It is SUPER common for creators to plateau in their YouTube journey and it is very frustrating. What used to get results isn’t working any more and you can’t figure out why. What you really need is a proven strategy that will break that barrier and help you gain some traction, and begin to pull in a bigger audience. That’s what we are going to talk about today.
The Dreaded Plateau
Maybe you find yourself here. You want to get momentum again, but you are stuck with the same number of views and subs. And to make it worse, you see your competitors around you passing you by. You begin to feel rejected as your channel starts to decline. It starts to feel personal and makes you just want to quit. What can we do?
Search for Patterns
What have you done recently? What have you done in the past? Has anything changed? Look at those analytics and try to make some data-driven decisions. This will help push you forward in the right direction instead of just groping in the dark.
Look in your audience retention graph. If you always start the same way and have the same decline right at the beginning, change it up! Do it for several videos and see if it changes the results.
Don’t be afraid to do something different! Take a hard left turn – not in your value prop or target audience, but completely change the format. See how that changes things and compare the data. Get uncomfortable! It’ll spark creativity and grow your passion as well.
Focus on Discoverability
A great way to do this is with YouTube Shorts. If you haven’t played around with these, this is a great way to grab new viewers attention with a lot less effort. It’s fun having a totally different type of format and can help spark your creativity. Now, don’t just clip your existing content (like we are 100% guilty of doing). If that content isn’t bringing in new people, why would small portions of that content do so? Instead, try something totally different. Get uncomfortable and have some fun.
I personally haven’t been making shorts with my personal podcast – even just small clips of the content, just due to the added work. But someone recommended to me a program called Descript and I really like it! It transcribes the video and then you just edit the video like you would a word document. It’s great, especially for audio-only formats. It also helps know where the little golden nuggets are without having to rewatch the video over and over.
Get Inspired
Who else inspires you in your space? Who goes after the same type of audience? The suggested feed is a very under utilized tool. Don’t copy the videos of others, but take inspiration from it. Can you make a really good part two to one of their videos? Or can you make a better version of their video? Try it and see what happens!
Reinvent Yourself
Some people have genuinely tapped out their audience. The niche is little and you’ve really reached just about everyone there. In this case, ask yourself how you can keep the same value, but broaden the audience. Not in a way that would alienate the core audience, but something that’s more accessible for more people.
There is a life cycle for every channel. Every sitcom or band has a great run and then can fizzle out. The brand needs to reinvent themselves in order to stay relevant for decades. Don’t have such a tight grip that you never can change. There is obviously risk involved with changing, but there’s also a huge risk involved in never changing. Let’s try some new creeds and new rituals and other primal branding elements. Many times these things need to be refreshed every 2-3 years. Involve your audience, dip into community strategies, get them talking, go live, and experiment with new discoverable strategies. Get yourself freed from that plateau no matter what it takes.
Power Tip
YouTube has connected Area 120 to give you the ability to dub your own videos – completely free. 80% of world doesn’t speak English, so this is a great tool to increase your reach to new audiences. You can sign up on the waitlist to use “Aloud” at Aloud.ai to become a trusted tester.