YouTube , the truth is that there is no miracle recipe that will boost a channel. In the end, the basis is consistency, work and knowing your own community.
But, although there are no techniques for growing on YouTube that will change our lives overnight, there are certain tips that we can follow so that the strategies have a better performance.
Below, we review them with the help of Daniel Tordable , Senior Content Editor at ARTE.TV Documentaries , who tells us about his own experience with this platform. The YouTube channel in Spain has been running for 12 months and has already managed to surpass the barrier of 120,000 subscribers and have more than 20 million views .
1. Quality content
"There is no magic formula, but the first thing to say is that having quality content is a key aspect of any YouTube strategy," explains Tordable. "In addition, you have to be consistent and have a very well-structured strategy and content calendar," he adds.
He also makes it clear that there is no need to obsess over growing at all costs . “We obviously want to grow and grow as much as possible. But not at any price,” he says, before indicating that they prefer to take better care of their content rather than grow too quickly and have their followers not really be interested in the channel.
"We are very pleased with the acceptance that ARTE.TV Documentaries has had, we know that there are people who watch all the videos we publish. But, as we said, the only way to grow is to do the job well, be consistent and have passion ," he says.
2. Stay on top of current events, but don't forget what's happening in the background
Current affairs are a fundamental pillar, but you can't just stick to one number. Covering topics that other channels don't have in mind at the moment is also important to differentiate ourselves and make a place for ourselves. That, at least, is what ARTE.TV Documentaries does.
"In this sense, we are guided by current events, but we also aim to establish our own editorial line, with topics that sometimes go beyond the mainstream and you find themes that are not reflected in the news broadcasts of mainstream television media, such as the drama of refugees, the situation of women in countries where their rights are violated or the forgotten conflicts of the world," says Daniel.
Examples of this are "the sand slaves of Cape Verde, the mutilated women of India, the largest brothel in Bangladesh or the forced marriage of minors in Malawi, topics that do not usually appear in the media and that arouse great interest because they show a reality that is often unknown to the general public."
"Of course, the Russian invasion of Ukraine has been a big focus on the channel, but that is not incompatible with talking about the war in Ethiopia, the drama of the Rohingyas in Myanmar or the situation in Nagorno Karabakh," he adds.
On the other hand, there are contents that work very well for ARTE.TV Documentaries because they are highly topical, as well as those related to its audience, such as Spain, the European Union and Latin America, where there is great acceptance.
3. Interact with subscribers
Daniel Tordable also mentions as a fundamental aspect " keeping an eye on the comments, suggestions and requests of the audience , to know what they demand and keeping a close eye on the channel's statistics to know which topics are being followed the most."
4. Discuss the issues in depth
Compared to other platforms, which demand more immediacy and speed, YouTube requires a little more depth . “One of the key points of the success of ARTE.TV Documentaries and the rest of ARTE’s channels is to deal with the issues in depth, through long-form documentaries and reports, which allow the audience to delve deeper into current affairs and retain the audience watching our content for longer,” he points out.
He then mentions that, precisely, " the high average time spent per user is qatar number data one of the key points for the YouTube algorithm ."
One of the key aspects for a YouTube video to have a good reach, and even go viral, is to work very well on SEO. Good positioning will help us to be ahead of other similar content and will make users choose our video instead of others.
"You have to work very hard on SEO, video descriptions, keywords, and making sure that the related content is useful and interesting for those who have already come to see one of your contents and try to make it very visual, with good thumbnails , emoticons, etc.," he says.
6. Use YouTube to reach new segments
Companies are landing on YouTube in large part to reach new audience segments, such as younger ones.
"It is true that young people, with the amount of information, videos and social networks that exist today and the focus on clicks, headlines and short videos, are a segment that is more difficult to reach . Hence our presence on all types of platforms and social networks," says Tordable.
However, they do not have a specific objective of reaching young people. "We want everyone to see our documentaries, because we believe that they are relevant both for an 18-year-old boy and for an 84-year-old woman," he says.