Collaborating - The Right and Wrong Way?

[V3XL0R]

This seems like common sense to me but apparently there is something I'm missing.

If I had to make a choice, my vote is for... Outside of your niche


I can't fathom why makeup guru's only want to collaborate with other makeup gurus. Gamers only want to collab with gamers etc.

Isn't the whole point behind collaborating to touch an audience you will most likely NEVER be able to touch?


Example: If I have a makeup channel chances are I can possibly eventually grab the same audience as another makeup guru. I'm probably already showing in their suggested videos. They may most likely be my direct competition.

If I have a makeup channel and I do a collaboration with a gaming channel, I could potentially pull girl gamers, girlfriends, sisters, moms etc of gamers, as well as gamers who simply think I'm hot.

If I have a cooking channel, wouldn't it be smart to collaborate with a fishing channel? Two totally different niches but most likely there will be people from each side that subscribe to the other. An audience will be gained that most likely would have never happened otherwise.

Doesn't that make more sense?

Doing both is actually the best thing to do but I rarely see that. Most people refuse to collaborate with people outside of their niche. So, what about you?

*edited to add even better example*

To me, I see a collaboration as a win-win, no matter if they're in the same niche as you. Part of the reason that makeup gurus and gamers only collaborate in their own niches is because that's all they know/are skilled at. Most of them aren't as diverse as other YouTubers. For example, though I primarily make music, I have my audio podcasts, let's plays, etc that I do on my channel when I'm not working with music. A lot of YouTubers aren't like that. They're really only good/don't wan't want to go outside of their niche. Another reason they go for their own niche is because that's the people they THINK they want to attract. Just because someone's audience is into your niche doesn't mean that they'll be into your content once you collaborate with the person in the same niche as you. You're gambling for support that they'll subscribe to you because you do the same things as the other collaborator does. I feel as though you should always test your limits and collaborate with whoever. I always thought the whole point behind a collaboration was for the experience and for the fun in it. Like, I've never once thought about what kinds of audiences that I might pull in. It's hard to tell what kind of people you'll attract to your channel because of their diverse interests. A lot of people listen to my music for the first time, and though they don't like the genre of music I make, they like my music because it stands by itself and people seem to attract to it. Though your other examples can be debatable, I agree with lots of points that you have made here. I think in all, you should do all kinds of collaborations with people. It leads into bigger and better things for your channel.

 

[chottom]

What about the third option - collaborating with channels which only partially overlap with your niche. I think these are the best!

 

[slayerkm]

I'm confident in my own content too but there's more to it than that. People only have a finite amount of time they can spend watching videos. Gaining subs is easy - it's views that matter. Views drive growth on YouTube not subs. When people are subbing to lots of channels because of collab videos they've watched or whatever, then sooner or later they have to make a choice who they're going to watch and who they're not going to watch. By collabing with channels outside of your niche, there's less risk of losing views to a direct competitor IMHO.[DOUBLEPOST=1446743353,1446743209][/DOUBLEPOST]

lol

*googles Children of Poseidon*

OMG at staples challenge video ^^

I can relate to this comment.

I enjoy watching daily vloggers and i think so many deserve a sub but ultimately i don't have time in the day to watch all of the videos i'd like to.

for example

I used to religiously watch Fun for Louis and Ben Brown's vlogs Daily. While watching them i was introduced to Casey Neistat via Caisey staring in one of there daily vlogs (Essentially a Collab) and i'm now glued on Caseys vlogs and Casey introduced me to Jessie from PvP and now im glued with him but..

I now only find tme to watch Casey and Jessie meaning even though im subbed to Ben and Louis i no longer watch there videos thus being they have lost views.

 

[XXLRay]

Example: If I have 1,000 subs and Janet has 1,000 subs and a totally different niche and we collab.
If I get 10% of her subs that would be 100 subscribers. but not just 100 subs let's finish the sentence
100 subscribers that I would've NEVER been able to target, see or collect. <<<< that is more than worth the collab alone. I gain 1/10 of my own subs?

But what about Ivan who is in a similar niche and has also 1k subs. You may be able to gain 20% from him. After all it's an optimization problem. You can't collab with all channels out there so you need to pick the ones that gain you the most (let's be honest - we are doing it mainly for selfish reasons).
I furthermore doubt that you gain subs you couldn't have got with a collaboration on a different channel more effectively. If you are a tech channels you won't get people who are only interested in beauty. You may get people who are interested in let's say VHS recorders though. These are much likely subscribed to a (completely made up by my mind) top ten video gear channel. So you could get the people you can get from the beauty channel plus people who are more widely interested in tech if you collaborated with the top ten video gear channel. BAMIWAM - MORE SCORE for the same effort.

 

[PrettyKeli]

But what about Ivan who is in a similar niche and has also 1k subs. You may be able to gain 20% from him. After all it's an optimization problem. You can't collab with all channels out there so you need to pick the ones that gain you the most (let's be honest - we are doing it mainly for selfish reasons).
I furthermore doubt that you gain subs you couldn't have got with a collaboration on a different channel more effectively. If you are a tech channels you won't get people who are only interested in beauty. You may get people who are interested in let's say VHS recorders though. These are much likely subscribed to a (completely made up by my mind) top ten video gear channel. So you could get the people you can get from the beauty channel plus people who are more widely interested in tech if you collaborated with the top ten video gear channel. BAMIWAM - MORE SCORE for the same effort.

This is where I think a lot of people are confused. Collabs are not just about gaining subs, it's also about exposure. Becoming familiar with people who wouldn't have known you existed otherwise.

Example: someone may have watched you do a collab with someone, and they don't subscribe to you. Let's say a month from then they search something and you show up in the top 4. The ods of them clicking your video is highly likely because subconsciously they will feel a connection. Even though they may not remember how they know you or where they have seen you.

As far as your point, once again... who is to say because someone is subscribed to a tech channel they are ONLY interested in tech? My point is why not take the chance?

My main point is to not alienate all options. Yes you should collab with people in the same niche, people in a similar niche, and people that have absolutely nothing to do with your niche at all!

Everything is a gamble a guess and a maybe anyway so why not give it a shot? Why limit yourself on purpose? That's foolish

 

[XXLRay]

Collabs are not just about gaining subs, it's also about exposure. Becoming familiar with people who wouldn't have known you existed otherwise.

Which then results in more views and more subs. We are not doing collabs for exposure per se but for the result. That is all I was trying to say.

The ods of them clicking your video is highly likely because subconsciously they will feel a connection. Even though they may not remember how they know you or where they have seen you.

But only if they are interested in my content and such people are much more likely to be found in a similar niche. People who are not at all interested in your content and click on your video only because they have seen you before actually can hurt your channel. They are much more likely to click away early because they didn't find anything that is interesting for them. This then results in lower audience retention and thus in lower YouTube rankings.

... who is to say because someone is subscribed to a tech channel they are ONLY interested in tech? My point is why not take the chance

Well statistics says so. Somebody who is subscribed to solely pet channels although he knows there are tech channels out there may simply not be interested in tech. My point is that you can take a better chance.

Everything is a gamble a guess and a maybe anyway so why not give it a shot? Why limit yourself on purpose? That's foolish

Not everything is a gamble. I am not limiting myself but taking the best of multiple options I have. If I knew I would draw 0.1% of a million sub channel that is completely unrelated to mine (resulting in 10k subs) I would rather take that chance than drawing 10% from a 10k sub channel (resulting in "only" 1k subs).

Disclaimer: Subs is here just used as a representative value for channel growth general which could also occur in increasing views, interaction, etc..

 

[PrettyKeli]

But only if they are interested in my content and such people are much more likely to be found in a similar niche. People who are not at all interested in your content and click on your video only because they have seen you before actually can hurt your channel. They are much more likely to click away early because they didn't find anything that is interesting for them. This then results in lower audience retention and thus in lower YouTube rankings.

In the example I gave, people will click on your content because you are answering a question they asked and you have a familiar face. At that point it would be up to you to have a quality video and keep their attention. That would no longer be an issue of separate niches etc. If that person left early that would purely be your fault.

Well statistics says so. Somebody who is subscribed to solely pet channels although he knows there are tech channels out there may simply not be interested in tech. My point is that you can take a better chance.

I know plenty of people who have done collabs within their niche and seen moderate results, but then when they stepped outside of their niche (outside of the box) they received wayyyyyyy more views and subs. Forget statistics, let's go off of analytics lol seriously! Nobody on here is getting my point so for the month of December I'm going to do at least 2 collabs outside of my niche, 2 similar to my niche, and 2 with the same niche and show you all the results. You will be shocked, my point will be proven.

Not everything is a gamble. I am not limiting myself but taking the best of multiple options I have. If I knew I would draw 0.1% of a million sub channel that is completely unrelated to mine (resulting in 10k subs) I would rather take that chance than drawing 10% from a 10k sub channel (resulting in "only" 1k subs).

Everything is truly a gamble, especially if you play the "what if" game. What if they don't like my content because it's a totally dif niche? What if they don't like your content and it's the same exact niche? It's all a gamble.As far as your example my whole point is, why not do both? As you know with YT it's not about what you can gain, it's about what you can keep. The smaller channel might bring in a more loyal following etc. etc.

Many of you are not going to change your minds on this topic and that's fine. I simply want to give you the opportunity to open your minds and take advantage of other opportunities.If you choose to stay in your niche only? Good Luck ^_^

 

[XXLRay]

In the example I gave, people will click on your content because you are answering a question they asked and you have a familiar face.

When I am answering a question they are interested in they are much likely already subscribed to a similar channel like mine which would have been the better collaboration partner then.
Nobody could e.g. make me watch a (pure) beauty channel even if it made the best beauty videos in the world. I am simply not interested in lipsticks. Rather would I probably unsubscribe from a channel that keeps recommending nonsense to me.

I know plenty of people who have done collabs within their niche and seen moderate results, but then when they stepped outside of their niche (outside of the box) they received wayyyyyyy more views and subs.

This may well be true for niches that are very saturated like gaming. There is hardly anything a new channel can offer that other channels a viewer is already subscribed to doesn't already have.

so for the month of December I'm going to do at least 2 collabs outside of my niche, 2 similar to my niche, and 2 with the same niche and show you all the results.

That's a great idea and I honestly thank you for making that effort.

What if they don't like my content because it's a totally dif niche? What if they don't like your content and it's the same exact niche?

They like one channel with that content so chances are very high that they like similar content. That's why YouTube's recommended section simply works.

why not do both?

I don't have time for both.

If you choose to stay in your niche only?

I didn't say that. From all I know (and what already has been stated by others) you get the best results from channels that are only somehow related but not exactly the same.

 

[TheKirkyLife]

This has been a fascinating subject to read, Keli. Thank you for bringing it up!

In my opinion there is no clear cut 'right' or 'wrong' way to do things. For example, you ask me "James, I'd like to do a collab with you" and even though your channel is totally different to mine I would jump on the opportunity. You seem like a really fun person to work with but then from a selfish point of view I get a load more exposure. THAT SAID, even though I might get subscribers I would be very interested to see how many of those people then get fully involved in my channel and on the flip side how many would end up leaving! Plus, there's how much would you gain from me being on your channel? It's why I guess people collabing around the same amount of subscribers is the way to go - as for what content you make, it's everyone's own channels - do what you want

 

[TranquilGeo]

I voted outside. As a viewer, I get tired of the same type video all the time from 10 different people. As a creator, there really isn't much chance to make colabs unless I do so with other musicians or other nature video makers who live in a different state or country I don't have access to.