OntheWrist Video Review

[Nicekid76]

@OntheWrist asked me to share this video with people who would give him brutally honest feedback. so I'm tagging 3 of the people I think are most brutally honest / honest on the forum.

• @Jack Decker
• @LandyVlad
• @Vedstedsen

You 3 always give good feedback so give it a look and feel free to rip it apart. Any amount of time will be appreciated. Hope you don't mind getting tagged

Obviously everyone can give feedback, but i really want him to get feedback from you 3

fyi to OnTheWritst - I'll also be giving my feedback later today - after i eat dinner

​

 

[Nicekid76]

If you are going to write your own feedback about the video, I suggest not reading my feedback. I don't want to affect your opinions.

• I'm not in your target audience as I don't care about watches that much, but I am someone who has a mild interest in skeleton watches and someone who is a scuba diver. So a watch that goes does 600m is very interesting.
• The text in your thumbnail is sort of close to your skin color. This makes it hard to read at the Youtube "recommended video" thumbnail size. I suggest after making your thumbnail, to zoom out and see if it still works at a small size. Higher contrast text is better in my opinion.
• You didn't ask about this but i don't understand why your thumbnail branding jumps around between each video. that probably won't bother most people though. In the smaller ones, your branding is basically unreadable. (See image below)
• I think your intro is on screen for 16 seconds. Personally that is too long and I think you might find you get a lot of people skipping the intro or people abandoning the video all together in that time. I don't speak for everyone, but if I was regularly watching your videos, I would just get used to skipping the first 20 seconds to get past the intro.
• The specs you have on the screen at 3min is way to "busy". The moment that came up on screen my brain basically ignored it. I would suggest creating multiple "slides" of information instead of having all the specs on screen all at the same time. Maybe 3 specs at any point.
• I think this video would work a lot better if it was a lot shorter. But I'm not a watch person.
  
  • Personally I started checking the time at around 4 min, at 6 min and at 9 min.
  • For now I paused at around 11 min though i did skip around the rest of it.
  • I was watching it at 1x speed, but typically i would be watching a video like this at 2x speed.
• Not quite sure how to say this but, I think (for me) I don't need a section of just spec, I would interweave the spec into the dial detail and back section.
• There's a few things I feel like you repeated multiple times between the Technical Specifications section, the Dial Details, and Exhibition Back Close Up. I'm sure the idea was that you were going to go into more detail in the later chapters, but I was confused why i was hearing about a similar thing twice.
• Your camera or your table is shaking. It's noticeable sometimes at 1x and it's really noticeable at 2x
• From what I can tell you don't actually recommend the watch until 19:45 seconds, which is fine, but I'm not sure how many people are making it that far into the video. (check your audience retention chart)

I like your:

• use of chapters
• channel name
• your point of view and taste in watches.
• from what I can see in your comments, it looks like your audience really loves your videos. I wonder what your audience retention says though.

This almost feel like the kind of video the official company would make, which I think is good for people who want the details. You feel like you could be a brand ambassador. That being said, I'm personally more likely to read a product page for the specs.
I learned a lot from the video

If I could give you some homework, it would be to reedit this video to be 5 min long. You don't need to post it, but you will learn a lot about this video as you have to make choices about what is critical for the video to work verse what isn't. I think that could help inform how you edit, but that's my two cents.

 

[Vedstedsen]

I bought a decent Tissot lately. I spend a lot of time on YouTube and google to find the right match. I have skinny wrists, so I was usually interested in how the watch would look on a small wrist.

Lets get into it.

1. Voice. Your voice is good and clear. It does need some umph and you could speak louder.

2. Intro. I dislike it. I don't like the music. I don't expect you to go the EDM route, but intro music shouldn't make you fall asleep. It should make you ready
for the content.
- 2.2 The footage has some odd stripes. The video quality in the intro is bad.



3. The build up and information in the video is good.

4. More b-roll. You are just holding the watch for 95% of the video. Throw in plenty of b-roll.
More angles, you putting it on and off. etc. It will bring more life and energy to the video.

 

[OntheWrist]

Thank you both very much for your detailed feedback! As some background, the reason why I think this one came out so well is basically the reaction. There have been a ton of comments (for my videos) and a sustained high level of views per day (for my channel). So to me that said that whatever viewer base I'm getting is engaging with this type of content.

A comments to your points @Nicekid76 :

- I've been struggling find a text color that is easy to read but works with the color scheme over my skin/with the background. I agree with you that I need to find a more legible color/text combination.
-I totally agree about the intro. I've been meaning to make a new shorter one (approximately 5 seconds) to people clicking through our getting bored to quickly.
- I also agree that I repeat some information multiple times. That is something I want to avoid and will work on because it will help keep the video shorter AND keep in more interesting since information won't be rehashed a bunch of times.
- With respect to video length, that one I'm not sure about. I think I could do a lot to shorten the video by removing duplicate information and maybe sequencing better. Making that 5 minute cut does sound like a worthy exercise and I think I'll try to that. I fear I'll lose what makes my review more unique with the in-depth details. However maybe I'll find that I can still be very in-depth, but just be more concise.
- With respect to the wobble, I'm working to improve it to decrease the shaking. My camera setup isn't ideal yet, but I'm trying to change that.
-Here is my audience retention chart for this video:


The average view time is 4:15, which is about 25%. It looks like I lose about 50% of people within the first 25 seconds which is when the intro hits. Perhaps that's my indicator that the intro needs to be much shorter.

Thank you so much for posting this to be reviewed. Thank you for your detailed review and constructive comments. I have a few things to think about as I am editing my latest video.


Some comments for @Vedstedsen :

1. I agree my mic is kind of quite. Perhaps I should look into increasing the volume in my editor.
2. I agree, the intro needs to be redone and shortened. It is from when I was first starting out so the overall quality isn't as good. A very good point.
3. That is a good point about the b-roll footage. I tried to do more of that with my Oris review to spice things up but I think that is a solid piece of advice.


Thank you both for the in-depth review! In my comments I'm not just agreeing with you to be agreeable, but because I think you both gave some good advice and things for me to look into. Thank you for your time! If I can return the favor, let me know!

 

[Jack Decker]

Here are some of my off-the-cuff thoughts as I watched your video. As I know I did a review of one of your videos already, I might be repeating myself here.

1) Why are you showing three wristbands at the start? Just show the watch.

2) It is good that you did a set-up for the video at the beginning, e.g., Here's what this video is about.

3) I would delete or radically cut down the intro. This isn't TV. You don't need to do intros on YouTube. Intros were used on TV to enable viewers time to channel surf from one program on another channel to the one on their channel. I would save this info for the end of the video as a REASON for people to subscribe to your channel. Always get to the meat of the video as soon as possible. The more you prolong doing so, the more likely viewers will click away.

4) I don't see the point of your "wrist watch check". It isn't the topic of the video. Don't do it. It feels like 25 seconds of unrelated filler. Get to the meat.

5) Put on white gloves when handling the watches. It shows respect and care for the watches. It also ups the classiness of your videos.

6) Don't do jump cuts when you're showing a watch that has a second hand. We see it skip forward. One happened at 1:42. You probably just clipped out a slight verbal error but it is still noticeable. For those that don't know about jump cuts, it looks like your watch just had a glitch. Reshoot it when this happens.

7) Zoom in on the watch. It should practically touch the top and bottom of the screen.

8) While the transition to the subscribe beg was nicely done, it was done too early. Wait until the end when you've hopefully earned this.

9) When you mention the "six things you need to know" video, you should have had a link for it appear in the upper right corner.

10) When begging for subscribers, likes, and comments at the end, don't. Don't beg. Give them a REASON to subscribe. Not a reason why YOU want them to subscribe but a reason THEY should subscribe. Don't beg for comments. Ask the viewer a question related to the topic of the video. Don't ask for a like. They will if they actually like it and won't if they don't. Don't waste your breath.

11) Redo your end title card and get rid of "Please be sure to like and subscribe!!" The thumbnail on the right partially covers the end of that sentence and you've already dealt with both requests as outlined in #10.

12) You did a very good job at constructing your video description.

13) Good appropriate music. Classical music is a good fit for your channel. Be sure to change the music with each video. I would strongly suggest you search for classical music YouTube channels who make their own music and see about getting a license from them. Even if you have to pay them, promote them. At least give a subtitle for each new song used in a video and a link to their channel and each song's video in the description. They might even then promote your channel and you might get subscribers from them simply because they enjoy the music you use for your videos.

14) Show your face on camera. Not all the time but at some point somewhere in the video. People subscribe to people, not channels. I would start off all videos with you on camera giving the teaser at the start and then at the end when you give a REASON to subscribe and ask viewers a QUESTION to answer in the comment section. You NEED to be on camera to raise your profile so you can do many of the following suggestions.

15) Send out emails to watch makers and tell them about your channel. If they have a public relations or communications officer, that's who you should contact. Tell them that you review wristwatches and that if they would like you to review one or more of theirs, they only need to FREELY send you one and you'll do a review of it BUT your review will be a honest one. If they don't think one or more of their watches can withstand an honest review, suggest they don't send those watches for you to review. If you only review watches above a certain price point, tell them that. Tell them that you will then add their watch to your collection and it might then appear in later videos when you do videos about a group of similar watches. I would say you do NOT accept money for doing a review. However, if they're willing to promote your channel to their customers and employees, you will view this favorably and that might get you to do more reviews of their watches. ;-)

16) If you're not subscribed to the Reddit group r/watches, do so! Do NOT spam them! Be an active participant. Participate for a good while before EVER promoting one of your videos. There is also the Reddit group r/watchexchange that you probably should join as well. Search for other Reddit groups about watches to find more.

17) Send out email press releases about your videos to the watch makers when you do one of their watches. Encourage them to promote the video to their employees and customers.

18) Attend wristwatch conventions and NETWORK there. Get business cards printed up with your channel logo and info. Either on the front or back put your mugshot to help them better remember you when they fish out your card at the end of the day so HOPEFULLY they'll keep it and not toss it into their hotel room's trashcan. Hand your business cards out as if they'll burn a hole in your pocket if you don't. Every time ... EVERY TIME you chat with someone at these conventions, give them one of your business card. Do videos about you going to these conventions. Contact the convention organizers and talk to them about doing a video promoting their upcoming convention on your channel. Get visuals or at least a convention booklet to show on camera. After ... AFTER you have started a conversation with them, ask them if there's anything they can do to promote you to their convention goers. Offer to provide a never-ending loop of all your videos if they would like to set up a TV to show them somewhere in the convention. Offer to sit on any panel they'd like you to be on. Talk to them about filming their speakers, making those into separate videos, and putting them on your channel ... with, of course, the permission of the speaker. Interview EVERYONE at the convention. One video per interview. Offer booth operators to make a separate video about their booths and put it on your channel. Network, network, network, network.

19) Visit wristwatch museums. Yes, there are those. Make a video of each. Contact their office beforehand and pitch the idea to them. Ask for their input. Interview their staff. Try to make a number of videos on each museum. Heck, a separate video on each watch in the museum! Talk to their communications officer (a.k.a. public relations manager, publicist, ad agency, PR agency etc.) about the making of these videos and AFTER you've started up a good conversation with them, ask what they can do to promote the videos you made about their museum. NOT your channel. Just the videos you did on their museum on your channel. There is a difference. Don't come off as self-promoting but a promoter of their museum. There is a lot of things they can do for you, such as do an article on your channel doing videos about their museum in their annual fundraising magazine. They might set up a TV that has all the videos you did about their museum on a loop and that play for visitors for eternity.

20) Once you get to 1,000 subscribers, reach out to mail-in watch repair businesses to get a sponsor. I think they would be a good match for your channel and not put you in a conflict of interest, as would happen if a watch maker were your sponsor.

Good luck!

 

[OntheWrist]

@Jack Decker , thank you for the highly detailed and thoughtful advice. You bring up a lot of great points and ways I could improve my channel. I'm going to spend some more time reading over what you said and think about your comments.

 

[LandyVlad]

OK so I own about 12 Seikos (and a few others) so I do watch a few watch videos here and there (though less than I used to when I was actively buying)

OK so, rather than recover in detail a lot of the advice already given I'll make a few comments about the video and on some of the advice above. Naturally it's simply my opinion.


1. Grab the viewers attention, tell them what to expect in the video (you did this)
2 (optional) BRIEF channel logo/intro say 5 seconds.
3. Straight into the content and deliver what you promised.

If it can be covered in 7 minute, don't make it a 20 minute video. The retention graph says as much.

Think "If I was interested in this watch and searching for videos on it what would I most want to know about it?"


B-roll. Yes, use it but don't overuse it.

Good use of b-roll in a watch video is
- showing the intricacies/close up of the dial face.
- showing the lume
- showing the mechanism (in the case of a see through case back)

technically as pointed out above, editing watch videos does require some thought - given that we always have the time on the dial jump cuts are easily noticed.

I'm conflicted on the white glove thing. I don't necessarily agree it looks more professional BUT it certainly helps keep the watch clean of fingerprints which helps a LOT for the close up photos/video.

Asking companies for free watches, early on, (unless they are very inexpensive watches) is not going to wash. I'd suggest a better plan if wanting to review more expensive watches is ask for a review watch and that you'll return it. You shouldn't expect companies to build you a collection of watches simply on the basis you have a YT channel.

I assume you are watching other watch channels too. It's a great idea to do so and you'll pick up some 'tricks of the trade' that way but don't ever try to directly emulate those channels. You need to find a reason people will watch you, rather than (or as well as) those other.

Given the type of videos you've posted I recommend you look at "Just One More Watch".

You don't need your channel logo in your thumbnails at all. And getting rid of it there solves the legibility issue straight away

If reviewing a watch with day/date complications decide in advance what date and time you are going to have your video go live on youtube, and when filming have the date and day set to that. It's a subtle but nice touch.

Join online forums for watches. Don't spam them to promote your videos, Reading the forums will give you a good idea of the sorts of things people ask when a new watch is released.

As mentioned above, you did do "a very good job at constructing your video description" and that in turn will help me do so.

I agree re giving people a reason to like and subscribe and comment that is a benefit to THEM. I think it's perfectly OK to ask people to do those things, as long as you aren't nagging them.

Sound levels - learn a bit about how to modify that in whatever editing suite you use, read of on volume normalisation and audio ducking.

A good way of getting contrast with text in titles (on the thumbnail for example) is to use a drop shadow to help separate the text and background.

Make sure the camera doesn't shake AT ALL.

There's a lot of potential for you - go for it !

 

[Nicekid76]

@OntheWrist - This is probably the most in depth review thread on the whole forum (at least in the past few months/years). I hope it helps

Thank you @Vedstedsen, @Jack Decker, @LandyVlad.

 

[OntheWrist]

Thank you @LandyVlad for your very thorough advice!! Let me know if you ever need help finding a new watch


Thank you all for your great comments. I'm going to incorporate a lot of the themes you have all been sharing with me in my next few videos. I can't incorporate them all at once, but I'm going to be keeping them in mind and start to change how I approach some of these videos to improve them.

Thank you to @Nicekid76 for starting the thread!!!

 

[LandyVlad]

Thank you @LandyVlad for your very thorough advice!! Let me know if you ever need help finding a new watch

I'd be happy if I could find someone in Australia to fix my Luminox Field Automatic.