I know that subject line was harsh.
But I’ve been on YouTube for a LONG time.
My team and I have done thousands upon thousands of channel reviews. I’ve worked with big name brands to the little guy to the creator who hasn’t even started a channel yet and we’ll meet to go over strategy before they do.
And in that time, I have noticed 5 things creators do that make it hard for people to enjoy their videos (despite how good you might think it is or how hard you worked on it).
- You don’t address the audience directly. When your video is all about YOU and not about your audience and why they should care, you’ll lose them. Your audience is watching a video because it is valuable for THEM, not because they care about you. Eventually, your audience may come to care about you and watch everything you post — but that starts with them enjoying videos that are valuable to them.
- You’re not intentional with your storytelling. With 500+ hours of content being uploaded to YouTube every minute, gone are the days of vlogging aimlessly and generating results. There is now MASSIVE amounts of competition and you can’t just pick up a camera and talk about your day anymore. There HAS to be some sort of point. A story. Some value attached behind it. Just because Peter McKinnon does it… doesn’t mean you can.
- All solutions, no problems. If you want to be an authority in your space, you need to be an ambassador of the problem as MUCH as you are the solution. You need your viewer to feel like you understand their problem. Like you made your video (and solution) specifically because of THEM and their problem. This is powerful because if you’re clear on your viewer and their problem, they will feel like it’s exactly for them AND YouTube will put your videos in front of more people like that.
- You’re giving too much information (or talking too much). We’ve all been beginners at something. Can you imagine trying to learn EVERYTHING that you’re an expert on in 10 minutes? No. That would cause overwhelm. And that’s not how we learn. Try to pick one thing to talk about or teach someone and do it WELL. Simplify it. You’d be surprised at the response you’ll get.
- All telling and no showing OR all showing and no telling. If your B-Roll or footage doesn’t serve what you’re trying to do or the story you’re telling, it’s gotta go. Or if you’re just talking or telling people what’s happening, but not “showing”, it’s gotta go. And this doesn’t mean you need B-Roll. Storytelling is an opportunity to “show” the information we’re giving is accurate. Give context to what’s happening.
Do you resonate with any of these? It’s okay if you do. Let me know how your channel does when you start to implement these changes and listen to the full podcast here.
Thanks for reading! Hope this helps.
Keep changing lives,
Tim
P.S. Want to make sure you’re avoiding YouTube mistakes that could be costing you more views, subscribers, and revenue? Listen to the full podcast on why people aren’t appreciating your videos here.
CREATOR SPOTLIGHT: Mike Bracken worked hard for 6 months to get to 275 subscribers. He knew he was doing something wrong, but wasn’t sure what it was. So he went through, “30 Days to a Better YouTube Channel,” as well as, “Video Labs.” Within a year, he grew by over 17,000 subscribers. Today he shares what his main takeaways where that unlocked growth on his channel. Check out Mike here: https://www.youtube.com/user/FulciVivo
Unlock your YouTube growth with, “30 Days to a Better YouTube Channel,” here: https://videocreators.com/30days