OldManTenno
I've Got It
I'm going to give the short tale of two gaming videos so hopefully some others will learn. As the title suggests, one did well and the other did not. The main difference between the two is that they are from different games. The first one came out first, and is from a hugely popular game (Dota 2), and the second is from a small indie developer that started with just one person on the project (The Isle). You may be surprised (or not) that the first video is the one that failed.
Objectively, I can say that the Dota 2 video is a very well done, and I'm proud of the work I put into it, and the final result. No need to watch it, but it has all of what I think people like me would want. Attractive thumbnail (not clickbaity), clear and searchable title, data to compare (it was a lot) that is presented in graphs to demonstrate, and my usual presentation style. For a game like this, having the data to back up what you are saying is a big deal (as well as the presentation of the data). Of all the gaming videos I've done, I stand by my opinion that this is one of my best gaming videos, and thought it would do better. I believe it failed because the game popularity is massive, as is the amount of content creators for it. As such, it got lost in the shuffle. Adding to that is that the game is constantly changing, invalidating the data as soon as a patch comes along that affects any of the items tested. This video came out 2 months ago, and is sitting at 67 views. It hasn't budged in over a month, and probably never will.
The video for The Isle was a bit of a shock. I'd started replaying the game because I wanted to get into it, though it was hard to get going. I'd found a server that was friendly to new people, and soon got into it. A complaint that I'd heard was that a lot of information that was helpful to new people just was not available. Because I liked the game and I liked the people I was playing with, I wanted to do something to help others that were in my position... so I made a beginner's guide. It had some of the same things... Attractive thumbnail, clear and searchable title, and my same presentation style. To my surprise, it became relatively popular. It was released only a month ago, and already has over 2200 views, 111 likes, 65.5% retention, way more interaction... and the numbers are still climbing. I'd just released a more specific guide for one of the dinosaurs 2 days ago, and it already has twice the traffic of the Dota 2 video. And before I forget, this video also had ZERO promotion.
So why did the second video succeed far beyond the first? I hear a lot of people saying that you HAVE to cover what is popular. I believe that statement is true only for channels that have a large popularity. Having only 4K subscribers, the chances of getting noticed for trying to break into the Dota 2 club are incredibly small. In contrast, The Isle is a much smaller game. There are still plenty of creators for it, but not nearly the thousands there are for Dota 2. Also, I recognized that there was a need for it that wasn't being filled (information for newer people). Moral of the story is this... when breaking into new territory, it's good to find a niche audience. Even better, find a niche within that niche and build around that.
Objectively, I can say that the Dota 2 video is a very well done, and I'm proud of the work I put into it, and the final result. No need to watch it, but it has all of what I think people like me would want. Attractive thumbnail (not clickbaity), clear and searchable title, data to compare (it was a lot) that is presented in graphs to demonstrate, and my usual presentation style. For a game like this, having the data to back up what you are saying is a big deal (as well as the presentation of the data). Of all the gaming videos I've done, I stand by my opinion that this is one of my best gaming videos, and thought it would do better. I believe it failed because the game popularity is massive, as is the amount of content creators for it. As such, it got lost in the shuffle. Adding to that is that the game is constantly changing, invalidating the data as soon as a patch comes along that affects any of the items tested. This video came out 2 months ago, and is sitting at 67 views. It hasn't budged in over a month, and probably never will.
The video for The Isle was a bit of a shock. I'd started replaying the game because I wanted to get into it, though it was hard to get going. I'd found a server that was friendly to new people, and soon got into it. A complaint that I'd heard was that a lot of information that was helpful to new people just was not available. Because I liked the game and I liked the people I was playing with, I wanted to do something to help others that were in my position... so I made a beginner's guide. It had some of the same things... Attractive thumbnail, clear and searchable title, and my same presentation style. To my surprise, it became relatively popular. It was released only a month ago, and already has over 2200 views, 111 likes, 65.5% retention, way more interaction... and the numbers are still climbing. I'd just released a more specific guide for one of the dinosaurs 2 days ago, and it already has twice the traffic of the Dota 2 video. And before I forget, this video also had ZERO promotion.
So why did the second video succeed far beyond the first? I hear a lot of people saying that you HAVE to cover what is popular. I believe that statement is true only for channels that have a large popularity. Having only 4K subscribers, the chances of getting noticed for trying to break into the Dota 2 club are incredibly small. In contrast, The Isle is a much smaller game. There are still plenty of creators for it, but not nearly the thousands there are for Dota 2. Also, I recognized that there was a need for it that wasn't being filled (information for newer people). Moral of the story is this... when breaking into new territory, it's good to find a niche audience. Even better, find a niche within that niche and build around that.
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