How to Grow a Gaming Channel FAST (Ft. Spiffing Brit)

Summary

This video script offers insights and strategies for growing a gaming channel on YouTube. It emphasizes the importance of understanding the platform's algorithm, identifying market gaps, and creating unique content to stand out. The speaker shares tips from successful creators, discusses the challenges of content saturation, and suggests ways to expand one's audience by exploring new formats and games. The key takeaway is to be both creative and strategic, while also staying true to one's interests and building a channel that reflects personal uniqueness.

Takeaways

• 📈 Success on YouTube requires dedication and effort over time, but with the right strategies, it's possible to achieve it faster.
• 🎮 Studying successful gaming channels and understanding their growth strategies can provide valuable insights for new creators.
• 🔍 The YouTube algorithm favors content that keeps viewers engaged and encourages them to explore more content on the platform.
• 📺 Creating content for outdated or less popular games may not attract the desired audience, so it's important to stay relevant and current.
• 🏆 In saturated markets like Minecraft, standing out requires exceptional content or a unique approach to gameplay.
• 🚀 To quickly gain subscribers, identify gaps in the market or emerging trends and create content that caters to those niches.
• 🔑 Finding a game with insufficient guides or tips and creating content to fill that void can be a fast track to gaining an audience.
• 🔄 Experimenting with new formats or challenges in popular games can attract viewers and help grow a channel.
• 💡 Creativity is key; avoid 'off-the-shelf content' and bring something new or different to popular games.
• 🌐 Focusing on a single game can limit growth potential; consider broadening the scope to a category of games or challenges.
• 🌟 Building a channel around personal gaming personality and unique traits can provide flexibility to explore different games or genres without alienating the audience.

Q & A

What does the speaker suggest as the fastest way to gain the first thousand subscribers on YouTube?

The speaker suggests finding a gap in the market where there is demand for content but it is not being sufficiently met, or identifying an emerging market such as a new game and creating content for it before it becomes widely popular.

Why should a YouTube creator avoid making 'off-the-shelf content'?

Creators should avoid 'off-the-shelf content' because it lacks uniqueness and does not differentiate them from anyone else who could simply play the same game. To stand out, they need to bring something new to the game or play it in an unintended, entertaining way.

What is the importance of understanding the 'total addressable market' for a YouTube gaming channel?

Understanding the 'total addressable market' is crucial because it helps creators cast a wide net to attract viewers, while also being strategic about the niche they choose to cater to. It's about finding a balance between being specific enough to stand out and broad enough to reach a significant audience.

How does the speaker recommend creators approach branching out into new content on their channel?

The speaker recommends creators find another popular, adjacent market or an emerging market within a saturated game. They should also consider creating content that serves different purposes or caters to different aspects of their personality as a creator.

What is the significance of the '100 days in Minecraft' concept mentioned in the script?

The '100 days in Minecraft' concept is significant because it illustrates how a fresh idea can be brought into a saturated market to create a new trend. It started as a unique concept that was later adapted to Minecraft, showing that innovation can help creators stand out even in crowded spaces.

How does the speaker define the term 'algorithm' in the context of YouTube?

The speaker redefines the term 'algorithm' as 'the audience,' emphasizing that YouTube's goal is to ensure viewers have the best experience by matching content that meets their interests and engagement levels.

What advice does the speaker give for creators who are feeling stuck or experiencing burnout?

The speaker advises creators who are feeling stuck or experiencing burnout to branch out into new content areas, find emerging markets, or create content that is unique and different from what is already available.

Why is it challenging for a gaming channel to branch out from focusing on just one game?

Branching out from one game is challenging because the audience may experience 'whiplash' from the sudden change in content, leading to a drop in views and potentially causing the creator to panic and revert to their original content, perpetuating a cycle of burnout.

What is the role of vidIQ in helping YouTube creators as mentioned in the script?

VidIQ offers a suite of software tools that help creators with video production, including an AI content generator, keyword tool, and other features that provide video ideas, titles, descriptions, scripts, and thumbnails based on actual viewer data and search trends.

How can creators ensure their content stands out in a saturated market like Minecraft?

Creators can stand out by either finding an emerging market within the game, such as a new challenge or concept that hasn't been overdone, or by creating content that is unique and adds a fresh perspective to the game.

Outlines

00:00

🚀 Growing Gaming Channels on YouTube

This paragraph discusses the potential for growth on YouTube for gaming channels, emphasizing that with dedication and smart strategies, creators can achieve success more quickly than expected. It highlights the importance of understanding the YouTube algorithm, which essentially serves to maximize viewer satisfaction by promoting content that keeps audiences engaged. The speaker shares insights from successful gaming channels that have rapidly grown their subscriber base and suggests focusing on current, popular games to avoid becoming obsolete. The paragraph also touches on the challenge of standing out in a saturated market like Minecraft, advocating for creators to play smart and identify gaps in the market to exploit.

05:00

🎮 Strategies for New and Stagnant Gaming Channels

The second paragraph delves into strategies for both new and struggling gaming channels. It suggests that creators should not simply replicate popular content but instead identify and fill gaps in the market with unique content. The speaker shares personal experiences, such as obtaining early access to games and capitalizing on the initial audience interest. The paragraph also discusses the importance of avoiding 'off-the-shelf content' and emphasizes the need for creativity and a solid premise for each video. It advises against focusing too narrowly on a single game and recommends expanding the total addressable market by exploring related games or challenges to avoid creative burnout and grow the channel's audience.

10:01

🌟 Expanding Your Reach on YouTube

The final paragraph focuses on the importance of expanding one's reach on YouTube by avoiding the trap of focusing solely on one game or content type. It discusses the challenges of branching out to new games or formats and the potential backlash from an established audience. The speaker recommends finding adjacent markets or games with crossover appeal to gradually increase the total addressable market. The paragraph also touches on the concept of becoming a gaming personality and building a channel around one's unique identity, which can provide a buffer against the inevitable shifts in gaming trends. It concludes by encouraging creators to be both creative and strategic in their content choices, while also staying true to their passions.

Keywords

💡YouTube Algorithm

The 'YouTube Algorithm' refers to the system that YouTube uses to recommend videos to users based on their viewing habits and preferences. In the video, it's suggested to think of it as 'the audience,' emphasizing the importance of creating content that engages viewers and encourages them to watch longer, thereby increasing the video's reach. The script mentions that the algorithm favors content that meets audience demand and contributes to a positive viewer experience.

💡Subscriber Growth

Subscriber growth is the increase in the number of people who choose to follow a channel on YouTube. The video discusses strategies for growing a gaming channel's subscriber base, from 0 to significant numbers like 10,000 or even 300,000. It highlights the importance of understanding market gaps and creating content that fills those gaps to attract and retain subscribers.

💡Gaming Channels

Gaming channels on YouTube are channels dedicated to content related to video games, such as gameplay, reviews, and tutorials. The script provides advice on how to grow a gaming channel, emphasizing the need to stand out in a saturated market and to be strategic in choosing which games to cover and how to present them.

💡Market Gap

A market gap refers to an area within the market that is not being adequately served or addressed by existing products or services. In the context of the video, finding a market gap involves identifying content that viewers want but cannot find, and then creating videos that fill this void, which can lead to rapid subscriber growth.

💡Saturated Market

A saturated market is one where there is an abundance of similar products or services, making it difficult for new entrants to gain a foothold. The video uses Minecraft as an example of a saturated gaming market, where creators must find innovative ways to stand out among the competition.

💡Emerging Market

An emerging market refers to a new or growing area of interest that has not yet reached its peak popularity. The script suggests that creators can capitalize on emerging markets by being among the first to create content for new games or trends, thus capturing an audience that is eager for fresh content.

💡Content Creator

A content creator is an individual or entity that produces material for distribution on platforms like YouTube. The video discusses strategies that content creators can use to grow their channels, including studying successful creators, identifying market gaps, and being strategic about the types of games and challenges they cover.

💡Total Addressable Market (TAM)

Total Addressable Market (TAM) is the total market demand for a product or service. The video explains the concept of TAM in the context of YouTube, advising creators to consider the size of their potential audience and how they can expand it by branching out to different games or challenges without alienating their current viewers.

💡Branching Out

Branching out refers to the process of expanding into new areas or trying different approaches. In the video, it is suggested as a strategy for creators who feel they have exhausted ideas within their current niche or who wish to grow their audience beyond a single game or type of content.

💡Creator Burnout

Creator burnout is a state of mental, emotional, and physical exhaustion that can occur when content creators push themselves too hard or become overwhelmed by their work. The script warns about the dangers of burnout and suggests that creators should be strategic and creative in their content choices to avoid it.

💡Gaming Personality

A gaming personality is a content creator who has developed a unique identity or brand within the gaming community. The video mentions that building a channel around one's personality can protect creators from the decline of a particular game's popularity and allows them to transition to new games or content types more smoothly.

Highlights

YouTube is a platform that requires dedication and experience for creators to master.

Studying successful gaming channels can provide insights into growth strategies.

Engaging with top creators like Spiffing Brit can reveal strategies for channel growth.

Understanding the YouTube algorithm as an 'audience' is crucial for video success.

Meeting audience demand is key to making videos that resonate and spread.

Avoiding outdated game content is essential for attracting viewers.

Saturated markets like Minecraft require unique content to stand out.

Finding a gap in the market can be a fast track to gaining subscribers.

Utilizing early access to new games can help creators gain an audience quickly.

Creators should avoid making 'off-the-shelf content' that lacks uniqueness.

Focusing on a single game can limit the total addressable market for a channel.

Branching out to new games or formats can refresh a channel and attract a wider audience.

Creators should consider their total addressable market when choosing content.

Finding a niche within a saturated market can provide opportunities for growth.

Building a channel around personal gaming personality can offer protection against market changes.

Creators can use tools like vidIQ to gain insights and generate content ideas.

Adapting popular formats to different games can be a successful content strategy.

Creators should consider live streaming as a way to explore different content and connect with their audience.

Transcripts

in a lot of cases YouTube is a platform

that takes creators years and years to

master but if you're willing to put in

the work get your reps in and get some

experience it may not take you years and

years to find the success you're looking

for on YouTube I've studied tons of

gaming channels that have grown from0 to

10,000 subscribers in their first month

now they're shooting past the 50k 100K

and even 300K Mark like this one and

this one and this one I've gone out of

my way to talk to some of the biggest

gaming creators there are such as

spiffing Brit to trying and figure out

some of their strategies on how they

would grow if they had to start all over

from scratch today so if you're starting

a new gaming channel or you've been at

this for quite a while and you're just

starting to feel a bit stuck hopefully

we can help you out here before we dive

into the advice of someone like spiffing

Brit let's give just a quick refresher

on the algorithm for anyone who's kind

of new to this whole YouTube scene first

of all going forward let's stop calling

it The algorithm and I want you to think

of it from now on as the audience the

more an audience watches your videos the

longer they watch those videos the more

those videos can spread to The Wider

YouTube audience really YouTube's end

goal is to make sure that viewer has the

best experience though and if that

viewer is saying hey I like this then

they're going to be like cool maybe more

viewers do this means that you have to

meet the audience's demand so you can

make the best video ever about Farming

Simulator 2017 but guess what we're well

into the 20120 is now and nobody is

looking for that game you can't expect

to get millions of views covering game

that's become ancient and one that no

one's really thinking about anymore but

okay what about playing a game like

Minecraft something that is kind of old

but everyone still owns it and still

plays it to this day well now we have a

a different problem because now you have

to make the best video in the world

because Minecraft is a very saturated

Market how are you supposed to stand out

there is a much easier and much faster

way to get that first thousand

subscribers if that's what you're aiming

for and it doesn't involve you having to

become the best Minecraft player in the

world you need to play smart and fight

battles that you know you can win I

would say the fastest way and to get

like a th subscribers it's it's not to

copy the content of say your favorite

creator that you're watching if your

goal is only to get th000 subscribers

just find something that is a gap in the

market that people want to watch but

can't see how do you do that well there

are a number of ways really you could

pick up a game that you absolutely love

and that is popular but maybe you found

that the tips and tricks and guides out

there are insufficient and maybe you can

make some to fill that void or you could

do what a lot of new creators do and try

and find a new upand cominging Emerging

Market it could literally be a brand new

game is coming out just go harass a

developer for an early access key make a

few videos on that game get them out

before everyone else does or right at

the start of it and suddenly you've got

an audience appearing out of thin air

that will just watch anything you make

you don't even have to be interested in

the game but trust me that will easily

get you to 1,000 subscribers that's what

I did it's a walk in the park I promise

your videos will get pushed to a lot

more people if you don't have a lot of

competition right ideally there's going

to be maybe an existing audience waiting

for somebody to serve them what they're

looking for although I wouldn't go so

far as to say that's a walk in the park

or is it we'll come back to that

framework in a little bit but first if

you're having some trouble even jump

starting your channel then you need to

listen to this shortcut very carefully

it is not easy to get a $1 million idea

that actually works and believe it or

not even the biggest creators on YouTube

do not find this part easy at all but

there is a workaround that nearly every

Creator takes advantage of gaming or not

and if done successfully those channels

grow way faster oh hey uh just want to

interrupt this video real quick to let

you know that right now it's Creator

Appreciation Week here at vid IQ that

means for this week only we are offering

50% off of our boost memberships if you

don't know what that means basically vid

IQ isn't just a YouTube channel we

actually have a whole Suite of software

tools that can help you create videos

what's cool is that these tools actually

link into your channel and using your

Channel's actual data they can do all

sorts of things for example we have a

feature that gives you ideas every

single day for new videos you can make

we have an AI content generator where

you could basically just give it a

prompt and it's going to produce all

kinds of results for you you'll get a

title a description a script it even

provides a sample voiceover and

thumbnail backgrounds as well and we

have tools that go well beyond our AI

tools such as our keyword tool this can

help you produce search driven content

based on actual things people are

actually looking for on YouTube right

now so if you want to join the 3 million

plus creators that are using our tools

every single day then please check out

the link in the description and now back

to the video creators everywhere like to

take a simple proven format and put

their spin on it a recent very popular

example is trying to cross a video game

from end to end in one single straight

line from tears of the Kingdom to Grand

Theft Auto to Skyrim this is something

that is starting to become more and more

popular as people find it to be a really

fun challenge that can work in all kinds

of different games and scenarios and

this trend actually originated from

outside of the gaming space itself so

for your first attempt if you want the

best results here I want you to take an

existing format of maybe some kind of

challenge or something like that and

bring it to a game that you're already

familiar with and that is popular that

audiences are actually looking for and

make sure to study the title and the

thumbnails of the videos that are doing

a similar thing because those can give

you guidance I'm not saying you should

copy them I'm saying you should put your

spin on them it doesn't have to be

crossing a map a straight line though it

could be so many things you could take

an iconic game like doom and try and do

a pacifist run you could speedrun a

famously slow game like Monopoly

honestly this is where the creativity

part of YouTube comes in the sky the

limit here what I'm trying to do right

now is give you ideas to avoid making

the biggest mistake that I've seen

gaming creators make since the dawn of

YouTube I call it off-the-shelf content

any person can take a video game that

they bought online or at a store and sit

down and play it so when a YouTuber does

it what's the big deal do not post a

video where it's just you playing a game

exactly how someone else would play the

game if they just went to Walmart and

picked it up themselves if you want to

stand out take this really popular game

and bring something new to it maybe

you're really really good at it or

you're practicing to do some kind of

tournament that's coming up maybe you

just are terrible at the game maybe you

don't take the game seriously at all

channels like let's game it out do this

all the time they take a brand new game

and they play it in an unintended way so

when you start ideating your next gaming

video sit down and come up with a solid

premise before doing anything else but

be cautious here because there is a big

Pitfall you do not want to fall into

when you're just kind of finding your

voice on YouTube one of the biggest

mistakes that gaming channels make and I

partially blame myself for this is that

they tend to start with just one game

and they never think about deviating

from that one game back in the day I

used to tell creators this is a great

strategy to start a YouTube channel and

part of me still believes that because

if you are just starting out it's good

to kind of focus on one thing but as you

start to get used to the idea of making

videos you really got to be thinking

maybe 3 years into the future when the

game you're playing is long since dead

focus on a certain category of game for

example instead of of just one game

forever you need to be strategic here

you could be the news guy for example

but that's a nich market maybe 90% of

people don't care about the news updates

for that specific game then what this is

still a solid strategy from starting a

YouTube channel from scratch but keep in

mind your total addressable Market here

is just small going for gaming

challenges opens up that total

addressable Market but of course it does

lead to more competition and basically a

total addressable Market is well think

of it like this the entirety of YouTube

is a total addressable market right you

want all of the people on YouTube to

watch your videos right however you

can't make everybody happy so that's not

really possible so you have to Niche

down into a more specific market so

Mario games would be a more specific

Market Mario speedruns would be a very

specific market and one that's probably

still pretty big however a really

awesome challenge where it almost

doesn't matter what game it takes place

in people can just sense that it's going

to be entertaining now that's a very big

toil addressable Market cuz now it no

longer focuses on just one game anyway

there's a lot of nuance around the

conversation of a total addressable

Market but what you're trying to do as a

Creator is cast the widest net possible

and one that makes sense what happens if

you've already casted too small of a net

though you find yourself in the

situation that I'm describing right now

where you're just doing one thing and

everything feels really narrow and

you're not sure how to get out of it

you've succeeded you're getting views

but you're starting to run out of ideas

or motivation you might be struggling to

find a path to grow and you might be

finally at the point where you're like I

got to do something else well it's time

to Branch out this is probably the

biggest issue branching out from your

one audience or your one game is really

really challenging because so many

creators attempt it and then they feel

immediately burnt like they'll go okay I

make uh Minecraft content but I really

like playing csgo so I'm going to make a

csgo video Once the issue is your

audience is just going to get Whiplash

from that they they're not going to

watch that it's going to get 10 out of

10 the Creator will panic and they won't

try any new kind of content again for

like six months and they'll just keep

burnings out on this one game that they

don't want to play so if you're going to

Branch out there's multiple ways to do

it and I think the the best way to do it

is to either find another popular

adjacent market so if you play say one

popular strategy game play a different

popular strategy game Canadian guy a who

we've spoken to in the past had

something similar happened on his own

channel he started out by focusing on

Crash Bandicoot but he found a way to

Pivot and slightly open up his total

adressable Market by also covering Spyro

he's also found other games that cater

to an audience that would like games

like crash and Spyro they already happen

to have a lot of crossover themselves

basically he exponentially increased his

is total addressable Market but what if

you really want to do Minecraft I mean

after all it is a massive market right

earlier I said you have to be the best

Minecraft player in the world but you've

seen smaller channels kind of come up

and have success of their own and you

don't think they're the best in the

world right so yeah maybe you can do it

right if you're going to go into a

saturated Market it can 100% be done you

can do it believe in yourself but also

do not just do what other people in the

market are currently doing you have to

find the

Emerging Market inside of that saturated

game do you remember the example of the

100 days in Minecraft videos that

started to pop up a while back these

days that concept of spending a 100 days

in Minecraft is incredibly oversaturated

when it first emerged though it was seen

as revolutionary and it didn't even

begin with Minecraft in the first place

100 days content had been popularized by

all kinds of different games in the past

Indie Games strategy games games like

stard Valley creators realized that you

know Minecraft itself is really

saturated but not a lot of people are

just trying to spend 100 days straight

in the game so they had a fresh concept

they brought it into Minecraft and lo

and behold it just continued to snowball

from there and so if you're going to

break into a saturated market like say

Minecraft you've got to ENT up with

either an established hook that people

would recognize or would find

interesting that is proven to have

worked or you've either just gotten a

one in A- million idea that no one else

has ever done and it's going to shake

the landscape and if that's the case

hats off to you but that's like a one in

a million shot so yes with YouTube you

need to be creative and you need to be

strategic if you want to grow but that

doesn't mean you have to do videos that

you just don't love doing it also

doesn't mean you have to only play a

couple of things even if you want to

make content about a lot of stuff let's

take another look at Canadian Guy this

is what his long form videos look like

but if you go over to his live streams

he's blowing off steam being opinionated

bonding over completely different genres

let's look at someone like Josh dri ha

he's on Twitch but on YouTube he has

multiple channels that kind of serve

different purposes and scratch different

itches that he has as a Creator a lot of

the creators we've highlighted today

have something in common they build

channels about themselves and what makes

them unique as people this protects them

in case inevitably one day they decide

they want to play something else

becoming a gaming personality is not

easy but in this video here we talk a

little bit more about that and dive in

on a number of different subjects if

you're trying to grow a gaming channel

right now