Mixed Playlist & Getting Visitors

[KiddieToysReview]

We have seen a popular channel do something with playlists we have not seen often, and are wondering if it helps them to get viewers/subscribers:

They create a playlist, lets' say "Play Doh Toys", and add several of their own videos into the playlist. Then they add other Play Doh videos with high views from other popular high-sub channels.

If their playlist then ranks high in YT search (due to inclusion of the high view videos from other popular channels), would this drive visitors to their channel/videos?

Any ideas would be appreciated. Personally we are not fans of the strategy, and prefer our own playlists to have only our videos. But we are open to suggestions. Especially if others had had success doing something like this.

Thanks!!

 

[Time Jacker]

We have seen a popular channel do something with playlists we have not seen often, and are wondering if it helps them to get viewers/subscribers:

They create a playlist, lets' say "Play Doh Toys", and add several of their own videos into the playlist. Then they add other Play Doh videos with high views from other popular high-sub channels.

If their playlist then ranks high in YT search (due to inclusion of the high view videos from other popular channels), would this drive visitors to their channel/videos?

Any ideas would be appreciated. Personally we are not fans of the strategy, and prefer our own playlists to have only our videos. But we are open to suggestions. Especially if others had had success doing something like this.

Thanks!!

I can see how it could work. If those other videos are more likely to come up in search as part of that playlist, then it naturally leads visitors to your channel if they stick to the playlist. Altruistically, it's also a good idea; you're providing something of value for your target audience. However, I guess the danger is that you're showing existing viewers to the exit and straight to the competition, so I can see your reluctance and possibly share it.

As an aside, I see you have a relatively small number of videos, the oldest of which is a month old. You've got 600 subscribers and a good level of engagement. I'd be interested in hearing a little bit about your own growth!

 

[darkstarmedia]

I certainly don't see why not. You're more likely to discover/subscribe to someone based on their content rather than the playlists they create, so slipping some of your own videos into the mix is a nice way of grabbing some additional numbers.

 

[xingcat]

That sounds like a really compelling technique! I don't know how many people play playlists straight through, but I guess a bunch do, since the playlist concept still seems quite popular. Thanks for the tip.

 

[Redford1900]

I don't really know, but it might be something to try as an experiment and see how it works out.

 

[DogsAreAwesome]

I tried something like that once and I had good results.. But I prefer having my own playlists with my videos..

 

[KiddieToysReview]

I tried something like that once and I had good results.. But I prefer having my own playlists with my videos..

Thanks for the feedback - I definitely agree with having your own playlists, but perhaps have a few extra ones that are compilations of the best videos from others in addition to your own. For example for our channel, we have a "Play Doh" playlist just with our videos. But I will also make one called something like "Our favorite Play doh videos with kids" and put others' videos in that, in addition to our own.[DOUBLEPOST=1453983167,1453983106][/DOUBLEPOST]

I certainly don't see why not. You're more likely to discover/subscribe to someone based on their content rather than the playlists they create, so slipping some of your own videos into the mix is a nice way of grabbing some additional numbers.

Yep, true. Will experiment and see what happens.[DOUBLEPOST=1453983487][/DOUBLEPOST]

As an aside, I see you have a relatively small number of videos, the oldest of which is a month old. You've got 600 subscribers and a good level of engagement. I'd be interested in hearing a little bit about your own growth!

We engage a lot on social media. We are active on Instagram, and got no less than 100 of our subs from there. A few dozen from Twitter, plus perhaps 100 or so via our FB page. The rest have come via YT. In the first 2 weeks we reached out to other young channels, asking for suggestions, subbing and commenting and sharing their videos. We've had a very high reply/feedback rate and have developed 2 or 3 dozen good relationships. A strategy that words extremely well is sharing other's videos - if we like a video, we comment, like, and share across the social media they have accounts on: either G+, Twitter, or both. That encourages them to check out who is sharing their videos, and return the favor. Something like that, but it's early days yet, still lots to learn.

 

[Time Jacker]

We engage a lot on social media. We are active on Instagram, and got no less than 100 of our subs from there. A few dozen from Twitter, plus perhaps 100 or so via our FB page. The rest have come via YT. In the first 2 weeks we reached out to other young channels, asking for suggestions, subbing and commenting and sharing their videos. We've had a very high reply/feedback rate and have developed 2 or 3 dozen good relationships. A strategy that words extremely well is sharing other's videos - if we like a video, we comment, like, and share across the social media they have accounts on: either G+, Twitter, or both. That encourages them to check out who is sharing their videos, and return the favor. Something like that, but it's early days yet, still lots to learn.

That's really great to hear and just goes to show how important networking is. Thanks for sharing!

 

[CalijaVG]

As Time Jacker mentioned you are at risk of showing the viewer your competition but you're also more than likely getting that same viewer to think "Well they're in a play list with these big Youtubers so they must be good".

Yes you'll lose some that'll go straight to the bigger guys but what you'll gain out of it will probably be better

 

[KiddieToysReview]

As Time Jacker mentioned you are at risk of showing the viewer your competition but you're also more than likely getting that same viewer to think "Well they're in a play list with these big Youtubers so they must be good".

Yes you'll lose some that'll go straight to the bigger guys but what you'll gain out of it will probably be better

I wonder if there would be any algorithmic associations built up by YT/Google if the playlist does get clicked often and your videos are watched more often right before/after the more popular videos?
Would be a greater chance that your channel will show up on "Related Channels" and videos on the Right Sidebar?