a job, other commitments, and poor time management, the easy is all I had time for. It’s one major reason I wasn’t growing, especially because I was inconsistent with uploads.
Which leads me to…
I lacked consistent uploads
At my final YouTube year’s beginning, my upload schedule was great. I posted two videos a day, had a solid schedule for what I’d upload, and had a balance between new, indie, and classic games. This lasted for several months, and I had consistent, organic channel growth. However, my personal schedule changed and my recording and editing schedule didn’t adapt. For the last few months of my channel’s existence in 2017, I’ve mostly had one episodic Let’s Play video a day of games people aren’t searching for or interested in – not a formula for growth.
At this point, I did most things wrong to stimulate growth – inconsistent uploads, and poor game choice.
I lacked relevant videos
I primarily recorded the games I wanted to play. As a hobby, Let’s Plays were a way for me to feel productive playing video games, but I, like many others, wanted YouTube to be more than just a hobby. I needed to make videos people searched for or that people shared for me.
Let’s Play style videos with that kind of power can come from Indie Games!
In my days of two uploads a day, I played a couple indie games a week in addition to my main series, and I often contacted developers, posted my videos to their itch.io pages, or shared in the games’ subreddits. Some of these videos had up to 500-1000 views, while others had 0-5. Many Itch.io game developers are usually incredibly open to sharing your videos, since it’s free publicity and review material for them, regardless of the size of your channel. It’s a win-win!
If Indie Games aren’t your style, try to put a unique perspective on what’s relevant right now, and try to promote or share it to the audience you want. Let’s Plays are the worst content possible to share in a subreddit, but tutorials, comedy sketches, montages, and many other Gateway Videos work. Would you rather watch episode #13 of a Let’s Play of a new game, or would you watch an insightful, comedic video that teaches you how to do something in that same game in an entertaining way?
I didn’t make Gateway Videos
Gateway Videos – I’m sure many of you have heard the term, and I’m sure many of you know what they are. For those of you who don’t know, they are essentially videos that require little or no context to enjoy, that have subject matter people might click on by themselves, and that you could successfully share. No Let’s Play is a Gateway Video (unless you have great editing, no episode numbers, and really, really entertaining content). As I mentioned in the previous section, Gateway Videos include and are not limited to: tutorials, montages, funny moments, music videos, comedy sketches, indie spotlights, reviews, and theories.
I didn’t know what type of Gateway Videos I wanted to focus on, and that was one of my biggest weaknesses as a creator. I couldn’t decide, so I didn’t make them. Therefore, my content stagnated – I did nothing new, nothing I could share, and nothing people felt drawn to watch. Rather than making a pile of gateways, I built a wall, and my disengaged viewers were proof of that.
In Summary
I wrote this article as a personal reflection. My channel had many bouts of stagnation, and deep down I always knew why, but I internally complained about it. Why does that person who started a year after I did have 100x as many subs? Don’t I deserve that? The answer is no, I didn’t, because I wasn’t making what attracts and retains viewers. Some people do get lucky without a good explanation, but making better content will make it much more likely to get lucky. Making unique content that won’t get lost in your viewers’ feeds, keeping a regular schedule that makes you easy to follow, and creating shareable, relevant things will all help those formulas work for you.
There’s a lot to think about when your channel isn’t growing. It’s not that you have no talent, bad ideas, or a lack of effort. Apply yourself to what will make your channel grow. That may not be the content you want to make all the time, and if growth isn’t your goal, then keep doing what you enjoy. YouTube, Twitch, and other creative success is attainable. Be consistent, relevant, and engaging to your audience, and it’ll be a matter of time and effort.
Best of luck, everyone.
If you found this article helpful, I have more posts and some social media links~
Thank you again,
-Andy
Andy Cormier 