Promoting A Retro Gaming Channel

Parallax Abstraction

Parallax Abstraction

I've Got It
Hey all. So recently, I decided to launch my own foray into the YouTube gaming space by launching a show called Retro Flashback. It's not really a Let's Play series. It is me commentating over game play footage of retro titles but in the interests of showcasing those titles to a new generation of gamers who maybe didn't have the opportunity to grow up with those games as many of us did. My channel also has a new comedy focused co-op Let's Play series I'm doing with a friend. Both are evolving in terms of content and production values but I'm working on them. I'm hoping both shows (especially my retro one) will be a bit unique and stand out from the sea of other gaming content on YouTube.

As you can imagine, I'm trying to figure out ways to promote the channel and bring in more viewers. I always post links to the videos on Reddit but the gaming communities there are so massive that they always get drowned out. I do post them on Twitter as well and have several of my followers retweet them but that's not bringing in a lot of traffic either. Unfortunately, I don't participate in many forums because I stress easily and can't stand the way most gaming forums are. I am on a couple of mature forums but those have low populations.

I don't want to just join a bunch of forums and start posting links to my videos as that will quickly get me banned for spamming, plus it's just rude. However, I don't really have the time or inclination to really establish a presence on forums I would otherwise not be interested in, just so I can promote my videos without being called a spammer. I know, this is not an ideal situation but I have a busy life and am trying to work within the constraints I have.

I'm wondering, does anyone have ideas on good ways to promote a YouTube channel with a lot of retro focused content on it? I don't expect to get a lot of views instantly or anything and I understand that building up an audience takes a lot of time and that's my plan going forward. However, I am at a bit of a loss for good places to get the word out in a way that's appropriate. Thanks all!
 
I had this same question. I have the very same problem, almost to a T! My shares on social networking just get ignored or buried :/
 
BlacklightDemon said:
I had this same question. I have the very same problem, almost to a T! My shares on social networking just get ignored or buried :/
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I understand that a good chunk of my problem is of my own creation. I don't use Facebook, I don't participate in a ton of forums, I don't actually use Reddit very much, yet I'm trying to promote video game related content. I don't use a lot of these things because I don't like participate in immature Internet discourse, yet I'm posting content on YouTube which I mean...well, you've seen comments there. :)

That's kind of why I made my own thread rather than just reading a lot of the other promotional advice threads because it's kind of a unique situation but also one I think I can work within. I did see in another thread that a lot of people suggest posting video responses to relevant videos, which I didn't know you could do as I thought your video responses had to be literally that, responses. But apparently it's also considered appropriate to post a response with a video of yours that's not directly addressing it but is simply something viewers of the video you're responding to might be interested in. I'm considering doing that as many of the retro titles I'm covering have remakes.
 
Parallax Abstraction said:
I understand that a good chunk of my problem is of my own creation. I don't use Facebook, I don't participate in a ton of forums, I don't actually use Reddit very much, yet I'm trying to promote video game related content. I don't use a lot of these things because I don't like participate in immature Internet discourse, yet I'm posting content on YouTube which I mean...well, you've seen comments there. :)

That's kind of why I made my own thread rather than just reading a lot of the other promotional advice threads because it's kind of a unique situation but also one I think I can work within. I did see in another thread that a lot of people suggest posting video responses to relevant videos, which I didn't know you could do as I thought your video responses had to be literally that, responses. But apparently it's also considered appropriate to post a response with a video of yours that's not directly addressing it but is simply something viewers of the video you're responding to might be interested in. I'm considering doing that as many of the retro titles I'm covering have remakes.
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I understand, I have this problem too. I did make a thread about it but it wouldn't let me link it here. There were a few pieces of advice on there, but really I think it's that all my shares get disregarded and I think people rarely click my links :/ I don't spam or constantly advertise so I guess it's just lack of interest...
 
I think you should make a banner for your channel. I know when I went there, I couldn't tell that it was all about retro gaming. That might help retain some viewers. But I know how you feel, its hard to get your videos seen.
 
I'll give you a piece of advice: your angle is retro games, but you're targeting people who don't like/know retro games. I'm not criticizing you, as I love retro games. What I'm saying is I should be your target audience, not people who don't already love retro games. Start within, then move out.

Build cred with people in the demographic (18-35, particularly the higher end) and you will naturally spread beyond. I know it sounds like preaching to the choir, and it is, but exposing people to older ANYTHING when they grew up in a post-era pretty much has to be done from a "friend," and you aren't their friend yet. You need to make yourself viable to people that love retro games and they will do the exposing (which sounds really gross), you just make sure you are the expert on it who it makes sense to refer these "darn kids that need a lesson" to.
 
geekychick said:
I think you should make a banner for your channel. I know when I went there, I couldn't tell that it was all about retro gaming. That might help retain some viewers. But I know how you feel, its hard to get your videos seen.
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You're very right about the channel art. I actually have a request in the relevant forum about that and hope to chat with someone about it tomorrow. An artist I am most certainly not. :)[DOUBLEPOST=1367114306,1367113966][/DOUBLEPOST]
PeterCoffin said:
I'll give you a piece of advice: your angle is retro games, but you're targeting people who don't like/know retro games. I'm not criticizing you, as I love retro games. What I'm saying is I should be your target audience, not people who don't already love retro games. Start within, then move out.

Build cred with people in the demographic (18-35, particularly the higher end) and you will naturally spread beyond. I know it sounds like preaching to the choir, and it is, but exposing people to older ANYTHING when they grew up in a post-era pretty much has to be done from a "friend," and you aren't their friend yet. You need to make yourself viable to people that love retro games and they will do the exposing (which sounds really gross), you just make sure you are the expert on it who it makes sense to refer these "darn kids that need a lesson" to.
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This is very interesting advice, thank you for that. I definitely am interested in having retro gaming enthusiasts view the content as well. Having people who haven't been exposed to retro games get some knowledge of them is a longer term goal but not necessarily something I want to achieve out of the gate. I do figure the type of videos I'm making can also be interesting to retro enthusiasts as well to expose them to titles they may have missed or even to give them a little refresher on games they missed with a little more historical context and such. My biggest challenge right now is getting the word out to people in the demographic you mention.[DOUBLEPOST=1367114557][/DOUBLEPOST]Actually, here's another question I wanted to throw out there. Given the type of content I'm making, do people with perhaps more knowledge than I have an idea what good tags would be? I know good tags are critical to pulling in the type of people you're looking for and I'm trying to use a broad spectrum of them, though I feel it's not yet complete and could use refinement.

Here's an example: One of my most recent videos is of Kirby's Adventure for the NES. The list of tags I have on it is: Retro Flashback, Video Games, Retro Video Games, Kirby's Adventure, NES, Nintendo Entertainment System, Nintendo, HAL Laboratory, Platformer, Wii U, Wii, Virtual Console, Kirby. Most of my other videos have a similar set of tags. Is that enough? Given what the content is, are there key or potentially valuable tags I'm missing that could help bring more people in?

Every time I post a video, I feel there's more I can be doing with the information I submit with it to drive more views but I'm not sure if I'm thinking too much into it or not.
 
The best keyword generator is the search bar. Type in what you would search for to find your own video and look at the autocomplete suggestions - there you go!
 
I'm glad to see that there's a retro commentator! (subbed) I would promote your videos with Adwords, it really does a good job at finding the correct audience for your videos. I use it a lot and it helps a ton. The only con; it costs money. A free way of promotion is by using sites such as: Reddit, Digg, StumbleUpon. I wish you the best of luck man, keep up the great work! :)
 
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