The first YouTube video was uploaded in 2005. Today, YouTube is the second most visited website in the world.
According to Wikipedia, (as of May 2019) more than 500 hours of content is uploaded on the platform per minute. At this rate, it would take twenty days to watch content uploaded on the platform per minute.
This then begs the question, “Why are creators investing resources to create hours of videos on the platform?”
The answer is simple: there is a possibility of being rewarded handsomely.
For context, the highest-paid YouTuber in 2020 made $29.5 million. That’s a lot of money! With this kind of possibility, YouTubers are not only more open to experimentation, but they are also dedicated to learning the craft of content creation.
I believe that there are a number of things podcasters can learn from them:
- Storytelling Technique: If you take out time to study the top creators on YouTube, you would discover a running theme, they are great at storytelling. They know how to captivate their audience at the beginning with a great hook (whet their appetite without letting the cat out of the bag), build suspense and get to the climax before resolving as quickly as possible.
- Editing: Although YouTube allows for long-form content, it is obvious that most of the best YouTubers invest a great amount of time in editing. I discovered that the best editors look for parts to subtract not add. By default, they cut anything and everything that doesn’t move the story forward. You should too! You can learn a number of tricks here.
- Thumbnail: The two most important metrics on YouTube are watch time and click-through rate. One way to increase the click-through rate is by having a great thumbnail. A thumbnail is the first image a prospective viewer sees before deciding to watch a video or not. Colin and Samir sum up what makes a great thumbnail in this video. One, it should stop scroll; two, it should tell a story and three, it should raise a question. As a podcaster, your graphic design is your thumbnail.
- Captivating Titles: Another thing that helps to increase the click-through rate is captivating titles. Many successful YouTubers have said that they do not start making a video until they’ve figured out a great title and thumbnail. Think about that for a moment.
- Collaborations: YouTubers ride on the wave of each other. Mr Beast rode on the wave of Pewdiepie; Airrack rode on the wave of Logan Paul; Fidias is riding on the wave of Airrack. Collaborations have a way of creating a ripple effect that benefits both (if they are two) creators involved.
